2018 pre-season testing thread

[Squid]

Post on F1 Today timing:

Kubica gave up test day

Robert Kubica has volunteered to give up his test morning today in order to help Williams, said Claire Williams.

Lol to help with what? Letting the slower kids with more money drive more?

Pretty much. Look at what Paddy Lowe said after yesterday's test, especially the part I bolded:

“Today we had Robert in the morning and Lance in the afternoon and our focus was to work with the different tyre compounds, something we haven’t done so far in this winter testing. We had good reliability all day, and some reasonably good running with Robert in the morning, and actually his first chance to really drive the car in decent conditions. So, I’m sure with more time, he could have improved even further, but some good results and some good information from Robert. The afternoon started well with Lance but unfortunately, we lost our way with the set-up and didn’t find any lap time with the softer compounds but actually, by the end of the day, we discovered some important directions and we can work further with this tomorrow.”

After Stroll took the car in the afternoon, they actually went backwards, losing time with the setup. The "important directions" are probably where not to go. Now Kubica is forfeiting his test time so that Stroll can get more time in the car to hopefully have an epiphany and figure out how to setup a car properly.

[adb]

And how do they know whether he was saving fuel or just keeping to a delta?

[bosyber]

According to the arcticle, from GPS data, which indeed can tell if someone is breaking earlier/later, and getting off the power before/after in some laps.

[Gerhardsa]

Pretty much. Look at what Paddy Lowe said after yesterday's test, especially the part I bolded:

This nonsense makes me mad. Clearly Kubica should be in the 2nd car. Sad state of affairs at Williams.

[LM10]

If I'm not mistaken Kimi has done more or less 15 laps without going to the box (he just drove through the pit lane). So no tyre change and refueling. The time was set on his 2nd lap. He still managed to do a 1:17.5 on his last lap tho.

[bosyber]

Well, this way Kubica can certainly show how valuable he is for the team, it's the long game from him, I'd think. But, Williams not really looking good for the first few races.

[LM10]

According to the arcticle, from GPS data, which indeed can tell if someone is breaking earlier/later, and getting off the power before/after in some laps.

But it would not explain if breaking earlier or getting off power was done to save fuel or to maintain a given delta.

[LM10]

1:17.3 for Kimi, with Hypersofts of course.

If I'm not mistaken Kimi has done more or less 15 laps without going to the box (he just drove through the pit lane). So no tyre change and refueling. The time was set on his 2nd lap. He still managed to do a 1:17.5 on his last lap tho.

[Phil]

And how do they know whether he was saving fuel or just keeping to a delta?

The two are connected somewhat. A representative race sim would include making maximum use of the tires, so obviously using them up but at the same time getting through the entire stint on the fuel load. But GPS data would hint at what the driver is doing, as in cornering speed, lifting, acceleration, braking etc.

One thing i am wondering though: the above hints that Vettel had to save fuel in his race sim. What if he was running less fuel than ideal, causing him to be save fuel more aggressively early on? Then again, if that were true, a lighter car would show its benefits with better cornering speed which would surely be picked up by the GPS data the teams supposedly have...

[MtthsMlw]

If I'm not mistaken Kimi has done more or less 15 laps without going to the box (he just drove through the pit lane). So no tyre change and refueling. The time was set on his 2nd lap. He still managed to do a 1:17.5 on his last lap tho.

True, wouldn't call that a real qualifying sim

[bosyber]

But that's partly in the talks with teams, where everyone confirmed they needed to fuel-save, see also the comment about Magnussen becoming erratic during his run as he had to save more fuel - so they can probably see too that Vettel didn't constantly lift early, just sometimes, which is the difference with a delta and needing to fuel save every other lap.

[Phil]

According to the arcticle, from GPS data, which indeed can tell if someone is breaking earlier/later, and getting off the power before/after in some laps.

But it would not explain if breaking earlier or getting off power was done to save fuel or to maintain a given delta.

No. Saving fuel = lifting and coasting. E.g. spending less time on full throttle. Cornering speed would still be high and is dependant on grip and fuel load.

Driving to delta is connected with saving fuel, but also maintaining tire life. But it would be silly to drive to a delta and then swap tires that have unused potential in them. Unless you are suggesting Ferrari or any other team are simply driving delta times to test what exactly?

[Restomaniac]

The striking thing is that whilst Ferrari are driving round at lap record speeds neither RedBull nor Mercedes have felt the need to say 'Here, hold my beer' in responce.

[johnny comelately]

re Kubica, it could be he has come to the end of persevering with something he may think is a heap of junk and the politics, has some data to talk to other teams with

[F1Fan2018]

Sky F1

Bottas laughs off 'one second clear' claims
Mercedes may not now be near the top of the combined winter testing timesheet, but the impressive - and consistent - pace on the W09 on the long runs over the last couple of days has certainly caught the eye and appeared to cement the world champions' status as favourites for Melbourne.

According to one estimate, Bottas's pace on his race simulation yesterday morning worked out a full second-a-lap quicker than equivalent runs for Ferrari and Red Bull.

Could the world champions really be that far aheed?

"We think we are nowhere near one second ahead of everyone," Bottas told Sky Sports News during a press conference in the Mercedes motorhome. "That’s not the case.

"But it was positive. it was nice to get a race simulation under my belt as well, feeling the car, the tyres, there is so much to learn.

"Lewis at the moment is doing pretty much the same.

"For us, the one-lap pure pace is a little bit unknown. We’ve seen some quick times from others but I guess we’ll find out in a couple of weeks."

Bottas is fully expecting Ferrari and Red Bull to be right on Mercedes' tail.

"We definitely think it is going to be three team battle this year. Which is good for Formula 1 and also good for us as well to have some clear targets and someone always to push us forward to make us move forward.

"Consistently is definitely going to be the key with a long season ahead. With the weaknesses we had last year in the car, in Monaco or Singapore for example, we've tried to make those things better and through the season we can be more consistent. We’ll find out."