F1 Testing 2014: Week 2 Bahrain
- Thread starter Shimmy
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Soldato
Soldato
Didn't realise Nasr was in at Williams.
Marketing exercise in " keeping attention on brand" shocker
I'm not being critical, I was just saying it's so low key no one will notice or care.
Soldato
"An optimistic Jenson Button believes McLaren are on course to be fully prepared for the first grand prix of the season in Australia -
but admits they currently cant match Mercedes levels of rear downforce."
Sand bagging JB?
but admits they currently cant match Mercedes levels of rear downforce."
Sand bagging JB?
Soldato
Infiniti as a brand is barely known in this country so it makes sense that no one really notices the red bull tie in. I'm sure that in countries where Infiniti and f1 are both well known then it might be more widely exploited. I'd have thought that would be quite a small crossover though as Infiniti was primarily created as a US brand an F1 is still very much a minority motorsport over there.
Caporegime
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What they do on track, most likely, though we are still seeing people do purple sectors then coming in to the pits or backing off rather than doing a full lap which isn't new. But what they SAY off the track can absolutely be complete BS and trying to lower expectations and raise others.
That's not what I consider sandbagging.
Soldato
Sandbagging is, assume, akin to loading sandbags onto the car... which in recent years has meant running more fuel than is needed for any given run.
Soldato
That's my interpretation of it too.
Soldato
"Sandbagging, hiding the strength, skill or difficulty of something or someone early in an engagement"
In the old racing days it meant
"In the early days of motor racing, some drivers would brush the sand bags a few times during qualifying laps in order to ensure a slow qualifying speed.
In many events, the slowest cars were given spots at the front of the pack to start the race"
Well it looks that's the lot from rb as it's broken down again. Not the power train this time though.
Rosberg stops on the track again...that's twice today. Ok so it was a fuel-run not a problem
In the old racing days it meant
"In the early days of motor racing, some drivers would brush the sand bags a few times during qualifying laps in order to ensure a slow qualifying speed.
In many events, the slowest cars were given spots at the front of the pack to start the race"
Well it looks that's the lot from rb as it's broken down again. Not the power train this time though.
Rosberg stops on the track again...that's twice today. Ok so it was a fuel-run not a problem
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Caporegime
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My interpretation is as deuse listed mostly, hiding strength full stop, however it's done. In previous years you would see them wanting to test but not show anyone a lap time so would go and do a purple sector or two then come in. This year might genuinely be doing a purple sector then coming in because something broke after going that fast 
Would be interested to see how many laps everyone did on the final count. A seemingly bad day for RBR again, which after one decent day for laps will make the last two days very disappointing for them. Lotus, not great, better than most of Renault's first test guys though and getting their times down a bit. They are seemingly having less issues than other renault teams and ramping up faster. If that points to a less problematic car/design/cooling then they have a shot at a decent final test.
Even in testing, and with it being relatively too early to say anything about times, I still think the renault's 1:38's + times look pretty dire in comparison.
Lotus don't look as far behind other Renault teams as you'd expect after missing the first test.
Would be interested to see how many laps everyone did on the final count. A seemingly bad day for RBR again, which after one decent day for laps will make the last two days very disappointing for them. Lotus, not great, better than most of Renault's first test guys though and getting their times down a bit. They are seemingly having less issues than other renault teams and ramping up faster. If that points to a less problematic car/design/cooling then they have a shot at a decent final test.
Even in testing, and with it being relatively too early to say anything about times, I still think the renault's 1:38's + times look pretty dire in comparison.
Lotus don't look as far behind other Renault teams as you'd expect after missing the first test.
Caporegime
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Tart, I wouldn't have been surprised if with 8 mins to go quite a few cars would have felt that was the time to go out and try some 100% engine running without worrying if the engines went....... Kimi went and screwed that 
From Crofty's video the Ferrari does look all over the place in corners when trying to get the power down, look miles off the very few bits we've seen of Mercs/Mclarens cornering.
From Crofty's video the Ferrari does look all over the place in corners when trying to get the power down, look miles off the very few bits we've seen of Mercs/Mclarens cornering.
Caporegime
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So merc once again along with Ferrari and Williams having the most running, Mclaren not far behind. Lotus not too bad with 59 laps, was it 54 that RBR got the other day, so Lotus in their first test manage more laps in one day than RBR managed in a single day. While Lotus missing the first test hasn't had as massive a hit on testing compared to other Renault teams, that still leaves them miles behind the kind of running Merc/Ferrari teams have done.
Quite surprised that Williams would give the test driver such a massive number of laps. In fact seems completely insane to me to not give Massa in particular as many laps as possible. They must be absolutely ridiculously happy they choose Merc when the decided on a 2014 engine last year(well early indications at least).
Six teams having a bad day though, and generally bad first and second tests for 4 of those. Next test will be very interesting, unless there is a monumental step forwards for Red Bull and Lotus(maybe to a lesser degree, for a effective first test it wasn't too bad, but for a real second test it wasn't great) I can't see them being competitive from the start of the season... unless over 50+ laps Merc engines all blow up.
From watching some of the testing clips I'm looking forward to the season starting. The cars have a lot more torque than they've had for a long time and along with the harder Pirelli tyres we should see some tail out slides as drivers try to get on the power quicker than the other guy. The best drivers will benefit, the lesser drivers, especially the younger ones used to traction control (I have no doubts some teams were running it somehow although no proof) or super sticky tyres and low amounts of torque will struggle to adapt, especially in the wet.
Caporegime
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Yup, I hope driver skill is a major part of the equation this year, not just which car you have. bigger braking zones, more difficult braking, maintaining traction through a corner with far far less downforce, traction putting the power down with more torque accelerating from slower cornering speeds and with less downforce. Overtaking around corners off line via late braking and better driving could be a major factor again. They pointed out that after 3 days testing there were very few marbles on the track as they've specifically tried to make tyres that don't create them. So offline should be less problematic.
