F1

What do you want to know from testing?

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 16 total)
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  • #335459

    OK, there are quite a few obvious answers to this question. Who’s quickest? Who’s in trouble? What do drivers think of the new cars?

    I’m heading off to the Circuit de Catalunya tomorrow to find out and would like to hear your thoughts. What are you most interested to learn from testing next week? Let me know below.

    #335461
    glynh
    Participant

    How many changes do the teams make during testing? Do they copy other ideas and converge or stick to their own paths?

    Are they all pushing or are some holding back?

    Looking forward to the reports.

    #335540
    Jeanrien
    Participant

    This is a bit subjective but I would love to have some comments on cars behavior. Surely we should have a difference from last year and I believe also from last year. Would see it presented as ‘my walk around the track’.

    Otherwise I am pretty sure you will be spot on as usual.

    In the same line as above, this would be nice to track technologies used and developed. Those technical analysis articles are really great and there will be to add from the test…

    #335542
    hunocsi
    Participant

    Who makes the longest burnout after a pitstop practice?

    #335545
    George
    Participant

    It’s not very high priority, but I’d be quite interested in a behind the scenes, journal-like article. Maybe cover some things that don’t make it into the well reported times/breakdowns/technical news. A collection of views on the coming season from other journos/paddock hangers-on would be interesting too, if they’re willing to give them!

    It would be cool to get some interviews with 3rd/junior drivers that are there too, see what they’re doing at the test and get their thoughts on their own coming seasons.

    #335549
    Vortex Motio
    Participant

    Keith – It would be great to know the goals of each team. For example on an overall basis (ex 1st test we focus on this & that, 2nd test something & the other). And also their day to day goals of course. That may seem boring but it seems like the one true way to measure the team’s performance (initial goals were this but team changed goals due to reliability, or aero concepts didn’t verify in testing so focused on validation work, etc).

    Also driver impressions of their cars, and perhaps most important the feared inability to run nose to tail due to aero-wash.

    Finally, be good to understand Weirlien’s medical issues better.

    #335550
    Craig Woollard
    Participant

    I’m curious to know why the Williams (and the Haas which has just been leaked on Twitter) are so simplistic in the sidepod areas compared to the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

    I’m also wondering whether T9 is easy flat or not. It would give us a good indicator as to which corners are now flat this season. I only seem to remember it being flat back in 2010 in qualifying only.

    I would also wonder what missing this test will mean for Pascal Wehrlein. How costly will this be for him?

    #335551
    Vortex Motio
    Participant

    Keith – Perhaps most important of all is any insights at all on the new tires!
    What does Pirelli think?
    What do the teams think?
    What do the drivers think?
    What can we expect in the first few races?

    #335559
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    What I always feel will help determine whether teams are holding back, is to see if the cars look difficult to drive.

    If they are (on average) 4-5 seconds quicker per lap, then every driver should have some/slight difficulty adjusting at the beginning, but if you keep having this towards the end of the day, it might be because the car is not well balanced or edgy to drive. We know from previous seasons that can take away a second of performance, being able to trust what the car is doing, is key in F1, especially when the opposite is true. So if you can keep an eye on this and report if anything like this happens, that’d be great!

    I’m not sure if this data is shared during testing, but when a (new) fast lap is set within 2-3 laps of changing tyres, that’d be useful information to compare performance between the teams.

    With regards to the teams I’m just curious to see how it all plays out. I suspect Mercedes and Red Bull remain the two top teams. Ferrari cannot be judged too early, but I’m afraid they’ll disappoint again, meaning McLaren will be hot on their heels and maybe even Renault. I also expect Toro Rosso to find their way back to the midfield, which might make for a painful season for Williams. Fighting with Force India, Haas and maybe even Sauber, although they’ll remain last most of the time. This season could make for 2 top teams, 2 back teams and a huge midfield with only small differences.

    #335619
    Scottie
    Participant

    I’d be curious to try and understand the method of their madness during testing.
    How might they identify how many laps is enough to evaluate an aerodynamic part given the variability of the environment around a circuit at any given time of day?

    Might be something to help some new folk get our heads around why something that could be perceived as doing the same thing but expecting a different result makes sense.

    Thanks Keith, love your work every year!

    #335680
    hunocsi
    Participant

    Can you ask team principals or other representatives if they feel there’s still a financial need to limit pre-season testing this much? Almost everyone was running last week, and everyone was ready with their cars. Also, would they be interested in starting testing earlier than the end of February?

    #335681
    spoutnik
    Participant

    I wonder if cars like the McLaren and the Redbull (with simple designs) are only base designs with lots of more complex parts tested or if this year is a case of “less is more” for them?

    Cheers, thanks for all the work and enjoy the cars!

    #335721

    Thanks for all your feedback so far guys. Obviously I can’t promise to get an answer for everything but I will keep what you’ve said in mind!

    Some of these ideas are things I’d love to do but aren’t necessarily practical. Taking a walk around the track to watch the cars all day is great, but it would mean leaving the site without new content for hours, so it’s not really feasible while I’m doing this single-handedly. However I do intend to make a trip out to one of the quick corners when i can.

    For now I’ve got a notebook stuffed with interview appointments to get on with!

    #336251
    Matthijs
    Participant

    Maybe a bit late: but I’m very interested in pundits and drivers opinions about:

    – who were fast or consistent in long runs?
    – which cars are very stable and which are a handful?
    – What do the drivers think of tyre wear and grip?
    – How does running close behind another driver affect grip and balance?
    – How does the wet weather tyres feel and behave?

    #336300
    Jeanrien
    Participant

    It’s the time for a huge TANKS Keith. A test well covered and nice to follow on F1fanatics. And probably time to get some sleep for you.

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