The Testing Ban Makes F1 Stale

[teabagyokel]

I'd agree with that, plus it really levels the playing field because as we saw last season big teams who are caught out find it harder to spend/test their way out of trouble. It rewards innovation and technical expertise and lessens the effect of disparate budgets.

...and makes a £40m limit feasable...

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

How many teams have tested new 'F-Duct' type devices, or exhaust-blown diffusers, not to mention new front wings etc, since the start of this season?

And how many more have tested devices that we don't necessarily even know about yet?

And how many will soon be trying out their new engine-mapping systems for ensuring constant exhaust gas flow over those aformementioned diffusers?

The evidence of this season so far doesn't indictae staleness to me.

And Ferrari were circumventing the ban on "Filming days" anyway, so Alonso is a fine one to talk. Thankfully the regs are being tightened up to prevent such shenanigens from now on.

 

[Enja]

Mid 90s ...
In the early 90s they had the superior active suspensions. Before that they had turbos, the superior ground-effects aerodynamics, then the experimental twin-chassis Lotus 88 that was supposed to revolutionize things, and in 1968 movable wings unlike the passive ones of today.

None of which are in use today, which was exactly my point. I didn't say F1 these days has all the benefits of mid-90s technology, but in terms of the carbon-fibre development, etc, then yes, we are in the mid 90s.

 

[Brogan]

Michael Schumacher is the latest person to criticise the testing ban, perhaps not too surprising though is it?

"So that means you develop them at home without testing, you build them onto your car, and you [run them for the first time] on a race weekend - and on a race weekend you have very little time.

"There are all sorts of implications with new ideas and pieces that you put on the car, that you go into a race weekend without experiencing.

"You have very little time to get your experience and naturally due to this you end up with some kind of compromise, so it's a tough way to fight your way through all these development areas that you have to go through."

"If you imagine the level of sport we're celebrating here, the level of financial input, the people, and then you consider it's the only sport in the world that has no testing..." said Schumacher.

"So I think it's quite ridiculous.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=48916&PO=48916

 

[Bullfrog]

"We aren't winning and we'd quite like to."

Corrected for truth.

 

[FB]

How about a testing program inversely weighted to the teams prize money/WCC position? So HRT will finish last in this years WCC (probably) which allows them up to 13 days additional testing during the racing year next season, all the way to the team which finishes 1st in the WCC who get 2 days.

Too contrived?

 

[Brogan]

I've said all along that the testing ban shouldn't apply to the new teams.

The existing teams already have seasons of data with which to build and develop this year's car but the new teams have started from a blank canvass.

Yes I know all the existing teams were new teams at one point but there was no testing ban then so they weren't at the same disadvantage.

I just can't understand why the FIA would want to make it so difficult for new teams in their first season, especially considering one of them didn't even do any pre-season testing.

Bearing in mind the FIA won't be making a decision on the 13th team until next month, what are the chances of that team having a car ready for testing?

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Right now the practise sessions are been used for testing, is it feasible to add another session at somepoint during the weekend?

This way the cars have more running time and the fans get more for their money.

 

[Bullfrog]

2 tests on Friday would make perfect sense, provided that leaves enough track time for all the support series, I've never been to a Friday so I don't really know the schedule.

 

[slickskid]

Fridays are quite a busy day as you can see below from the last GP

08:50 09:15¹
FORMULA BMW
PRACTICE SESSION
09:20
FORMULA ONE
MEDICAL INSPECTION
09:30 09:45
FORMULA ONE
TRACK INSPECTION - MSTT
10:00 11:30¹
FORMULA ONE
FIRST PRACTICE SESSION
11:55 12:25¹
GP2
PRACTICE SESSION
12:40
PORSCHE MOBIL 1 SUPERCUP
DRIVERS MEETING
12:50 13:15¹
FORMULA BMW
QUALIFYING SESSION
13:15 13:45
FORMULA ONE
PADDOCK CLUB PIT LANE WALK
13:20
FORMULA ONE
MEDICAL INSPECTION
13:30 13:40
FORMULA ONE
TRACK INSPECTION
14:00 15:30
FORMULA ONE
SECOND PRACTICE SESSION
15:55 16:25
GP2
QUALIFYING SESSION
16:00 17:00²
FORMULA ONE
PRESS CONFERENCE – PRESS ROOM
16:50 17:20¹
GP3
PRACTICE SESSION
17:00
FORMULA ONE
DRIVERS MEETING
17.45 18:30¹
PORSCHE MOBIL 1 SUPERCUP
PRACTICE SESSION

 

[Bullfrog]

I thought it might be something like that.

The only other thing I can think of is having a test session during the week after a GP. For example, find two European (or the most applicable pair of races so it suits most of the teams) races that are 2 weeks apart and the teams just stay on for several days after the first race for a few test days. There's no extra expense outside of accommodation etc and they'll have plenty of time to pack up and move the relatively short distance to the next race. The only hitch might be if someone smashes both their cars to pieces in the preceding race, but to some extent that's a danger whenever you stage test sessions.