Pre launch almost complete. Let the testing begin!! Sandbagging 'not an option' at first 2014 Formula 1 test at Jerez - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com Sandbagging 'not an option' at first 2014 Formula 1 test at Jerez By Jonathan Noble Monday, January 27th 2014, 10:12 GMT Formula 1 teams will be so up against it at this week's Jerez test that there will be no time for sandbagging, reckons Renault. Ahead of the first running of the new 2014 turbo cars, Renault's F1 deputy managing director Rob White thinks that there is such a huge workload to complete that disguising true form will not be an option. Despite this, he suspects fans will struggle to get a clear picture of which team is in the best position. Analysis: Why 2014 F1 testing priorities are different "When everybody is more or less in same place, at more or less the same time doing more or less the same thing there will be straightaway some signs about whether there are small problems that have been disruptive, or big problems that are extremely difficult to tackle, or whether it is a more controlled situation and things are running smoothly," he told AUTOSPORT. "In terms of the outright performance of the different cars and teams, I think getting a true picture of the starting point of everybody will be quite difficult. "And probably it is not that interesting as it is inevitable that the learning rate will be very steep and the starting point is probably less predictive than it would normally be. "But I don't think sandbagging is going to be an option for anybody." F1 2014 tech insight: Welcome to the age of ERS White believes that the real competitiveness level may not even become clear until the early stages of the season. "At the beginning there will be a rapidly shifting situation," he said. "I don't think it will be possible to evaluate performance in a week's time, at the end of the Jerez test, and certainly the season needs time to settle down before anyone can take a view." UNPREDICTABLE START Irrespective of the overall competitiveness of the various engines, White (pictured with Red Bull's Christian Horner) is convinced that there will be some surprises early on. "New technology brings an immaturity that will deliver some unpredictable outcomes in the beginning," he said. "The objective of course remains to finish the races, and to finish the first four races as competitively as we can do. "I think it is a fine line between unpredictable outcomes that are genuinely perceived as being good for the sport, and those that are chaotic and difficult to explain. Gallery: 2014 F1 designs so far "I feel we will have some unpredictable outcomes that are good. "Then there will be a period of rapid convergence and the uncertainties of the early sight of the deployment of these rules will fade into the background, and we will be racing with drivers jockeying for position on the track." Follow the Jerez F1 test as it happens with AUTOSPORT Live from Tuesday morning
Analysis: Gary Anderson's stories to watch in Jerez 2014 F1 test By Gary Anderson Monday, January 27th 2014, 17:23 GMT Analysis: Gary Anderson's stories to watch in Jerez 2014 F1 test - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com Ex-Formula 1 designer Gary Anderson will be providing technical insight for AUTOSPORT throughout the 2014 season. Ahead of the start of winter testing at Jerez on Tuesday morning, he picks out six key storylines to watch during the early running. HOW MANY LAPS WILL CARS MANAGE? Or to be precise, how many consecutive laps can they do? The main focus for the first day is going to be on getting the engine and the electrical power package functioning together and you can't take risks with that sort of thing. You just have to put the mileage in on it so I am expecting lots of installation laps to start with and then people starting to put in proper runs later in the day. FIRST VIEW OF THE RED BULL Red Bull has dominated the last four years of F1 and Adrian Newey has traditionally thrived with new regulations. When the regulations changed in 2009 it was Red Bull's big chance because others lost momentum and the team had a clean sheet of paper. This is the other side of that clean sheet of paper. Red Bull has set the standards, but has to do so again to stay at the front. It will be fascinating to see the car concept, particularly the nose. There seem to be three different styles - the anteater, the platypus and the twin tusk, so which will Red Bull choose? TURBOCHARGERS RETURN TO F1 Turbos are back, but these will be very different to the turbo packages last seen at the end of 1988. The rules allow a single turbo, but it's a large one because there is an electrical motor used to spin it up to match the engine and avoid lag. The motor will also hold the turbo back to avoid having overboost, hence no wastegate. Although the engine manufacturers have transcient dynos it's never quite the same as in the real world. So this is the first stage of a steep learning curve about how the turbo functions. DRIVING STYLE CHANGES There is a lot more torque with the new engine packages, so the aim for the drivers is to deliver the maximum usable amount. It's all about the driving style. What we have seen recently is cars being driven very differently from corner to corner but the driver now needs to be very consistent. The fuel consumption must be consistent and the electrical torque must be consistent. If the driver is not consistent, it will cause problems. So there's another big learning curve. It will be easy to spin the wheels, to spin up the rear tyres and it will be very easy to use more fuel. THE NEW SOUND OF F1 Engine noise is part of motor racing and it has always been about being able to feel the high rpm in your bones. It wasn't long ago that the old V8s were putting out in excess of 20,000rpm prior to the 18,000rpm rev limit. The new engines have a limit of 15,000rpm. And because of the fuel flow limit, we might not hear that very often. The days of shrill engines are gone as the turbocharger effectively acts as a silencer. And the tailpipes are bigger to avoid back pressure building up, so you will get a slower exhaust gas speed. The need to wear ear plugs is probably a thing of the past. BATTERY PACKAGE CONTROL The battery package now has 10 times the capacity of the old battery pack, so keeping that under control temperature-wise while charging and discharging it is a challenge. The problem with that is that to charge it you have to use the brakes hard, so you have to drive the car quickly. That creates a chicken and egg situation where you have to lean on the car when you are trying to check the systems are functioning early on. JEREZ TEST LINE-UP Team Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Red Bull Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo Mercedes Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen Kimi Raikkonen Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso McLaren Jenson Button Jenson Button Kevin Magnussen Kevin Magnussen Force India Sergio Perez Nico Hulkenberg Daniel Juncadella TBC Sauber Esteban Gutierrez Esteban Gutierrez Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil Toro Rosso Jean-Eric Vergne Daniil Kvyat Jean-Eric Vergne Daniil Kvyat Williams Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas Felipe Massa Felipe Massa Marussia Max Chilton Jules Bianchi Max Chilton Jules Bianchi Caterham Marcus Ericsson Marcus Ericsson Robin Frijns Kamui Kobayashi Follow testing as it happens with AUTOSPORT Live - including Gary Anderson's technical insights - from Tuesday morning
Wrap up each evening at 10pm CET / 9pm UK on SKY Sports F1 television channel. No live presentations planned.
Sorry Fresh I was expecting SKY to have some, maybe not total coverage live. A bit disappointing. You can follow testing on Autosport.com
Uh-oh. That'll take care of my lunches for a few days then! Crap - gotta reinstall all the UK VPN, iTunes and Sky Sports apps etc.... I think they're all in the cloud somewhere, but it ain't easy 'fooling' it these days. (Sorry for another hijack !) Cheers, Ian
I heard the new phallic noses will be banned because exhausts aren't, per the rules, allowed to blow anything
For the 'highlight' show, sure. I'm not at all surprised they not bothering to cover it live - dunno how many have been F1 testing, but particularly tomorrow, it's likely to be an endless string of installation laps. I wouldn't be at all surprised if nobody even sets a time! Two laps max! OTOH, I suspect some smoke, possibly a fire or two and and quite a few red flags when they break out on the track..... Boring in real time, but may make for a decent highlight show though. Cheers, Ian
Yes quite understandable given the nature of testing. Im sure the SKY post test daily shows will be good.
From what I can see, the long, thick, hard nose is at the same height and of the same diameter as the exhaust hole in the rear of the car in front of it. How many cars will get "rear ended" and not complain?
