2015 Pre-season Testing

[turbof1]

Williams-Lotus-Ferrari stints on medium compound. Ofcourse we dont know the fuel.
The lap times for Romain Grosjean's latest stint on the medium compound: 1:28.4, 1:27.5, 1:27.9, 1:27.9, 1:28.5, 1:31.1, 1:28.8, 1:30.0 and 1:30.8.

Kimi Raikkonen is on a longer stint on the medium compound, setting these times: 1:27.4, 1:27.4, 1:27.7, 1:27.6, 1:27.6, 1:27.7, 1:27.8, 1:28.2, 1:28.2 and 1:28.3.

Felipe Massa has returned from a longer stint on the medium tyres, setting these lap times: 1:28.1, 1:27.8, 1:27.7, 1:28.3, 1:28.4, 1:28.7, 1:29.1, 1:28.9, 1:29.1 and 1:28.8.

I recall Hamilton doing this in the morning yesterday on medium tyres:

Hamilton is pushing on, on the medium rubber. Since posting his 1m25.192s, he's completed a 1m26.040s, 1m25.947s, 1m26.224s, 1m26.063s and 1m26.480s.

What does that tell us...

A half tank run over a shorter distance vs. ¾ tank runs over a slightly longer distance.
Why, what does it tell you?

Uh we don't know anything about the amount of fuel they are having inside the tank. In the past we had confirmation that cars tend to run more fuel then the lap amount suggest.

Ferrari does show to have good race performance. We'll see if it counts towards Melbourne though; Mercedes for instance is rumored to bring substantial updates there, including a new FW.

[f1316]

But don't you think if we're comparing a 6 lap run to a 12 lap run, a reasonable explanation for the pace gap is that the 6 lap run is on lighter fuel?

[turbof1]

But don't you think if we're comparing a 6 lap run to a 12 lap run, a reasonable explanation for the pace gap is that the 6 lap run is on lighter fuel?

If this was a race I would follow that . This however is not a race. They are trying to simulate stints or even part of stints of a race. For instance that 6 laps run could be a simulation of the last few laps of either stint 1, 2 or 3. The amount of fuel hugely differs over those 3 stints. And Ferrari and Mercedes aren't necessarily simulating the same stint.

I could be wrong though and indeed they could be lighter on fuel. I just don't think we can just assume what they have in the tank.

[Andres125sx]

Uh we don't know anything about the amount of fuel they are having inside the tank. In the past we had confirmation that cars tend to run more fuel then the lap amount suggest.

If they´re not Ferrari, they tend to run lighter than any other team, we´ve seen that both on FP and pre-season on 2014

They´re too slow and need some media attention the only days they can, when the rest of teams do not push or run heavier than they

[Andres125sx]

That downvote was fast.....

I wonder where was his author past seasson, not looking at Ferrari that´s sure. It was a pun, but based on facts, past season Ferrari was the fastest both on some pre-season testing days, and on fridays. And we all know how fast they really were

[turbof1]

(For the record, I did not downvoted it)

It's never a good idea to use sarcasm on the internet .

[f1316]

But don't you think if we're comparing a 6 lap run to a 12 lap run, a reasonable explanation for the pace gap is that the 6 lap run is on lighter fuel?

If this was a race I would follow that . This however is not a race. They are trying to simulate stints or even part of stints of a race. For instance that 6 laps run could be a simulation of the last few laps of either stint 1, 2 or 3. The amount of fuel hugely differs over those 3 stints. And Ferrari and Mercedes aren't necessarily simulating the same stint.

I could be wrong though and indeed they could be lighter on fuel. I just don't think we can just assume what they have in the tank.

Agreed. But equally therefore jumping to the conclusion that Merc are 1 second a lap faster is baseless.

And whilst I agree that Ferrari have traditionally run lighter, a lot of the personel has changed which might well mean a shift in approach in that regard. I hardly think Ferrari is a team starved of media attention either...

[aleks_ader]

(For the record, I did not downvoted it)

It's never a good idea to use sarcasm on the internet .

Because all don't get it!

[turbof1]

Agreed. But equally therefore jumping to the conclusion that Merc are 1 second a lap faster is baseless.

Yes, I didn't claim that either. We are starting a bit brighter picture of testing, but it does not mean we should now make an all definin list of the pecking order.

[NathanOlder]

But don't you think if we're comparing a 6 lap run to a 12 lap run, a reasonable explanation for the pace gap is that the 6 lap run is on lighter fuel?

If this was a race I would follow that . This however is not a race. They are trying to simulate stints or even part of stints of a race. For instance that 6 laps run could be a simulation of the last few laps of either stint 1, 2 or 3. The amount of fuel hugely differs over those 3 stints. And Ferrari and Mercedes aren't necessarily simulating the same stint.

I could be wrong though and indeed they could be lighter on fuel. I just don't think we can just assume what they have in the tank.

Agreed. But equally therefore jumping to the conclusion that Merc are 1 second a lap faster is baseless.

And whilst I agree that Ferrari have traditionally run lighter, a lot of the personel has changed which might well mean a shift in approach in that regard. I hardly think Ferrari is a team starved of media attention either...

Its not totally baseless though, Merc finished the season with about a second in their pocket. With these cars being more evolution than revolution, id say basing a 1 second margin on that is not totally baseless.

[Chene_Mostert]

Looking at the times so far, it looks like Ferrari is running heavy today, or they are sandbagging or they are the slowest in 2015.

[Avocado]

11:23
And now Button also returns to the pits. It was another seven lap stint for McLaren, taking their total to 22 laps the day.

[Vasconia]

22 laps for Mclaren, hopefully this could be a normal day.

[Redragon]

What I don't understand from Mclaren is, knowing that Alonso was not coming why not to have Button driving the last two days

[George-Jung]

What I don't understand from Mclaren is, knowing that Alonso was not coming why not to have Button driving the last two days

Perhaps too much work for one person?