2024 Pre-Season Testing - Bahrain International Circuit, Feb 21 - 23

[Sieper]

It might be in the 1st lap we see the true pace of the redbull as it speeds off to get out of the 1 second range.

That has to do with how easy you get heat into the tires. The mean reason for DAS. Ferrari had an advantage there last year.

Max has learnt not to destroy the tyres in the first couple of laps as these Pirellis require them to be brought up gently in the first couple of laps to have a good long life. He tries to just stay ahead in the first few laps and then builds a gap. He does that for every stint, unless he requires a really hot outlap to cover someone.

Yes, you also have to bring them in to the window. With 2 laps to get out of DRS that is not going to work. We saw this at a few races last year. Drs trains all over the field and a very slow tow break. After every SC the same happens again. Not my idea of fun racing but we will see how it works.

[SirBastianVettel]

Yes, you also have to bring them in to the window. With 2 laps to get out of DRS that is not going to work. We saw this at a few races last year. Drs trains all over the field and a very slow tow break. After every SC the same happens again. Not my idea of fun racing but we will see how it works.

It will probably generate a lot more overtakes. The overtakes will be boring af, but you just know they hype the crap out of it.

[Mansell89]

Is there anywhere where we have a pulled together view of all the key quotes from all key team and driver personnel, to get the overall perceptions?

Would be nice to do the same with some long run data overlays too.

[Zynerji]

My best moment of testing : "RB those initials stand for nothing" Rachel Brooks:"Those are my initials too"

No they stand for Racing Bananas

I just like the simple RB2.

[Zynerji]

Is there anywhere where we have a pulled together view of all the key quotes from all key team and driver personnel, to get the overall perceptions?

Would be nice to do the same with some long run data overlays too.

The post test show by F1TV was pretty much just that.

[F1NAC]

Why not?

He normally does a fast run as some point during practice or what not.

Maybe he will, maybe someone will go on softer tyre quicker.... We'll find out.

It’s Verstappen. Rarely Leaves much on the table

[bagajohny]

Is there anywhere where we have a pulled together view of all the key quotes from all key team and driver personnel, to get the overall perceptions?

Would be nice to do the same with some long run data overlays too.

From comments of team personnel, I have gathered this much:

> According to everyone, RedBull leads the pack with probably 0.5s advantage

>Ferrari and Merc are close but Allison says Merc is slightly ahead. He said it on F1TV.

> Stell says they are still behind Ferrari so McL is 4th or 5th based on how Aston performs. Alonso say they might not be as fast as last year so you can place them at 5th.


> I think everyone agrees that VCARB has made a good step forward and is the 6th fastest car.

> Gasly says Alpine doesn't look great after the test so they will slip backwards, so maybe 7th.

> I think it is safe to say that Haas will be 10th fastest.

> Between Sauber and Williams you can take your pick as to which will be 8th & 9th

Edit: added some sources

[Mansell89]

Is there anywhere where we have a pulled together view of all the key quotes from all key team and driver personnel, to get the overall perceptions?

Would be nice to do the same with some long run data overlays too.

From comments of team personnel, I have gathered this much:

> According to everyone, RedBull leads the pack with probably 0.5s advantage

>Ferrari and Merc are close but Allison says Merc is slightly ahead. He said it on F1TV.

> Stell says they are still behind Ferrari so McL is 4th or 5th based on how Aston performs. Alonso say they might not be as fast as last year so you can place them at 5th.


> I think everyone agrees that VCARB has made a good step forward and is the 6th fastest car.

> Gasly says Alpine doesn't look great after the test so they will slip backwards, so maybe 7th.

> I think it is safe to say that Haas will be 10th fastest.

> Between Sauber and Williams you can take your pick as to which will be 8th & 9th

Edit: added some sources

Thanks

For the record- I half expect Williams or Sauber to possibly have a jump on Alpine- depending on where either are in their development curve, with Alpine having been very open that they know where they stand and that some initial difficulties will be faced.

[hollus]

Oehrly is likely too busy to re-post here, but his speadsheet seems to include all sessions now.

Hi everybody, it's time for timing data.
Due to popular request, here is the link to the apparently "traditional" Google Sheet with all timing data for the whole day.
(Not sure if anybody else makes these as well by now)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

Please do a bit of a sanity check when using the data. I'm a bit short on time and just quickly tried to bend my upload script into submission, persuaded google to use the correct data types and hope everything is good now.

Day 2 and Day 3 will be added to the currently empty worksheets.

The sheets for 2023 and 2022 are linked in the document as well, if you want to compare.

It should be possible to properly filter and sort all columns by drivers, lap times and so on.

And if you want, you might of course add the link to the opening post so it doesn't get lost as easily.

[AR3-GP]

I still can't reconcile why everyone thinks RB is the untouchable boogey man if the gap was only 2-3 tenths. With a margin like this, and the additional windtunnel time of those behind, they would be caught up by the end of the season.

Not that this will carry much weight, but from my own estimates where I performed weight and power corrections (0.5 second for 15kg delta and 2.5 tenths difference in engine modes), I arrived at a conclusion that Ferrari was right there on pace with RB at the beginning of the stint. However I couldn't predict RB's tire degradation accurately because I could not determine a suitable degradation correction factor for the lighter fuel load of Verstappen's test stints on Friday.

[f1isgood]

I still can't reconcile why everyone thinks RB is the untouchable boogey man if the gap was only 2-3 tenths. With a margin like this, and the additional windtunnel time of those behind, they would be caught up by the end of the season.

Not that this will carry much weight, but from my own estimates where I performed weight and power corrections (0.5 second for 15kg delta and 2.5 tenths difference in engine modes), I arrived at a conclusion that Ferrari was right there on pace with RB at the beginning of the stint. However I couldn't predict RB's tire degradation accurately because I could not determine a suitable degradation correction factor for the lighter fuel load of Verstappen's test stints on Friday.

3 tenths over 50 laps is 15 seconds. It is not a gap that is enough for others to compete for a title. And this is not even Red Bull's proper car. They have upgrades for Imola and Suzuka coming up soon. Add to that RB are operationally in their own league, no team can fight them easily as long as they have a tenth or so advantage over a season.

If I had to wager a guess, I would guess that even last year RB and Ferrari had similar pace at the beginning of a stint but a few laps in, RB just kept going quicker and quicker. This year I would still expect RB to have better degradation, although the advantage relative to last year will be smaller.

[denyall]

I still can't reconcile why everyone thinks RB is the untouchable boogey man if the gap was only 2-3 tenths. With a margin like this, and the additional windtunnel time of those behind, they would be caught up by the end of the season.

Not that this will carry much weight, but from my own estimates where I performed weight and power corrections (0.5 second for 15kg delta and 2.5 tenths difference in engine modes), I arrived at a conclusion that Ferrari was right there on pace with RB at the beginning of the stint. However I couldn't predict RB's tire degradation accurately because I could not determine a suitable degradation correction factor for the lighter fuel load of Verstappen's test stints on Friday.

Even if Merc/Ferrari are winning late in the season there won't be a title fight.

[AR3-GP]

I still can't reconcile why everyone thinks RB is the untouchable boogey man if the gap was only 2-3 tenths. With a margin like this, and the additional windtunnel time of those behind, they would be caught up by the end of the season.

Not that this will carry much weight, but from my own estimates where I performed weight and power corrections (0.5 second for 15kg delta and 2.5 tenths difference in engine modes), I arrived at a conclusion that Ferrari was right there on pace with RB at the beginning of the stint. However I couldn't predict RB's tire degradation accurately because I could not determine a suitable degradation correction factor for the lighter fuel load of Verstappen's test stints on Friday.

3 tenths over 50 laps is 15 seconds. It is not a gap that is enough for others to compete for a title. And this is not even Red Bull's proper car.

Sure but people are making it seem like this season will be even worse than last. RB's closest competitor was 40 seconds back in Bahrain last year and likely would have been lapped if RB pushed and didn't have to turn down the PUs. So 3 tenths is leagues better than last year and with the change to the DRS regulations for this season, 3 tenths margin won't be enough to clear anyone.

They have upgrades for Imola and Suzuka coming up soon.

So does everyone else, with the benefit of more windtunnel time.

[Josa]

The comparison between Mercedes and Ferrari race pace may come from Russell' stint on C1 on the first day and Sainz's stint on C1 on the second day.

Russell
outlap
1: 36.100
1: 35.906
1: 35.652
1: 35.579
1: 36.011
1: 35.874
1: 35.778
1: 36.257
1: 35.823
1: 35.751
1: 36.862 lock-up t8
1: 35.614
1: 35.624
1: 35.745
1: 36.072
1: 36.207
1: 36.515
1: 37.693 cheq-flag

Sainz
35.586
35.768
35.547
35.697
35.398
35.418
35.524
35.262
35.399
35.126
35.282
35.264
35.163
35.175
34.999
35.359
35.808
35.565
35.642

That's the closer to the real race day. Both were on low fuel, as was their last stint. Both had same speed on all sector lines, so both on the same engine mode.
Sainz was 0,5s faster per lap. But then you correct for the track improvement from the first to the second day. You may consider normal setup improvements that are made from day to day... So if Russell did the same stint on the next day he would be faster as well.

[AR3-GP]

I still can't reconcile why everyone thinks RB is the untouchable boogey man if the gap was only 2-3 tenths. With a margin like this, and the additional windtunnel time of those behind, they would be caught up by the end of the season.

Not that this will carry much weight, but from my own estimates where I performed weight and power corrections (0.5 second for 15kg delta and 2.5 tenths difference in engine modes), I arrived at a conclusion that Ferrari was right there on pace with RB at the beginning of the stint. However I couldn't predict RB's tire degradation accurately because I could not determine a suitable degradation correction factor for the lighter fuel load of Verstappen's test stints on Friday.

Even if Merc/Ferrari are winning late in the season there won't be a title fight.

A 2-3 tenths margin is in the window where setup tolerances and execution on each weekend would allow the others to actually fight for the win. There were several weekends last year where RB was far from ideal and had their advantage only been 2-3 tenths on a circuit that suited them, the others would have won multiple races on the many circuits that didn't suit RB, but with so much margin last year didn't actually matter.

The season would be a lot more interesting, and a lot better than the doom and gloom that is being predicted.