[Training] The 2010 Pre-Season Testing Thread

[Marbot]

With a word of warning from 'Teflonso'.

"We could be last and it might not mean anything."

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=47697

[Marbot]

Ferrari alter their testing programme. hmmm.....are they a bit worried?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81140

[jab]

Originally Posted by Marbot

With a word of warning from 'Teflonso'.

"We could be last and it might not mean anything."

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=47697

So what he really means is "we could be last and it will mean something"

Originally Posted by Marbot

Ferrari alter their testing programme. hmmm.....are they a bit worried?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81140

I think they are, you know. All this talk about the numbers not adding up in the windtunnel and whinging about diffusers that haven't even appeared yet - sounds ominous

Might as well stake my claim for that, although a dangerous place to put it on the first page of the thread

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by jab

Might as well stake my claim for that, although a dangerous place to put it on the first page of the thread

Indeed it is, but if Ferrari suddenly decide to wrap up their test on Tuesday, then we'll know why.

It is going to be very difficult for anyone to know who is actually the fastest, since the difference between running on high and low fuel is probably much greater than the actual performance difference between the best and worst cars.

We shouldn't be too surprised if we see one of the new teams heading the timing sheets.

[jab]

What I found last year is that although the timesheets at the end of the session are pretty irrelevant, you can get a good idea of the pecking order by looking at the long run pace. I initially dismissed the Brawn's pace last year but when I actually looked at the long run pace, I could see they were looking pretty hot

Of course even there, it's not totally reliable. But it's not impossible to work out either. There are some good places on the net where you can find such data

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by jab

you can get a good idea of the pecking order by looking at the long run pace.

Well, this years long run pace runs will have to include something approaching a race distance, and that's something that is quite difficult to achieve during testing (red flags, weather etc).

It's not really any good knowing how the car behaves on full fuel load if you don't then run the car to see how it transitions to low fuel load. Running full fuel for a few laps and then low fuel for a few laps isn't going to tell you the whole story.

[Bononi]

Wow, it looks like a one-man thread, a monologue here !

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Wow, it looks like a one-man thread, a monologue here !

Obviously there is some disinterest at the moment, but it will pick up....I hope.

[Osella]

Anyone planning to attend any testing?

[Dutton]

I wouldn't call it disinterest. There just isn't really anything to talk about on the subject, really, is there? We need to wait until the teams are actually doing some running before much can be said.

I would agree, though, that the various noises from Ferrari point towards them not exactly being particularly confident. It wouldn't be any source of great surprise if they have screwed up a bit. A team cannot be in title contention nearly every year, endlessly, forever. There has to be ups and downs. If you look at Ferrari's run from 1997-2009, well, it isn't exactly too bad: 2005 and 2009 were the only years when they were completely out of the running, and with 1997-2004 them being right up the sharp end every year.

So, yes, Ferrari missing the target for two years in a row is quite feasible. It may not tie in with the story of the last while, but then it has always been inevitable that eventually, sometime, the team would slip off the page for a while. We have seen a bit of that decline since the Brawn-Byrne-Schumacher-Todt group has broken up. It would've been more noticeable but for it taking a bit for other teams to pick up their game adequately to close the difference. Now that this has happened, it makes it more and more likely that Ferrari will be more often wide of the mark relative to the sharp end.

Who knows, though? It may not be this year: they just might have got it right after all. We'll just have to wait a while for all the teams to get a decent bit of testing under their belts before we can even pretend to have a guess.

[Jamesy-18]

Originally Posted by Osella

Anyone planning to attend any testing?

I am, albeit digitally through the WWW!

[jab]

Re: windtunnel figures, James Allen has also said that he's heard negative noises coming out of McLaren as well

[Dutton]

Interesting.

You never can tell with Mclaren. They are so totally hit and miss. Their car certainly looks sleek as hell, but, of course, that doesn't really mean anything!

If James is saying that, then you have to pay attention I think. He may have been a brutally horrible commentator, but his value as a knowlegable, credible journalist isn't in doubt (IMO, at least).

[Wims]

Sleek? I thought it kinda looked like the Auricom from Wipeout. Big and boxy. If it performs anything like the Auricom it wont be a very good car, it will have the top speed but its a total pig in the corners.

[Osella]

Well, McLaren have shown in the past that they can seriously improve a car in the course of a year, and they do have one of each sort of driver, subtle-fast and scary-fast.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by jab

Re: windtunnel figures, James Allen has also said that he's heard negative noises coming out of McLaren as well

That'll be John and Anthony fighting over which side of the garage their lad gets.

I would imagine that disinformation as well as information is being thrown around in fairly equal quantities.

[Fujer]

anyone knows any livetiming sites?

[Jamesy-18]

I think eurosport's F1 section may provide live timing, they normally do. You could try Autosport too.

[herowassenna]

Originally Posted by Osella

Well, McLaren have shown in the past that they can seriously improve a car in the course of a year, and they do have one of each sort of driver, subtle-fast and scary-fast.

Going back to James Allen, he made a pertinent observation in his 2010 review on ITV-F1 web site, regarding how many tech directors were confused by Mclaren developing so hard in what is becoming a budget restricted sport. The amount of hours in the wind tunnel and costs involved meant they were not focusing on the 2010 car.

"On paper they should have a bit of a struggle on their hands as they carried on developing their car right up to the end of the season and, under cost-saving rules, that must have taken valuable wind tunnel time away from the 2010 car.

Other teams’ engineers were scratching their heads about this as more and more new parts came onto the car last season."

Just a thought.

[GolddustMini]

perhaps many of the components they were working on on the 2009 car were to be direct carry over parts from the 2009 car to the 2010 concept? and that way they were getting real life testing (and lifeing) of these components on the car

[tblincoe]

Originally Posted by jab

What I found last year is that although the timesheets at the end of the session are pretty irrelevant, you can get a good idea of the pecking order by looking at the long run pace. I initially dismissed the Brawn's pace last year but when I actually looked at the long run pace, I could see they were looking pretty hot

Of course even there, it's not totally reliable. But it's not impossible to work out either. There are some good places on the net where you can find such data

Did a quick search and came up with nothing - any help with a link or a pointer as to where we can expect to find that data in the upcoming days? Thanks!

[Chiefy]

Originally Posted by GolddustMini

perhaps many of the components they were working on on the 2009 car were to be direct carry over parts from the 2009 car to the 2010 concept? and that way they were getting real life testing (and lifeing) of these components on the car

I would have thought much the same but I could not be certain.

Is the BBC not doing anything for us? No live coverage on the website? I'd like to see Martin Brundle, trackside, with a pint and a microphone, just giving us his views on the action.

[GolddustMini]

Originally Posted by Chiefy

Is the BBC not doing anything for us? No live coverage on the website? I'd like to see Martin Brundle, trackside, with a pint and a microphone, just giving us his views on the action.

with eddie jordan dressed in a green suit with a shamrock hat sneaking in and out of the pit garages getting spy shots?

[Chiefy]

And David Coulthard in a kilt so that he could show us hi... erm... what are we on about? Hahaha.

[jab]

Originally Posted by tblincoe

Did a quick search and came up with nothing - any help with a link or a pointer as to where we can expect to find that data in the upcoming days? Thanks!

F1Today.nl was one site that posted live testing updates last year, so there would be a good place to start

Usually someone comes up with a good link. I've only got 1 seminar and 1 lecture tomorrow so I'll be around for a lot of the day - I'll see what I can find then. What time does testing start? Usually about 9 or 10, isn't it?