Friday Morning Testing - 6 teams?

[Wrex]

I was doing my usual quick scan of the news and found this story over at ITV.com

Up to six teams will take part in the new Friday morning test session next year.

According to sources close to the teams the Technical Working Group, which met at Heathrow on Wednesday, gave a positive response to the new session which is designed as a cost-cutting move.

The recent Formula 1 Commission meeting announced there would be a new two-hour Friday morning test session, on top of the usual free practice sessions, as long as three teams signed up to take part by December 15th. Any team signing up for the new session will only be allowed to conduct ten days of private testing during the season.

The big budget teams are likely to shun the session in favour of unlimited private testing in order to maximise the development of their cars. However, those opting to take part in Friday morning will get the advantage of extra track time, giving them a head start in car set-up.

The Technical Working Group backed the session and the suggestion is that six teams intend to take part. Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and Toyota want unlimited testing while Renault, Sauber, Jordan, Jaguar, BAR and Minardi are all expected to take part on Friday mornings.

The fact that the privateer teams like Sauber, Jordan and Minardi are intending to take part is not surprising and it is well known that Jaguar and BAR are looking to cut costs. However, the fact that Renault are looking to take part on Friday mornings is a shock.

The anglo-French team have one of the larger budgets in F1 and they may think there is a competitive advantage to be had in taking part in the session. The teams will be able to run their test driver in the spare car on Friday mornings and Renault are currently busy auditioning new test drivers following Fernando Alonso’s promotion to the race team.

While Minardi and Jordan don't suprise me, or even Sauber, Renault is a big shock. I guess the costs are really becoming a problem for BAR and Jaguar.

One has to assume that with having a rookie in the team and super-pole qualifying, this should help.

I must admit, although unlimited testing would provide some great feedback the opportunities of Friday testing has it's own advantages.

- More local track time

- Ban only applies to during the season (so move your testing budget forward to pre-season and enjoy both)

- You still get the ten days also

- Additional TV coverage for sponsors at every GP (thats gotta be worth a bit)

- Can run 3 cars and any driver on Friday sessions (great for feedback and revenue)

- Additional track time before Friday super-pole

- Can 'sell' the Friday drives to local talent (tell me thats not worth a few bucks) as is the plan of Stoddart.

When you think of the cost/benefit of it, only a team with a bottomless money-pit would pass on it.

I look forward to this idea becoming manditory for all teams.

[bcobbus]

As far as selling practice rides to local talent goes, they would need to have an FIA Super Licence to take part. If Alex Yoong could get a Super Licence, I guess anything is possible....

One interesting feature of having some teams testing only ten times during the season, is will there be time for drivers to take part in some other forms of motor sport? Granted that PR work with sponsors probably would be increased, but the idea of some of the current drivers taking part in some sports car races is rather exiting to me. I can only dream however......

[pole2pole]

With the bigger teams deciding to go there own way with testing I can see them pulling even further away from the rest of the field. I recall reading a peace in f1 magazine about ferrari having a 3 day test with 3 different drivers at 3 different circuts at the same time! now that makes friday morning testing look a little bit silly.

[paulzinho]

Perhaps the next rule could be to ban testing on circuits used for races during the season, that's liven things up as well surely?

[neilap]

This is a tough one. I think I can understand why BAR would chose this option. They never seem to be able to get the car ready in qualifying but on race day they would have better pace. Now with more time to prepare they may actually qualify to their potential.
Limited testing would suggest limited development. However unless there are suspension pieces being added I would suspect most of the improvements can be done in a wind tunnel. This leaves the motor which can be tested on a dyno. Maybe the teams will save the ten days for when there is a major step made and test the small improvements on Fridays.

[woodbine]

According to pitpass Max Mosley has now declared that the Friday session will essentially be a Friday test so a Super Licence would not be required.

[Dutton]

Renault is surprising, as is BAR to a degree. I know that BAR have been looking to cut costs and all, but if Richards and Jacques genuienly believe the aims for the future they have been espousing then they are going to need more than extra Friday practice to achieve it.

I don't agree with you Wrex in relation to your looking forward to it being COMPULSORY for all teams, that really would be the beginning of the end for Formula One in my view. At present, we are teetering on the precipice of a terminally negative F1-New-World-Order: I just hope that the path is not followed over the edge, although I cry into my pint as images from the future stab my heart.

We'll see.

[Wrex]

Dutton, it's not that I wish F1 not to maintain it's 'pinnacle of motorsport' image. But I fear if major cost cutting does'nt come soon, there will be no F1.

If it is'nt made manditory, the gap between the have's and the have nots will expand at an even greater speed than now.

[Valve Bounce]

I had instigated a thread on this subject ages ago. Basically, Ferrari does not need Friday testing or even half of friday practice, as I had noticed the trend where SchM was actually running around half the laps of the more profilic laps run by other teams.
Ferrari have their own test track, their own specialised knowledge of what it takes to set up a car for any track, and things had gotten to the stage where I thought they were just running the cars in practice to make sure everything in the car was in order, as well as do some last minute fine tuning.
I honestly cannot see how the three well organised teams of Ferrari, Williams and McLaren could possibly benefit from Friday testing in lieu of their extensive tests. Toyota, I don't know about as they were into a lot of testing before they started racing, and I'll have to sit on the fence on this team's testing requirements.
The worst part of Friday testing is if one or even two of the cars are damaged during the testing session - but then teams might just bring along some extra testing cars for hiring out to so called "local testing" drivers. One benefit I can see is if the teams running friday practice would be allowed three cars in the race, so that if any of their testing drivers were able to get within a certain designated lap time, then the driver would be permitted to run in quals, and if he qualifies within the 107% time, then he is allowed to race. This would be a really great money spinner for these teams for renta-drive drivers.
Sorry WREX, but mandatory friday testing for the top three teams I cannot foresee as this would require a unaniminous vote by all teams to pass.

[avsfan733]

it doesn't really matter budgetwise.... the big budgets would just invest their test budget in more chassis dynos and shaker rigs. The teams "should" already have their setup basically set from the engine to the aero. And they would probably just take more drivers to the ten test days. So what do we want Valve? everybody bashes the ferrari 1-2 well how about 15 or so 1-2-3's? i think most teams would rather have an unlmited number of days to spy on a visible ferrari because (not trying to sound rude) that really is there only hope it seems. 10 days of on track testing are very different from ten days of testing. Also what are the associated rules for this with "shakedown" tests? Are those still allowed? While i respect the idea i just don't think that this is a viable way to go about it... i don't know if there is a good way to do this. The only benifit i can see from a rule like this is the ability for more drivers to get a shot as Valve suggested, a good idea just the potential for boredom as i mentioned.

[Valve Bounce]

I think the real benefit in unlimited testing is the ability to develop the software for the blackbox, and then test the combined performance of all the running parts with the new software characteristics together with the different tyre compounds on offer. It's just that sometimes we read about the teams testing how the diff reacts to the new software, so there must be a lot of testing we know little about. Brakes, TRAX, suspension settings, who knows? There are so many variables to test to extract that extra .01 seconds per lap, that it is worth the rich teams to do the extra R&D.
As for the third entry for the schlocky teams, I would say we only permit this for the teams who are accepting the Friday testing option.

[Adam43]

I think the big advantage to unlimited testing is that it makes introducing major developments easier. This is something only Ferrari, McClaren and Williams are likely to do.

Ther is so much to test that unlimited testing will always be better IMHO. Even if it is at different circuits. However Friday practice can be a cheaper alternative for some teams and may, to a certain extent, help the little teams pull back some of the unlimited testing.

Testing on the Friday is cheaper (they are already there), with maybe more exposure (although how am I going to get to see it on TV?), and there is a slight advantage of learning (both set-up and driver wise) the circuit (especially if you have a rookie driver).

[Liz]

There's some talk that the drivers from Champ Cars may get some of this testing time; that would encourage the F1 teams to place their test drivers in Champ Cars to get more experience and have them in the test cars in the Champ Car European venues to be. That would keep up the interest in both series.

[Rennen]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by neilap
However unless there are suspension pieces being added I would suspect most of the improvements can be done in a wind tunnel.

BAR don't have a full size wind tunnel.

[Valve Bounce]

Couldn't they rent one from Arrows?

[neilap]

I thought BAR did. Wow, so now it is even more difficult to figure out why they would go for Fridays. It will benefit the indevidual races but I think it will limit the cars progress throught the season.

[golem]

I don't agree. Ten days, used properly, gives you five testing points during the year. Now, say no testing during the pacfic rounds (you really works your guts out and have the car in peerless condition for melbourne) and none for the last two rounds on the road either.

This gives you chances of better setups for racing at each individual race. Now, if in the week preceeding you did a full, hard core day or two of testing from dawn till dusk in the week previous, you can use Friday as a debug session. It's hardly optimal but doable. Also, they'll have to test multiple things at once but again, it's tricky but still doable.

I think it will give the lesser teams a definate leg up, though I would have preferred the ruling say 2 hours on track spread over a four hour sessions or four half hour sessions.

[neilap]

True! The time that the teams will get on Friday does not seem significant enough to basically forgo regular testing.

[GTRMagic]

How many test cars can be run at the same time in the Friday session?

If all the names linked to Minardi actually show up on a Friday, there could be 17 PS03 Cosworths floating around out there

But a serious team like Renault I would imagine would show up with 5 tubs, 3 for the race team and maybe 2 for testing? Surely that is a cost increase over 2002?

[Adam43]

Originally posted by GTRMagic
But a serious team like Renault I would imagine would show up with 5 tubs, 3 for the race team and maybe 2 for testing? Surely that is a cost increase over 2002?

A lot of the trnasport costs will be covered and a lot of the personnel will be already their.

Renault haven't been forced to do this, so they must think it is in their interests.

And I think a lot of the extra friday practice will be done in the race car.

[Jellybabe]

Originally posted by GTRMagic
How many test cars can be run at the same time in the Friday session?

As it's going to be run the same as a normal test day they could run as many as they wanted, so yes, if Minardi could produce 17 chassis and engines they could run 17 drivers!

[Wrex]

I thought this had to be decided by the 15th? Sauber are out, so did this idea fall through the cracks? Why is'nt there any news on this?

[Adam43]

As far I know (well what Autosport said today! ) this is the situation:

Yes: Minardi & Jordan
No: Ferrari, McClaren, Williams & Sauber
Maybe: Renault, BAR, Jaguar.

I hope it goes ahead, if only because it seems that some (2!) teams do want this.

[Super Tourer]

As usual the big teams will turn what on paper looks a good idea into a non-starter !!!!

This is just one example of how the FIA will never get an across the board agreement to cut costs, which is an issue many teams like to talk about, but not many actually want to do, in case the others don't!

I think that one of the reasons that Jag and Renault may not go for the Friday testing is because they don't want to be seen as a 'less serious' team, the implication being that only serious teams will go for the unlimited testing -whereas cash strapped teams like Minardi and Jordan are forced into Friday testing as they can't afford any other.

Maybe Paul Stoddart's approach has not helped, he seems to have approached the new testing plans as some sort of 'arrive 'n drive' cash generator for the team, as opposed to saying it will help them with serious development on the cars.

[LucaBadoer]

Well, its been confirmed that at least 3 teams have agreed to do the friday testing. The FIA hasn't named them yet, though.


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