2014 Testing - Jerez 28-31 Jan

[Richard]

Half a day gone, and 3 cars on track, massive number of 3 timed laps. This is little more than a joke.

To my memory, this is normal every year.

The timed laps are meaningless in terms of actual time, they are simply extended installation laps.

[Kiril Varbanov]

Everything is meaningless, and that has been the case every year. Yet, I still see people comparing best lap times from last year with the humble stints of HAM and RAI...

RED BULL: https://twitter.com/tgruener/status/428147919527890944 FERRARI: https://twitter.com/tgruener/status/428148406364930048

[Ls1toy]

The teams are probably doing what they do on a Thursday during a gp event. What do the armchair engineers think happens at a Grand Prix?

On a side note I'm loving the sounds!

[darkmninya]

Ferrari failure again?

[astracrazy]

Im confused why people appear to be Blaming the failure on Lewis lol. He shouldnt be pushing, he should of taken it easy at first, other teams have been wise by not rushing.

Hamilton was on his 17th Lap, more than any other driver, they had done a number of install laps today and had done a number of install laps last Friday. as part of a cars shake down you are supposed to push the car in anger. If you go the whole test not pushing how will you know it will work?

In any case none of you know how hard Hamilton was pushing. at this stage what is known is that the front wing failed, on his 17th lap in the braking zone. He was on a very short run up to that point. 1 or 2 laps max.

i agree with you

its a structural failure and could happen after 1 or 100 laps

[timbo]

The wing failure might have been caused by lower temperatures. The resin might have become glassy.

[darkmninya]

What we have learned.so far expect the great sound

[Steven]

Obviously, with the frozen engine regulations of recent years, teams and people had become accustomed to very reliable cars, even form the first runs. It has been said repeatedly that this year's regulation changes are massive and for some the biggest of what they have ever seen, so it would be slightly ignorant to expect everybody to come out without the slightest hiccup.

What this early Jerez running shows however is that Mercedes was best prepared for this test, followed by Ferrari. Both cars have done a number of laps without serious issues, although one must hope that Mercedes now have a spare front wing ready, as it happens teams are pushing the boundaries of schedules and then only have one part to start testing...

[gandharva]

RB10 is not racing because of a wrongly mounted spring in the rear suspension.
http://translate.google.de/translate?sl ... 16162.html

[Richard]

With regard to "pushing too hard", the drivers are usually given guidance on top speed and that is incrementally increased as the team gain confidence. The team also turn down the engine maps to avoid peak forces. Once the shake down phase is out of the way the drivers are often asked to run constant speed laps to gather aero data.

I recall that some teams have speed limiters/cruise control to help with these tests???

[lebesset]

The first day of testing is often just a series of installation laps.

They'll have a list of start up protocols as long as your arm before they attempt to set timed laps. Those protocols will have been developed in the factory. I suspect they'll be working on a fail safe basis, if there are any doubts they'll take a step back, reassemble then retest.

As Hamilton showed, rushing the installation can cause bigger delays. Merc are now back to the beginning and probably behind the teams who didn't rush.

I find it quite "remarkable" how you link a front wing failure and doing installation laps together? Please explain how can you rush a front-wing on a car. The FW failed according to sources on track, you are suggesting that it wasn't attached accordingly because the mechanics rushed to car out of the garage? I find that really hard to believe.

No he's saying Lewis was possibly pushing too hard. It's possible they could have picked up fatigue on the component during one of the stops, but Lewis may have been pushing so hard that lap that it failed suddenly without warning.

latest F1 development
first tyres that stop you driving flat out
then fuel capacity to stop you driving flat out
now front wings that stop you driving flat out

[Richard]

According to Autosport and f1today:

1 Hamilton, Mercedes: 1m27.820s, 18 laps
2 Raikkonen, Ferrari: 1m29.474s, 11 laps
3 Vergne, Toro Rosso: 1m36.530s, 11 laps
4 Gutierrez, Sauber: no time, 5 laps
5 Perez, Force India: no time, 1 lap

No laps:
6. Ericsson Caterham
7. Chilton Marussia
8. Vettel Red Bull Racing
9. Button McLaren
10. Bottas Williams

[McMrocks]

latest F1 development
first tyres that stop you driving flat out
then fuel capacity to stop you driving flat out
now front wings that stop you driving flat out

the point with the fuel capacity is not confirmed yet.

and the front wings won't stop you driving flat out once they are tested and improved

[Kiril Varbanov]

https://twitter.com/TomWilkinsonF1/stat ... 2645939200

[snorri788]

From Sky Sports F1:

January 28 2014 1:07 PM
Ted Kravitz has been down at McLaren – who are yet to appear out on track today - and I’m afraid to say that the news isn’t good, folks:

“It is a hydraulic and electrical installation problem – in other words, everything won’t fit together. Part of the problem is that to fix it, you have to take everything apart, then identify the problem, repair it and then put everything back together again. And such is the complexity of these cars, that’s more or less a four-hour plumbing job each way.

“It’s therefore no surprise that the team are saying it is very unlikely they are going to be testing today. Jenson’s interview slot at 5pm has been cancelled as he is probably not going to have much to say. Hopefully we will hear from him tomorrow.”