Christmas lights, in February.....?Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
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Christmas lights, in February.....?Quote:
Originally Posted by henners88
Alonso now on his 100th lap of the day - certainly no reliability worries for Ferrari at this stage!
But 6/10ths slower... :erm:
That's his opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by RJL25
Force India did the opposite of Newey. They relied on CFD to develop last year's car. They said it was good at analysing flow rates at a macro level.
No one yet really knows the precise reason for the "mounting failure" whether it be a clumsy mechanic, structual failure or the wrong numbers from the design room.
First failure for McLaren - apparently Button's stopped at "Curva Dry Sack" (love that name :) )
But the problem was that the Acuras were racing themselves in ALMS. Yes Wirth and developed it all year but not under duress of competition had the Audis and Porsches continued racing last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
And the winner is... Kobayashi.
According to unofficial timing he snuck his Sauber into top spot just as today's session ended.
1 Kobayashi Sauber 1m19.950s
2 Buemi Toro Rosso 1m20.026s +0.076
3 Button McLaren 1m20.618s +0.668
4 Hulkenberg Williams 1m20.629s +0.679
5 Liuzzi Force India 1m20.754s +0.804
6 Schumacher Mercedes 1m21.083s +1.133
7 Alonso Ferrari 1m21.424s +1.474
8 Kubica Renault 1m22.003s +2.053
9 Webber Red Bull 1m22.043s +2.093
10 Glock Virgin 1m29.964s +10.014
Huh, what a strange period of testing we have had at Jerez so far, made more difficult to read due to weather. As far as I can see, no team has "done a Brawn" so far and dominated the field, so it's still open. What surprises me is the pace of STR - Buemi seemed to be making competitive times both on shorter and longer runs.
What seems obvious is that Virgin is clearly behind all and is obviously suffering a difficult start. Hopefully it isn't a fundamental flaw that the car is unable to deal with the forces on a bumpy track like Jerez? Hopefully Lotus will do better.
For me Sauber are the biggest surprise. I wonder however if STR is that fast, whether RBR will copy its ideas lol.
a bit disappointing that Virgin was not better prepared for this test. You cannot loose a front wing and then call it a day because you don't have spares. Shouldn't happen in today's F1. And before that, they were not really running laps anyway. So I'm not sure why they even showed up at Jerez. Seems they were not ready yet
Kobayashi seemed to make one quick lap at the end of the session, before this he wasn't that visible. In some ways STR's good performance could be logical since their car is pretty much an evolution from RB5 (well, sounds similar to the sentence that used to describe RB6 :D ), so the main questionmark has been the level of quality work at Faenza factory. Last year STR was struggling notably despite having essentially the same chassis as RBR, but maybe by now they have managed to install the Ferrari engine properly? It's like STR finally becoming fast in 2008 after earlier struggles.Quote:
Originally Posted by F1boat
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81409
Tis only testing, but....
"Alonso was particularly eye-catching, with Alonso lapping in 1m21.928s towards the end, while Schumacher's later times were around 1m23s"
And that was on a longer run by Fernando too.
forget 6/10ths, it's now 1.2seconds plus!
Then again it's better for Virgin to undergo those embarrassing incidents in testing rather than at GP weekends! I don't dare to think, what might Campos and USF1 be up to in Bahrain without any testing if they somehow miraculously make it to the grid.Quote:
Originally Posted by truefan72
Very impressed with little Nico. Fast and error free - bodes well.
Maru was 5th or so for most of the day so I think we can over look the banzi last lap.
1.2 secs over some flabby old dude with a dodgy neck ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by tamburello
i think we're writing of Virgin waaaay too soon - they only did, what, 11 laps, and the first 6 or 7 of them were just installation laps, Red Bull were something like 6+ seconds off on the first few laps, i very much doubt that Virgin have completed a flat out lap yet and will have been building up slowly.
don't get me wrong, i don't expect to see them at the top of the timesheets any time soon, but they are not 10 seconds off the pace either
Agreed. You'd be less than 10 secs off the pace in a GP2 car with an F1 engine bolted in the back so Virgin will certainly improve.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robinho
Testing is all about learning what does and doesn't work - clearly front wing mounts requiree some improvement! :D
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81415
Well, uh, I think I got that mixed up somehow.
Compared to other new teams at least they completed a car, attempted to turn up and run with their fellow competitors and still have some time to understand the car with a couple more weeks of testing (dry hopefully)Quote:
Originally Posted by truefan72
don't get me wrong I am not writing them off at all .In fact quite the opposite. ! am glad they made it to testing and that the car seems well put together. I am just disappointed that in the first 2 days we have seen virtually nothing from them and that they seemed a little unprepared to handle the issue of replacing a broken nose.Quote:
Originally Posted by wedge
But also before that incident, you would have thought they would have wanted to run more laps just to break the car in better. We will see what the next 2 days hold and hopefully they will run a good number of laps.
Give Virgin breathing room. To citicize them or be "disappointed" or anything is ridiculous to say the very least.
There was a time when new teams - that ultimately won grands prix and championships - spent YEARS at the back of the grid using cars purchased from constructors just getting to know their way around and learning the grand prix business.
They have capable people in the team, have produced a beautiful car, risking ridicule trying a new concept and are only FIVE seconds off the pace in today's ultra-competitive environment where 200ths of a econd slower than a teammate relegates a driver to "also-ran" status?
Virgin are a success story! And have a lot to be proud of.
If anyone wants an idea of what the Branson momentum is made of just look back at the determination of Virgin Galactic.
here is a good video from today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTQfl...eature=channel
and I am sure there are links to the other 3 parts
Just watched some footage in the above youtube link of the virgin car's front wing flexing very badly at each end down the main straight before basically falling appart the next corner.
This would be the reason Virgin had to suspend their test, front wing just not strong enough to cope with the downforce it creates. That will require a full re-design of their front wing which i'm sure wasn't in the plan...
These things happen though when your a brand new team unfortunately. This is why campos and USF1 have to get their act together and test before they turn up to Bahrain!
Which is why no team ought to be allowed to race unless they have particpated in at the minimum of TWO official tests.Quote:
Originally Posted by RJL25
Finally! Proof that Mike's neck is hurting.Believe it now?
I thought it was pretty nuts when Glock's wing shot off!
Schumi was clicking his neck, thats all. And given that he is now rebuilding his strength it will not be unusual for ALL the drivers to have some neck soreness. It is always like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by gloomyDAY
There is no other sport where the concentration and g-forces are as in F1.
:eek: I got a serious response?Quote:
Originally Posted by Saint Devote
You're dummer than I thought.
yes on further analysis it seems that the problem extended beyond the wing. But we will see. they say new parts will come by today and they should be up and running. i suspect a redesigned nose section. From what I hear it can take up to 7 hours fpr the carbon composite to set and the paint job to be done. Let's hope they did 2 of them and are on the plane as we speak.Quote:
Originally Posted by RJL25
yepQuote:
Originally Posted by Saint Devote
eddstrawF1 - Don't worry about Di Grassi's times - the Virgin is not that far off the pace!
15:05 Di Grassi returning from his first run in the Virgin
Given the conditions at the time, he was lapping within about five seconds of most teams
14:50 Di Grassi pits after a seven-lap run to check the front wing modifications.
14:43 He improves second time round to a 1m39s, 10 seconds slower than the fastest cars circulating right now
14:41 Di Grassi's first laptime in the Virgin is a 1m45s
14:40 Lucas di Grassi has now done his first lap in the car in an official Formula 1 session
http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/176
And that's all for today:
Code:Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:19.919 76
2. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber (B) 1:20.736 58
3. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:21.428 48
4. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:21.603 72
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.783 59
6. Petrov Renault (B) 1:22.000 68
7. Rosberg Mercedes GP (B) 1:22.820 53
8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:23.217 120
9. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.985 68
10. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:37.107 8
Fair point. Audi & Peugeot certainly had the beating of the Acura when they appeared and, with all due respect to the ALMS, F1 is going to be more competitive and a much tougher testing ground; not only for a CFD designed car, but for a new team.Quote:
Originally Posted by wedge
I think the Acura showed a CFD car can work, but whether it can be consistently competitive against F1 opposition only time will tell.
Before the rain came down, STR again this time with Alguersuari behind the wheel managed to make some impressive laptimes. Anyway, Liuzzi in an interview for Autosport.com has said that no-one seems to have risen above others and it's very tight. So hopefully that very tight level of competition we have had in recent times will carry on in 2010. :)
True, but it would be stupid to totally dismiss what Virgin are doing in terms of F1 car design based on just 15 laps of fairly conservative running, we need to see what it can do on a trouble free run before we can get a general ideaQuote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
can you beleive the dummies at F1 took down the youtube videos?
CFD's effectiveness can't be totally guaged on Virgin's performances because they are a brand new team with zero experience in F1 unlike other new teams in the past which have bought out existing teams and therefore have some level of existing experience.
I would expect them to be 4-5 seconds off the pace regardless even if the CFD approach is a success
Yeah! :( I just tried to have a look at it.Quote:
Originally Posted by truefan72
However many problems Virgin may be having, I admire their style. They've got some experienced people in the team and are cracking on without making foolish and impossible predictions. I can well see Lotus doing the same.
But it does highlight just how much of a mountain USF1 and Campos have to climb - assuming they ever get round to fielding any cars. If we still had pre-qualifying they might as well not bother turning up.
Corvette C6 LMGT2 was designed entirely with CFD and became competitive and winning races though you could argue GT2 is far less exotic than GT1.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1
Single seaters however create far more drag. You can't Wirth's approach yet (even Mike Gascoyne joined in the fray) I think you need to give it time but this week's test haven't helped things.
not so sure, they missed out on the dry track time yesterday when other cars got out their so their outright lap times compared to those who set their best in the dry isn't totally representative.Quote:
Originally Posted by wedge
Apparently in the wet yesterday they where circulating around 5 seconds off the pace of other cars in the same conditions. Without being awesome, that's still petty darn respectable for a brand new team on their very first test. Certainly s all over Campos and USF1!