Don't get me wrong, I want the two Sebastia/ens to succeed. I'm a fan of both of them and couldn't care less about their predecessors. In the nineties the FIA established the 107% rule for qualifying: If you don't qualify within 107% of the pole position you were regarded as a moving chicane and not worthy of participating in a GP. For some of the backmarker teams that was a real challenge and some didn't pass the hurdle. The rule no longer exists. Today all the teams are closer and Bernie is already happy as long as he gets enough cars to fill a grid.
I found it odd that Kubica was .8 faster than Heidfeld. Even more odd, Nakajima was .7 faster than Rosberg. Is Nakajima that good? Could Rosberg be testing different equipment altogether, or is he simply having a bad day? Lauda said in an interview that Kimi would be glad not to participate on the same day as Schumacher, alluding that it may make it seem as if Ferrari made the wrong decision to bring Kimi aboard if Schumacher got a faster lap time (which I feel he would). Has anyone found an interview of what Schumacher said after driving the car? For comparison of these times to the 2007 car, Massa set the lap record of 1:20.597 during qualifying this year. It will be interesting to see (if) how much faster the 2008 car is once it is more developed, during 2008 qualifying at Montmelo.
Agreed. What I really would like to know is what changes have been made to these test cars? Did they simply turn off TC? If that is all they did, then the tests don't really tell you much. For that the ECU should be in place, which allegedly brings some of the lost traction back. My feeling is, that the standard ECUs have not yet been distributed. Does anybody know?
WONDERFUL thinking but sadly I don't think it will happen. He is though keeping his big toe in the pool. So it does make you wonder a bit.
As close as Badoer is to Michael, I don't think Kimi would be having a problem. Kimi would probably be faster but he wouldn't care either way.
It is indeed only testing so there could be many factors involved for the different times between the two. Having said that, Naka is said to be the real deal. More than a few are expecting him to do well. Then again Sato also had a brilliant F3 career and he never really was able to string it together in F1.
+1 I would like to see him succeed because I liked his dad. It is increasingly apparent that performance in lower formula is not necessarily a good predictor of performance in F1. There are a lot of former junior champions who turned out to be duds in F1. Jan Magnusson anyone?
If you really think about it, it could really happen. We all know what Micheal's role is at Ferrari. Usually a driver that has retired premanently will not do any type of driving unless its for demostration. Here he is participating as a test driver to develop next years car. We all know Micheal will never take a test driving role. As for Massa, remember he came in as a temperary driver for Ferrari. There was alot of speculation that Alonso was going to replace him for next season. I think Luca extended Massa's contract so if Micheal wanted to come back, he would take over Massa seat.
I don't agree. The ban of TC on next year's cars has a huge impact on driving characteristics and development, I think his experience and expertise with non-TC cars is just too valuable not to use it. This isn't the first step of a comeback, although I'd love to see it.
The traction and stability controls were so deeply part of the engine management and even braking systems. It is probably a lot more involved then turning the switches off.
The difference netween Naka and Sato is driving style. Apparently, Naka's driving style is very close to his father's, who was very, very smooth, excelled in wet conditions. The reason why his dad never really got anywhere in F1, was because of his physical fitness. His son seems more physically prepared.
They are testing the "spec" ECU's at this test. From the BMW team PR release: “During the three-day Barcelona test the BMWSauber F1 Team is focusing on testing the new standard ECU which will be mandatory in all F1 cars in 2008,” confirmed the team at the end of day 1. “This includes driving without traction control, set-up work and system programming" I'm surprised there aren't more red flags due to that Microsoft/McLaren creation now in place. <grin> Ctrl-Alt-Del on the steering wheels? -Peter www.peterkrause.com
thats seriously impressive from MS. i just d/loaded some hi res pics from YellowBird. there's a gif of how Schumi's oversteering in a particular corner. 2008 is gonna be great.
Does anyone else really miss Michael like I do? This is coming from a Senna Fan, but I really think the greatest driver on the planet should be back in an F1 CAR...
I do, especially since Mansell was able to continue until he was 42-43. Michael would have no problem, it seems.
+1 i didn't really think he'd be this impressive. i'm damn sure he's regretting why he stopped last year. he still has the pace.
