Barcelona Test

[axle]

You've raised most of the reasons...I expect money and contracts are the others...

I expect they will use Middle East tracks more in the near future...

[mx_tifoso]

Thanks axle,

Actually I was going to bring up the possibility of more testing at the Sakhir(?) Circuit in Bahrain. But then that region has windy conditions too, which along with the sandy surroundings make for poor track surfaces as well.

So its either suffer the windy and rainy climate in Spain, or the windy and dusty conditions in Bahrain.

Then theres another circuit that comes to mind, Pual Ricard in France. Which is very modern and sophisticated.

The latest Spanish testing dates have seemed unreasonable and unreliable, something that shouldn't happen when there are so many resources being invested for valuable and restricted testing time.

I can now understand even more why Super Aguri aren't testing this week, mainly due to the lack of funding, but also probably because of the bad climate conditions.

[mike]

i think they do the testing in barcelona because the track have a good balance between mechanical and aero grip in other words fast and slow bits of the track
so teams can test all parts of the performance of the car and gain an overview of their performance
eg fast on sector 1 = good aero grip
fast on sector 2 = good mechanical grip
fast on sector 3 = 50/50 aero/mechanical grip
fast on the lap = good general pace
and the stats seems to prove this
win at barcelona
2004 F2004(championship)
2005 MP4-20(most fastest lap)
2006 R26(championship)
2007 F2007(championship)

[teecof1fan]

The teams test at least twice in Barcelona each year (sometimes three), so they have plenty of data from that track, and I agree with mike that Barca holds a lot of tests because of the technical nature of the track. The option is Bahrain, and like axle said it costs money to go there so maybe that's why they don't do it. But to test at Bahrain would be an advantage I think, because you still have your two tests from Barca, so you get that data, then you get a leg-up on the competition by testing at Bahrain. The conditions are still windy and sandy come grand prix time in Bahrain, so I think testing there only helps. Of course, one of Ferrari's partners is Mubadala, based in the UAE close to Bahrain, so they might also have some sort of obligation to test at Bahrain. To mx, yeah I don't know why they don't test at Paul Ricard as it is also very technical, but I can only assume the weather is fairly similar there (windy, cold, wet). Speaking of wet weather, notice how only Williams bothered to get some wet-weather data today! I say good for them, and I hope to see them on the podium a couple of times this season!

[jaho101]

Back to the Barcelona test, sort of, look like the weather has finally cleared up! I hope we get to see a radical new aero package from Ferrari, and I hope that its not too good as to make the season boring.

[dumrick]

The main reason F1 teams use the spanish circuits concerns the weather. Being impossible to be sure to have clear skies anywhere, anytime, Spain is the safest destination, within reason (reachable by the team trucks in a couple of days and without having the costs to fly the material). If it was solely for the technical demands of the circuit, there would be lots of options a lot closer to England. That's also why they use Valencia (Ricardo Tormo) or Jerez. These are circuits that are not technical, but where the blue skies are even more assured than at Barcelona.

[Tom]

Also as tesing is done over winter it is near impossible for a team to know if their cooling will be effective in the spring races if they're testing round Silverstone at about 10 deg cel.

[meves]

Lots of little aero tweaks coming in

Ferraris blades are lower on the cockpit, also they have green things covering them...
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.ph ... catID=3420

Toyotas front wing, they have decided that the way everyone else went was working and ferrari thought they had a great idea. Go figure!
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.ph ... catID=3419

Williams pod deflector things (sorry for the rubbish description but i couldn't think what they were called)
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.ph ... catID=3419

[rkn]

All those parts have been featured for about a month or more..

The green padding on the Ferrari squirrel ears are there to prevent the mechanics from cutting themselves on them, as they are quite sharp at the edges.

Toyota bridge wing has been there since the launch, same for the Williams pod wing.
You snooze you loose:P

[FLC]

I believe this is a new rear wing, on the F-2008:

[Saribro]

I was just about to post that F2008 rear wing update :).

[chasefreak]

correct me if i am wrong.. mclaren seem to have a new rear wing ...

[majicmeow]

you are correct, McLaren do have an updated wing. The end plates on the rear wing have much larger cutouts, following the contour of the main foil.

Formula1.com has a picture in their Barcelona test image set...

Also, from those pictures, is the lower section of the front wing different too? Seems to extend further forward...

Also, I noticed in the Formula1.com images, Toyota seems to have new bargeboards as well. There are several pictures of the TF108 with pure carbon fiber (non-decaled) bargeboards which sounds to me, like they are test parts...

[modbaraban]

Looks like so.



What's that on his legs? Quite an unusual position to place ballast

[jaho101]

L
What's that on his legs? Quite an unusual position to place ballast

They're pads that drivers wear at the side of their knees to keep them from knocking together I think.