F1 2010: Testing sessions thread

Day 3 lineup
McLaren – Jenson Button
Mercedes – Michael Schumacher
Red Bull – Mark Webber
Ferrari – Fernando Alonso
Williams – Nico Hülkenberg
BMW Sauber – Kamui Kobayashi
Renault – Robert Kubica
Force India – Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro Rosso – Jaime Alguersuari
Virgin – Lucas di Grassi
Lotus–Heikki Kovalainen

http://bit.ly/aclVqu

Joe is however very pro-McLaren.
P.S. Wow, Williams on the pace with McLaren, if true wow!

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Originally Posted by henners88

Isn't he just, and yes its nice to see Williams showing some form. I just hope it isn't a showboating tactic they tend to use in free practise.. :)

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Williams learnt their lesson about mid-season last year to stop the glory runs on Friday and concentrate on race setup - plus Rubens is too old a hand to fall into the trap of driving on fumes when he should be sorting the car. COME ON WILLIAMS!

Red flag city today. First Heikki's Lotus, then di Grassi's Virgin (with "no obvious sign of damage") and now the third stoppage in 90 minutes, this time believed to be for Kobayashi.

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Originally Posted by Sonic

Williams learnt their lesson about mid-season last year to stop the glory runs on Friday and concentrate on race setup - plus Rubens is too old a hand to fall into the trap of driving on fumes when he should be sorting the car. COME ON WILLIAMS!

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There was a suggestion, can't remember from who - might have been James Allen, that teams would use one car to simulate long runs and explore tyre wear while the other does multiple short runs on low fuel to extract the ultimate raw speed from the car.

In Williams' case it might make sense to send The Hulk out to do the donkey work while Rubens uses his experience to get the car set up.

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Originally Posted by henners88

I quite often take what Joe Saward says with a hefty pinch of salt but other sources are beginning to draw the same conclusions as to what issues each team are facing. Red Bull are apparently dissappointed overall with the pace of their car which is abit of as let down seeing as the anticipation from fans alike was great. Newey is often portrayed as a design god, and it seems they need abit more time to adjust. Whispers suggest Ferrari is concerned about fuel consumption over a race distance but appear to be one of the fastest cars and possibly the best car for conserving its tyres. Mclaren at this stage seems to be a favourite for the season and I for one am keeping my fingers crossed on that one. All that aside, this is only testing and we'll find soon enough who is where.. :)


http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/...st-from-jerez/

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Maybe RBR's retained rear suspension setup is interfering with the optimum channeling of air to the diffuser or causing stalling? Gary Anderson wrote at the RBR launch that the retained design would either create a "best of both worlds" or a problem.

But until Sakhir I would not believe problem stories - unless RBR start applying the paint as Mclaren did in 2009!!! Woking have incorporatrd it into their testing this season.

lots of rain yesterday here in Spain till early in the morning,so hope it doe's not affect Friday testing.There will thousands there today for Alonso I guess,weather forcast tomorrow looks good

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Originally Posted by Sonic

Williams learnt their lesson about mid-season last year to stop the glory runs on Friday and concentrate on race setup - plus Rubens is too old a hand to fall into the trap of driving on fumes when he should be sorting the car. COME ON WILLIAMS!

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I agree - but the teams also haveto make low fuel runs too.

Another way to look at it is at the end of the test probably all the teams at some point have run in a qualifying set-up, so comparing quickest time may be a good way to gauge pace.

But Catalunya is still going to be the most accurate picture until Sakhir.

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Originally Posted by Dave Brockman

There was a suggestion, can't remember from who - might have been James Allen, that teams would use one car to simulate long runs and explore tyre wear while the other does multiple short runs on low fuel to extract the ultimate raw speed from the car.

In Williams' case it might make sense to send The Hulk out to do the donkey work while Rubens uses his experience to get the car set up.

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Yes, I believe that was Allen. However he was talking about Friday testing at GP's.

As St.D says you have to expect that everyone has a low fuel run at one point or another over the four day test so the fact Rubens has been up there in the mix on the combined times bodes well.

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Originally Posted by henners88

RBR may well have issues and may not be on the front at the start of the season. As we saw last season the development by the likes of Mclaren and Force India showed that there is plenty of opportunity to catch up and in certain circumstances go backwards. I think RBR will still be a top 3 team come Sakhir, and in terms of pace RBR are not far off by any means. I'd certainly enjoy seeing Williams winning a race or two this year, just as long as a Mclaren driver finishes number one in the championship.. :)

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Even though I am a Mclaren fan, I do hope that RBR don't have serious issues with the car. I hope they did not tinker with the car too much and outplay themselves. I think last years car was pretty solid. Then again with a much bigger tank and the necessary adjustments to the car, the newey design might not like being that heavy. I'm sure they will get it sorted out by Sahkir. Or will we see STR outperform RBR again?