F1 2007/2008 Winter Testing and Rumours

 
NicktheNorse said:
Regs haven't changed.
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Eh up Nick, didn't think you'd have time to be posting. You not got a car to finish?

Anyway looks like qualifying has been changed again. This time, however, the changes are probably for the better.

  • Q3 reduced from 15 mins to 10 mins
  • No refuelling after the start of Q3 so what you finish qually with is what you start the race with

So no time or inclination for the fuel burn phase. However I still haven't heard a convincing argument for qualifying with race fuel loads, why can't we just qualify on light tanks and pick the fuel afterwards?
 
rpstewart said:
No refuelling after the start of Q3 so what you finish qually with is what you start the race with
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Shirley that'll just mean drivers sit in the garage for the first 5-6 minutes of Q3 so as not to waste the fuel in their tanks?

I agree though, I completely fail to see the point of qualifying on race fuel. If anything it means very little overtaking in the first few laps because of different fuel loads, unless someone messed up in Q3.
 
sunama said:
Gotta disagree on that. In the weeks running up to March, everyone shows their hand.

I remember, back in 1994, when Senna went to Williams. Everyone thought the Senna/Williams combo would be phenomenal, bearing in mind that Williams' 1992 and 1993 cars were way ahead of the opposition.
As it happened, the Benetton seemed to be quicker than the Williams in pre season testing, right the way through.
I believe that the Benetton of MS ended up winning the first 4 races of the season.
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This is true BUT you also get the end teams running under weight to post fast times to impress sponsors etc.
In your example Benetton were quicker but so probably was every other team at some point.

In the past Footwork, Arrows, Minardi etc have all unofficially broken lap records in preseason testing


Generally speaking you can't gauge true performance from pre-season test times.
 
Spunkey said:
Shirley that'll just mean drivers sit in the garage for the first 5-6 minutes of Q3 so as not to waste the fuel in their tanks?
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Don't call me Shirley :D

It'll be interesting to see what the strategies turn out to be. We could see drivers making extra pit stops in the race to allow them to run low fuel in Q3. I wouldn't be surprised to see this on tracks where there is a clear "best" tyre of the two compounds. By running light in Q3 and hence forcing a stop after only a few laps drivers could get away with running a short first stint on the "bad" tyre and then running the rest on the other tyre. Without the benefit of the simulations that the teams use it's not possible to work outthe maths but I wonder what would happen if a car that would normally qualify in 8th or so went for a banzai lap at Monaco and pitted early. Would they, by running in clear air at the back and being out of sequence be quicker than potentially getting stuck behind Trulli?
 
Dont forget that the Renault that Alonso is driving is last year's car that was adapted to this year's regulations.

Renault's 2008 car will be launched on January 31st 2008.

I will be shocked if Alonso is competing for wins, from the first race of 2008.
 
NicktheNorse said:
Thanks for the vote of confidence :p
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Hey, I only made that comment because I believe that it is improbable (but not impossible) for Alonso to make "that" much of a difference, given that Renault were nowhere last year. Normally it takes 1-2yrs for a top class driver to make a team win. Even then it might not happen.

I think the plan for this year would be for Renault to develop the car and working relationship between Alonso and his mechanics in preparation for race wins next year and the title in the 3rd year. Obviously, we will know by the end of this year if they are on schedule. If things are going pear-shaped, then we might see Alonso defect to Ferrari. If that happens, I honestly dont see anyone beating him for the title race, unless Hamilton can seriously raise his game...which is not impossible. This year is going to be an important year for Hamilton - he can either become another Jenson Button and be happy with what he has achieved and then fade into the distance or he can become a Michael Schumacher type driver who will strive to keep getting better and go on to win multiple titles.
 
Photos of the new Red Bull RB4 are on Autosport.com for anyone who's interested.

It's difficult to see details in the shots which are available but there doesn't look to be anything out of the ordinary - bridge wing over quite a wide nose, classic Newey tight packaging at the rear, small flow conditioner/wing on the airbox. The driver's overalls however need a bit of work, DC looks like he's still in his PJs.

EDIT: pics above are better than the autosport ones.
 
I see theyve already started the reliability testing.. ;)

"Oi Newey! Yeh.. were sitting on it right now! No its fine! Wait.. Webbers tyres just gone flat.."
 
frakker said:
The potential is there to do some damage next season, fingers crossed!
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I'm not holding my breath. Other teams have also made some major strides forward.

frakker said:
Edit: And looks like the RB4 suffered an engine failure today 54 laps into testing! Well at least it wasn't during an actual race!
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Yep. So whats new? Put Webber in a car and it will struggle to last the distance. Was he in the car, btw? That guy is so unlucky its not even funny anymore.
 
frakker said:
No DC. So there goes that theory.
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Nope.

DC's car will break down in testing when it can be fixed 100s of times if need be with little or no penalty. Mark Webber, however, will break down in the race, when it counts most. If he is ever found leading a race by a big margin, that is when he is most likely to break down. His luck will dictate this.

So you see, my theory still holds true. :p
 
RBR looks ok, but nothing outstanding (yet anyway). Lets hope the gearbox doesn't try to explode again.
 
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