3rd Pre-Season Test @ Barcelona (18th, 19th, 20th, 21st February)

[DazzlaF1]

Well Barcelona is once again upon us, few things to look out for

1. Will Renault announce their replacement for Kubica or continue to trial Heidfeld and Senna
2. Will Red Bull show their true hand?
3. Will Lotus and Virgin continue their promising form from Jerez

[Tazio]

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2...-stats-so-far/

After Valencia and Jerez, the testing mileage leaderboard looks like this:


Ferrari
3,191.6 km / 1,983.2 mi / 748 laps

Red Bull
2,777.9 km / 1,744.8 mi / 652 laps

Force India
2,478.5 km / 1,540.0 mi / 591 laps

Mercedes
2,309.6 km / 1,435.1 mi / 541 laps

Sauber
2,274.0 km / 1,413.0 mi / 534 laps

Toro Rosso
2,260.9 km / 1,404.9 mi / 530 laps

Williams
2,153.6 km / 1,338.3 mi / 511 laps

McLaren
2,149.1 km / 1,335.4 mi / 512 laps

Renault
2,126.9 km / 1,321.5 mi / 502 laps

Virgin
1,825.5 km / 1,134.3 mi / 433 laps

Lotus
1,452.4 km / 902.4 mi / 342 laps

Hispania*
752.9 km / 467.8 mi / 188 laps


TOTAL
25,798.5 km / 16,030.4 mi / 6,094 laps

Once again (as last year) Ferrari are banking the most miles to this point. It won't mean much if the car is a dog however!

[CaptainRaiden]

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2...-stats-so-far/



Once again (as last year) Ferrari are banking the most miles to this point. It won't mean much if the car is a dog however!

Hmm, Mclaren clocking almost 1000 kilometers lesser than Ferrari. I hope this doesn't mean they have some teething problems with the new car. Ferrari meanwhile is most probably focusing on engine reliability and performance, since that was their achilles heel last year. So far things look good for them. They've been consistently at the top throughout. How much of that is REAL pace though is still a mystery. It would be very interesting to keep an eye on the testing programs of Ferrari, Red Bull and Mclaren for the upcoming tests. Also, from as far as I can remember, Mclaren hasn't posted a chart topping time even once throughout testing at Valencia or Jerez.

But then again, I remember how Coulthard and Kimi broke lap records during winter testing for the 2004 season with their Mclarens and Ferrari were barely in top 5 throughout. Come Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying and then Schumacher won the next 5 races. It was absolutely shocking and horrendous to see how much of a dog that winter testing champion Mclaren MP4-19 really was!

[Mark]

For the most part winter testing is meaningless, however it can throw some light on the season ahead on occasion. Remember in 2009 when to everyone's surprise the Brawns were consistently fast in testing, and we all know what happened there.

[CaptainRaiden]

For the most part winter testing is meaningless, however it can throw some light on the season ahead on occasion. Remember in 2009 when to everyone's surprise the Brawns were consistently fast in testing, and we all know what happened there.

Oh yes, the 2009 Brawn was definitely an exception. I think that was also down to the fact that their car was so delayed. From what I remember, they missed the first two tests and could only manage to get it out for the third one, and I think by then there was no point of them sandbagging, because they needed some real mileage and also Brawn themselves were shocked at how fast that car really was. That car was faster in quali trim and also over a full race distance than any other car at least for the first half of the season. You couldn't write a better fairytale.

[Hawkmoon]

Well Barcelona is once again upon us, few things to look out for

1. Will Renault announce their replacement for Kubica or continue to trial Heidfeld and Senna

I don't think they'll announce anything but will anybody really be surprised if/when they announce Heidfeld?

2. Will Red Bull show their true hand?

What's to say they haven't already?

3. Will Lotus and Virgin continue their promising form from Jerez

Who cares? Lotus are going to lose a court case, their name and all the support that goes with that name. Richard Branson is going to get bored with F1 and quit and Manor will follow him not long after. Neither of these teams will be on the grid in 5 years time.

[Sonic]

I
Who cares? Lotus are going to lose a court case, their name and all the support that goes with that name. Richard Branson is going to get bored with F1 and quit and Manor will follow him not long after. Neither of these teams will be on the grid in 5 years time.

Got some inside knowledge you care to share with us? No one knows how the court case is going to go.

[Tazio]

Hmm, Mclaren clocking almost 1000 kilometers lesser than Ferrari. I hope this doesn't mean they have some teething problems with the new car. Ferrari meanwhile is most probably focusing on engine reliability and performance, since that was their achilles heel last year. So far things look good for them.

Although engine reliability is very important, (as well as other component parts, clutch, Kers, and wings, especially rear) I think the main focus is on tire wear. I followed last year’s practices much more closely, and they seemed to be obsessed with it (which may have been why they dropped the ball in the engine department). Then again I don't understand how they could have booked so much more mileage than the competition last year, and not noticed the engine anomaly

[SGWilko]

Then again I don't understand how they could have booked so much more mileage than the competition last year, and not noticed the engine anomaly

I think the rulebook caught them out - the new for '10 rules stated that you are not allowed to top up fluids/air or, due to the shortness of tyre only pitstops, they had no time to top up pneumatic valve system.

I can only assume they had not thought about this during testing, when they could top up at will.

I may well be wrong, but I am sure it was the pneumatic valves that caused the issue................

[Tazio]

Hmm, Mclaren clocking almost 1000 kilometers lesser than Ferrari. I hope this doesn't mean they have some teething problems with the new car. Ferrari meanwhile is most probably focusing on engine reliability and performance, since that was their achilles heel last year. So far things look good for them. They've been consistently at the top throughout. How much of that is REAL pace though is still a mystery. It would be very interesting to keep an eye on the testing programs of Ferrari, Red Bull and Mclaren for the upcoming tests. Also, from as far as I can remember, Mclaren hasn't posted a chart topping time even once throughout testing at Valencia or Jerez.

Here is one explanation about McLarens lack of mileage.
Take into consideration that the mileage attained using the modified MP/25 is counted toward the total.

McLaren's former long-time team coordinator Jo Ramirez was in the pits in Spain and he reported that technicians were so busy with the car that there was no time to experiment with the adjustable rear wing.

Instead, the team's focus was on testing different fundamental configurations, including the layout of the exhausts, the diffuser and the engine cover.

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=400356

McLaren has a lot of work to do. I think the MP-26 will either be a world beater, or a 2nd tier contender. It's still way too early to draw any informed conclusions!