2008 Barcelona Testing Thread (17 Nov - 19 Nov)

[jon-mullen]

anyway, like i said, i find it interesting that they've many 2009 components already....it makes me wonder about their development compared to other teams...hmmmmm...

Well, they did seem to fall way off the pace towards the last half of last season, I guess they were putting all their eggs in this year's basket. It would be a real shame to see them get f*cked with an unfavorable championship points/medals structure. Kubica never seemed like the most competitive, win-driven driver to me.

I don't mind the looks of the new car. I like the shorter wheelbase and the slicks, as well as the simplified sidepods. There is definitely something off about the wings, though.

Speaking of aero developments making it on to road cars, don't you think the 09 3-series front spoiler and the middle part of the hood have a similar profile to the 08 F1 car? (And isn't it kind of fugly?)

[ISLAMATRON]

next we will see twin kidny shaped grill stickers on the nose of the BMW 2009 car... a la NASCAR

[modbaraban]

next we will see twin kidny shaped grill stickers on the nose of the BMW 2009 car... a la NASCAR

Well, actually those traditional nostrils (that's how I call BMW grill) seem to have been a part of livery on all BMW powered race cars since... I dunno when.

[guy_smiley]

its interesting to me how many developments BMW have on their t-car already. they have the new front wing, the new nose, the new rear wing, no flip-ups/bargeboards/t-wings etc., they have slicks, kers, and reshaped sidepods with many different vents for kers. no other team has, so far, so many 2009 components on their interim cars...although:

Kubica: "...We are testing here only a couple of basic things as we have to gather as many data as possible. I really don't know if we will have any advantage thanks to driving a car with changed aero. There is a lot of time till the first race so I reckon all teams will be ready. We are testing new solutions here, but the new car will be totally different. It's hard to say who will be competitive in 2009, it's going to be a big lottery. I expect bigger gaps between the teams, especially in the beginning."

anyway, like i said, i find it interesting that they've many 2009 components already....it makes me wonder about their development compared to other teams...hmmmmm...

There is no guarantee the nose, sidepods will look the same on the 2009 car. It's quite likely they will look different. As for the "many different vents for KERS", those vents are not allowed next year.

For example, all of the gills and cooling vents on the Ferrari F2008K right now are banned for 2009, plus with the 3 race engine rule reliability will be a key issue.

thats nice, but (1) i already knew that and (2) you're wrong. with (1), thats exactly why i included the quote from Kubica saying "the new car will look totally different" so....yeah....we already knew that. and with (2), i was referring to the actual sidepod inlet. if you look closely, there are two vents (presumably leading to the kers system) that take up the inside portion of the sidepod inlet (closest to the body) and then the regular sidepod inlet is there toward the outside of the chassis.
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.ph ... &catID=598
you can see it in that pic. the inside portion of the sidepod has been taken away to introduce these two vents per side. anyway, the way they have it set up seems legal to me. it's not like the gills and vents you are talking about on the top of the sidepods...and its surely not as hideous as the f2008k! someone called it the frankenstein sidepod =D> so yeah...

[Conceptual]

I call the F2008K the Quasimodo of F1!

[guy_smiley]

=D>
god help them!!

[modbaraban]

Don't you guys worry about the Ferrari sidepods. The wings are mandated to be ugly but the thing on the sidepod is just a temporary skin disease. It'l fall off

[WhiteBlue]

It is obvious that McLaren and Ferrari are well behind BMW in development. BMW have a 2008 chassis on track with fully functional KERS, adjustable front wing, simulated weight distribution, 90% wings and bodyworks compliance and integrated radiator package. None of the top teams can match that. They will have some valuable insights into the 2009 solution from these tests. This will allow refinements to the design concept that other teams cannot enjoy.

[axle]

McLaren: I doubt they will bother with interim aero packages...instead that will stay on the computer and in the wind tunnel until the launch. They trust their systems.

So in the mean time I expect them to be testing mecuanical items like KERS but not testing them too hard, as they will want to save mileage for the MP4/24.

Saying that A is ahead of B is completely pointless at this time untill the 2009 cars are launched.

Williams have said their wings are very much a version 1 attempt and they were done early in the year. With another 5-9months of development behind them I expect they are quite different now.

BMW clearly feel the need to evaluate some stuff on the track, that's their perogative, but it doesn't mean diddly. As for Ferrari's ungainly appendages yeah they look crap but it's a mule* (*term used in road car development for a development car that's disguised/modified).

It's interesting to see all this but that's all.

[ISLAMATRON]

also, dont forget McLaren has 2 platforms on which to test their KERS systems, their cars & Force India's. That means double the milage... huge advantage there.

Yes Ferrari, Renault, RBR & STR will all use the same system, but they will be implementing them differently from each other.

[McMacca]

Has anyone spotted McLarens Kers system location yet?

I Mean we see extra slits / gills on the beemer, a huge sidepod bulge on the Ferrari, best evidence I've seen is the isolator.

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.ph ... catID=3664

Does this indicate the McLaren system is 'Futher advanced' by way of being better packaged and integrated into the MP4-23K chassis and cooling system?

Any Ideas?

[ISLAMATRON]

seems pretty well integrated to me... what kind of system are they running?

[dumbdave]

Must be electrical KERS if they have a man standing by to ground it!

Personally i think the flybrid KERS has the advantage in weight & cooling requirements over the electrical. Would love to know which teams are using it though, possibly Renault as flybrid is a company run by ex-Renault engine designers. Red Bull maybe given their existing link with the renault engine, but that doesnt mean they will use it.

[ESPImperium]

Must be electrical KERS if they have a man standing by to ground it!

Personally i think the flybrid KERS has the advantage in weight & cooling requirements over the electrical. Would love to know which teams are using it though, possibly Renault as flybrid is a company run by ex-Renault engine designers. Red Bull maybe given their existing link with the renault engine, but that doesnt mean they will use it.

Personally i think that Renault and Ferarri are both working in conjuction with Magnetti Marenelli to produce 2 diffrent systems, specific to the Renault and Ferarri engine packages that will be both used by Ferarri and Renault and Red Bull/Torro Rosso as well.

I think that Renault is using a Flybrid and Ferarri is using a Electrical system.

The McLaren system will be shared with FIF1 as well, with Toyota, BMW Sauber, Williams and Honda each developing their own systems.

[captainmorgan]

I'm actually starting to like the 2009 spec cars. The rear wing endplates remind me of F-15 tail fins. The front wing is another story, but when it's dark and less noticeable as with the Williams, it doesnt detract from the car.

Plus if the spec actually does reduce the wake disadvantage to 1.0s, then it'll prove its worth at Melbourne