Barcelona winter testing thread

Williams will be running a ramp/tunnel type exhaust tomorrow! This means all Renault teams will have this arrangement.

 

driver times and tires today: Grosjean ends his last day of testing on top - F1 Fanatic



I can say with reasonable certainty that Mclaren and Lotus' quick laps were set with very similar fuel loads as both performed the same number of laps after their quick banger, and their tire degredation and consective lap times were very similar. Mclaren was solidly quicker and better on tires today, and Jenny was on mediums. Could just be the weather, but regardless it's a real transformation for Mclaren from last week.

 

Thank the Mrs. for all of us as well.

 

Whoa, hang on a moment!

You've been saying;

I guess if you "predict" it all different ways you've gotta be correct!

Cheers,
Ian

 

Your confusion is not unfounded. I've been singing their praises whilst Mclaren have been downplaying their performance and difficulty with understanding their machine. They looked very much at-odds yesterday but today they looked excellent. I still believe this car is the quickest of them all but I wonder if it's going to be a car of case and circumstance. Stupidly quick or running at the front of the midfield, I hoping that's not the new normal at Mclaren this year.

 

Massive sidepod exit just behind the exhaust on F138 now. used to be much smaller. This is not optimal IMO
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I don't think Caterham has it.

 

W04 ran a new sidepod with an even lower exhaust exit. Much more tidy rear suspension area, and the dip in the floor is pronounced well.

Hulkenburg and Button both stating the MB is the only car which has been consistenly quick by their evaluations. Doesn't mean much at this point IMO.

Mercedes looks consistently quick - Jenson Button | Formula 1 | Formula 1 news, live F1 | ESPN F1

http://www.espn.co.uk/lotusf1/motorspor ... 01999.html

We might see W04 with a revised front wing, rear wing, and floor. Not confirmed


There is a great article in the autosport print edition with Ross Brawn talking about the various exhausts. Ross in essence confirms everyone's data that the RB/ramp exhaust is less stable under braking but slightly better on-throttle. The off throttle blowing is almost a must-have for the Renault system due to its massive lack in laminar flow around the sidepods compared to that of the Mclaren solution.
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Oh right! Ty

 

The MB is looking pretty good. Not sure they'll be as quick as they were at the start of last year but it's looking like a solid car. Can't wait for Australia.

 

Those little wheels can't be legal.

 

I love the FW circus...now 7 tier cascades on the F138 lol lol:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BERpJLcCcAEjEsC.jpg:large

 

Is the aim to confuse the air?

 

^^^ Post of the month.

 

Revised front wing, rear wing, and floor for W04 tomorrow. No further news on the ferrari

 

Thanks.

It's obviously a wing for high downforce tracks. If they're testing configurations for different tracks might some of the other mods we're seeing (exhausts for hot tracks etc.) not be design replacements but variants?

 

It was genuinely funny. I will certainly quote you when I have the opportunity.



For you ferrari fanatics: youtube.com/watch?v=K9ges4anSRg

 

As long as you give attribution to "odd Internet fellow".

 

LOL!!!

 

And Lewis' interview today watch?v=TnSXErfjDjg&feature=relmfu

 

His body language suggests that the Merc is better than they're letting on...

 

If the exhaust ramps points any further downwards, the car is going to be able to hover over the competition on overtakes...

 

Thanks for the link. Very interesting watching the F138, hugely heavy on fuel (as we now know he ended up doing a race sim) not ideal conditions/weather and yet, to me the F138 looked very solid on track at all points AND he was doing very very respectable times considering the fuel load. When he locks up coming into T1 (I think) at one point, even then the car doesn't become a handful, he simply recovers very fast and continues on.

That video for me is huge grounds for optimism. I'm more convinced than ever we have a very competitive car from the get-go

 

Also from the video, Jake and co take the line that the Australian upgrades wont be tested until Friday practice in Australia. But, if you listen carefully to Nando he says "some" of the bits won't arrive until Fri in Australia. Meaning "some" will be tested here

 

I'm at the test Friday and Saturday - I've just uploaded Friday's pictures to my Facebook page.

Direct link to gallery.

I'm hoping to get a different perspective from the pit lane today but so far it's been awesome.