2nd F1 Young Drivers Test 2012

arknor · 12 Sep 2012 at 13:25

they arent trying to go fast though they are trying to test upgrades and stuff.

young driver tests arent about setting quali times

Skeeter · 12 Sep 2012 at 13:29

I'm with arknor, they have little to nothing to do with testing young drivers. Especially mid season ones like this.

Its just going to be a way of sneaking in some mid season testing using drivers who probubly did some simulator work. Its not about 'giving young talent an opportunity to shine' like the FIA want to make us think.

Its also a really bad benchmarking tool for the drivers who do run them. Just look at Vergne. He was tipped to be a superstar as he topped every young driver test he did last year by absolutely miles. Turns out he's not that great, and it was just cos he was doing fast short runs in the already dominant RBR car.

tummelv · 12 Sep 2012 at 15:56

Duke said:

Day 1 times

Code:

Pos  Driver               Team                   Time     
 1.  Jules Bianchi        Ferrari                1m18.070s
 2.  Luiz Razia           Force India-Mercedes   1m18.535s  + 0.465s
 3.  Sam Bird             Mercedes               1m19.094s  + 1.024s

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102467

FERRARI CONFIRMED FOR FASTEST CAR FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON

Duke · 12 Sep 2012 at 17:55

^ lol

Day 2 times

Code:

Pos  Driver               Team                   Time               Laps
 1.  Jules Bianchi        Force India-Mercedes   1m16.467s           117
 2.  Sam Bird             Mercedes               1m17.482s  + 1.015  125 
 3.  Davide Rigon         Ferrari                1m17.925s  + 1.458  163

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102484

arknor · 12 Sep 2012 at 18:53

confirmed ferrari have a dog of a car

Mr Men · 12 Sep 2012 at 19:08

Interesting that Force India are looking at Bianchi for a race seat.....

Mr Men · 13 Sep 2012 at 17:23

Not sure if this is real.

Duke · 13 Sep 2012 at 18:16

^ Pretty sure they can't have any bodywork in that area now.

Day 3 times

Code:

Pos  Driver               Team                   Time               Laps
 1.  Jules Bianchi        Ferrari                1m16.985s           136 
 2.  Rodolfo Gonzalez     Force India-Mercedes   1m18.018s  + 1.033   79
 3.  Brendon Hartley      Mercedes               1m18.671s  + 1.686   87

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102506

Indy500 · 13 Sep 2012 at 21:41

Mr Men said:
Interesting that Force India are looking at Bianchi for a race seat.....

He was associated with Ferrari (at least, as a third driver) last time I checked. Looking at his racing results, it seems he's not quite there: third in GP2 rankings at the end of 2010 and 2011, now he's stepped down to Formula Renault 3.5 and is third there too. Sam Bird is second in the same championship (he took a similar career path to Bianchi except he's been testing for Mercedes). Meanwhile people like Frijns who dominate the series they race in (Formula BMW, Formula Renault 2.0 and now the 3.5 championship) aren't getting any tests. That's why I scoff at people who claim F1 seats are gotten based on performance.

Flibster · 13 Sep 2012 at 22:01

Mr Men said:
Not sure if this is real.

Duke said:
^ Pretty sure they can't have any bodywork in that area now.

Nope, it's legal.

Still ugly though.

Skeeter · 13 Sep 2012 at 22:08

Didn't HRT run a shark fin last year?

The regulations limit where he bodywork can be, and I think the Mercedes fin is the max of those regs.

Edit: <3 Scarbs

http://scarbsf1.com/blog1/2012/09/13/mercedes-shark-fin/#more-2992

Duke · 14 Sep 2012 at 08:25

Few more pics of the Lotus style rear wing stalling system on the Mercedes here - http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/...651284.html?fotoshow_item=19#fotoshow_item=22