2017 F1 general testing thread

[Dixo]

Its seems that Vettel was able to do 1:18.5 today but he always slown down in the last sector.

[Wass85]

Interesting comments from Lauda. He believes Ferrari are the fastest car at this moment in time. He's also mentioned how impressed he is with Bottas, he's within 2 tenths of Lewis in qualifying pace already but needs to work on his race pace which is to be expected being new to the team.

[Wass85]

I notice how people are picking up on the fact that times are dropping off quite drastically after one lap on a long run before settling in to a consistent pace.

It's thought it's the way the tyres degrade but could it be the drivers are practicing a race start? Obviously at the start of a race drivers are pushing to the limit for one or two laps before they settle in to their pace.

[turbof1]

I notice how people are picking up on the fact that times are dropping off quite drastically after one lap on a long run before settling in to a consistent pace.

It's thought it's the way the tyres degrade but could it be the drivers are practicing a race start? Obviously at the start of a race drivers are pushing to the limit for one or two laps before they settle in to their pace.

That's only allowed in the pit lane. Obviously it's a safety hazard when trying to do so on the main straight. It is possible however. But the time difference should be exceedingly high, well over 20 seconds.

[f1316]

I really hope that the low degradation means it's quicker to push during a stint - if the tyres are just harder but you save more time by running to a delta and saving a pit stop, the whole thing is pointless.

[Wass85]

I notice how people are picking up on the fact that times are dropping off quite drastically after one lap on a long run before settling in to a consistent pace.

It's thought it's the way the tyres degrade but could it be the drivers are practicing a race start? Obviously at the start of a race drivers are pushing to the limit for one or two laps before they settle in to their pace.

That's only allowed in the pit lane. Obviously it's a safety hazard when trying to do so on the main straight. It is possible however. But the time difference should be exceedingly high, well over 20 seconds.

I should have worded it better, I meant to say maybe they are practicing the first lap?

[Wass85]

I really hope that the low degradation means it's quicker to push during a stint - if the tyres are just harder but you save more time by running to a delta and saving a pit stop, the whole thing is pointless.

I remember on the day Hamilton was struggling he suffered from pretty high degradation. Wether that was from pushing hard or just a bad setup remains to be seen.

[turbof1]

I notice how people are picking up on the fact that times are dropping off quite drastically after one lap on a long run before settling in to a consistent pace.

It's thought it's the way the tyres degrade but could it be the drivers are practicing a race start? Obviously at the start of a race drivers are pushing to the limit for one or two laps before they settle in to their pace.

That's only allowed in the pit lane. Obviously it's a safety hazard when trying to do so on the main straight. It is possible however. But the time difference should be exceedingly high, well over 20 seconds.

I should have worded it better, I meant to say maybe they are practicing the first lap?

It's possible. I have my doubts about since if you are behind someone during the first two laps you are not able to push it to the limit. Only if the distance between you and the guy in front of you this seems to be sensible, or if you are completely in front.
It might just be to regulate the temperature of the tyres. They might need to get heated properly before settling in. These are bigger tyres, so more volume needs to be heated compared to last year.

[Wass85]

It's fascinating stuff, I wonder how much you can push these tyres lap after lap?

We have seen some impressive long runs but that doesn't mean the tyres are getting pushed to their absolute limits, surely they still run to a delta even though they can be pushed more.

[godlameroso]

I mentioned it in the Mercedes team thread, I have a feeling Mercedes's car although insanely fast is too complex for it's own good. There are too many different flow structures interacting and makes developing parts difficult because of the knock on effect such a complex car has. They may start the season well, but may face difficulties developing the car as the year progresses, where teams that have a more straightforward design may have a bigger scope so we could see the tables turned mid season when teams start bringing in their rafts of upgrades.

[AMG.Tzan]

I mentioned it in the Mercedes team thread, I have a feeling Mercedes's car although insanely fast is too complex for it's own good. There are too many different flow structures interacting and makes developing parts difficult because of the knock on effect such a complex car has. They may start the season well, but may face difficulties developing the car as the year progresses, where teams that have a more straightforward design may have a bigger scope so we could see the tables turned mid season when teams start bringing in their rafts of upgrades.

I don't think so! I think Mercedes is somewhere between Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of aero complexity with Red Bull being the smoothest and Ferrari being the most complex! Look at Ferrari's diffuser...they have way too many winglets between the diffuser and the tires...also look at their sidepods...openings and wings everywhere! I think Mercedes's disadvantage is their really long wheelbase!! I remember back in 2012 Mclaren said in pre-season they will go for a shorter wheelbase so they can be faster in qualifying! And they did it...at least for the first 4-5 races they were the team to beat! So i think a shorter wheelbase is benefiting Ferrari here!

[Wass85]

Shouldn't a longer wheel base suit these cars more? More downforce means more high speed corners, a long wheel base gives stability in these high speed corners.

[PhillipM]

I do like how Merc say Ferrari are sandbagging, they're not showing their pace yet....we think they're actually as fast as us...so blatently admitting they're sandbagging too

[Just_a_fan]

Summary of this thread so far: "blah blah [favourite driver/team] blah blah".

People, you can not say anything useful about the relative positions of the top teams from what we have seen so far,

[edu2703]

I mentioned it in the Mercedes team thread, I have a feeling Mercedes's car although insanely fast is too complex for it's own good. There are too many different flow structures interacting and makes developing parts difficult because of the knock on effect such a complex car has.

Meanwhile, Williams is the opposite. The car is performing very well, especially in longs stints. Better than expected for many. But when you look at the car, the first question you ask is: How?

The Williams FW40 is virtually the FW38 (Last year's car) adapted to new rules. If we removed the 't' wings, the FW40 would take the title of 'Most undeveloped F1 car of 2017'. F1 Fanatics says Williams is the team who most improved their lap times compared to 2016 (4.2s) and again you ask: How?

I don't think the 'T' wings have a big impact on the performance of car. But if Williams perform very well in Melbourne, all teams will pay attention on the car. If something is improving performance, it's very well hidden.