Mercedes GP MGP W01

[djones]

Reading that other forum they appear to be doing a few laps at a time.

What would they be looking for? how the car feels in terms of balance??

Not sure how they can compare given its a random track. Well, unless they have the old bits as well but its cant be very conclusive surely?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Which other forum?

Is it at Rockingham? do we have pics????

[twoshots]

ive just checked the poster and he lives in northhampton were the track is so

http://forum.planet-f1.com/index.php?t= ... 43&start=0&

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Ahhh so Jake Humphrey of BBC F1 fame, updated his twitter at 3pm today with this:
"Richmond to Rockingham- it'll be quicker to get to Bahrain!! Might ask Schumi to drive back!!!!"

So Mercedes GP were at rockingham today as was Schumacher! Good source you have there "hewitt".

[Lightspeed]

"As you have guessed, we had the delightful Mercedes Grand Prix & Mr Schumacher with us today. We've really enjoyed their visit "

- http://twitter.com/rockinghamuk

[horse]

"As you have guessed, we had the delightful Mercedes Grand Prix & Mr Schumacher with us today. We've really enjoyed their visit "

- http://twitter.com/rockinghamuk

Would someone be kind enough to clarify for me how much of this "extra" testing the teams are allowed to do?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

100 kms of "shakedown" is allowed.

As mercedes unveiled their car at Valencia, it was a specified test day and not classed as a "shakedown".
Very shrewd indeed

[horse]

100 kms of "shakedown" is allowed.

As mercedes unveiled their car at Valencia, it was a specified test day and not classed as a "shakedown".
Very shrewd indeed

Ah, I see. Quite a few others with those in the bank - Renault, Red Bull (and more?) - can you shakedown the car during the season or just before it begins?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I dont think you can shake a car down once its turned a wheel in anger, ie raced.

[ESPImperium]

Sounds like they were shaking down a chassis or two. Shake them down to the 50Km max as per the rules, take them back to home at Brackley, check them over and get them packed up and shipped off to Bahrain for Sunday night arround the 7pm shipping deadline.

Sounds to me like they have been shaking down W01-02 and W01-03 as W01-01 has been used for testing, and will be used as the spare tub for Bahrain.

Teams with 3 chassis (teams to have their 3rd tub before others): Williams, Ferarri, Renault, Virgin, Mercedes.

Those are the ones i know of.

The reason i think theyll be using Rockingham is that they would normally use the Silverstone national circuit, but due to the Areana layout building works, they cannot use that track. Then theyd then use Donnington, its a mess, so nope. and as Rockingham is next closest, the teams will use that track, most probably the 0.97mile Handling Cicuit.

[MichaelW]

I´ve heard the team is very pleased with the result of todays test
The main target for Bahrain is to sort out some balance issues, which hampered the drivers especially on high fuel load. If the drivers have more confidence in the car, it should extract a few more tenths over the long runs, additional to the time gain of the new aero/mechanical package.

[ArchAngel]

Hope whatever updates they've got for Bahrain is now a match for the nostrils, snorkels, shark fins, blown wings and other whatzis thingamajigs from the other top teams.

[djones]

Allegedly it was back to back testing with the new difuser and they were seeing .8 seconds per lap improvement.

I;m taking it as BS but if its the case then tyou wouod have to guess they will certainly be fighting for the win at the first race.

[dren]

Where did you hear that? How big was the track they were testing on? How would an improvement that large translate to another track?

[djones]

I was just reading it on that forum (link posted a top of this page).

Not sure what track they were using at Rockingham, you would have to guess the full one which is 2.5 miles.