F1 2013 - Teams and Drivers - Who goes where?!

JonnyGLC said:
Can't see that McLaren are going to be too happy about that :p
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Well they let PDLR leave to race for HRT so I doubt they can moan too much, though it is obvious why Ferrari have signed him considering the amount of time he spent using McLaren's simulator. I'm just a little surprised that Ferrari have signed someone who was involved in the spying scandal a few years back. I wouldn't have thought Ferrari would normally sign a test driver who was part of the McLaren group using data taken from Ferrari!
 
I never thought that Alonso was as involved in the spying was PDLR was. And Alonso was only at McLaren for a year. PDLR was at McLaren between 2003 and 2009 in his first stint there so he was more a McLaren man that Alonso was in terms of time there.
 
Alonso was heavily involved, but he got immunity in return for providing evidence. Its where the Teflonso thing started (nothing sticks).

Alonso instigated the second lot of investigations by threatening to reveal what he knew, forcing Rons hand.
 
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Alonso didn't directly ask the questions, that was PDLR, but he was well aware where the information was coming from and used it to his advantage.
 
englishpremier said:
Is there any proof that Alonso was involved any more that PDR or any other McLaren drivers?
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There were a number of emails and text messages that were sent to and from Alonso and PDLR and other personnel from both Ferrari and McLaren that were used in the investigation.

As Duke said, Alonso had the information and used it, and the proof of this is what he threatened to reveal when he had that spat with Ron.

All McLaren drivers got immunity in return for handing over this information. Alonso was as involved as Pedro with regards to the incident that McLaren were punished for. There may have been spying going on as far back as 2003 with PDLR, but that wasn't what the Spygate thing was about.
 
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Just out of interest - surely the most valuable part of a simulator isnt the physical aspects, but the software you run on it

McLaren would have their software for their own car (on top of the operating system) and HRT would have their own.

Would tech's /drivers from other teams hiring the simulator actually have any relevant info?
 
I expect its more to do with being able to correlate the simulator to the real world. I imagine that PDLR was kept on by McLaren for so long as he was good at working with the engineers to ensure the simulator correctly replicated the real world. I expect its these skills they are after, rather than specific knowledge of the software.

Drivers differ in their ability to work as a development tool. Some are great at it and provide brilliant concise feedback that drives the team forward. Some are poor at it and struggle to translate their feelings and feedback into meaningful progression. Others just get sick whenever they drive the simulator :p. Pedro has a reputation of being a good development driver, which is why I expect Ferrari want him.
 
Skeeter said:
I expect its more to do with being able to correlate the simulator to the real world. I imagine that PDLR was kept on by McLaren for so long as he was good at working with the engineers to ensure the simulator correctly replicated the real world. I expect its these skills they are after, rather than specific knowledge of the software.

Drivers differ in their ability to work as a development tool. Some are great at it and provide brilliant concise feedback that drives the team forward. Some are poor at it and struggle to translate their feelings and feedback into meaningful progression. Others just get sick whenever they drive the simulator :p. Pedro has a reputation of being a good development driver, which is why I expect Ferrari want him.
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Totally agree with that.


I thought there was some innuendo above about Ferrari wanting PDLR because of his knowledge with McLaren's simulator specifically - rather than his skills as a developement driver thats all
 
They might want him to help develop the simulator itself too. I don't know what the sim position is like in Ferrari? I know that they used to rely a lot more on on track testing than other teams (as they had their own track), so may be late to the party in sim development?

The McLaren sim is meant to be one of the best, isn't it?
 
Thats what I believe


Wasnt there an earlier article stating that Maranello was being majorly reconfigured - so I guess this is all part of the re-design.

Sounds like its a huge project either way, so maybe not an ideal time to be a Ferrari driver (of course once its all done and dusted next year, Alonso and his team mate should get a huge benefit from where they are now at least/ where end of last year)
 
Yeah Ferrari used Toyotas wind tunnel to build their 2013 car, while their own tunnel is revamped.

Ferrari were hit hard by the testing ban as they used real life testing far more than any other team, meaning they didn't have the virtual testing facilities in place.
 
Skeeter said:
Yeah Ferrari used Toyotas wind tunnel to build their 2013 car, while their own tunnel is revamped.

Ferrari were hit hard by the testing ban as they used real life testing far more than any other team, meaning they didn't have the virtual testing facilities in place.
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Having your own track, will kind of do that :D
 
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