F1 2010: Testing sessions thread

You know, year after year I heard how irrelevant testing is and in the end it proves to be very useful, if you like to make predictions.
Several examples:
Last year everybody thought that Brawn are hunting for sponsors. But they were for real.
In 2005, everybody thought that there is no way for Renault and McLaren-Mercedes to suddenly overcome the mighty Ferrari. But they did.
A year before, in 2004, Ferrari were one second ahead of Williams and McLaren and guess what - they really owned them!
And between 2006 and 2008 the testing were with mixed results - and the championships were real close! So while it's a bit premature to make predictions based on one test, to say that tests are meaningless is to me incorrect.

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Originally Posted by F1boat

You know, year after year I heard how irrelevant testing is and in the end it proves to be very useful, if you like to make predictions.
Several examples:
Last year everybody thought that Brawn are hunting for sponsors. But they were for real.
In 2005, everybody thought that there is no way for Renault and McLaren-Mercedes to suddenly overcome the mighty Ferrari. But they did.
A year before, in 2004, Ferrari were one second ahead of Williams and McLaren and guess what - they really owned them!
And between 2006 and 2008 the testing were with mixed results - and the championships were real close! So while it's a bit premature to make predictions based on one test, to say that tests are meaningless is to me incorrect.

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Tests are tests! they are not meaningless at all. But you have to know what the teams are testing for. I certainly would not make predictions on who would win a WCC based on the first testing session of a season.

One thing is for certain - SchM is back!! Now you can make a solid prediction on that!!

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Originally Posted by henners88

I think there are so many great drivers on the grid this season, its the car which is going to play the major factor. Massa, Alonso, Vettel, and Hamilton to name a few are more than capable of beating Schuey on their day and we are faced with one of the toughest grids of the last 20 years. Its not a case of Michael being able to use his amazing skills to compensate for the car should Mercedes be off the pace, as any one of these drivers have proven to be race winners who can deliver.

Its going to be a close and exciting season no doubt, and I'm sure Michael is under no illusions that he's not going to be able to stroll in and have the dominance he enjoyed between 2000 to 2004.

Sandbagging is a thing teams have done since the competition began, and they only have push to 75% of the cars potential in testing to know how good the car is reletive to their CFD testing back at the factory. Ferrari we think set their fastest times with 10 to 13 laps of fuel on board. Mclaren with 24 laps of fuel on board. Neither team put in a qualifying lap as they were careful not to give away their hands. Stefano Dominicalli was keen to highlight post testing interview. :)

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It has become something reminiscient of a tough grid - Kimi missing does detract.

I do not think Schumi has any illusions - but he is the best racing brain out there and together with Ross Brawn and his ability to adapt, under the current refuelling-tyre regulations, this is a great advantage.

If Brawn [er, I mean Mercedes] have produced another good car they will be in a good position with two able drivers.

I hope it is a brilliant season - which does not neccessarily mean a close season. Close season's in F1 are not de jour.

I do not want a close season - I want a Jenson season! :D

unlike the english who want a "Jenson season" or a "Lewis season" us Aussies are far more simple.. we're happy with just a "Webber wins Australian GP" and the rest of the season can do what it likes!

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Originally Posted by henners88

Me too :up: ;) :p .

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Wag! :D

Who is Lewis?

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Originally Posted by Hawkmoon

I don't know. Ask Ferrari as that's apparently what they were doing when they set their fastest times.

All I know is that just because a car does 10 laps and pits doesn't mean that it had only 10 laps worth of fuel. The number of laps in a stint indicates the minimum amount of fuel the car started with and nothing else. Trying to extrapolate the form book from that is a fool's errand which is why I don't pay any attention to James Allen and his ilk.

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The Ferraris were doing 10-20 lap stints and were going faster and faster as the fuel burned off.

Consider Tuesday on that McLaren could just about match the Saubers with a hefty amount of fuel. Other cars were into the 1min 12s when they took fuel out.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sarahholt...ff_to_a_f.html

On Tuesday, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton strung together a 24-lap run and set his fastest lap of 1:12.256 during the middle of that spell.

That is revealing because Hamilton would have needed enough fuel on board to stay out for that distance. So to set a fastest time when he was carrying a not insignificant amount of fuel shows the McLaren, like the Ferrari, is in good shape.

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http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/0...2-in-valencia/

Second fastest (1:12.056) for BMW Sauber was 2009’s standout rookie Kamui Kobayashi, who also set his time early in the day on the fourth lap of an eight lap run. “We had no problems with the car and covered a lot of mileage. The car felt good, ” he said.

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http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...D=356334&FS=F1

Willy Rampf
"It was another positive day of testing for us. First of all Kamui familiarised himself with the car and the track. We then continued with some basic set-up work and ran the car on different fuel levels. The latter is very important for us in order to be able to compare the results from the track with our results from track simulation. As yesterday, the car was reliable, which enabled us to complete our programme as scheduled."

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Originally Posted by Valve Bounce

I certainly would not make predictions on who would win a WCC based on the first testing session of a season.

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No, but if Ferrari are constantly fastest in all sessions... than they are in good position.

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Originally Posted by F1boat

No, but if Ferrari are constantly fastest in all sessions... than they are in good position.

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..........to...............

Besides laptimes there are two more factors we need to take into account: weather and circuit layout. In winter temperatures are quite low and those cars that excel more in higher temperatures (meaning cars that are easier on tyres), are probably struggling more in winter than they would do in the real season. And secondly I think Barcelona would be the best circuit to indicate aero efficiency during the pre-season testing period. I think this area has been the biggest concern for various teams (Ferrari, McLaren).

What I find interesting regarding Ferrari is that although they seem obviously quite fast at low-fuel, they seemed to struggle more with heavy fuel load and were matched by the likes of Mercedes in that (well, that's purely my guess). So taking into account the rumours of Ferrari's poor fuel efficiency, the cars may actually struggle with a full tank in the early stages of races.

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Originally Posted by F1boat

St. Devote, the cool thing is that all top teams look formidable - at least on paper. Merc has the best combo ever, Michael and Ross, RBR has Newey and while I don't rate Vettel that much, with a car made by Newey, sometimes simply a good driver is enough. But Ferrari and McLaren are the all-time best in this sport and they have brilliant drivers as well.

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Oh, I can see explanations/excuses being lined up already to devalue Vettel's future success (like we saw with Button's title last year). If Vettel wins 2010 WDC, then it will be only because an average driver happened to have a dominant car. :dozey: