2010 Winter Testing

[marcush.]

with an additional 100litres of ballast to play this was an obvious consequence for the winter testing .with a time spread of almost five seconds between full and empty tank it is fairly easy to mask your advantages and also weaknesses during testing as now you have a staggering 220litres of fuel + ballast to play with.
Moreso you could run with a weight distribution you will not be able to have in a race weekend adding ballast instead of fuel.
What we do not know is if one of the top teams has done all their testing with an additional 60 litres of fuel on board compared to the others ,one could read something into the laps immediatedly before running out of fuel on track and interestingly merc was choosing to go slow on fumes to find the ultimate end of fuel supply..

Brawn not dominating the test could be they have not found enough to dominate or they choose to not show their card to avoid what happened last year.You just don´t want to create the hype and aditionally the competitors to get nervous starting off close the gap development starting now.so we don´t know who is best and does not blink.

[djones]

So on the laps before it ran out of fuel it was slow?

If so then there is no doubt (in my mind at least) they are going slow on purpose.

Its interesting all this but given all the variables you have to wonder whey the hell we are even talking about it

[segedunum]

Anyone know how long they were between pit stops? Did any of them do a regulation tyre only stop and back out for continued long run?

That's another thing I've been wondering. Everyone's been getting carried away with the performance of the cars, but keep in mind that for the first time in seventeen years how quickly a team changes the tyres is going to be critical. Has there been any practice?

[ESPImperium]

I just wish that the teams were allowed to do 2 car pre season tests again.

What id like to see for 2011 for pre season:

* All cars launched for end of January
* 6 official tests between 4 tracks, Barceloan, Jerez, Valencia (Circuit Ricardo Tormo), Portamao.
* Teams to have last 2 tests as single car tests, before that they can have 2 car tests if they want.
* First 3 tests to be 3 day tests, last 3 tests to be 3 day tests
* Tests must be equally split between race drivers and test drivers, 7 days testing each (In order to get a reserve up to speed with the car before season, avoid the Badoer/Grosjean situation before the season starts)
* Shakedowns of cars must be done at an apporved FIA track in that teams base country and be limited to no more than 20 full laps of that track.

Mid season, id like to see this:

* Three 3 day tests at Jerez, Portamao and Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
* Only third/test/development drivers can test on theese days.
* 100 laps a day maximum distance.
* Each team must attend one test.

Lets get the test rules a little looser in areas, but a little tighter in others. Id like to see more testing, but in a economically sustainable way and in a way where all the drivers can get the feel of the cars they drive, and where improvements can be rapidly made, but rapidly made after every 4th GP where new parts can be added, so GP No6, No10 and No14 are the only GPs where parts can be added, and a evaluation test will be before each GP. The first 6 Gps will be under end test spec, and the first improvement can only be added once the teams are back for the first GP in Europe. This is the only way i can see where costs can be cut massivly in F1, i do follow a bit of Garry Andersons philosiphy in this area.

[Roland Ehnström]

with an additional 100litres of ballast to play this was an obvious consequence for the winter testing .with a time spread of almost five seconds between full and empty tank it is fairly easy to mask your advantages and also weaknesses during testing as now you have a staggering 220litres of fuel + ballast to play with.
Moreso you could run with a weight distribution you will not be able to have in a race weekend adding ballast instead of fuel.
What we do not know is if one of the top teams has done all their testing with an additional 60 litres of fuel on board compared to the others ,one could read something into the laps immediatedly before running out of fuel on track and interestingly merc was choosing to go slow on fumes to find the ultimate end of fuel supply..

Brawn not dominating the test could be they have not found enough to dominate or they choose to not show their card to avoid what happened last year.You just don´t want to create the hype and aditionally the competitors to get nervous starting off close the gap development starting now.so we don´t know who is best and does not blink.

Sorry to state the obvious, but why oh why would any team want to mask an advantage they might enjoy? On the contrary, it would probably be a good idea to show all the speed you've got, trying to get other teams to panic a bit and make stupid design decitions. I think this "sandbagging" argument we have every pre-season is pretty silly to be perfectly honest.

[godlameroso]

Wonderful post snowy glad to have you here. Like I said previously you can see the time of each stint but we still don't know how much fuel they're carrying, sometimes drivers push harder if they know they don't have to make the tires last as long even though they're running relatively heavy fuel loads.

[segedunum]

Sorry to state the obvious, but why oh why would any team want to mask an advantage they might enjoy? On the contrary, it would probably be a good idea to show all the speed you've got, trying to get other teams to panic a bit and make stupid design decitions.

No, it wouldn't be a good idea. The perfect scenario the teams want to be in is where they keep an unknown with large variables in it back, they know how fast they're going given their car set up and they know how much faster, theoretically, they can go and they keep that to themselves. They don't want to set benchmarks for other teams before the first race. Getting other teams to 'panic' is an unknown they want to avoid. It only counts from the first race, remember?

[Giblet]

Anyone know how long they were between pit stops? Did any of them do a regulation tyre only stop and back out for continued long run?

That's another thing I've been wondering. Everyone's been getting carried away with the performance of the cars, but keep in mind that for the first time in seventeen years how quickly a team changes the tyres is going to be critical. Has there been any practice?

Nah the teams never thought of that, and will probably scramble like eggs to figure it out.

Just kidding obviously, I read one team got it down to 2.9 seconds.

[ringo]

I was watching a DTM race the other day, the pit-stops seem pretty trouble free. They should be easier with a lighter F1 car. The only difference is that the car will be lifted with man power instead.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poYMaW3mfHo[/youtube]

3 seconds is starting to look like a long pitstop.

[Giblet]

Every tire screwup last year I can think of involved the shields going on wrong, or making it so the nut was fastened properly.

Glad to see them go, for aesthetics and safety.

[mx_tifoso]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HK-FBP1IxQ[/youtube]

[andartop]

That's funny. Also, are all the pit crew uniforms gone now there's no refuelling? Are they all going to be dressed like waiters? Or is it because it's just a test?(!)

[myurr]

That was actually their best stop, you should have seen the others they did!!

[marcush.]

I have to admit I have difficulty understanding just why you should show your hand at all ,if theres no need to it.It is like boys boasting about what they have?
All you need is a .5s lead at the finish line .All you show before it is necessary is very likely to create effort and possibly solutions bringing down the gap you really have created as there is a benchmark.
again ,if Brawn had not made it thru the winter...no DD mania really would have happened ,as both Toyota nor Williams had a winner.But Brawn needed to show his speed
forwhatever reason .,maybe just to motivate the people and give a good feeling
even though a lot of people hgad to be laid off..
So no,you show just what you need to keep your advantage as long as you can.
If you are in trouble ,you will try to look better than you are ,and try to fix the issues as quick as possible.
would you think Newey or Brawn are going to panic ? they all know how things are working or not...and they know of course its their head thats going to roll if they don´t provide the answers in time .So better stay calm and collected and play your hand as clever as possible.

[Hangaku]

Anyone know how long they were between pit stops? Did any of them do a regulation tyre only stop and back out for continued long run?

That's another thing I've been wondering. Everyone's been getting carried away with the performance of the cars, but keep in mind that for the first time in seventeen years how quickly a team changes the tyres is going to be critical. Has there been any practice?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that we've seen tires being changed on F1 cars for a few years now, and I'm fairly certain that they haven't been timing the tire changes to coincide perfectly with the amount of fuel going in the car! If an F1 team is already established, surely they should know how to change tires quickly by now...