F1 2019 Pre-Season Testing Thread

[Mandrake]

I think you also have no way of knowing that Mercedes traditionally runs with more fuel... I think what you can say is that Mercedes traditionally runs away with more championships at the end of the year (usually 2 vs 0 from all the others combined).

Tradition is gone this year. Especially at second test where they've used the softest compound and "chased" top time

Except for 2018, Mercedes has always attempted short runs, while they haven't shown their ultimate pace, but they have always shown the pace. They seem to simply weigh up to the opposition in quali sims.

What's missing here is the realtive pace compared to all other teams. Pre 2017 the Merc was so much quicker than all other cars, that running high up the order in terms of laptime was just because their car was so much faster anyways. If everyone was going at 80%, Merc could still go at 70% or whatever and be relatively quicker than others.

Only in 2017 and 2018 Ferrari had a car that was occasionally able to beat the Mercedes, both seasons not necessarily in the winter but in the first parts of the season where Merc struggled to get its Diva up to pace.

So 2019 is their first true deviation from the rule with chasing laptimes and going through the softest compounds (that were also not that diverse in recent years)

[McMika98]

What's missing here is the realtive pace compared to all other teams. Pre 2017 the Merc was so much quicker than all other cars, that running high up the order in terms of laptime was just because their car was so much faster anyways. If everyone was going at 80%, Merc could still go at 70% or whatever and be relatively quicker than others.

Only in 2017 and 2018 Ferrari had a car that was occasionally able to beat the Mercedes, both seasons not necessarily in the winter but in the first parts of the season where Merc struggled to get its Diva up to pace.

So 2019 is their first true deviation from the rule with chasing laptimes and going through the softest compounds (that were also not that diverse in recent years)

Absolutely, never have we seen a preseason recently where most teams were within a second whilst using the same tyres and similar short run. Ross Brawn and his team find have found a silver if not a brass bullet. The new wings appears to have added drag levels along with downforce to all cars making them bunch together for now. Maybe the gap will grow as the big teams outdevelop the midfield but for the first few races it could be anyones race to win especially with the new tyres which the teams are still learning and adjusting to.

[Big Mangalhit]

Karun Chandhok:
"Looked through the 8775 laps done by the 10 teams in F1 testing to find representative race runs. Most logical way I thought was to bracket them into 3 distances of 31, 44 and 54 laps as not all did the same distance.

Conclusions:

1. Seb & Charles are super close - 3 tenths after 31 laps!
2. Mercedes 16 seconds behind after 54 laps - average of 0.25 per lap;
3. RBR didn’t do a full distance or performance runs but the 2 stint 31 lap ‘race’ for Max show them to be very close to Mercedes;
4. Haas appear to be top of the midfield like in pre-season testing last year - Kevin’s race run on Day 8 was very impressive;
5. Midfield battle super tight - difference could be just engine modes;
6. I understand that Daniel’s run was compromised by a brake issue so expect Renault to be stronger in Melbourne. #RaceRunAnalysis #F1 #12DaysToMelbourne #F1isBack"

[GPR-A]

AMUS has taken a shot at deriving the pecking order and here is what they have come up with.

- The bigger tank skews the picture as it becomes difficult to estimate if someone is carrying 100 or 120 kilos. While a car can manage a race with 100 kilos, but for testing, you can fill the tank full. 10 Kilos extra at the start, could be a 0.7 of a second slower lap time.

- Obviously, engine modes are unknown

- I don't know how to read this.

But already here begin the question marks. Leclerc drove hard C2 tires in all three sections. That would not be allowed in a Grand Prix. In the first stint on the softer C3 tires Bottas alone loses almost 9 seconds on the Ferrari driver. Leclerc, on the other hand, tackles the final run way too fast and pays in the last five laps with breaking in tires. "He would never do that in a real race," say the Mercedes engineers

.
https://translate.googleusercontent.com ... 0U1c3Zrb7g

[Juzh]

10 Kilos extra at the start, could be a 0.7 of a second slower lap time.

I don't understand how we've come from the universally accepted 10kg = 0.3s to the now absurdly high 10 kg = 0.7s? Care to explain?

[GPR-A]

10 Kilos extra at the start, could be a 0.7 of a second slower lap time.

I don't understand how we've come from the universally accepted 10kg = 0.3s to the now absurdly high 10 kg = 0.7s? Care to explain?

That's a typo. Sorry. That was reference to 20 kilos.

[Juzh]

10 Kilos extra at the start, could be a 0.7 of a second slower lap time.

I don't understand how we've come from the universally accepted 10kg = 0.3s to the now absurdly high 10 kg = 0.7s? Care to explain?

That's a typo. Sorry. That was reference to 20 kilos.

[GPR-A]

2018 Tyre working range


2019 Tyre working range
https://press.pirelli.com/whats-new-wit ... a-1-tyres/

[Juzh]

So they prevented overheating at the risk of much higher graining which occures when the tire is too cold, no?

[dans79]

Whenever Pirelli discusses why they did what they did, I get mental images of people flipping coins, throwing dice, or pulling pieces of paper out of a hat.

So they prevented overheating at the risk of much higher graining which occures when the tire is too cold, no?

[godlameroso]

Would you rather have graining or blistering?

[Juzh]

Would you rather have graining or blistering?

Well the race in mexico where graining was kind of a big deal wasn't such a bad one, but it was artificial. Mercedes 1.5s off the pace at one point during the race and basically only 1 car out of 20 (verstappen) had no problems with tires.

[dans79]

Would you rather have graining or blistering?

Honestly, since we are stuck with them I just wish Pirelli could get their act together and make tires that don't effect the actual racing so much. Honestly, ever year is something with the tires, the cliff, gaining, blistering, random blow outs etc etc. Teams spend more time learning to baby the tires than they do anything else now.


Mario Isola

“The thinner gauge protects you from blistering and overheating, it could generate graining especially in the colder conditions like in the early morning and late afternoon,” Isola admitted.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hami ... s/4346769/

[MtthsMlw]

Mercs' fastest lap

Link to video on Facebook

[dans79]

Lewis has some time in hand even on that lap, he didn't use all the track he could on the exit of turn 3 & 10.

Overall it looked decent, not as scruffy as some people (press) where claiming.

Mercs' fastest lap
https://www.instagram.com/p/BurN4cMAU5N/
Link to video on Facebook