2018 pre-season testing thread

[NathanOlder]

2 fastest sectors from lewis......

[BrunoH]

i said this before and got smoked here... so its the cooling thats cooking the engine and electronics... they have wayyy to small inlets.

they added a scoop and its still small. Like i said before they need a redesign of engine cover at least.
also fernando must be shouting GP2 team GP2 team... they cant hide behind Honda no more

Was the thing you smoked a kipper and were you back for breakfast?

Sorry couldn't resist it.

[NathanOlder]

slower is S3

Booooo

[Santozini]

slower is S3

Booooo

Where can you see sector times?

[Phil]

haha that would be brilliant, but let's stay in this universe shall we? unless Pirelli has made a complete mess of their tires I can't see why more grip would be slower. shorter runs sure but I can't believe they're worse in the first couple of laps.

DISCLAIMER: I am not about to say that less grip will not result in faster times.... but

The whole point about different compounds is not solely because of "grip". Every different tire compound has a different working range. A tire under the working temperature range will not work, just as a tire that's over the working range won't work. On one hand, the cooler tire will probably be harder and offer less grip. Overheat the tire and it will lose grip as well. Then there is also tire pressure to consider. More heat equals more pressure.

Obviously, it's an important feat to work the tires you are using properly to 1.) get them into the ideal temperature working range 2.) to keep them there consistently and 3.) have good performance / good tire wear on them. Obviously, surface temperature and the surface itself can play a huge role in these 3 factors.

As we saw last year, the Mercedes worked best on "green" surfaces during cold temperatures, ideally on the harder compounds (M and S, even on the H tire). The Ferrari and especially the RedBull were more comfortable on the softer compounds.

At Barcelona during these conditions, who knows which is the best compound. That most likely depends on the car too and how well the car can keep it there under the fuel loads being used (more fuel = more weight = more lateral forces).

[matt_s]

slower is S3

Booooo

Given the abrasive surface, I wonder if the hyper-soft will last for a whole lap.

[Mattchu]

Why do some seem to take pleasure in the demise/failures of McLaren? We all know the situation, it was never going to be an easy job switching to Renault power after the mess that occurred with Honda, they have done a lot more running in these tests than in the last few [not checked].

Having a strong, reliable, reasonably competitive Mclaren is good for Formula 1, just as it`s good to have Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull, FI, etc.
I understand peoples frustration with Boullier because sometimes he comes accross as a babbling bumbling buffoon who skirts the actual question and gives nonsensical answers. I`m sure they knew that testing was going to throw up several "issues" and i`d imagine they`ve prepared for them.
Anyway the colour looks nice

Also a quick note on the tyres....did Pirelli state they were trying to get a larger working window for each compound of tyres, so they all "came in" easier but lasted less for more grip the softer you went. Or was that just something I dreamt

[NutritionFact]

A couple of years ago I talk to red bull guy @ the f1 catering about testing and sector times.
He explained that some teams not running for sector times, they give a delta to the driver maybe 1.20 for a amount of laps like the number of corners. And in every lap 1 corner @max pace.

It should be hard to trace the real pace for outstanding people, of course they have GPS data, but no one knows where the mini sectors started.

Hope you understand what I try to explain, I'm not a native speaker...

[matt_s]

Given the abrasive surface, I wonder if the hyper-soft will last for a whole lap.

OK, scratch that. Cool down lap and then nearly a new lap record.

[TwanV]

haha that would be brilliant, but let's stay in this universe shall we? unless Pirelli has made a complete mess of their tires I can't see why more grip would be slower. shorter runs sure but I can't believe they're worse in the first couple of laps.

DISCLAIMER: I am not about to say that less grip will not result in faster times.... but

The whole point about different compounds is not solely because of "grip". Every different tire compound has a different working range. A tire under the working temperature range will not work, just as a tire that's over the working range won't work. On one hand, the cooler tire will probably be harder and offer less grip. Overheat the tire and it will lose grip as well. Then there is also tire pressure to consider. More heat equals more pressure.

Obviously, it's an important feat to work the tires you are using properly to 1.) get them into the ideal temperature working range 2.) to keep them there consistently and 3.) have good performance / good tire wear on them. Obviously, surface temperature and the surface itself can play a huge role in these 3 factors.

As we saw last year, the Mercedes worked best on "green" surfaces during cold temperatures, ideally on the harder compounds (M and S, even on the H tire). The Ferrari and especially the RedBull were more comfortable on the softer compounds.

At Barcelona during these conditions, who knows which is the best compound. That most likely depends on the car too and how well the car can keep it there under the fuel loads being used (more fuel = more weight = more lateral forces).

Agreed, over a single lap the softer tyre will always be faster if balance can be maintained. Which is probably what we're seeing right now with the small difference in times between compounds, just a lack of balance and understanding of the softer tires coming from the majority runs on the harder compound.

[johnny comelately]

A couple of years ago I talk to red bull guy @ the f1 catering about testing and sector times.
He explained that some teams not running for sector times, they give a delta to the driver maybe 1.20 for a amount of laps like the number of corners. And in every lap 1 corner @max pace.

It should be hard to trace the real pace for outstanding people, of course they have GPS data, but no one knows where the mini sectors started.

Hope you understand what I try to explain, I'm not a native speaker...

good fact and i like your signature from mr berger

[NathanOlder]

slower is S3

Booooo

Where can you see sector times?

It was autosport commentary. they were watching it closely

[Mattchu]

slower is S3

Booooo

Given the abrasive surface, I wonder if the hyper-soft will last for a whole lap.

Barcelona has recently been relayed with silky smooth tarmac, it isn`t the brillo pad it was last year

[Squid]

Why do some seem to take pleasure in the demise/failures of McLaren? We all know the situation, it was never going to be an easy job switching to Renault power after the mess that occurred with Honda, they have done a lot more running in these tests than in the last few [not checked].

Having a strong, reliable, reasonably competitive Mclaren is good for Formula 1, just as it`s good to have Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull, FI, etc.
I understand peoples frustration with Boullier because sometimes he comes accross as a babbling bumbling bafoon who skirts the acual question and gives nonsensical answers. I`m sure they knew that testing was going to throw up several "issues" and i`d imagine they`ve prepared for them.
Anyway the colour looks nice

A lot of people were rubbed the wrong way by how McLaren basically washed their hands of any blame in what happened during those 3 years and put it all on Honda. I definitely want every team to be competitive, including McLaren, but I can't help but feel a little bit of schadenfreude. Just gotta get it out of my system and it'll pass. For example, McLaren's latest misfortune today is just about past the point of funny and into worrying.

[Nickt9999]

sauce?

Tomato

You Sir owe me a new keyboard. Just spat my drink out.