2015 Pre-season Testing

[hollus]

Regarding how winter testing times in Barceona used to be better than race and quali times in may... this might have been true but now it is not, or at least not by such a large margin anymore.
Pre-2014 the colder, denser air gave cars more downforce (and more drag), and this still happens, but pre-2014 it also gave them more oxygen and hence more power. This is no longer happening post 2014, and only a marginal give-the-compressor-less-work effect remains. So we should expect much less difference than pre-2014.

[andartop]

From gpupdate.net:
'Concussed Alonso to stay in hospital overnight'
(http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3222 ... overnight/)

Hope this is enough to put (at least some) of the conspiracy theories at rest.
A concussion could explain why:
1. He seemed semi-conscious / unconscious right after the accident.
2. He was taken to hospital.
3. He is being kept in hospital for monitoring overnight.

In addition to the earlier official statement that CT scan results showed no damage, it is good news. Certainly doesn't sound 'career ending' like some were quick to suggest..

The need to triple check that the car was ok, even if it 'seemed not to have sustained lots of damage', explains why they decided not to send Button out, and rightly so. There is no evidence whatsoever that the car 'zapped' Alonso.

Button running in the evening had been decided earlier, to evenly spread mileage between the two drivers because of all the problems they've had so far, not because Alonso was ill.

Before people start replying that this still doesn't explain how he went off track in the first place, or why it seemed 'weird' to Vettel and a trackside photographer, I would suggest we wait a little bit longer to hear from Alonso himself, since there doesn't seem to be any video footage.

[turbof1]

Guys, I'm going to kindly ask to refrain from speculating about Alonso's condition (from what we gathered he's relative ok now) or what caused the crash. Don't worry, we will get the info when Mclaren and/or Alonso are ready to give it.

edit: I moved that discussion to its own thread: http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... =1&t=21607

[Mui]

So just for fun after 8 days of testing, what's everyone's rating of McLaren Honda? 1 being the lowest 5 being the highest.

[Harsha]

3/5. The Mc-honda is good car it has lot of issues to solve. Once they solve it they will be 2nd fastest car i believe

[SilverArrow10]

2 out of 5. If this were last year McLaren would have had a pretty decent test so far. They will catch up.

[giantfan10]

3/5. The Mc-honda is good car it has lot of issues to solve. Once they solve it they will be 2nd fastest car i believe

based on what exactly? your hope?

[Harsha]

3/5. The Mc-honda is good car it has lot of issues to solve. Once they solve it they will be 2nd fastest car i believe

based on what exactly? your hope?

My hope is that Engine is the one to blame now than the car design. (Its my assumption)
that Mc will be much competitive if its sorted out on most of tracks and can easily fight with Williams/ RBR considering battle is between those two for the second fastest car in 2014.
When they are running they are not setting so slow lap times as well. It gives me optimism considering where RBR was at this stage last year.

[SectorOne]

Any particular reason for the gap in the last test? Another series occupying the track during that time?

[Harsha]

Now this is interesting

FIA inspectors in Barcelona the changes to the engines of Mercedes checked, Ferrari and Renault in three points: installation, reliability, performance. Then it turned out that all three have badly calculated. Apparently differs the numbering of the engine manufacturer and the scrutineers two to three tokens.

This means that the incumbent engine supplier to date a higher number token will be charged. To the detriment of Honda, because they also reduce the average remaining tokens. How many developmental tokens each manufacturer has used over the winter, will be announced after the technical inspection of cars in Melbourne.

[CBeck113]

Any particular reason for the gap in the last test? Another series occupying the track during that time?

I's say (guess) that it is to give the teams time for updates - even if it is just three days, all the teams can get new parts to the track, fit them and have them check by Charlie before the test starts. Don't forget - Austraila is only two weeks later, so the cars will only have one more week at their factories before shipment to the race.

[f1316]

3/5. The Mc-honda is good car it has lot of issues to solve. Once they solve it they will be 2nd fastest car i believe

based on what exactly? your hope?

My hope is that Engine is the one to blame now than the car design. (Its my assumption)
that Mc will be much competitive if its sorted out on most of tracks and can easily fight with Williams/ RBR considering battle is between those two for the second fastest car in 2014.
When they are running they are not setting so slow lap times as well. It gives me optimism considering where RBR was at this stage last year.

I've been quite fascinated by how confident mclaren are about their eventual performance- it indicates to me that they're seeing extremely good numbers in the wind tunnel/dyno.

Of course, wouldn't be the first time a team has been confident of wind tunnel numbers only to find them missing on track, but the fact they're not setting expectations low in order to be sure to exceed them (given a first year with a new engine) makes me think they're very sure that they've got something good.

Mclaren do tend towards being bullish/maybe even boastful, so, as with everything else, I guess we'll wait and see

[Vasconia]

According to what I have seen/felt/noticet/whatever:

1. Mercedes: great pace, great reliabitly, fast car. Everything looks great and Rosberg started to show a little glimpse of whay they can do. Absolutely favourites.

2. Williams/Ferrari: Both cars look quite good on the track, with a remarkable pace and a good reliabilty. Difficult to say which are is better but obviously Williams has a better engine.

3. Rb: I have no doubts about the quality of the chasis but the engine doestn look so good.

4. Lotus: obviosuly the car looks better than its predecessor but I dont think that they are so fast.

5. Mclaren: Ufff, the chasis looks spectacular but.... I dont know, so many problems to judge properly how good the car is.

[Richard]

Any particular reason for the gap in the last test? Another series occupying the track during that time?

It's the same every year. They are doing 3 tests of 4 days each. With a rest between each test to digest the results, maintain the car, and make new parts/spares.

[SectorOne]

Any particular reason for the gap in the last test? Another series occupying the track during that time?

It's the same every year. They are doing 3 tests of 4 days each. With a rest between each test to digest the results, maintain the car, and make new parts/spares.

But theres a gap in the last test, 2 days off then the last day of the test.

Test 3
26 Feb Circuit de Catalunya
27 Feb Circuit de Catalunya
28 Feb Circuit de Catalunya
1 Mar Circuit de Catalunya

Edit, im an idiot haha, damn February!
I was thinking "ok they have a break the 29th and 30th of February.....