2017 F1 general testing thread

[Gerhardsa]

Times will inprove lot more.Seems that Ferarri run better on harder compaunds,than Mercedes.Also Red Bull and Renault haven't run yet the red tyres.
For now Ferarri is the best car on track.

Yeah, I doubt that. I hope they are close to Merc, but ahead...doubt it
Don't get me wrong. I would love for someone to take the fight to Merc! Hamilton driving off into the distance is hardly what I call exciting.
Will be great if Vettel and Kimi can get in among the action there.

[Gerhardsa]

It would be interesting to know how much later Hamilton is able to brake in this year's car, I'm guessing they won't be the best on the anchors with all that weight?

Braking distances are shorter than previous years. Those few kg's extra on the car is nothing compared to the downforce and grip produced by the aero and tires, hence...shorter braking distances

[Wass85]

Nothing as come out to confirm how shorter? I wonder how deeper Hamilton is braking compared to Bottas if at all.

[f1316]

The reason I'm not down on Gary Anderson's constant Ferrari praising - aside from my inherent bias + the welcome change from Mercedes/Red Bull drooling that we've had for what seems like forever - is that these observations from a trained observer (god knows, Anderson comes out with some spurious claims some time, but he is at least qualified to provide insight on how cars handle) are probably the most insightful information we have available right now - given we don't have gps, fuel loads or even stint length much of the time.

As I've said before, it's been a very long time since we've seen a Ferrari where trackside observations did not tell of nervousness, twitchiness (relative to the competition) or several corrections into corners, so this is an interesting observation and bodes better for a competitive season than lap times themselves. It would be one thing if all of this year's cars were planted on rails but this does not appear to be the case and, again, I think Anderson is qualified enough to interpret fuel loads/long runs into that kind of analysis.

I wonder if the understeer he mentions several times on the Mercedes is actually a consequence of the long wheelbase - that there has come a point at which the physical difficulty of pushing a long thing into a corner cannot be completely overcome by the downforce gained over its additional surface (there must, surely, be such a point, regardless of whether Mercedes has found it or not). Which is not to say it's not still faster but it may well be harder work, which is interesting in relation to Rosberg's remarks on driver fatigue.

Just some thoughts whilst we wait for things to get going again - probably rubbish

[Thunder]

https://twitter.com/tgruener/status/837201720254074881 https://twitter.com/pirellisport/status ... 9378977792

[Morteza]

Williams won't be running today
https://twitter.com/Jamesallenonf1/stat ... 1448379393

[Morteza]

[BosF1]

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed..

Mr. Anderson:

"The fortunate thing for us is that the weather has been quite nice this week, so teams have had three good days of testing. But keeping the track wet at a track like this with a lot of elevation, particularly up to a corner like Turn 9, is not easy. You need the conditions to be consistent for good wet tyre testing, and this situation isn't going to provide that because you would need the water tankers out on track all day to achieve that. I expect a limited amount of running in these conditions because nobody has lots of bits to spare. It looks like it's going to be a day of testing thrown away for little advantage."

"We've seen a lot of complaints about the wet Pirelli tyres in the past. I've been around F1 a long time and I've never known a wet test or session where drivers haven't complained about tyres in the wet, and that's through Goodyear, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin...every supplier. You can never have a tyre that is ideal. It's always been the same and sometimes you just have to accept that this is the way it is."

[Vasconia]

Williams won't be running today

https://twitter.com/Jamesallenonf1/stat ... 1448379393

Poor Stroll. The team must not be happy with him.

[Vasconia]

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed..

Mr. Anderson:

"The fortunate thing for us is that the weather has been quite nice this week, so teams have had three good days of testing. But keeping the track wet at a track like this with a lot of elevation, particularly up to a corner like Turn 9, is not easy. You need the conditions to be consistent for good wet tyre testing, and this situation isn't going to provide that because you would need the water tankers out on track all day to achieve that. I expect a limited amount of running in these conditions because nobody has lots of bits to spare. It looks like it's going to be a day of testing thrown away for little advantage."

"We've seen a lot of complaints about the wet Pirelli tyres in the past. I've been around F1 a long time and I've never known a wet test or session where drivers haven't complained about tyres in the wet, and that's through Goodyear, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin...every supplier. You can never have a tyre that is ideal. It's always been the same and sometimes you just have to accept that this is the way it is."

I remember those Michelin and Bridgestone being much better so Gary must be in another universe...

[Gerhardsa]

Most sensible thing he has said all week? (although sort of obvious)

If they want to test wet tires, Paul Ricard...simple as that.

I also feel its a wasted day, especially for teams like McLaren, Sauber. Suppose there is a silver lining for Williams seeing that they have a smashed up car.

Plus, how much can Pirelli honestly do if everyone says the wet tires are crappy? Season starts in about 3 weeks?

[Mr.G]

... I've been around F1 a long time and I've never known a wet test or session where drivers haven't complained about tyres in the wet, and that's through Goodyear, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin...every supplier. You can never have a tyre that is ideal. It's always been the same and sometimes you just have to accept that this is the way it is."

I remember those Michelin and Bridgestone being much better so Gary must be in another universe...

Can be better but drivers can complain... It getting old and annoying to kick to every of his comment...

[astracrazy]

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed..

Mr. Anderson:

"The fortunate thing for us is that the weather has been quite nice this week, so teams have had three good days of testing. But keeping the track wet at a track like this with a lot of elevation, particularly up to a corner like Turn 9, is not easy. You need the conditions to be consistent for good wet tyre testing, and this situation isn't going to provide that because you would need the water tankers out on track all day to achieve that. I expect a limited amount of running in these conditions because nobody has lots of bits to spare. It looks like it's going to be a day of testing thrown away for little advantage."

"We've seen a lot of complaints about the wet Pirelli tyres in the past. I've been around F1 a long time and I've never known a wet test or session where drivers haven't complained about tyres in the wet, and that's through Goodyear, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin...every supplier. You can never have a tyre that is ideal. It's always been the same and sometimes you just have to accept that this is the way it is."

I remember those Michelin and Bridgestone being much better so Gary must be in another universe...

They were, but i don't take it as his saying that they werent. Just that drivers will always complain about something when it comes to wet tyres. I'm sure if you looked into it you could find complaints about Bridgestone (ok not as many).

Is this wet test all day? I kind of feel its a waste and should just be half a day this afternoon.

[Roman]

Amus reported that they let the track dry in order to test full wets, intermediates and then slicks again. So I expect dry running already later this morning and then the rest of the day.

[Vasconia]

They were, but i don't take it as his saying that they werent. Just that drivers will always complain about something when it comes to wet tyres. I'm sure if you looked into it you could find complaints about Bridgestone (ok not as many).

Is this wet test all day? I kind of feel its a waste and should just be half a day this afternoon.

Indeed. But we all know that those complains and the ones made about the Pirellis are not the same. I think that 99% of fans and drivers think that these wet tyres are crap.

So this comments from Gary seems to be out of place. We all know that drivers love to complain, but we all know that this time those complains are justified.