2017 F1 general testing thread

[Jolle]

Correct me if I'm on the wrong path. But pre-season testing most of all is:
- compare data from track with data from the sim/tunnel/CFD
- for the racing team to get to know the car and how it reacts on setup
- tires.

Miles are way more important then lap times. Compared to the last few years Mercedes still looks ahead, but Ferrari is much closer

[CBeck113]

I don't remember ever seeing a Ferrari that easy to drive, that is not a bad sign.

[Sevach]

From the official F1 channel.

Bottas lap the other day was tidier, the Ferrari just carries a lot of speed into the corners.

[edu2703]

I don't remember ever seeing a Ferrari that easy to drive, that is not a bad sign.

All cars are easy to drive because of downforce. The only things that change from one car to another are the speed on the corners and speed on straight.

[edu2703]

I really wanted them to release the onboard footage of each car during their fastest lap.

[Vanja #66]

Whilst braking for corners 5 and 10 Kimi lost some time compared to Hamilton 2016 lap, best seen comparing the distance between them before and after those corners on map graph (it seems to be precise). I don't think 23kg more could be that influential, so could that have been some more sandbagging, but better disguised? Also, looks to me like he could have taken the last chicane a bit more aggressively...

[matt_s]

Ferrari a second clear on the same compound? That's certainly ominous...

Not really.

Based on the last couple of years, it seems (from testing relative to Aus qual) that Merc have generally run with 30-40Kg more fuel than Ferrari in testing.

That would put them pretty close on pace.

[Mattchu]

Can`t wait till we actually see what these cars are capable of as they are now or will be come Australia. Personally I don`t see radical changes for any team in the short space of time available, you`re not going to bring some new floor or aero package to the first race unless you have good reason.
Slightly modified engines, sure, obviously most folks are hoping Honda can bring something that`s at least half respectable but for the rest the first time we`ll see them running full beans will be qualifying.

Personally i thought the regulation change would bring some real talking points but the only real biggie (imo) is the way Ferrari have gone with their side pods and possibly the T wings. The tyres could well be to durable this year, the delta between the compounds looks minimal (from what iv`e seen in testing) and the degradation points to many 1 stoppers this year ... is that a good thing?

[F1NAC]

Ferrari still understeers in slow corners. Need to tune that

[santos]

The people asked... so here it is.

[Silent Storm]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/raik ... er-881606/

"If we want we can go faster but that's not the purpose of the test," said Raikkonen. "Obviously you try to go as fast as you can whatever we decided to do.

[Jordan44]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/raik ... er-881606/

"If we want we can go faster but that's not the purpose of the test," said Raikkonen. "Obviously you try to go as fast as you can whatever we decided to do.

Is this meant to be news?

[max_speed]

I don't remember ever seeing a Ferrari that easy to drive, that is not a bad sign.

i felt the same way. recent year ferrai's where no where as good as this looks like, not twitchy at all very responsive to steering input and does not slide at all. very good sign.

[Danlizzyman]

I don't remember ever seeing a Ferrari that easy to drive, that is not a bad sign.

i felt the same way. recent year ferrai's where no where as good as this looks like, not twitchy at all very responsive to steering input and does not slide at all. very good sign.

I've been watching F1 for 20 years and it's been more than a few years since I've seen a Ferrari with such a sharp front end, judging by that lap from Raikkonen. To be fair it's the biggest change of regulation (i.e. speed differential from one year to the next) that I've seen in my time watching the sport so perhaps every other team has made similar improvements, but if Mercedes are indeed quicker this year then it will be hard to begrudge them, because I can have very few complaints about that Ferrari, it's such a content looking car on the track.

[EvilPhil II]

Just got back from F1 Testing, I am at a hotel east of Barcelona at the moment.

I am begining to post pics from the event here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BReI_K7hTIR/

It was really good fun. Perhaps I'll post higher res ones here once home.

Phil