It's interesting when RB and TR pushed in the same laps.
It was like a mini fight. I'm thinking that they are collecting data to know about the Honda engine
From quotes I've read, it sounds like they have; how much is a guess. It doesn't seem to perform bad now in testing. I'm expecting good performance gains with the each new PU they bring this season. I'm sure they'll find small gains in fuel and tuning in between.
Start/finish line. If I remember correctly, top speed is around 320 km/h at the end of the straight.Noetiepoerker26 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2018, 18:55Where are these top speeds measured? On start-finish or just before braking into turn 1?
Seeing all the Renault cars bunched up at the bottom i think their top speed is a true representative of where they stand at the moment. Also Autosport confirmed that the Renault PU will have the same power as the 2017 version for reliability reasons.etusch wrote: ↑01 Mar 2018, 18:321. Stroll 291.1 0
2. Vettel 288.7 0
3. Perez 288 0
4. Hamilton 288 0
5. Leclerc 286.4 0
6. Magnussen 284.9 0
7. Bottas 284.9 0
8. Ericsson 283.4 0
9. Gasly 282.7 0
10. Alonso 282.7 0
11. Vandoorne 281.9 0
12. Sainz jr 279.7 0
13. Sirotkin 279 0
14. Verstappen 274.8 0
15. Hülkenberg 273.4 0
Only Alo matched with Gasly at max speed between renault PU users.
James Key, the technical director of Toro Rosso, lived from the inside preparing these tests in Barcelona. For him, the service offered by Honda is not a surprise.
"It's an absolutely trouble-free start with Honda. If you refer to last year's situation, then, yes, it's a surprise, but since I've been working with Honda for a while now, it's less of a surprise on my side. Given the quality of their infrastructure and their desperate desire to make it work, it's less of a surprise to me today. "
"Of course, you can not be sure of anything until the car finally rolls on the track, and I must say there has never been a major problem. The minor problems we have experienced [software problem, Thursday] have been our responsibility. "
"Honda? We can work with them absolutely without problem. They are very understanding, they attend all our meetings, so we all know what's going on, we work together to optimize everything. Everything is going very smoothly for the moment, and I'm sure it will continue. "
This constant reliability is remarkable for Toro Rosso, and even more so if we know that the Italian team had to adapt very quickly to this Honda engine. The temptation was great to copy pieces from McLaren last year, but James Key refused.
"Why would we have wanted some McLaren on a Toro Rosso? It's a Toro Rosso gearbox. The internal components are shared with Red Bull Technology, they are designed together. The oil management system is developed by us for example ... as well as the electronics and the control system. It is fully developed by Toro Rosso. "
The former Sauber engineer is of the opinion that the Honda engine was actually closer to the Renault at the end of last season, contrary to what many believe. The delay taken by the Japanese would not be so considerable.
"The good news is that we have seen that Honda, despite all the difficulties encountered during the first half of the season in 2017, has always had the ability to develop the power unit, to advance it, and finally , their V6 was better at the end of the year. This trend continues, it seems, this year, and as long as it continues, there's no reason why we could not really challenge Renault in the middle or end of the season. We would like it. "
It remains to be seen now if, in fact, the performance of the Japanese V6 will be at the rendezvous. Challenging Renault is the goal displayed by James Key, especially since the French engine will not make a leap in performance early in the 2018 season.
"I do not know what Renault produced as an effort this year, but we knew where the Renault engine was at the end of last season. And at least thanks to the figures we see today, we are not far [Renault's performance at the end of 2017], even if we have to take this information with caution because you do not know the difference between respective test benches, etc ... The Honda engine was probably pretty close to the Renault towards the end of last season. And of course, they have progressed this year and that's encouraging. "
http://www.nextgen-auto.com/Toro-Rosso- ... 24606.html
The TR was fourth fastest at the end of the straight at 333kph. The Haas was top at 336, the Renault and Red Bull were slowest at 313.Jopl wrote: ↑01 Mar 2018, 19:59Start/finish line. If I remember correctly, top speed is around 320 km/h at the end of the straight.Noetiepoerker26 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2018, 18:55Where are these top speeds measured? On start-finish or just before braking into turn 1?
Didn't Hartley say it was a far more driveable engine and that it felt better than the Renault they had at the end of last year? Not specifically oh yeah way more power.