2009 Testing - March (Jerez & Barcelona)

[Moanlower]

Still dependant on Reynolds number though.


Doesn't auger well for their confidence in either their windtunnel or their CFD simulations though does it?

With so much at stake it would also be quite naïve to trust a simulation computer program for a 100% ? And it's US made, another reason to be paranoid. j/k

[McMacca]

Does anyone know where to get 'statto' lap by lap times for todays (or any) test?

[kilcoo316]

With so much at stake it would also be quite naïve to trust a simulation computer program for a 100%

Of course - CFD is merely a prediction, not an exact number.


But I would be surprised if the data they produce from that doesn't have a tolerance of at least 5% on it. (Changing Re, changing airspeed directions, g-forces etc)

[Moanlower]

Does anyone know where to get 'statto' lap by lap times for todays (or any) test?

It's in spanish and the most detailed I know of.

http://directo.thef1.es/tests/

[AeroGT3]

Still dependant on Reynolds number though.


Doesn't auger well for their confidence in either their windtunnel or their CFD simulations though does it?

With so much at stake it would also be quite naïve to trust a simulation computer program for a 100% ? And it's US made, another reason to be paranoid. j/k

Yeah, what were Aston Martin racing thinking when they did that a few years ago!

[kilcoo316]

Yeah, what were Aston Martin racing thinking when they did that a few years ago!

Err - you aren't suggesting AM's CFD predictions tied up exactly with the on-track d/f & drag results?

[Bob Brown]

Renault topped teh time sheets !!!

Piquet is soooooooooooooo gone. what a waste of 2 years.

and looks like McLaren still using the 08 wing........yet just only a bit better than Fi........interesting....

[Shaddock]

If you wanna test your wind-tunnel - in my opinion it would be better to get onto a runway and do straight line tests - try to correlate downforce with airspeed (from suspension deflection) and drag with acceleration (along with known power/torque at axle figures).


Either is a rather desperate move though.

Pedro has already been to been to the airport this year and done some similar testing

Did anyone read the interview with Pat Symonds in 2007 when he said that a team (McLaren not mentioned by name) had 'lucked' into finding a good performance window and design and didn't quite understand how they had arrived there.

[Conceptual]

If you wanna test your wind-tunnel - in my opinion it would be better to get onto a runway and do straight line tests - try to correlate downforce with airspeed (from suspension deflection) and drag with acceleration (along with known power/torque at axle figures).


Either is a rather desperate move though.

Pedro has already been to been to the airport this year and done some similar testing

Did anyone read the interview with Pat Symonds in 2007 when he said that a team (McLaren not mentioned by name) had 'lucked' into finding a good performance window and design and didn't quite understand how they had arrived there.

I would be interested to know what team that was, as I do remember something along those lines being said. Symonds is one of my favorite paddock inhabitants, so I read everything that I come across that is about him.

Renault #1, but still 9/10ths off of Vettel's fastest time.

Melbourne Qualifying is gonna be tense!

[Shaddock]

I would be interested to know what team that was, as I do remember something along those lines being said. Symonds is one of my favorite paddock inhabitants, so I read everything that I come across that is about him.

Renault #1, but still 9/10ths off of Vettel's fastest time.

Melbourne Qualifying is gonna be tense!

I'll dig the article out and print it up here. The interview was printed with McLaren being the team as I remember.

[kilcoo316]

Did anyone read the interview with Pat Symonds in 2007 when he said that a team (McLaren not mentioned by name) had 'lucked' into finding a good performance window and design and didn't quite understand how they had arrived there.

Honda/BAR were the team in question, and he was talking about the 2006 car - after they were doing so abysmally in 2007 IIRC.

[RacingManiac]

Still dependant on Reynolds number though.


Doesn't auger well for their confidence in either their windtunnel or their CFD simulations though does it?

With so much at stake it would also be quite naïve to trust a simulation computer program for a 100% ? And it's US made, another reason to be paranoid. j/k

Yeah, what were Aston Martin racing thinking when they did that a few years ago!

Or Wirth Research's Acura LMP2 program from the last 2 season.....most of that car was developed in CFD with some tunnel correlation from time to time....

[Shaddock]

Honda/BAR were the team in question, and he was talking about the 2006 car - after they were doing so abysmally in 2007 IIRC.

This was definitely McLaren he was referring to.

Interview with Pat Symonds August 2007
Interviewer Matt Bishop (think he works for McLaren as Press Officer now)

MB: What’s gone wrong with this year?

PS: First, what’s gone wrong is that the aerodynamic performance of our car has been extremely different from what our wind tunnel predicted it would be. Put it this way, when we feed our circuit simulation data through our wind tunnel data, the result is lap times every bit as good as Ferrari or McLarens.

MB: Why?

PS: Over many years, we’ve learned to regard our wind tunnel as a fantastically good representation of the car on the track. As a result, we’ve probably done less checking of its results. We’d got to the point where we believed it’d never let us down. Now, unfortunately it has.

MB: Is aerodynamics more of a ‘black art’ than some would allow?

Yes, as far as F1 aerodynamics in concerned, we are ignorant – far more ignorant than we let on. So aerodynamics isn’t a black art, it’s a science, but a science that none of us in F1 fully understand yet.

MB: However, there’s nonetheless an element of you having lucked out aerodynamically this season simply because the profile of this years Bridgestone has played havoc with your car’s aero in a way that it hasn’t with you rivals aero.

PS: That’s true, and I know for a fact that one of our rivals, who are doing a lot better this year than last year, are doing so because they have lucked in. And they don’t know why.

MB: McLaren?

PS: no reply – (MB: I can tell you for sure he means McLaren, because I’ve heard exactly the same remark made by other team’s engineers about them)

Later in the interview

MB: Yes, Fisico has driven a lot of shitboxes in his time, and I reckon he’s pretty good at it!

PS: Sub-optimal ground vehicles, Matt, not shitboxes, please. But yes, he can clearly cope better than Heikki.

[McMacca]

Just spotted this, dont know what time of day, length of run etc, but looks like LH is chewing rear tyres.......

[i70q7m7ghw]

Everyone is complaining about rear graining apparently, it's a cock up with the dimensions of the tyres or something... The rear tyres should have been bigger with the move to slicks, but nobody even thought about it. more proof max mosley is a complete f'ing twat! he should just crawl back in to the dungeon he came out of

EDIT: How many rear tyre blowouts do you think we will see this year? Good job they aren't racing at Indy, I'm sure you all remember what happened last time there was a tyre cock-up...