changing role of the F1 test driver
Discussion
taken from October 2019 F1 magazine:
Anthony Davidson: "When i was test driver from 2000-2005, it was a much more important and active role than it is today - I would drive 10,000-15,000km across the year."
"After three days of testing we would often be joined by the race drivers and up to three drivers would circulate behind closed doors. It was full-time and kept you sharp as a test driver in F1."
Pedro de la Rosa: "When I was a test driver for McLaren, it was a very important role in the team. Nowadays the test driver role doesn't make sense because there is no testing - you're mainly a simulator driver and have to race in other series.
"contemporary reserve drivers essentially spend hours in the team simulator at their base running development parts or tweaking setups. It's a far cry from spending thousands of hours in the car itself through the year, keeping sharp."
"Before every race, Esteban Ocon is on the simulator running late into the night at European races, before flying to the track early Saturday morning. He does TV work for Canal+ and attends every debrief, listening and learning. But as he doesn't qualify for the young driver test, every day he spends out of a Formula 1 car blunts his real-world competitiveness."
Anthony Davidson: "There's no better gym than the F1 car. You can only be match-fit through driving. A simulator gives you all the time you need in a non-pressurised environment to learn the vast number of changes you can make on the steering wheel and can help develop the car. So it does have its place today, but I would still prefer to have an understanding of the real car."
"While Ocon has now got his big chance with Renault for 2020, for the moment he can only watch and wait and be patient. If he was called up to replace either Mercedes driver before then, as Paul di Resta found out at Williams, it would be difficult to get on the pace right away because there's no substitute for testing the actual car regularly. For cost reasons, that's no longer a viable option for the next generation of talent."
Interestingly, costs seems to be the main factor. Yet F1 teams are spending significantly more today than they were during the peak V10 era when they were using two engines every weekend, plus all the extra real-world testing...
Anthony Davidson: "When i was test driver from 2000-2005, it was a much more important and active role than it is today - I would drive 10,000-15,000km across the year."
"After three days of testing we would often be joined by the race drivers and up to three drivers would circulate behind closed doors. It was full-time and kept you sharp as a test driver in F1."
Pedro de la Rosa: "When I was a test driver for McLaren, it was a very important role in the team. Nowadays the test driver role doesn't make sense because there is no testing - you're mainly a simulator driver and have to race in other series.
"contemporary reserve drivers essentially spend hours in the team simulator at their base running development parts or tweaking setups. It's a far cry from spending thousands of hours in the car itself through the year, keeping sharp."
"Before every race, Esteban Ocon is on the simulator running late into the night at European races, before flying to the track early Saturday morning. He does TV work for Canal+ and attends every debrief, listening and learning. But as he doesn't qualify for the young driver test, every day he spends out of a Formula 1 car blunts his real-world competitiveness."
Anthony Davidson: "There's no better gym than the F1 car. You can only be match-fit through driving. A simulator gives you all the time you need in a non-pressurised environment to learn the vast number of changes you can make on the steering wheel and can help develop the car. So it does have its place today, but I would still prefer to have an understanding of the real car."
"While Ocon has now got his big chance with Renault for 2020, for the moment he can only watch and wait and be patient. If he was called up to replace either Mercedes driver before then, as Paul di Resta found out at Williams, it would be difficult to get on the pace right away because there's no substitute for testing the actual car regularly. For cost reasons, that's no longer a viable option for the next generation of talent."
Interestingly, costs seems to be the main factor. Yet F1 teams are spending significantly more today than they were during the peak V10 era when they were using two engines every weekend, plus all the extra real-world testing...
They'll always find ways to spend money. Even with the dedicated test teams etc no-one was employing 1,000 people in that era and certainly not to build and run two cars for example.
The fact that people will take on "testing" roles like that shows what a drug the lure of F1 is I suppose. It has too much of a hold over motorsport.
The fact that people will take on "testing" roles like that shows what a drug the lure of F1 is I suppose. It has too much of a hold over motorsport.
A44RON said:
Interestingly, costs seems to be the main factor. Yet F1 teams are spending significantly more today than they were during the peak V10 era when they were using two engines every weekend, plus all the extra real-world testing...
You mean things are more expensive than they were 15 years ago? HustleRussell said:
You mean things are more expensive than they were 15 years ago?
Even accounting for inflation etc, teams are spending significantly more. Compare Williams budget (£115 million) now to Jordan (£40 million per year) and Minardi's (£30 million per year) back then with all the frivolousness...A44RON said:
HustleRussell said:
You mean things are more expensive than they were 15 years ago?
Even accounting for inflation etc, teams are spending significantly more. Compare Williams budget (£115 million) now to Jordan (£40 million per year) and Minardi's (£30 million per year) back then with all the frivolousness...My issue is with limited testing, limited wind tunnel etc.. These rules are brought in to help stop costs spiralling, fine. But they also seem more and more keen to ALSO further tighten areas of the sport simply to force bad decisions/routes of development in order to lead to mistakes and missed opportunities so that the grid order changes slightly each season. Not because one team suddenly got better than another, but half the time because neither could thoroughly R&D and test their intentions, and in limited time to make a design decision, one team got lucky and the other did not.
These measures designed to randomise the teams chances and desperately try and increase the chance of shock podiums bother me. I get that it adds drama in the short term... But in the long term, it sort of attacks the soul of the sport. What is the point of F1 if it's not to identify the best combination of car constructor and driver? I know "it's the same for everyone", but if you limit things too much from all sides then you start to introduce a random/luck factor that is sometimes greater than the difference in engineering ability, and also driver ability. Both elements need time and trial in order to show their true potential imo.
Engineers need time to test and prove theory to show how good of a job they can really do.
Drivers need time to get up to speed and become consistent to show what they can really do.
Once both are achieved, then it is time to identify the winners.
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