Montmelo testing

[RJL25]

I don't understand this! Why would they test elements that normally aren't going to be used? Don't they want to see if they really work?

well with RBR, the car isnt complete yet, the aero package is still in the wind tunnel undergoing final evaluation. And alot of teams just simply do not shoot for overall speed at such an early point in winter testing. They are often concentrating on reliability and understanding the car and how they work with the tyres. They dont start shooting for speed usually untill the very end of winter testing

Whats the point in setting times anyway? Its not like you win anything, theres simply no point at all in doing it. Last year Honda won the "unofficial testing world championship" by being incredibly quick all the way through winter testing, but turned out to be pretty darn flat when it came to the 1st couple of GP's and never really showed the pace which they promised from testing. Hence why you really cant pay too much attention to testing times. The 1st GP is where its at!

[futuretiger9]

Phew! Finally good day for Ferrari. they might not be as bad as I fear. Still this number 1 McLaren looks ominous... as well as Heiki!

You can bet that the majority of the problems afflicting Ferrari will have been addressed by Melbourne. The times pretty much reflect the pecking order which has been established in recent weeks. Here's hoping that the times remain as tight and close as this when the season starts. We could have a titanic struggle between McLaren and Ferrari, with others joining in.

[Ian McC]

Previous years have shown testing means little, once the season starts we will get a better idea of things.

[Ari]

Come on.... does anyone really believe that these test results are telling of where all the teams are at the moment? Sauber at the front? I dont think so. Come Round 1 things will sort themselves out.

These results are about as useful as the plastic toy you get with your breakfast cereal!

[tinchote]

Today test confirms that Ferrari will win both championships :

[mstillhere]

I don't think that speed during testing is that important and that's why I am keeping my eyes, for example, on Renault which has been testing kind of quietly and, because of that, kind of dismissed as a strong contender by a lot of people. Thinking that McLaren, Ferrari or BMW will be the teams to beat just because they topping the tests charts is way too simplistic. What I have learned through the years in F1 is the winning car is the car that's the most realiable and consistently fast on all the tracks.
So, although I am a hard core Ferrari fan, today's results feel more like an attempt of Ferrrari trying to shut up the mounting criticism coming from the Italian press, than anything else.
What impressed me the most, instead, was the huge amount of laps that both Ferrari drivers were able to put together without any problems. That's the big news, in my opinion.

[RJL25]

mstillhere - i agree. At this early point in testing most teams will be working mainly on making their car as reliable as possible. Whats the point of working on the cars outright performance when your continuously being interupted by mechanical gremlins? Once, as a team, your satisfied that you have a nice reliable car, then you start working on the cars outright performance.

I think this is where Red Bull, Honda, Toyota and Renault have it right. They are just quietly doing their thing, working on their cars reliability and making sure everythings sweet. Once they are satisfied with their cars reliability i am sure you will start seeing red bull, honda, toyota and renault's times moving quickly up the time sheets. But i dont think that will happen for either team untill the Bahrain test at the earliest

as i said any team that is setting laps time right now is just chest beating

[F1boat]

Well... it's not true that testing is telling nothing. McLaren struggled last year in testing and in racing. Renault were solid in testing and in racing. Same about Ferrari. Honda looked very strong, yeah, but to say that they were slow in racing would not be correct. They were pretty fast - in qualifying. Button scored Pole in Melbourne and front row in Malaysia, remember.
In 2005 we saw Renault and mclaren setting very fast times and Ferrari struggling. The championship was battle between Renault and McLaren-Mercedes.
A year before, McLaren looked very slow and BAR pretty fast and look what happened.
You say that this year testing means nothing. Why? Ferrari and McLaren are in front, is this not normal? Renault are doing good job, what is the "chest beating' in that?
I think that testing is pretty relevant from waht I have seen. Of course, when a team jumps from zero to hero in testing (a la Arrows Supertech in 1999) obviously they are playing games. But BMW is not Arrows and it was expected from them to improve.
A lot of people think that Red Bull and Honda can't go wrong. Can't see why. After 2004 Honda managed dreadful season in 2005 - after the US GP they were stone last in the championship with zero points. And Red Bull - actually their 2006 season was worse than 2005, despite DC's heric podium in Monaco.
And about Newey, I still remember McLaren MP4/18 - sometimes he is too smart and making his cars like poetry, not racing machines.
I am not telling that RBR and Honda are slow. They could be sanbagging, really. But on the other hand, Barcelona is important track, it really shows how good your aerodynamics is and if you are slow there, it is not good. So RBR and Honda MIGHT be sandbagging or MIGHT suddenly jump in performance (a la Arrows ), but I won't be surprised if BMW, Toyota and Williams are faster then them in Melbourne.
About Top 3 teams being Ferrari, McLaren and Renault - nothing surprising there. Testing might be misleading, but it is not irrelevant.

[ioan]

mstillhere - i agree. At this early point in testing most teams will be working mainly on making their car as reliable as possible. Whats the point of working on the cars outright performance when your continuously being interupted by mechanical gremlins? Once, as a team, your satisfied that you have a nice reliable car, then you start working on the cars outright performance.

I think this is where Red Bull, Honda, Toyota and Renault have it right. They are just quietly doing their thing, working on their cars reliability and making sure everythings sweet. Once they are satisfied with their cars reliability i am sure you will start seeing red bull, honda, toyota and renault's times moving quickly up the time sheets. But i dont think that will happen for either team untill the Bahrain test at the earliest

as i said any team that is setting laps time right now is just chest beating

I might contradict a bit your philosophy.
For sure they are trying to make the cars as reliable as possible, but rest assure that they work on the performance also if not they would be lost by the start of the season.
To make a car fast is more difficult than to make it reliable that's why I believe that having a fast car is their first point on the list, making it reliable is what they do when they get a good base performance.

[Gannex]

Sandbagging? Has any team really done this in the last thirty years? Seems like the kind of thing that might have happened in Colin Chapman's day, and might even have worked once, but probably not twice; but in this era? It would be too expensive and utterly ineffective, wouldn't it? I'm genuinely asking because I don't follow these things closely and would welcome any information, from someone who does, about whether the sandbagging phenomenon is real or just a myth. My guess is that it's pure myth.