The Official Valencia Testing Thread 1-3 Feb
Discussion
Force India have lost quite a few staff to Lotus (Fernandes) apparently.
Last I saw heavy rain was forecast for Valencia.
Ferrari launched their car today, nothing revolutionary, 2010 front wing (likely to be changed for the test), "coke bottle" shape with sidepods looking very much like a McLaren, thanks to Mr Fry no doubt. They have been crowing about their gearbox - they've managed to make it very small, allowing for a forward shock mount so its very compact, they feel that going this way is better than a pull rod setup. The floor looks huge at the rear, it looks fairly simple too, remember no DDD or EBD this year, but the exhaust blows down on to the floor to give a similar (but much reduced) effect. The car also has a high nose like the RB6
The car they unveiled today isn't really this years car, they have said it will have a different front wing, exhaust, rear wing and I'm guessing floor before its raced.
An eye witness that has seen the MP4-26 has called it "drastic", Whitmarsh has been banging the drum hyping up the car, a finger has been pointed at the gearbox for innovation in particular. Have to wait until after the tests for that one. The big questions are what have they done and will it work ? The MP4-24 was a dog at the start of the season and 25 kind of lost its way a bit through last year.
I'm guessing the Red Bull will be a subtle revision of last years car with a higher cockpit area (new regs). After all both the RB5 & RB6 were pretty handy weren't they ?
There have been a few PR shots from Mercedes, looks kind of interesting, possibly a funky new front wing mount that uses 4 spindles, rather than block to connect it to the nose.
HRT are going to miss the first three tests with their 2011 car, which is apparently an all new design, they hope to have the car for the Bahrain test, which is about a week/10 days before the GP. Need to get their butts in gear as the 2010 car is not raceable this year. Seems to me they only just got started on building it.
Lots of cars being unveiled at the test : http://www.planet-f1.com/news/3213/6659088/2011-ca...
In addition to that list Virgin are launching theirs at BBC TV centre on 7th Feb
Last I saw heavy rain was forecast for Valencia.
Ferrari launched their car today, nothing revolutionary, 2010 front wing (likely to be changed for the test), "coke bottle" shape with sidepods looking very much like a McLaren, thanks to Mr Fry no doubt. They have been crowing about their gearbox - they've managed to make it very small, allowing for a forward shock mount so its very compact, they feel that going this way is better than a pull rod setup. The floor looks huge at the rear, it looks fairly simple too, remember no DDD or EBD this year, but the exhaust blows down on to the floor to give a similar (but much reduced) effect. The car also has a high nose like the RB6
The car they unveiled today isn't really this years car, they have said it will have a different front wing, exhaust, rear wing and I'm guessing floor before its raced.
An eye witness that has seen the MP4-26 has called it "drastic", Whitmarsh has been banging the drum hyping up the car, a finger has been pointed at the gearbox for innovation in particular. Have to wait until after the tests for that one. The big questions are what have they done and will it work ? The MP4-24 was a dog at the start of the season and 25 kind of lost its way a bit through last year.
I'm guessing the Red Bull will be a subtle revision of last years car with a higher cockpit area (new regs). After all both the RB5 & RB6 were pretty handy weren't they ?
There have been a few PR shots from Mercedes, looks kind of interesting, possibly a funky new front wing mount that uses 4 spindles, rather than block to connect it to the nose.
HRT are going to miss the first three tests with their 2011 car, which is apparently an all new design, they hope to have the car for the Bahrain test, which is about a week/10 days before the GP. Need to get their butts in gear as the 2010 car is not raceable this year. Seems to me they only just got started on building it.
Lots of cars being unveiled at the test : http://www.planet-f1.com/news/3213/6659088/2011-ca...
In addition to that list Virgin are launching theirs at BBC TV centre on 7th Feb
Anywhere we can follow the testing on the web? I remember last year Autosports LIVE feed was fantastic, but now it seems they want you to subscribe in order to view it, anything similar elsewhere?
ETA: Found one on BBC website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula...
Edited again, thanks for the above, looks like i found it just as you posted.
ETA: Found one on BBC website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula...
Edited again, thanks for the above, looks like i found it just as you posted.
Edited by Forbes82 on Tuesday 1st February 11:04
rhysenna said:
Is it me, or does the car sound different? Almost sounds like a 1980s car from some of the shotsSo the cars appear to be slower than last year, last year Alonso set a best time of 1m 11.470s this year
Alonso (1:15.371),
Vettel (1:15.559),
Hulkenberg (1:15.615),
Kobayashi (1:15.831),
Paffett (1:16.256),
D'Ambrosio (1:16.398),
Alguersuari (1:18.260),
Rubens Barrichello (1:18.714),
Hispania's Narain Karthikeyan (1:19.189),
Rosberg (1:19.930)
Vitaly Petrov (1:20.633).
Alonso (1:15.371),
Vettel (1:15.559),
Hulkenberg (1:15.615),
Kobayashi (1:15.831),
Paffett (1:16.256),
D'Ambrosio (1:16.398),
Alguersuari (1:18.260),
Rubens Barrichello (1:18.714),
Hispania's Narain Karthikeyan (1:19.189),
Rosberg (1:19.930)
Vitaly Petrov (1:20.633).
pits said:
So the cars appear to be slower than last year, last year Alonso set a best time of 1m 11.470s this year
Alonso (1:15.371),
Vettel (1:15.559),
Hulkenberg (1:15.615),
Kobayashi (1:15.831),
Paffett (1:16.256),
D'Ambrosio (1:16.398),
Alguersuari (1:18.260),
Rubens Barrichello (1:18.714),
Hispania's Narain Karthikeyan (1:19.189),
Rosberg (1:19.930)
Vitaly Petrov (1:20.633).
i think its too soon to say anything yetAlonso (1:15.371),
Vettel (1:15.559),
Hulkenberg (1:15.615),
Kobayashi (1:15.831),
Paffett (1:16.256),
D'Ambrosio (1:16.398),
Alguersuari (1:18.260),
Rubens Barrichello (1:18.714),
Hispania's Narain Karthikeyan (1:19.189),
Rosberg (1:19.930)
Vitaly Petrov (1:20.633).
These cars won't be the same when they hit the grid in Bahrain IMO, probably quite different when they get to the next test! Anyone notice how the wings seem to look wider and lower this year? In 2009 they stuck out massively above the car but in particular the RB7 they seem to be quite low down this year...
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