Shot of Felipe running with an aero-rake from this morning available here Mia Scuderia ? View topic - Jerez 2013 -Testing, testing, one... two... three...
F1: Massa, F138 di un altro pianeta - Gazzetta dello Sport Massa comments that the new car is "from another planet" compared to last year's. "Much more balanced and with better traction." "The back end of the car felt easily controllable when I got it slightly out of line." (Or something to that effect, my Italian not being all that great.) "Still much to do, but that is normal."
I stopped trying to find the quote again, but I'm pretty sure he also said words to the effect that Buttons time was amazing.... then went on to say he could easily have matched any time posted
So any official times between teams as of now? just to get a fealing if the first comments are in line with the results?
It was a quote after yesterday and, I took it to mean he could have matched Button's time relatively easily if he wanted to. Would love to find the quote again.
Ferrari aren't going for times right now, they are simply getting to know the machine. Ferrari opted for sidepods with a higher CoG so they could employ a tight lower area which meets the floor. The exhaust exit is higher than anyone else on the field, but the area at the floor and the tunnel under the exhaust is quite large. Ferrari are gambling that their aerodynamic gain will outweigh the CoG offset they now have, and I believe they have gambled well. If there is one obvious downfall to the design, it's that the higher exhaust exit will lose a bit of velocity to seal the sides of the diffuser meaning it will not be as efficient as say the Mclaren's.
Been a lot of talk about the great coke bottle, tight rear and open floor on the F138. This is a nice high-res image of that. http://miascuderia.com/images/2013/JerezTest1/f138Jerezd301.jpg
That is simply amazing. Really creative approach. The whole floor is wide open and all leads out over the diffuser. It seems they've given up nose height and front wing height to allow beter straight line flow to the floor. Brilliant.
Does it create greater downforce/rear stability in return? The Ferrari had great speed last year, but it was a bear to handle around the circuit. While it does appear to compromise sidepod CoG, does the free-flowing air across the open floor virtually nail that back end down?
The additional flow around the floor does indeed create more downforce. But I should say there is no free lunch with what they have done. Ferrari raised the sidepod bodywork and all internals to get as much area around the floor exposed as possible. The Ferrari will be very competitive, but WCC? Maybe, not sure yet. Felipe just left the pits with a reportedly very strange sounding Ferrari, as if it were running on fewer cylinders.......
This to me is a positive. Judging from that picture, Ferrari aren't running any rake at all and with the high ride height it shows me that they are not concerned with doing any actual setup work yet and the car is still looking solid. High hopes for this year...
They have the car set up probably within 80-90% of where it can be by day 3. Felipe looks comfortable with the machine. Bear in mind Ferrari brought all their latest kit and are testing it now while most teams haven't added all their goodies yet. Ferrari will have a package for the first race, count on it, but let's wait and see how creative Mclaren are with their testing upgrades.
I hear some of the German F1 media on hand at Jerez are tearing apart F138 saying it is hard on the rear tires and is still a bit twitchy. Nothing written about it yet though
Pedro stopped on track during his second installation lap, bit of fire follows. Image of the damage as the car is returned. Team says they will be back on track but it will take some time. No luck for Pedro http://miascuderia.com/images/2013/JerezTest1/f138Jerezd401.jpg
News in from Gary Anderson - it was a gearbox problem that stopped the Ferrari. They're changing it so @PedrodelaRosa1 should be out later @andrewbensonf1 7 minutes ago
Very good shots of the rear suspension elements as well as the diffuser elements. Image resolution is massive. http://www.formule1.nl/media/uploads/media_images/2013-02-07/racepictures_1360235296.94.jpg http://expokinetic.com/wp-content/uploads/cache/2013/02/dms1307fe215/821835616.jpg
Red Bull is very fast today but the Mclaren looks to be taking the cake on heavy load runs. Mclaren appear to be a solid half second quicker than anyone else. The Ferrari is a squirelly mess today, probably just the driver ?
"squirelly mess" what a great description, I have so many visions being conjured up in my mind right now
