Pre-Season JEREZ TEST 10th-14th Feb 2011

[sportsman]

It is very misleading if you only compare the fastest lap times.But if you look deeper into the long run times then the picture changes somewhat.The RB7 churning out lap after lap on a thirty lap run in the 1.23's looks very dangerous.The Ferrari also looks strong in this area as does the Lotus Renault. McLaren never really got enough laps strung together to form any conclusions.
Sauber look to be reasonably competitive and will certainly be a strong midfield contender.
Catalunya should give us a better idea as by then the cars will be running with the latest updates from the data gathered from these tests.
I would expect that Heidfield will be confirmed at Lotus Renault as soon as,and will spend next week at Enstone in the simulator to further refine the car.

 

[sportsman]

Came across this from Frank Dernie last night.

Veteran F1 engineer Frank Dernie, who worked for Williams, Lotus, Benetton, Ligier, Arrows and Toyota, has been in touch with his thoughts on testing:
“Enjoying the live coverage from the test. I thought readers may be interested in the type of testing teams are likely to be doing.
“Every engineer has a different approach to keeping the others guessing. The fact is that, by miles, the most important thing everyone needs to do is learn how to get the best from the tyres. You learn almost nothing running light, so it is unlikely that any serious team will run low fuel at all, or if they do one or two runs only.
“A car set up well for the tyres whilst heavy will be good light, the converse is almost never true. It means that it is quite likely nobody important will show their true pace before the first race.
“Getting a race distance on the car is crucial. The best way to evaluate the competitiveness of the teams will be to compare the pace in the race simulations, but this data is rarely published, unfortunately.
“The list of fastest times, which is always published, is probably the least useful testing information an observer gets!”

 

[Andyoak]

Hahaha...
so really we should just enjoy the show and keep on guessing

 

[snowy]

Someone needs to tell him about Clip the Apex.

 

[sportsman]

Indeed snowy.I always compare long run timing to try guess who is competitive.A fast time in a qualilfying simulation is interesting but I don't read much into it.

 

[teabagyokel]

BBC are saying RBR and Ferrari seem fastest.

I think 11 March will be when we really get the first good guess, and 12 March when we really find out!

 

[snowy]

After day one McLaren's report on their testing consisted of 225 words, day two they had more to say, uttering 254 words. After day three they only said 136 words but were still trying to be upbeat. On day four their assessment of the day on which they ran more laps than any other consisted of 59 words! None of which could be construed as inspiring, apart from the word "progress" if quoted out of context.

 

[FB]

After day one McLaren's report on their testing consisted of 225 words, day two they had more to say, uttering 254 words. After day three they only said 136 words but were still trying to be upbeat. On day four their assessment of the day on which they ran more laps than any other consisted of 59 words! None of which could be construed as inspiring, apart from the word "progress" if quoted out of context.

If this is true this will be the 3rd year in a row McLaren haven't got it right during the off season. This was always their great strength, I wonder what's going wrong?

 

[Galahad]

The car is quite a departure from what's gone before. There is bound to be a longer learning period, finding out the effects of different setup changes and how these things interact with the tyres - and that's not even considering the variety of exhaust layouts that have been rumoured.

Which is what testing is for, after all. Really we do have to wait until Bahrain to be sure.

 

[snowy]

I'm not worried...

I have a whole other life outside of F1... in my dreams.

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

If this is true this will be the 3rd year in a row McLaren haven't got it right during the off season. This was always their great strength, I wonder what's going wrong?

If......If! (i personally wouldn't read too much into anything atm and consider it fact) its true that Mclaren haven't got it right, could the cause be Newey....or the lack of him.

 

[Speshal]

After day one McLaren's report on their testing consisted of 225 words, day two they had more to say, uttering 254 words. After day three they only said 136 words but were still trying to be upbeat. On day four their assessment of the day on which they ran more laps than any other consisted of 59 words! None of which could be construed as inspiring, apart from the word "progress" if quoted out of context.

Maybe they are doing it all on twitter?

 

[Chasz]

speshal, love your avatar.

and everyone don't be worried about McL yet!