Vodafone McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes

[Schulteiss]

Slightly off topic however, isn't a simulator worth 3 pre season tests (example 2009, 2010, 2011) thus being more of a waste then the old system of all year testing?

In 2009 simulator was a disaster and this resulted in a dog
In 2010 they always had less df than their rivals and took many months to make the F-Duct work
In 2011 we know it, various exhausts systems no reliability no performance
In 2012 Hamilton already started moaning that the car is behaving differently than on the sim

Seem the sim has worked correctly only in the 15 days between last 2011 Barcelona test and Melbourne
Paddy Lowe wants to bin their wind tunnel, they should seriously think to bin their sim too

Hamilton specifically said that the car is behaving differently to the sim because the 2012 tyres are different, and that data will be injected in the sim after Jerez.

[Pup]

Since the car already seems quick and well behaved, I'd be perfectly happy if they've found a major discrepancy in their sim data, as it gives them an obvious avenue to improve. My idea on the exhaust not doing what they thought it would is just wild speculation, but it could be the reason, perhaps the most likely reason, that they don't have the rear downforce they expected. We'll know soon enough.

[Neno]

Slightly off topic however, isn't a simulator worth 3 pre season tests (example 2009, 2010, 2011) thus being more of a waste then the old system of all year testing?

In 2009 simulator was a disaster and this resulted in a dog
In 2010 they always had less df than their rivals and took many months to make the F-Duct work
In 2011 we know it, various exhausts systems no reliability no performance
In 2012 Hamilton already started moaning that the car is behaving differently than on the sim

Seem the sim has worked correctly only in the 15 days between last 2011 Barcelona test and Melbourne
Paddy Lowe wants to bin their wind tunnel, they should seriously think to bin their sim too

Hamilton specifically said that the car is behaving differently to the sim because the 2012 tyres are different, and that data will be injected in the sim after Jerez.

all f1 teams gets feedback on tyers from Pirelli (how they work) before even car is made to get on track. that is how you build the f1 car, not reverse. You cant build the car without data on how will new tyers will work. it's something else, not tyers

[raymondu999]

Yes, but they could have made a mistake on the model fed into the simulator still.

[gray41]

Anyone think we could see some new bits on the car in a weeks time in Barcelona?

Would it be worth them testing other exhaust solutions?

[Richard]

... or simply that the Pirelli data is generic and the test data from running on their own car will enable them to fine tune the set up.

Of course the single digit temperatures probably have a big part to play too.

[Pup]

Anyone think we could see some new bits on the car in a weeks time in Barcelona?

Would it be worth them testing other exhaust solutions?

I think it's almost 100% that we'll see another exhaust, if only because they didn't run any options in Jerez, and they said at the launch that they had multiple concepts.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Anyone think we could see some new bits on the car in a weeks time in Barcelona?

Would it be worth them testing other exhaust solutions?

I think it's almost 100% that we'll see another exhaust, if only because they didn't run any options in Jerez, and they said at the launch that they had multiple concepts.

I think you're absolutely correct. I suspect we'll see the other teams try a MaCa or Ferrari type exhaust as well.

[gray41]

Plus it would be worth running something conventional incase of a ban to the current design come Melbourne.

[ianwit]

McLaren have already admitted the wind tunnel is not up to scratch and are in the process of replacing it. The sim profile for 2012 has to rely on wind tunnel data until they can test the car for real. As many others have already said the flo vis was done as late as possible to provide corroboration for the tunnel and sim. When they do flo vis on day 1 you can start to panic

[Pup]

I think it was Brawn last year who mentioned in an interview about an initially fast car potentially masking essential problems. Take Ferrari last year, for example. They were pretty confident heading into the first race only to find that the speed they had in testing didn't scale like their rivals, and it put them on their heels for the rest of the season.

That's why I'm glad to see the flowvis and perfectly happy if they find problems.

[Boost]

In 2009 simulator was a disaster and this resulted in a dog
In 2010 they always had less df than their rivals and took many months to make the F-Duct work
In 2011 we know it, various exhausts systems no reliability no performance
In 2012 Hamilton already started moaning that the car is behaving differently than on the sim

Seem the sim has worked correctly only in the 15 days between last 2011 Barcelona test and Melbourne
Paddy Lowe wants to bin their wind tunnel, they should seriously think to bin their sim too

Hamilton specifically said that the car is behaving differently to the sim because the 2012 tyres are different, and that data will be injected in the sim after Jerez.

all f1 teams gets feedback on tyers from Pirelli (how they work) before even car is made to get on track. that is how you build the f1 car, not reverse. You cant build the car without data on how will new tyers will work. it's something else, not tyers

The teams get some basic data from the tyre supplier it is then down to their own simulation software to model the behaviour. McLaren have done this very well in the past (they weren't affected by the switch from Michelin to Bridgestone in the way that Renault were, for instance).

From Lewis' comments it would appear that the tyres are holding on for longer than originally expected, so they can probably now load them harder and extract more grip.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

McLaren MP4-27 triple exhaust? Didn't think this was legal? Right click>view image

[raymondu999]

What exactly is "triple" about it?

[Pup]

Probably just a clamp I'd think.