2012 Testing - Barcelona 2: 1 - 4 March

[Sam3219]

Considering the problem RBR is facing with their RB8 v2.0, do you guys think they will bring RB8 V1.0 to Melbourne instead?

If reliability is really an issue, I would think that bringing a less developed but reliable RB8 to Melbourne would be better than having a marginally quicker but unreliable car.

I'd say that this is the logical thing to do and fully expect that RBR will follow this route.

The championship is neither won nor lost in the first race, and getting some decent points on the board at this stage is better than taking a more risky approach to get maximum points, in my opinion.

[CHT]

Considering the problem RBR is facing with their RB8 v2.0, do you guys think they will bring RB8 V1.0 to Melbourne instead?

If reliability is really an issue, I would think that bringing a less developed but reliable RB8 to Melbourne would be better than having a marginally quicker but unreliable car.

I'd say that this is the logical thing to do and fully expect that RBR will follow this route.

The championship is neither won nor lost in the first race, and getting some decent points on the board at this stage is better than taking a more risky approach to get maximum points, in my opinion.

Webber did mentioned that the latest upgrade is not much of a different, so I guess the performance gap between the 2 will be very marginal at this stage.

One possibility is that RBR has never had the intention of running their v2.0 at Melbourne and they are just using the final 2 days to prepare themselves for mid season upgrade.

[george1981]

I am going to speculate again that some of the teams have been heating suspension parts and the resulting changes in flexibility are hard to manage. Maybe they are trying to gain an aero effect with shaped suspension parts but the heat is an unwanted byproduct, and they are struggling to get enough cool air mixed in to negate the heated air. RBR now seem to be trying to suck the exhaust air down to the floor and maybe Ferrari will end up there too.
We sure did see a lot of heat tape on those rear susp parts.
I guess with the new regs, the exhaust was going to be blowing onto something, whether it be the tires, suspension, or body parts. Suspension seems like a logical path having less affect than the tires or bodywork.

As far as Ferrari is concerned, my gut was telling me that it might be chassis rigidity or something, but the blowing of the suspension may provide an explanation for their balance problems over time. Perhaps their wishbones are becoming more flexible as they heat up. That would definitely have an effect on the car's handling to some degree. Whatever the problem is, I hope Ferrari fix it. I'd like to see somebody beat Red Bull this year

If the wishbones are getting too hot the epoxy resin in them could be going through it's glass transition temperature and becoming flexible. This is a reversible process so when the suspension cooled down the epoxy would stiffen up again. I would have thought it would be something that was easy to test though they could monitor the temperature of the wishbones easy enough to rule that out.

[kalinka]

I don't think they have a problem with overheating suspension arms. It's testing, so they could bolt on whatever they want to protect that area, even if it's illegal. Nowdays they have a choice of very advanced and lightweight heat protection materials too, so it shouldn't be a problem (except costs ). Also, suspension arms should be shaped aero-neutral by regulations, so blowing them for downforce is not an option IMHO.Sure they can deflect exhaust gases somewhat, but not for direct downforce, just for managing the flow.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Want to get everyone's opinion. I have read two separate things; I've seen James Allen say that some teams were using DRS during their race sims. And I've seen Luigi Mazzola say no. What say you?
I completely understand they're not running the entire lap with the DRS open, but on the front straight for instance. Some trap speeds were significantly higher than others which can only be attributed to DRS.

[Maynard G. Krebs]

Why wouldn't they use DRS at some point?

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Why wouldn't they use DRS at some point?

Of course this is what I think, but some swear it doesn't happen. Again, I'm not saying run all around the track with the slot open, but it makes sense they would use it at times on the straight. After all, it is used in the race & they are doing "race simulations".

Thanks I was wanting peoples opinions. Looking for someone besides James Allen saying some teams used DRS.

[raymondu999]

I say it's pointless for teams to do illegal things in testing - they want to test how they perform to the set of constraints that they'll be playing to once the season starts. Otherwise they'd just be fooling themselves, and just making a show for others.

Unless they are able to replicate what they do in testing; be it a trick exhaust configuration or race pace; into the real season - then it's just wasted time.

(this post is in reply to both Crucial and kalinka)

[kalinka]

I think it's no point to use DRS during race sim. If you want to estimate DRS functioning during race, you could try it during a regular high-fuel run with used tyres. Of course it doesn't prevent anybody to use it during every lap, but what would be the puprose ? Using the DRS 2-3 times during a race-sim wouldn't change your total time significantly. Of course maybe that's the reason why they really used it 2-3 times. Reliability maybe?

@raymondu999 > +1, I just meant, if Ferrari had a problem with overheating wishbones, they could bolt on quickly anything that day (even illegal ), and it allows them to continue testing. They could solve the problem later with legal parts. So it's unlikely that they let the car run with that problem for days.

[Afterburner]

Ferrari for example didn't used DRS during the last race sim.

[AbulafiaF1]

Hi guys... finally finished crunching the numbers... you can find the complete testing analysis here, if you are interested:

http://abulafiaf1.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/331/

[pocketmoon]

Great work! Very balanced

[Neno]

Ferrari for example didn't used DRS during the last race sim.

neither did Grosjean, but I'm not sure about Kimi!?

[Neno]

Great work! Very balanced

I can't agree, how can he call Lotus mediocre, all his basework on Lotus was just some random conclusion, all because they missed 4 days of testing (i mean didnt have heavy fuel running lap times) He saying Ferrari is third team of testing... Ferrari have one of the worst winter testings in this decade I can only agree with him about RBR and Mclaren, i watched all, and i saying all videos from Barcelona. This two teams look superb fast, Lotus is little behind not much, same go for Mercedes, and Ferrari is diffirent story. I congrats him for this major work, but statistic is one thing, and seeing car on track is other (even just on videos).

[AbulafiaF1]

Great work! Very balanced

I can't agree, how can he call Lotus mediocre, all his basework on Lotus was just some random conclusion, all because they missed 4 days of testing (i mean didnt have heavy fuel running lap times) He saying Ferrari is third team of testing... Ferrari have one of the worst winter testings in this decade I can only agree with him about RBR and Mclaren, i watched all, and i saying all videos from Barcelona. This two teams look superb fast, Lotus is little behind not much, same go for Mercedes, and Ferrari is diffirent story. I congrats him for this major work, but statistic is one thing, and seeing car on track is other (even just on videos).

Huh? Did you actually take the time to read it? Where in earth do I say Ferrari is the 3rd team, pray tell? And where do I say that Lotus seem mediocre? Seriously - you should read before you post, people here aren't dumb.