2026 Pre-Season Testing

[MB_Racer]

There is some very impressive mileage covered for the first morning of a completely new regulation set.

Indeed - I think we're already well past the total lap count from day 1 in 2014. I see no reason why this should have been a private test.

Probably an exclusive contract with the Bahrain GP for pre-season testing

Exactly the reason

[AR3-GP]

What was the final lap count?

[AR3-GP]

What are the active aero zones for Barcelona?

[MB_Racer]

So I wanted to move this topic about the zero-pod concept and why it didn't work as a "concept" because of sidepods we've seen from the RB22. Someone mention something that the concept had a lot of drag because the amount of outwash/front tyre wake that was hitting the rear tyres and other aerodynamic parts.

That got me thinking? Would the concept still fail regardless because of the 18 inch tyre? And is the 18 inch tyre one of the biggest reasons why the ground effect cars failed?

That theory was from a rudimentary fan done CFD concept that didn’t have the correct geometry and they would have no way of knowing if their CFD even correlated even if it was the right goemetry. However this nuance take, grounded in engineering reality, makes you a bad guy from the internet hype machine and mods here playing favorites.

Vanja, the fan you’re talking about, predicted the high drag on his CFD model. Later it was confirmed by Toto. What a coincidence, right?

What a shame he left the forum.

Very good point ! But why did Vanja leave the forum that really sucks

[Hoffman900]

So I wanted to move this topic about the zero-pod concept and why it didn't work as a "concept" because of sidepods we've seen from the RB22. Someone mention something that the concept had a lot of drag because the amount of outwash/front tyre wake that was hitting the rear tyres and other aerodynamic parts.

That got me thinking? Would the concept still fail regardless because of the 18 inch tyre? And is the 18 inch tyre one of the biggest reasons why the ground effect cars failed?

That theory was from a rudimentary fan done CFD concept that didn’t have the correct geometry and they would have no way of knowing if their CFD even correlated even if it was the right goemetry. However this nuance take, grounded in engineering reality, makes you a bad guy from the internet hype machine and mods here playing favorites.

Vanja, the fan you’re talking about, predicted the high drag on his CFD model. Later it was confirmed by Toto. What a coincidence, right?

What a shame he left the forum.

Here we go….

Also he was more into self promotion, and positioned himself as an expert despite having no motorsports experience. He didn’t like people pointing out the inaccurcies of analysis. I’m sure when of his mod buddies will come to his rescue here

[AR3-GP]

Vanja, the fan you’re talking about, predicted the high drag on his CFD model. Later it was confirmed by Toto. What a coincidence, right?

What a shame he left the forum.

The reason that the W13 was draggy was because since the floor couldn't be run low due to porpoising, they had to use a barn door rear wing on every circuit. If they were able to generate the floor downforce, the rear wing would have been very small and they would have been quick on the straights. The analysis you are referring to was a fairly narrow-minded one that focused on the pressure on the rear tire face, and not the overall picture of the car.

[Hoffman900]

Vanja, the fan you’re talking about, predicted the high drag on his CFD model. Later it was confirmed by Toto. What a coincidence, right?

What a shame he left the forum.

The reason that the W13 was draggy was because since the floor couldn't be run low due to porpoising, they had to use a barn door rear wing on every circuit. If they were able to generate the floor downforce, the rear wing would have been very small and they would have been quick on the straights. The analysis you are referring to was a fairly narrow-minded one that focused on the pressure on the rear tire face, and not the overall picture of the car.

+1 and a concept like that would be extremely geoemtry sensitive, which he had none of, let alone how wrong CFD can be, and without any data, they don’t know how wrong it is.

[dren]

Merc said the numbers looked good in the simulator, but they didn't account for the porpoising, which then changed set-up as stated above.

[Hoffman900]

Merc said the numbers looked good in the simulator, but they didn't account for the porpoising, which then changed set-up as stated above.

It’s a bit silly to think some people with OpenFoam, spitballing numbers on the wrong geometry, would find a problem that hundreds of people with more credentials than they have, with tools much more sophisticated, and a wind tunnel and real life models couldn’t see.

That kind of reasoning is partly why they don’t work in F1 to begin with… I remember some actual F1 aero people commenting on those CFD’s and it was a collective groan / facepalm. It didn’t help a RB student placement (basically an intern) positioned himself in the media as an F1 aerodynamcist to try to give the theory validity.

[Luscion]

What was the final lap count?

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2 ... -happened/

1 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 1m18.159s, 107 laps
2 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.537s, 93 laps
3 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.030s, 60 laps
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +2.541s, 56 laps
5 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +3.142s, 154 laps
6 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +3.354s, 88 laps
7 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +6.492s, 33 laps
8 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +7.137s, 27 laps
9 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +7.815s, 11 laps

209 laps for Merc engine ( 3 drivers)
198 laps for Ferrari engine ( 3 drivers)
195 laps for Ford engine( 2 drivers)

Ocon with the most laps by a single driver with 154 laps
Cadillac had issues that stopped them from running a ton, doesnt seem like it was PU related though

[Badger]

Merc said the numbers looked good in the simulator, but they didn't account for the porpoising, which then changed set-up as stated above.

It’s a bit silly to think some people with OpenFoam, spitballing numbers on the wrong geometry, would find a problem that hundreds of people with more credentials than they have, with tools much more sophisticated, and a wind tunnel and real life models couldn’t see.

That kind of reasoning is partly why they don’t work in F1 to begin with… I remember some actual F1 aero people commenting on those CFD’s and it was a collective groan / facepalm. It didn’t help a RB student placement (basically an intern) positioned himself in the media as an F1 aerodynamcist to try to give the theory validity.

You telling me that drawing a few squiggly lines on a render before slapping my own name on said render is not enough to get me into F1?

[AR3-GP]

What was the final lap count?

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2 ... -happened/

1 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 1m18.159s, 107 laps
2 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.537s, 93 laps
3 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.030s, 60 laps
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +2.541s, 56 laps
5 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +3.142s, 154 laps
6 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +3.354s, 88 laps
7 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +6.492s, 33 laps
8 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +7.137s, 27 laps
9 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +7.815s, 11 laps

209 laps for Merc engine ( 3 drivers)
198 laps for Ferrari engine ( 3 drivers)
195 laps for Ford engine( 2 drivers)

Ocon with the most laps by a single driver with 154 laps

Thank you. Haas is not messing around!

[rbirules]

What was the final lap count?

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2 ... -happened/

1 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 1m18.159s, 107 laps
2 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.537s, 93 laps
3 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.030s, 60 laps
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +2.541s, 56 laps
5 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +3.142s, 154 laps
6 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +3.354s, 88 laps
7 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +6.492s, 33 laps
8 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +7.137s, 27 laps
9 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +7.815s, 11 laps

209 laps for Merc engine ( 3 drivers)
198 laps for Ferrari engine ( 3 drivers)
195 laps for Ford engine( 2 drivers)

Ocon with the most laps by a single driver with 154 laps
Cadillac had issues that stopped them from running a ton, doesnt seem like it was PU related though

Do drivers from the same team drive the same car, or do they each have their own car at the test? For example did the Mercedes PU do 149 laps (93 from George and 56 from Kimi) or did one PU do 93 laps and another did 56 laps? I'm sure getting data from that many laps no matter what is helpful, but I'm just curious if one Mercedes PU did 149 laps, similar to how Ocon's car did 154 laps.

Obviously the RBPT PU did 195 laps across two different cars (teams) and thus was two different PUs.

[Luscion]

What was the final lap count?

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2 ... -happened/

1 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 1m18.159s, 107 laps
2 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.537s, 93 laps
3 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.030s, 60 laps
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +2.541s, 56 laps
5 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +3.142s, 154 laps
6 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +3.354s, 88 laps
7 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +6.492s, 33 laps
8 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +7.137s, 27 laps
9 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +7.815s, 11 laps

209 laps for Merc engine ( 3 drivers)
198 laps for Ferrari engine ( 3 drivers)
195 laps for Ford engine( 2 drivers)

Ocon with the most laps by a single driver with 154 laps
Cadillac had issues that stopped them from running a ton, doesnt seem like it was PU related though

Do drivers from the same team drive the same car, or do they each have their own car at the test? For example did the Mercedes PU do 149 laps (93 from George and 56 from Kimi) or did one PU do 93 laps and another did 56 laps? I'm sure getting data from that many laps no matter what is helpful, but I'm just curious if one Mercedes PU did 149 laps, similar to how Ocon's car did 154 laps.

Obviously the RBPT PU did 195 laps across two different cars (teams) and thus was two different PUs.

someone correct me if im wrong but i believe each team only gets to use one car, they just change the numbers on the car for the driver, its the same PU, so for just merc themselves it wouldve done 149 laps between George and Kimi.

[gearboxtrouble]

Thats insanely impressive from all teams - even Audi did better than Honda on their first test back as a manufacturer in 2015. I did expect Mercedes and Ferrari engines to hit the ground running but the stand out has to be RBPT - 195 laps for a new engine manufacturer on their first test has to be the best new engine debut I've ever seen. The times don't really matter but it doesn't seem like they're running too far off the pace at the moment either.