F1 Testing week 1 @ Valencia

Duke · 2 Feb 2011 at 08:53

Updated OP with today's live timing link. Gotta love the translation - "The first red flag of today is a fact"

deuse · 2 Feb 2011 at 09:19

Duke said:
Updated OP with today's live timing link. Gotta love the translation - "The first red flag of today is a fact"

You want to see what I get from the german NAS forums using google :eek:

arknor · 2 Feb 2011 at 10:13

translation is awesome its got barrichello just right

The team says there are no major problems, the seasoned journalist and fan obviously knows better. Barrichello is now already over one hour in, and will not back out around 11:30 to go. The latter wanted to get rid of the team.

hes whining already ahahahaah

utajoker · 2 Feb 2011 at 10:19

What car did mclaren use?

Sam · 2 Feb 2011 at 11:41

utajoker said:
What car did mclaren use?

Last years i belive

Flibster · 2 Feb 2011 at 12:19

utajoker said:
What car did mclaren use?

Modified 2010 car.
Not using the f-duct and have simulated 2011 downforce levels to try to understand the tyres.

There's some interesting rumours about the MP4-26 coming out though.

sunama · 2 Feb 2011 at 12:35

...And finally, Alonso goes fastest, breaking Vettel's stranglehold on the top spot.

I know that some people on here felt that using KERS for the first time, would compromise RBR, but based on the early results (and consider that these are VERY early results), RBR seem to have produced a stonkingly fast car.

I only hope that McLaren don't produce another turkey which requires half a season to develop into a competitive package.

TaKeN · 2 Feb 2011 at 12:38

Flibster said:
There's some interesting rumours about the MP4-26 coming out though.

Please share!

Blackvault · 2 Feb 2011 at 12:46

Flibster said:
Modified 2010 car.
Not using the f-duct and have simulated 2011 downforce levels to try to understand the tyres.

There's some interesting rumours about the MP4-26 coming out though.

Do share what rumours you are hearing.

Blackvault

Shimmy · 2 Feb 2011 at 12:59

Rumours, lets hear them!

Duke · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:09

Spill!

utajoker · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:10

I think we want to hear these rumours

PlumpMonkey · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:13

The only one I've seen is from the Beeb saying that McLarren already have the Renault front exhaust

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9384924.stm

McLaren are tipped to have the same exhaust idea as Renault on their new car, which is being unveiled on Friday. The Renault exhaust exits at the front of the sidepods, speeding up the airflow around and underneath the car to increase downforce.
Full story: Auto Motor und Sport (in German)

sunama · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:15

The way I see it, the reason for McLaren's delay in bringing in the new car can be looked at in 2 ways:

1. They have produced a car with some interesting innovations (like last year's F-Duct) and by delaying "the big reveal" for as long as possible, they can prevent other teams from copying it in time for the first few races. We can also assume that they have run simulator tests are confident that their car is awesome and won't need much (test) track time to be competitive. Effectively, they will follow RBR's example of delaying the release of the full 2011 spec car. This strategy seemed to work for RBR in the last 2 years. It also seemed to work for BrawnGP in 2009, who released their car late and arrived at one of the last tests on the calender to dominate the time sheets, from the word...go.

2. They have had a few problems and are genuinely running behind schedule. If this is the case, then perhaps McLaren and their fans should be a little worried.

It would be fun to hear what the rumours are and from where they have come from.

wolvers · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:16

If it works, they'll all ave it sooner or later!

utajoker · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:16

I'm going to look into the future now.

Fia pass new rule that all exhausts must exit at the rear of the car.

sunama · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:18

wolvers69 said:
If it works, they'll all ave it sooner or later!

Indeed. But the pioneers of the device shall have a car which may be quicker than the rest of the field, for a few races (until everybody else copies it).

arknor · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:26

sunama said:
The way I see it, the reason for McLaren's delay in bringing in the new car can be looked at in 2 ways:

1. They have produced a car with some interesting innovations (like last year's F-Duct) and by delaying "the big reveal" for as long as possible, they can prevent other teams from copying it in time for the first few races. We can also assume that they have run simulator tests are confident that their car is awesome and won't need much (test) track time to be competitive. Effectively, they will follow RBR's example of delaying the release of the full 2011 spec car. This strategy seemed to work for RBR in the last 2 years. It also seemed to work for BrawnGP in 2009, who released their car late and arrived at one of the last tests on the calender to dominate the time sheets, from the word...go.

2. They have had a few problems and are genuinely running behind schedule. If this is the case, then perhaps McLaren and their fans should be a little worried.

It would be fun to hear what the rumours are and from where they have come from.

or they are just behind and most people arent bringing there real trick peices untilt he last test anyway.

if renault were smart they could have had fake exhausts at the rear of the car

intresting fact

Heikki Kovalainen has put down the first time today. De Lotus is op het circuit in handen van de Fin, en komt zo direct weer binnen. The Lotus is on the track owned by the Finn

heikki owns the track

lol translation

Duke · 2 Feb 2011 at 14:04

The exhaust bit will be hard to copy though, surely?

sunama · 2 Feb 2011 at 14:16

Duke said:
The exhaust bit will be hard to copy though, surely?

Virtually anything can be copied. Of course, whether they can get the most out of the device is another thing.

Last year, midway through the season, McLaren tried to copy RBR's rear end (exhaust system) and they just couldn't get a grip on this new device.

Other people tried to copy McLaren's F-Duct, but no team were able to extract as much from the F-Duct as McLaren.

I think its a lot easier to build a brand new car (during the Winter) from the ground up, incorporating a "trick device". When you are retro-fitting an existing car with a new device, it becomes more difficult as compromises are made.

In any case, most teams like to keep their trick parts, a secret for as long as possible. The moment the trick part is revealed, other teams get to work on attempting to incorporate it into their existing car. Some teams decide against it, but others do successfully incorporate it. The double diffuser in 2009 is a fantastic example of this.