Official Pre-season Testing Thread

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

(Test F1 Barcelona - Day 2) McLaren has planted face-to Ferrari in the second day of testing in Barcelona and has achieved an impressive rate that equals more things between teams battling for the title. Fernando Alonso has been testing new solutions in the R28 but it appears that the car lacks pace.

The McLaren has been the clear rulers of the second day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. Both Lewis Hamilton as Heikki Kovalainen has been the fastest not only in short rounds but in the long and Ferrari have overtaken by an average of half a second career in the simulations.

Fernando Alonso for its part, has released a small novelty aerodynamics in the R28 but it appears that does not solve the problems of speed and rhythm that accuses the new machine home Renault. The French team has copied the solution BMW aerodynamic placing an appendix on the front side of the pontoon to improve the flow of air coming into the radiators.

Ferrari has returned to spend the afternoon at simulating race. While Kimi Raikkonen has shot rounds short, Felipe Massa has prepared a mock race with a full proof Grand Prix 66 laps to complete a distance equivalent to the Spanish GP to take place in April. Massa has conducted two pitstop along the 307 miles that has rolled in the afternoon. It is curious to note the best time of Massa has done in batch simulation career with worn tires and fuel load.

Last Friday Ferrari simulated a Grand Prix here in Barcelona and its pilots were rolling in cronos of 1:21.5 today but have not been able to reach out to those records in the long rounds and Massa has shot almost all the time at 1:23 low.

The surprise of the day has the starring Giancarlo Fisichella Force with India, which at the last minute had taken a quick tour which has placed the modest team at the sixth square of the final classification.

In Renault still acomulando problems and it seems that the evolution of the car loses steam as they approach the first race. Today, Fernando has finished thirteenth and has not shot rounds long as we assume that their best record was achieved with little gasoline and new tires. Worse things have gone for Nelsinho Piquet who has finished eighteenth over two seconds of chrono won by Hamilton.

The fun side of the day has the starring Sebastian Vettel which has been mounted on the RedBull to test the new machine using a indisposition of David Coulthard who has been forced to stay in the motorhome.

The day has been marked by interruptions. Until seven times has had to display the red flag and interrupt the meeting for various problems of the pilots. Fortunately, we have not witnessed any accident during the whole session and the majority of interruptions have occurred by stops at the track.

Tomorrow last test session before the GP of Australia, the final hours for the teams and pilots preparing the cars towards the first race of the year.

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

Renault test notes.

Renault remained at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona today to continue with its final week of pre-season testing. The day began with cloudy and cool conditions, but the sun came out in the afternoon allowing the team to continue with its preparations for the new season in ideal conditions.

The team was running two R28s with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet remaining in the cars for a second day. Having worked on race procedures and pit stops yesterday, the team switched its attention to working on the performance of the cars today.

Fernando spent the day running through an aero programme and tried various things with the car, while Nelson resumed the set-up work he had begun at the end of yesterday. Fernando completed a total of 79 laps while Nelson covered 45. For the final day tomorrow the team will make a final push in the last day of running and will continue practicing race procedures to be ready for the opening race of the season in three weeks time.

"It was a good day, especially as it was dry for the whole day," said Alonso. "We continued testing the latest parts and updates before Melbourne and it was a good time to check that everything is working well. We still need to find some performance in the car, but we have the potential and we just need to discover it. There is only one day of testing left, and we need to fully attack tomorrow to make the most of it."

Nelson Piquet commented, "We did not complete as many laps as we would have liked, but it was still a productive day and we learnt some things in the morning and gathered some interesting data. As a rookie, time in the car is so valuable and everytime I drive the car I feel more and more comfortable. For sure it would be nice to have some more time to prepare for the first race, but we have made the most of the time we had available. We are back to race simulations tomorrow, and if we have time we will try and do some long runs."

Christian Silk, chief test engineer added, "Good circuit conditions today, so we could get on with our programmes. We had some interesting stuff to try that had arrived from the factory and we go some good results from that. We also did some aerodynamic development and some chassis set-up work, which gave some positive results. So another good day's work, and we'll take that into tomorrow and continue with our preparations for the first race in Melbourne."

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

Times by alonso at this same track right after the launch on R28

1st feb : 1.22.889

2nd feb : 1.22.938

3rd feb : 1.22.509

Almost a month full of development.. todays times are absolutely not representative of r28's potential and the laps were surely not done on low fuel today. I expect regies to be much faster than that.

[Fed up 0]

It looks like Nelsinho is gonna have a shocker

FI & Williams will have good early pace, but will run out of cash as the season progresses

BMW will have a slow start

Redbull could be the dark horses

Kimi, Lewis & Massa will be the front runners - heikki will struggle initially but will come good in the end

Nando will have some stirling performances in the midfield with the occasion podium

Boudica will continue to post lap times for the entire ferrari team

Enjoy

[Fed up 0]

Times by alonso at this same track right after the launch on R28

1st feb : 1.22.889

2nd feb : 1.22.938

3rd feb : 1.22.509

Almost a month full of development.. todays times are absolutely not representative of r28's potential and the laps were surely not done on low fuel today. I expect regies to be much faster than that.

I disagree - tomorrow is the last test before the race proper. If there is no pace now, how are they going to magic front running speed in a simulated environment. It is also worth noting that the Australia and Asia rounds are particularly important because the teams will be away from their bases for several GP - Sandbagging is a false economy especially given that Nando is returning to the team after a year away.

Nando will probably be faster, but so will everyone else.

[Max Mosley 2]

Yeah - it's harder than you think to compare times from different test sessions because the conditions will be quite different now to how they were a month ago.

About sandbagging: I wonder what the thinking regarding that is? On the one hand, no one would want to reveal their pace if they can hide it, but on the other hand, I would have thought the teams would easily be able to tell who is sandbagging by carefully looking at the telemetry data for other teams.

[David Adams 0]

Telemetry data? What telemetry data?

I figure all the teams really have is the sector times, which don't help much....unless the driver is on the limit, then you can equate how much quicker they get with fuel loss and tyre wear.

I agree on the sand bagging though, there is a point for a lot of the time when new developments are been tested, but they really need to know what the car handles like over the 1 lap, ready for qualifying, or just setting the car up more towards quali.

Ferrari and McLaren don't run at the top of the time sheets so often for the fun of it

[Panchito 0]

It looks like Nelsinho is gonna have a shocker

FI & Williams will have good early pace, but will run out of cash as the season progresses

BMW will have a slow start

Redbull could be the dark horses

Kimi, Lewis & Massa will be the front runners - heikki will struggle initially but will come good in the end

Nando will have some stirling performances in the midfield with the occasion podium

Boudica will continue to post lap times for the entire ferrari team

Enjoy

Do you really think that Frank and Patrick are that stupid?

[goferrarigo 0]

Yeah. Don't ride with a mad Kati! She'd like us all to get a good a##-kicking I think...

Yeah. You can picture her shouting,'He got weed' 'He got weed' Again and again

10. F. Alonso Renault R28 1:23.112 +1.878 44 pit

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

I like the way Force India end up 6 and 10, even though this is just testing, coming from the very fag end of the grid, it is a pretty good acompishment.

Honda just tested with no brakes.

It looks like Nelsinho is gonna have a shocker

FI & Williams will have good early pace, but will run out of cash as the season progresses

BMW will have a slow start

Redbull could be the dark horses

Kimi, Lewis & Massa will be the front runners - heikki will struggle initially but will come good in the end

Nando will have some stirling performances in the midfield with the occasion podium

Boudica will continue to post lap times for the entire ferrari team

Enjoy

FI have very reputable sponsers like Reliance Industries and ICICI bank and Kingfisher Airlines and Liquor (VJM's core business). With the Reliance support i would really doubt it would run out of cash. Reliance is one of the largest companies in India today and their owner, Mukesh Ambani is in the top 5 richest men in the world.

Also found the final update of SA testing:

Super Aguri Honda has confirmed that it will sit out the final pre-season group test in Barcelona this week.

As every other outfit got up and running at the Circuit de Catalunya on a damp Monday morning, word began to emerge that the financially embattled Leafield based squad has been forced once again to yield to its political problems.

Super Aguri's transporters, however, have been at the circuit for some time, as team boss Aguri Suzuki late last week commenced crisis talks with Honda officials in Tokyo.

"As talks continue, we have decided to focus our efforts on preparing for the first race in Australia as the freight leaves shortly. We shall therefore not be testing this week in Barcelona," the team confirmed.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news...225142748.shtml

[Max Mosley 2]

Exactly Ankit! I can imagine it too!

Telemetry data? What telemetry data?

I figure all the teams really have is the sector times, which don't help much....unless the driver is on the limit, then you can equate how much quicker they get with fuel loss and tyre wear.

I agree on the sand bagging though, there is a point for a lot of the time when new developments are been tested, but they really need to know what the car handles like over the 1 lap, ready for qualifying, or just setting the car up more towards quali.

Ferrari and McLaren don't run at the top of the time sheets so often for the fun of it

With all the espionage scandals I'm sure they gather more data than just sector times. Presumably they also have at least speed trap times. Studying "public" data intelligently by comparing it to computer models and previous runs could give a lot of info. I've read (though I would like to know if this really happens) that they record and analyse the sound of other cars too, because you can tell an awful lot from that, like how quickly they are accelerating and how high they are revving. Using lasers to look at the position of another car might be possible too. Also your team's drivers could surely tell you how hard any other driver is pushing, so you can probably see through that ruse, and they would probably be able to tell how one car's performance compares to their own very accurately. If they pay attention when on track at the same time they can compare acceleration, breaking, top-speed etc. I'm pretty sure all the teams will have a very good idea of everyone's relative pace by now.

[HandyNZL 1]

Sandbagging is BS - you can not test your car and it's improvements by sandbagging. You have to go 100% to test the compenent/car/compound/setup otherwise the results are going to be false positives or true negatives or positive negatives or negative falses...thats so confushing me!

Thus, you can sandbag some of the time, but you can not sandbag all of the time, thus the fastest lap of the day will be your fastest possible lap of the day.

So in conclusion my dear fellow race watcherers, sandbagging is only useful when there are floods.

[Fed up 0]

Do you really think that Frank and Patrick are that stupid?

Stupid has nothing to do with it. To maintain relative performance in F1 one needs continued development and updates - Williams is now an independent team with a fraction of the budget of 90% of the grid. They will start off fast, but I predict the richer teams will catch and overtake them before too long.

Just my view

[HandyNZL 1]

Their engines are essentially free this year as they are running Nakajima - a Toyota prodigy. They have more money up their sleeves this year than last, and certainly the year before.

I agree it takes money to maintain continual development, but there are wise heads in that team, and their budget this year is ceratinly larger than last.

[B.P. 0]

Sandbagging is BS - you can not test your car and it's improvements by sandbagging. You have to go 100% to test the compenent/car/compound/setup otherwise the results are going to be false positives or true negatives or positive negatives or negative falses...thats so confushing me!

Thus, you can sandbag some of the time, but you can not sandbag all of the time, thus the fastest lap of the day will be your fastest possible lap of the day.

So in conclusion my dear fellow race watcherers, sandbagging is only useful when there are floods.

Yep, I agree.....whats the point of practicing if its not done at 100%.

[Panchito 0]

Stupid has nothing to do with it. To maintain relative performance in F1 one needs continued development and updates - Williams is now an independent team with a fraction of the budget of 90% of the grid. They will start off fast, but I predict the richer teams will catch and overtake them before too long.

Just my view

Last year Williams were more competitive as the season unfolded, offcourse we dont have the same money as work teams, but RBS, Lenovo and AT&T aren

[hookedon-f1 0]

It would be better if we had more teams fighting for the points..... will be interesting come melbourne !!!!

[Kati 0]

Update: 12:25 - www.f1today.nl

coureur team wagen tijd verschil #

1. J. Trulli Toyota TF108 1:20.801 40 pit

2. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB4 1:21.258 +0.457 35 pit

3. N. Rosberg Williams FW30 1:21.293 +0.492 23 pit

4. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB4 1:21.368 +0.567 38 pit

5. N. Piquet Jr. Renault R28 1:21.443 +0.642 32 pit

6. F. Alonso Renault R28 1:21.454 +0.653 51 pit

7. K. Nakajima Williams FW30 1:21.796 +0.995 32 pit

8. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-23 1:22.011 +1.210 31 pit

9. T. Glock Toyota TF108 1:22.155 +1.354 41 pit

10. G. Fisichella Force India VJM-01 1:22.233 +1.432 37 pit

11. F. Massa Ferrari F2008 1:22.286 +1.485 16 pit

12. R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1.08 1:22.299 +1.498 54 pit

13. K. R

[Kati 0]

Update: 13:12 - www.f1today.nl

coureur team wagen tijd verschil #

1. J. Trulli Toyota TF108 1:20.801 44 pit

2. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB4 1:21.258 +0.457 39 pit

3. N. Rosberg Williams FW30 1:21.293 +0.492 34 pit

4. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB4 1:21.368 +0.567 45 pit

5. N. Piquet Jr. Renault R28 1:21.443 +0.642 41 pit

6. F. Alonso Renault R28 1:21.454 +0.653 61 pit

7. K. Nakajima Williams FW30 1:21.796 +0.995 79 pit

8. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-23 1:22.011 +1.210 38 pit

9. T. Glock Toyota TF108 1:22.155 +1.354 43 pit

10. G. Fisichella Force India VJM-01 1:22.233 +1.432 37 pit

11. F. Massa Ferrari F2008 1:22.286 +1.485 34 pit

12. R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1.08 1:22.299 +1.498 64 pit

13. K. R

[Schumikonen 2]

'The Truth Is That We Simply Lack A Car To Fight For The Podium'

Fernando Alonso has downgraded his chances of winning a third world championship this year to just "30 per cent", but denies that he is being overly pessimistic.

"No, not at all," the former McLaren driver told Spanish radio Cadena SER whilst in Barcelona for the final test before Melbourne.

"To say that we will be between position seven and nine on the grid in Australia is not pessimistic, I just respond honestly to questions.

"The truth is that we simply lack a car to fight for the podium," Alonso, who returned to Renault at the end of a tumultuous 2007 campaign, added.

The Spaniard estimates the per-lap deficit of his R28 single seater to the front runners as about half a second per lap.

"The car is better than it was last year, but we continue to struggle with the Bridgestone tyres," he explained.

http://www.totalf1.com/fullstory/view/2463...For_The_Podium/

Now, can anybody explain if Alonso is so good developing cars, like he "did" with Mclaren last season, Why can't he help Renault to in a better shape now? probably he is lying here, or the press is saying something that he never said or he never had thoses abilities many fans of him thought he had, (this would explain that he is saying that driving without TC is so difficult) or maybe like must drivers he is just good when he have a good car and he is not good at all developing the car, he is almost rulling himself out the WDC by now and this have not even started yet.

[Kati 0]

Trulli's best lap may be cancelled because they're claiming he cut chicane

[hookedon-f1 0]

Looks like some teams are trying different things. Times are all over the place. What's the weather like Katy?

[goferrarigo 0]

Now, can anybody explain if Alonso is so good developing cars, like he "did" with Mclaren last season, Why can't he help Renault to in a better shape now? probably he is lying here, or the press is saying something that he never said or he never had thoses abilities many fans of him thought he had, (this would explain that he is saying that driving without TC is so difficult) or maybe like must drivers he is just good when he have a good car and he is not good at all developing the car, he is almost rulling himself out the WDC by now and this have not even started yet.

I think he maybe playing himself down. On Melbourne i expect to see him in the top 5...

Trulli's best lap may be cancelled because they're claiming he cut chicane

Well a Toyota being half a second faster is too suspisious to be true...

[Fed up 0]

FINAL TIMES

TIEMPOS FINALES

1.- Trulli - 1:20.801 -83 vueltas

2.- Coulthard - 1:21.258 -+0.457 - 76 vueltas

3.- Rosberg - 1:21.293 - +0.492 - 77 vueltas

4.- Kovalainen -1:21.309 - +0.508 - 87 vueltas

5.- Webber -1:21.368- +0.567- 81 vueltas

6.- Piquet - 1:21.443- +0.642 - 114 vueltas

7.- Alonso - 1:21454- +0.653 - 128 vueltas

8.- Nakajima - 1:21.796 - +995 - 124 vueltas

9.- Raikkonen - 1:21.933-+1.132 - 80 vueltas

10.- Hamilton - 1:22.011- +1.210 - 103 vueltas

11.- Glock - 1:22.155- +1.354 - 66 vueltas

12.- Fisichella - 1:22.233 -+1.432 - 102 vueltas

13.- Massa - 1:22.286 -+1.485 - 49 vueltas

14.- Kubica - 1:22.299- +1.498 - 93 vueltas

15.- Bourdais - 1:22.457- +1.656 - 98 vueltas

16.- Sutil - 1:22.521 - +1.720 - 107 vueltas

17.- Heidfeld - 1:22.624 -+1-823 - 61 vueltas

18.- Button - 1:22.754 - +2.953 - 89 vueltas

19.- Wurz - 1:24.154 -+3.353 - 109 vueltas

[BradSpeedMan 6]

somethin very weird going on with testing today....

[hookedon-f1 0]

back to the sandbagging theory hee hee