Silverstone Test- June 2008

[mx_tifoso]

Even though this test has yet to commence, I was reading around and found some information regarding what will go on during this session, at least by the Force India team for the time being.

AutoSport- Force India to test radical upgrades:

Force India are to evaluate a radical overhaul of their car during testing at Silverstone this week as they bid to close the gap to the cars ahead of them.

Force India's chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne told autosport.com: "Yeah, we have got a big test coming up.

"We have got a big aero upgrade. New bodywork, sidepods, diffuser, front wing and engine cover. We are also running our front inerter damper. We have got some more suspension modifications, so we are fairly hopeful of making quite a big step forward.

"But then moving from that, at the next test around Hockenheim we should be running our quickshift box. So we have quite a lot updates coming and we clearly need them."

This testing session, which starts on Tuesday, will cover three days and will see the participation of all ten teams. So there is plenty of running to be expected, and much R&D to be done as well, since the battles throughout the field are really tight at the moment. Another aspect being taken care of during this session is the preparation for the British GP in a few weeks time, in this very same circuit. So hopefully the weather will play into the teams hands as well throughout the entire week!

[modbaraban]

And no shark-fin as yet...

new sidepods tho.

[Conceptual]

It is always my hope that the underdogs will introduce a "magical" update that just unlocks a huge chunk of time. I mean, if they could unlock 2 seconds with a major overhaul, they could be fighting for podiums from the back of the field.

Anyways, why aren't FIF1 getting gearboxes from Ferrari? You would think that with having to last 4 races that Ferrari would GIVE them to FIF1 just for data collection purposes...

Do STR make their own gearboxes as well?

Chris

[Minicucci]

Last I heard, STR uses the 'quick-shift' gear box that gave RBR so many problems last season and the one before.

[Conceptual]

Last I heard, STR uses the 'quick-shift' gear box that gave RBR so many problems last season and the one before.

They adapted it from the renault to the Ferrari engines?

That sounds like alot of work to be honest. Remember, Berger said that he had hoped to continue with Ferrari components in 2009, including their KERS system. Doesnt that automatically mean that they will use the Ferrari transmission next year?

Thanks!

Chris

[donskar]

Conceptual wrote:

It is always my hope that the underdogs will introduce a "magical" update that just unlocks a huge chunk of time.

I'm afraid the operative term is "magical." With a major test in progress, let me pose a question to anyone who wants to chime in:

Under the current rules and conditions prevailing in F1 is it realistic for any team that is, say, 1 second per lap off the pace to be able to catch the leaders within, say, 5-10 races?

I say, NO, regretfully.

I think that back in the 60's, 70's, and 80's it was far more likely to happen than it is today.

Looking forward to other opinions . . .

[Saribro]

New vane on the Ferrari bargeboards:

[mx_tifoso]

Force India's bodywork surrounding the sidepods has gone through quite a revision as indicated by the words of Mike Gascoyne.

The sidepod extensions have undergone changes in shape, gone is the swoopy slot leading upwards towards the chimney section and now it stops at the 'entrance' to the sidepod itself, the slot is now a more like the one on the F2008.

The chimeny section also changed in shape, from what I have seen on other pictures it seems to me that the left side chimney has been closed more-or-less completely while the right side one has been left open. But this may be a weather dependant difference in this area, as weather in France differs from the one in England.

The 'edge' that goes from the middle of the sidepod's side to the flip-ups has also undergone development, now beginning straighter rather than curving-downards and then upwards.

And the t-wings have been updated as well, now being entirely connected to the chimney's. But as in other areas of the car, the livery makes telling differences apart quite difficult, as the lines of certain colors changes have optical-illusion effects. And sometimes there are variations in the font of the letters, which can be seen in the pictures below, is this done on purpose? I don't know .

This is one from Tuesday. Borrowed from 'modbarabans's post .


And this is a photo from the FPractices at Magny-Cours '08, for comparison purposes.


The engine cover, diffuser, and nosecone/front wing updates have yet to be run in testing. Although there might be a slight difference in the front wing from the one used in Magny-Cours this past weekend (but I don't want to make any assumptions just yet).

800th post! In the 19 months-or-so that I have been here as a registered member. Thank you for everything Tomba and Principessa, as well as to all the other board members that have helped me out since I joined .

[WhiteBlue]

I think that over all this is a test which is difficult to justify. Teams will test in some days here anyway. Doing this will only result in less running in Friday free prectise. It shows that testing can be further reduced in favour of more races.

[donskar]

Massa's day 2 time seems unusually slow. Anyone out there have some insight as to why? Doing long runs? Testing changes that did not work? Sandbagging?

(It's tough trying to keep up with events in Europe from the land of cattle, oil, and pickup trucks!)

[mx_tifoso]

The weather today at Silverstone was reportedly quite windy, so that may have been a contributing factor. According to news reports, it is one of the reasons for why Fisichella went offtrack and hit the barriers today.

And seeing how the weather was not benefitiary for positive feedback, they may have scaled down the programme and reduced the number of laps down to 69. Massa did 71 yesterday, but that amount was because he had a technical problem towards the end of the day.

Times for Wednesday:

• Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
  1. H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:20.015 38
  2. J. Trulli Toyota 1:20.391 95
  3. N. Rosberg Williams 1:20.624 74
  4. N. Piquet Jr. Renault 1:20.787 87
  5. S. Vettel Toro Rosso 1:20.795 84
  6. R. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:20.982 67
  7. F. Massa Ferrari 1:21.069 69
  7. M. Webber Red Bull Racing 1:21.170 39
  9. J. Button Honda 1:21.445 106
  10. G. Fisichella Force India 1:21.583 52

[ESPImperium]

Looks like a new nose and front wing for Honda:




New Ferarri rear wing thats less "Scoop" like to previous designs, especially the one used in France:

[Saribro]

FI sharkfin enginecover:

[k0zi0lek]

New McLaren front wing with 4 planes.

[ss_collins]

Hi all,

I've been out of F1 for a bit playing in NASCAR and Sportscars but just got in from Silverstone with a fair bit of stuff. Some of which are here, the rest here:

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/alla ... stone.html