2017 F1 general testing thread

[Shakeman]

Ever wonder where the term "sandbagging" came from?

It also goes the other way, struggling teams have been known to run light and look racy in testing to help getting sponsors. Williams have done this in the past.

Sauber as well, in 2010. McLaren even looked like they were amazingly fast in 2013, after which it transpired they installed a suspension part in a wrong way which ran the car too low.

It all shows how few faith you can put in the top times sheet. Whatthefat understood where you can actually get more reliable conclusions from, and that's the long runs. Unfortunaly that's not as exciting for people and media alike.

That's why that Russian F1 testing site was so good because you could see the stint lengths and tyre deg and get a 'feel' for who was good on tyres and race pace.

It's not normally until the 3rd race we really know with great certainty the real pecking order. Melbourne is not always a good guide and anomalies have been thrown up in the past.

[TAG]

Also there's no such thing as qualy setup for a long time now, you take the fuel out, put new tires and crank up the engine...

Would you not call tires pressured differently for different fuel loads qualy set up?

[Wass85]

"Bottas was quicker than Hamilton on slower tyres"

Exactly, so there's still performance left in the car.

Slight spanner in the works though, didn't Bottas go slower on the US than he managed on the SS?

[turbof1]

"Bottas was quicker than Hamilton on slower tyres"

Exactly, so there's still performance left in the car.

Slight spanner in the works though, didn't Bottas go slower on the US than he managed on the SS?

Didn't Bottas take a dump before setting his fastest time? We don't know. I'd like everybody to stop going down this road. We had a lot of posts removed yesterday. If that happens again today, the topic will go on lockdown.

[Sevach]

Also there's no such thing as qualy setup for a long time now, you take the fuel out, put new tires and crank up the engine...

Would you not call tires pressured differently for different fuel loads qualy set up?

Not in the way it used to happen, no.

Parc Ferme killed the qualy setup.

[Xero]

Talking to a brick wall springs to mind turbo...

Ferrari's pace does look genuine at this stage, for the sake of an interesting championship I hope so.

As for McLaren's situation, I'll try and remain pragmatic (It's beginning to wane on me though!). I still expect Honda to make dramatic progress through the first half of the season. New concept of engine or not, the experience of the last 2 years should have counted for something. I refuse to believe these issues are fundamental.

[Wass85]

Vettel looks on fire, I think Ferrari's pace is genuine. I hope for the sports sake they are a match for Mercedes. I still don't understand why they are doing a lot of running on the medium tyre though.

[PhillipM]

I'm never sure with Ferrari, they've done far too many glory runs over testing for me to ever be hopeful until the car is on pole at a GP. The amount of times they set a fastest lap in testing and then are nowhere in the season...

[ripper]

Yeah I agree.

Today FER should do first race simulation, we'll have a clearer picture when he's done

[Xero]

Vettel looks on fire, I think Ferrari's pace is genuine. I hope for the sports sake they are a match for Mercedes. I still don't understand why they are doing a lot of running on the medium tyre though.

The mediums would be the typical race tyre of choice for a circuit like Barcelona, so makes absolute sense to focus on them. Saying that, the durability of these new tyres are insane, so previous tyre choices are out the window for this season.

[TAG]

I'm never sure with Ferrari, they've done far too many glory runs over testing for me to ever be hopeful until the car is on pole at a GP. The amount of times they set a fastest lap in testing and then are nowhere in the season...

The amount? Read somewhere that's four out of the last five years. Looks like they're going to add this year to the tally as well.

[Restomaniac]

Talking to a brick wall springs to mind turbo...

Ferrari's pace does look genuine at this stage, for the sake of an interesting championship I hope so.

As for McLaren's situation, I'll try and remain pragmatic (It's beginning to wane on me though!). I still expect Honda to make dramatic progress through the first half of the season. New concept of engine or not, the experience of the last 2 years should have counted for something. I refuse to believe these issues are fundamental.

The one thing now going in Honda's favour (and any engine manufacturer whose name doesn't begin with 'M' In F1 TBH) is that they can now throw as much R&D as they want at it. Hell they could introduce a brand new build from top to bottom if they so wished.
The token system meant you could tinker, now you can make wholesale changes when you want.

[SiLo]

From Sky Sports' "The F1 Gossip Column":

Have Ferrari found a loophole in the 2017 regulations to steal a march on their rivals?

'In recent years, Ferrari had been accused of having built a conservative car,' an article in Auto Motor und Sport states. 'Not this time.'

Comparing the sidepods on the SF70-H to their rivals' challengers, these appear much higher with several flow aids in front of them - but the German publication's Michael Schmidt writes that these side boxes, while following the FIA regulations, are attached to the real side pods which are hidden behind.

The FIA incorporated rules about what angle the side pods should be, and paragraph 3.8.8 says that that angle should be 75 degrees. This is purely to aid aesthetics - aerodynamicists would prefer the angle be 90 degrees to help air flow. All other teams' sidepods are 75 degrees - Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey is said to be baffled by Ferrari's idea, while Mercedes are one of many teams who raised their suspension to clear a path for air to move under and around the sidepod.

Now, here's where Ferrari's loophole and possible advantage comes in. The carbon work in front of, and attached to the sidepods, is 75 degrees, thus following the rules, and this allowed Ferrari to make their actual side pods much smaller. It also allowed the Scuderia, under the guidance of technical chief Simone Resta, to make them at the desired 90 degree angle.

Anyone care to explain this in laymans terms? Are they talking about the radiators being at 75 degrees or something else?

[Wass85]

Vettel looks on fire, I think Ferrari's pace is genuine. I hope for the sports sake they are a match for Mercedes. I still don't understand why they are doing a lot of running on the medium tyre though.

The mediums would be the typical race tyre of choice for a circuit like Barcelona, so makes absolute sense to focus on them. Saying that, the durability of these new tyres are insane, so previous tyre choices are out the window for this season.

That's what I'm saying, the soft looks like it could be the new medium with these tyres.

[Just_a_fan]

The token system meant you could tinker, now you can make wholesale changes when you want.

True but they are still limited to 4 engines for the season. Any new engine either has to be massively bulletproof from the start or gets introduced at the normal change times. That puts any such team 5 races behind, effectively.