2018 pre-season testing thread

[Marble]

I'm at the circuit right now, writing down the times.
I'll them put the on the blog.
We have to be careful before analyzing the runs, coz they are not real sim runs from lap 1 to 66. Some are doing beginning of the race, some end of the race ... Caveat !

[1158]

Would they start the race with the medium compound though? Surely they'd qualify with the soft, so that would be the tire for the first stint, those are probably worth close to a second in race trim, still think 16's are possible.

Could it be they don't feel the soft's performance now would be representative of what the softs will do when they come back in the spring?

[Phil]

For reference Bottas's laps all would have been in the top 6 in qualifying last year.

If I am not mistaken, I think the current cool temperatures during testing account for a bit of laptime (and of course, free choice of tires). Didn't last years testing times compare favorably to Q3 times at Barcelona later in the year (comparing like for like on same compounds)?

2016 cars where much slower than 2017 cars because of the many rule changes.

I was referring to 2017 testing times with 2017 Q3 times.

Example:
Bottas fastest lap time during winter testing 2017 was a 1:19.310. Kimi, I believe, did a 1:18.634. If I am not mistaken, both were done using SS. There was overall a lot of speculation regarding the relative fuel load, especially some thought that the Mercedes was fueled heavier (as a result of the on-board analysis comparing both Bottas and Kimi's lap).

Then on May 13th, this is what the actual qualifying times were:

1 Lewis Hamilton 1:19.149
2 Sebastian Vettel 1:19.200
3 Valtteri Bottas 1:19.373
4 Kimi Räikkönen 1:19.439

To be fair, QF was on the soft-tire (yellow), where as during testing, the teams had free tire choice and used SS (red), so that accounts for some of the difference. It's still curious though, that Kimi's testing lap of 1:18.634 was 7 tenths quicker than the best Ferrari achieved in Q3. So we can probably conclude that during winter testing that the cooler conditions are favorable to May when it is significantly warmer. And of course the better tire he used?

EDIT: I see godlameroso beat me to it.

[dren]

I'm at the circuit right now, writing down the times.
I'll them put the on the blog.
We have to be careful before analyzing the runs, coz they are not real sim runs from lap 1 to 66. Some are doing beginning of the race, some end of the race ... Caveat !

I heard some cars are even driving in reverse to hide their true potential. Please confirm.

[adrianjordan]

I'm at the circuit right now, writing down the times.
I'll them put the on the blog.
We have to be careful before analyzing the runs, coz they are not real sim runs from lap 1 to 66. Some are doing beginning of the race, some end of the race ... Caveat !

I heard some cars are even driving in reverse to hide their true potential. Please confirm.

Mercedes have actually been testing a G Wagon to hide their outright pace....

[HPD]

Brendon Hartley is in the middle of a longer run on the medium compound.
His lap times are:
1:27.1,
1:25.1,
1:24.6,
1:24.0,
1:23.9,
1:23.9,
1:23.8,
1:23.8,
1:30.7
1:23.5.
and keep running..

[TAG]

I heard some cars are even driving in reverse to hide their true potential. Please confirm.

Mercedes have actually been testing a G Wagon to hide their outright pace....

...and that's been faster than half the grid

[dans79]

I was referring to 2017 testing times with 2017 Q3 times.

Dohhhhh, thats what i get from reading while walking into the office.

Still though, Bottas didn't do a single lap, he did several consecutive laps on what was the 2017 qualifying compound.

from Sky Sports F1

A fast stint to the current stint by Bottas: 1:19.758, 1:19.693, 1:19.500, 1:19.490, 1:19.380, 1:19.783, 1:19.929, 1:19.970; Through pitlane

[Santozini]

From F1Today

"It's been another difficult day for McLaren in Barcelona. The team expected to fix the oil leak that halted Fernando Alonso earlier within three hours, but that was five hours ago. McLaren hopes to get the Spaniard out before the end of the day."

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Renault closing in on 200 laps !!!

[Santozini]

Renault closing in on 200 laps !!!

The seem to be having cooling problems too, doesn't keep them from going still though!

[rogazilla]

Did Hartley just do a 20 or 30 laps stint?

[1158]

Did Hartley just do a 20 or 30 laps stint?

He was on 66 when he went out so 27 laps.

[Big Tea]

Chivalry is not dead yet:

https://twitter.com/MSM_Christian/statu ... 8754477057

See, its weird, but this kind of stuff makes me proud to be a F1 fan.

Honest and honorable competition that breeds a brotherhood mentality instead of the cut-throat belief that such brotherhood is a weakness.

That was blowing HOT air

Seriously, yes, its good to see there is still sport involved. Well done that man, and the one who sent/let him go.

[godlameroso]

If I am not mistaken, I think the current cool temperatures during testing account for a bit of laptime (and of course, free choice of tires). Didn't last years testing times compare favorably to Q3 times at Barcelona later in the year (comparing like for like on same compounds)?

2016 cars where much slower than 2017 cars because of the many rule changes.

I was referring to 2017 testing times with 2017 Q3 times.

Example:
Bottas fastest lap time during winter testing 2017 was a 1:19.310. Kimi, I believe, did a 1:18.634. If I am not mistaken, both were done using SS. There was overall a lot of speculation regarding the relative fuel load, especially some thought that the Mercedes was fueled heavier (as a result of the on-board analysis comparing both Bottas and Kimi's lap).

Then on May 13th, this is what the actual qualifying times were:

1 Lewis Hamilton 1:19.149
2 Sebastian Vettel 1:19.200
3 Valtteri Bottas 1:19.373
4 Kimi Räikkönen 1:19.439

To be fair, QF was on the soft-tire (yellow), where as during testing, the teams had free tire choice and used SS (red), so that accounts for some of the difference. It's still curious though, that Kimi's testing lap of 1:18.634 was 7 tenths quicker than the best Ferrari achieved in Q3. So we can probably conclude that during winter testing that the cooler conditions are favorable to May when it is significantly warmer. And of course the better tire he used?

EDIT: I see godlameroso beat me to it.

No worries I just snatched thoughts from the collective consciousness, wasn't my idea to begin with