2010/2011 winter testing

[marcush.]

I´m not questioning their qualities ..nobody who reaches F1 is useless...but seriously ,is buemi a champ in the making? or Liuzzi? or Alguersuari(I don´t think many could write his name correctly after almost 2 Years in f1,but you would feel confident at the same time he has what it takes to suceed in F1?)

[Giblet]

Why not?

Put almost any moderately decent (re non pay) driver in a championship capable car and he will likely be able to deliver a championship. See Webber and Button for reference.

If any driver on the grid was in that Brawn last year they would have been a contender. It's all about time and place. If Newey was able to keep delivering chassis to both RBR and STR, who knows who would shine? Maybe Buemi would be out-qualifying Webber right behind Vettel every race.

[djos]

Comparing Webber and Button is ridiculous!

Button isn't half the Driver Webber is and is only great if the car is perfect, Webber on the other hand has a track record of putting crap cars much further up the grid than they deserve to be!

[Giblet]

You are completely missing the point, so here is what I am talking about spelled out a little cleaner:

Both drivers (good or bad as you see fit) had similar situations. They are both F1 drivers who have jumped around from team to team _usually_ with a decent record of beating teammates and getting some OK results here and there.

Then they finally get into a car that is capable of winning the championship, and like most drivers on the grid, are able to produce enough points finishes and/or wins to be in the running for the title at the end of the year. This is common to Webber and Button. I could care less who is the more/less talented/liked or whatever.

I am not here to yin yang about drivers relative merits, but to state that just about any driver worth his salt (ie not a pay driver or rookie) can/might deliver a championship when given a winning car.

[marcush.]

time moves quick in F1 Button had barrichello firmly under control for the best part of 2009 ..and he stil is notthat far behind Hamilton in race and championship that you could say he is not worth anything.It was Button who won that drivers title ,Barrichello was not coming 2nd..

but,Giblet:any driver would win in that car? ask Barrichello who partnered Schumacher in championship winning cars,Coulthard ,Massa,Kovalainen and this year you may ask Webber,Vettel both managing to fail to win it when the car is so dominant....No.
Button did not put a foot wrong .the opportunity came along he grabbed it with both hands and made it work for him.
contrast Webber:He says he has achieved more than he would have thought was possible already...does he really want to be champ?Vettel has more passion for it ,and alonso must win this,at all cost,methinks..Only matched by Hamiltons need to pull a miracle in the last corner...

[Giblet]

I think it goes without saying the driver who is the better of the pairing (barring horrible bad luck) in the best car would be the one with the best chance of taking the title.

We're going all semantic here straying from my sole point.

"Any decent F1 driver can win a championship in a dominant car (if they beat their teammate)".

Not saying they will mind you but they can.

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On to testing, how much useful data can a team extrapolate from a rookie who has never turned a wheel in an F1 car, in a 2010 car, with an eye for the 2011 ride?

I've heard many teams rave about a driver able to detect small setup changes during tests (Senna's first Williams test comes to mind), but that's not really helping develop the car.

Thoughts?

[marcush.]

some got it some not ,I´m not so sure if a good test driver is also a good race driver...dlr and wurz spring to mind there ..and Petersson /Alesi may be the other extreme...I have seen people first time in a car giving very valuable feedback helping improve the car all day and others babbling around demanding things and you got the feeling you turn in circles ever getting smaller but not improving the car even though the guy is ever more delighted with the setup.
the car(tyres) is usually giving more answers than the driver ..
I see no reason why F1 should be any different than other classes ,but one would expect
a decent level to start from in F1 of course ..these are not litlle birds flying first time,you know..a car usually has 4 wheels even in F1 so the basics are really not that
different...But hey a end of season test with obsolete tyres will not yield much in terms of new setup directions hopefully..

[ESPImperium]

Young Driver Lineup:

Red Bull-Renault = Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren-Mercedes = Garry Paffett & Oliver Turvey
Ferarri = Jules Bianchi
Renault = Jerome D'Ambrosio & Mikhil Aleshin
Mercedes = Sam Bird
Williams-Cosworth = Pastor Maldanado & Dean Stoneman
Force India-Mercedes = Yelmer Buurman & Antonio Felix da Costa
Sauber-Ferarri = Sergio Perez & Estaban Guiteriez
STR-Ferarri = Jean-Eric Vergne
Lotus Racing-Cosworth = TBC (Likley to be Nabil Jeffri & Fairuz Fauzy)
Hispania-Cosworth = Pastor Maldanado & TBC
Virgin-Cosworth = Jerome D'Ambrosio & Luiz Razia

Pirelli test:
Williams and Hispania are the only ones to confirm with Rubens Barichello and Pastor Maldanado respectivly. Id recon that each one of the teams will let each driver try out the Pirellis for at least one full day, with exeption to maybes Renault, who will want to have Kubica in the seat for 2 full days if they want him to be their #1 next year.

[Mysticf1]

Mark Webber will not have the chance to test the new Pirelli rubber next week. Sebastian Vettel is driving on both days for Red Bull.

Hrmmmph

[djos]

Mark Webber will not have the chance to test the new Pirelli rubber next week. Sebastian Vettel is driving on both days for Red Bull.

WTF!!!!

[Byronrhys]

Guys Webber is scheduled for surgery thats why Seb is testing for those days, Please don't make misinformed remarks.

[Mysticf1]

i dont see any misinformed remarks?

What surgery is he having?

[djos]

Guys Webber is scheduled for surgery thats why Seb is testing for those days, Please don't make misinformed remarks.

I thought he had most of the titanium removed last xmas break?

[Giblet]

Plates usually come out first, and often there are pins to be removed later. Because he needed a speedy recovery hey might have opted to do two smaller surgeries with smaller recovery times, instead of one big one that would have had him miss all the winter testing instead of just some of it.

[Holm86]

Just read that McLaren wont be using either Hamilton or Button in their Pirelli test. Dont understand that. Why wont they let at least one of their drivers try out the new rubbers instead of just Gary Paffet??