In the video (0:44-0:57) he says that they cannot use current or previous F1 cars, so their testing has been "virtual".
Newey speaks of this years challenge for others to compete with Mercedes - News | Planet F1 | Formula One News Adrian Newey reckons Mercedes could run away with this year's Championship titles as it will be "very difficult" for their engine rivals to close the gap. Putting their superior engine to work in 2014, Mercedes claimed the Championship double, untroubled by their rivals. In a 19-race season, the Brackley team clinched all but three race victories and amassed 11 1-2 grand prix finishes. They also started every race bar one from pole position. The question now is whether engine rivals Renault, Ferrari or even Honda have what it takes to close the gap ahead of the 2015 season. Newey, though, has warned it won't be easy. "Can Renault and Ferrari get to Mercedes' level? It's going to be a very difficult challenge - and of course we don't know where Honda are going to come in," Newey told Sky Sports News HQ. As the Red Bull design guru faces his first year in a background role, Newey, who has at times been critical of the sport's regulations, says F1 has found a good balance between engine and car. "With a slightly weaker engine but a superior chassis you can still win and vice versa. "We have a reasonably even balance between engine and chassis - which, in my view, is how it should be."
Some testing reviews / broadcast schedule from SKY F1. Sky Sports F1 reveals programme plans for pre-season testing this winter | Sky Sports
As I posted earlier in this thread - Aero matters as much as PU to Mercedes literal domination of the grid. Others are down on power but the aero is magic to harness it. Analysis: Formula 1's 2015 nose rules change a headache for teams - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com The push to rid Formula 1 of ugly noses in 2015 may have been done for simple aesthetics, but it has caused complications for design teams. After a raft of criticisms about the look of last year's cars - which left fans and team bosses up in arms - the FIA moved to outlaw the extended nose tips for 2015. A tweak to F1's technical regulations stipulating strict dimensional criteria to outlaw the extended noses nipped the problem in the bud, and no longer will F1 cars be compared to proboscis monkeys or anteaters. But although the tweak to the noses may seem minor, the impact it has had on influencing design evolution for 2015 has been relatively big. The reason for that is fairly simple: because the nose is the first part of the car to hit the air, it has an impact on how the airflow works over everything behind it. Force India technical director Andy Green told AUTOSPORT: "Everything downstream from the front wing sets up everything else. So a change in that area makes a big difference to how you develop the car. "The car is tuned around a certain set of circumstances at the front of the car. "So it required a lot of aerodynamic reconfiguring to try to recover what was, to start with, quite a significant loss from where we were with the high nose. "To go down to a very low nose took a lot of change. We're there now, but it took quite a while." Green thinks that the tight wording of Article 15.4.3 of the technical regulations will ensure that most noses look the same, with a design similar to Ferrari's 2014 car likely, but the key will be how well each team can finetune its design for maximum aerodynamic benefit. "I think there's probably as much performance in it eventually as there was with the conventional nose," he said. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, leads Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, Brazilian GP 2014, Interlagos "It just takes time to extract it. We've been forced down a route and we've got to extract new performance." AERO WAR BACK ON Although the influence of the engine is far greater now than it has been for years, Green has no doubts that the importance of aerodynamics cannot be underestimated. That is why getting the nose design right - and ensuring the rest of the car responds in the right way - is essential. "When I look at the lap time deltas that we have to Mercedes and I look at some of their speeds through the high-speed corners, that's pure aerodynamics," he said. "They've got some significant advantages over us in pure aerodynamics. So yes, there's still a lot to be had in aero. "Even comparing it to the teams that traditionally had good aerodynamics, like Red Bull, Mercedes are still significantly quicker. We've got a lot to learn from them. "Not only have they done a good job with the power unit, they've done a very, very good job aerodynamically." Illustration by CRAIG SCARBOROUGH
Thanks for the post. This further confirms what is suspected, which was that W05 was just on par with Red Bull's aerodynamic prowess, rather they exceeded them.
Exactly. Anyone thinking Ferrari have solved the aero issues needed to harness the power or Mclaren/Williams? Not me actually. I suspect an even more dominate Mercedes potentially.
That's very possible, but I think by midway through the season Ferrari will have made progress. There is a rumor going around that the new ferrari has just a few more 'points' of downforce on this new car, which I hope for their sake is a lot more than just a few because they surely need a lot
No confirm nor denial from MB that they were out filming w06 yesterday. I'm shocked no one spied a few pics
If Honda gets new concessions surely that would be against the rules and could be challenged? Contrary to others where rules just weren't specific enough. It's a real mess imo
I can see some flexibility allowed. A new major PU supplier. They do not want to lose them or make their first year less than acceptable. None of the rules ever please all of the teams, all of the time.
The FIA have basically thrown the homologation and development rules out the window. So, don't be surprised by any "concessions", they're free-styling.
I think they decided to do this when they learned development would be open. They probably have a '2015a' spec engine that was ready to go but decided it would be best to run the old engine so to further develop 2015a to a 2015b specification so at least they start the season with a known reliable engine rather then either of the 2015 engines that are otherwise untested. Teams that are thankful of the loophole may have just shot themselves in the foot as MB are clearly seeing the advantage and may be even further ahead by the time it's done
They did that when they froze the V8 engines to help Renault and we all know that it's going to happen again sooner or later.
The latest word is no one has a 2015 power unit completely ready other than Mercedes, who now may or may not run it at the beginning of the season for reasons I postulated above. I actually believe they are going to run the 'a' spec engine at the beginning of the season now. We'll see! I hope other teams have something ready to go or this is going to be a boring season!
Star-Pilot - I think with Honda in the mix, new driver pairings and the usual surprises F1 brings us we will be ok. It appears to be a given Mercedes are the favorite of course. I hope they do not run away too soon but we have other stories waiting to 'inspire' this forum
Almost unbelievable that other teams have been sitting with their thumb up their ass the whole of 2014. How can they NOT have an engine ready! Silly world, F1.
Daddy, what's a 'sandbag'? In the secretive world of F1, "Words speak louder than Action." Oh, believe that power units have been built and tested - despite what you may hear!
