F1 Winter Testing / Driver Line-Ups for 2007

I thought the Ferrari looked better that colour than the usual red. Can't wait to see the new Honda :)
 
Just saw some of the testing pictures from yesterday. The R27 still looks very plain - are they just testing the engine/gearbox for the race distance then doing aero, maybe?
 
Official launch isn't until next week so they'll be keeping the full colours scheme under wraps until then. Or do you mean plain as in no extraneous aero carp?

It may be that they're hiding that too, the BMW was launched with a very plain setup but I saw some shots today and the horns on the airbox have reappeared and the front wing has acquired an extra pair of elements which look very similar to the R26 ones. Neither were on the launch car.
 
A friend who makes parts for Renault said that as they are sponsored by ING the cars will mostly be orange.

Think mechanics aren't happy because the helmets have a white swoosh or swirl and they look like some american football team.

They've been tango'ed
 
EddScott said:
A friend who makes parts for Renault said that as they are sponsored by ING the cars will mostly be orange.
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Eeew! So this year instead of confusing the McLarens and Midlands we get to confuse the Renaults and Spykers..
 
rpstewart said:
Or do you mean plain as in no extraneous aero carp?

It may be that they're hiding that too, the BMW was launched with a very plain setup but I saw some shots today and the horns on the airbox have reappeared and the front wing has acquired an extra pair of elements which look very similar to the R26 ones. Neither were on the launch car.
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Yeah thats what I mean - the aero pieces. I thought as they were testing it they would bung them all on and take them off for launch/photos.
 
It's difficult to tell what the teams are thinking when they go testing, gone are the days when they went to a circuit and bashed round it to see what happend. Everything is now planned almost on a lap by lap basis.

It may be that they're looking at mechanical grip. It's likely that the Renault will be the only front running car which will feature a front suspension "keel" where the lower wishbones are attached to a structure below the monocoque. All the cars launched to date feature "zero keel" suspension which attaches directly to the bottom of the chassis and while it provides aero benefits it limits the adjustments which can be made with a keel attachment. Therefore Renault have more room for adjustment but with the new Bridgestone tyres they also have a lot of learning and experimentation to do to get the best out of them.
 
Davidson rocks F1 testing order

Anthony Davidson put Super Aguri in uncharted territory at the top of the timesheets in testing at Jerez on Thursday, sensationally outpacing both Renault's new R27 cars.

The Briton completed 145 laps in the team’s interim SAF1 car, posting a best time of 1:19.628s to underline the Honda-backed squad's impressive progress this winter.

Davidson continued to analyse the performance of the 2007-spec Bridgestone tyres with some low-fuel runs at the Spanish track in the morning, with the team ramping up the length of the runs as the day progressed.

After completing its first race distance in its new challenger on Wednesday, Renault enjoyed another productive day despite both its drivers having more problematic sessions.

Electronic glitches limited Heikki Kovalainen to just two installation laps in the morning, while team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella stopped out on track in the afternoon.

However despite the teething problems, Kovalainen still completed two thirds of a race distance, while the team’s 1300km covered with the new car over three days this week is already up on the total mileage at this stage last year

“We had another good day with the R27 as we started looking at some setup changes, and understanding the handling,” Fisichella said.

“We made improvements through the day, and the progress confirmed the potential I could feel in the package during our reliability work yesterday.

“I think we have had a very encouraging week so far, although there are still some problems to fix, like with any new car.

“But that is what winter testing is all about: every problem we find here, is one that we don’t have to worry about in Melbourne in two months’ time.”

While Kovalainen added: “It was a slightly frustrating day for me because we didn’t really start our work properly until this afternoon, and after that our focus was to put miles on the car.

"So not a perfect day for me, but at this stage, the important thing is to get a feel for the handling, and make sure the package is reliable – it’s not about setting the stopwatch on fire.

"We had a good end to the day with some longer runs, so hopefully we can carry on our momentum tomorrow in order to catch up on the programme.”

Nico Rosberg was the other driver in Jerez, making his first appearance behind the wheel of the Toyota-powered Williams this year.

Meanwhile in Valencia, BMW had the track to itself as Robert Kubica got his first taste of the team’s new F1.07 car.

However he was limited to just 39 laps as the inevitable teething problems struck, although test driver Sebastian Vettel did clock up 88 laps in the F1.06B as the team concentrated on tyre evaluations.

Testing times from Jerez (18 January)

1. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m19.628s

2. FISICHELLA Renault 1m19.754s

3. ROSBERG Williams 1m20.059s

4. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m21.026s

Testing times from Valencia

1. KUBICA BMW 1m12.310s

2. VETTEL BMW 1m13.490s
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Just goes to show most of the 'faster' teams will be sandbagging until the start of the season!
 
LOL.. that would be a turnout for the books.. Super Aguri: Top Performers!

If Super Aguri do have some performance then i can only see this as good.. i love close races and their role as mobile chicane in the last season was not a good one.
 
Illien: Raikkonen will need a Ferrari tank

Ferrari's new Formula One car will have to be built like a tank to withstand the treatment Kimi Raikkonen dishes out, according to former Mercedes-McLaren engine expert Mario Illien.

"No one drives the machine harder, no one bangs it so hard lap after lap into the kerb," the Swiss, who left Formula One in 2005 and now has an Ilmor MotoGP team, told Sport Bild on Thursday.

"Ferrari will have to build Kimi a tank if they want to win the title with him."

Raikkonen has moved from McLaren, who won no races last year for the first time in a decade, to replace retired seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at Ferrari this season.

The 27-year-old Finn, twice an overall runner-up in the drivers' championship, suffered repeated engine failures in his time at McLaren. In 2003, he lost out to Schumacher by just two points.

Illien's Ilmor engines powered Finland's Mika Hakkinen to the 1998 and 1999 Formula One titles with McLaren while they have also won the Indy 500 on 11 occasions.
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Remember if they get away with it Super Aguri will be running the same engine, chassis and gearbox as the works Honda team.
 
rpstewart said:
Remember if they get away with it Super Aguri will be running the same engine, chassis and gearbox as the works Honda team.
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Yeah in which case this is very good for the real honda, as they surely will be faster than Super Aguri!
 
Helps having Davidson as well, his knowledge of the car must be huge. To be fair they did very well last year.
 
EddScott said:
A friend who makes parts for Renault said that as they are sponsored by ING the cars will mostly be orange.
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INGs colours are predominantly white and dark blue with orange details.

This is the new ING Renault F1 Team logo, as featured on the website:

ingpxj6.jpg


It would be fair to assume the same colour balance will be applied to the car. So its not going to be "mostly orange."

Can't really comment on the R27 aero discussion ;)

edit: oops, didn't realize the image hosting didnt work. I've fixed it now :)
 
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NicktheNorse said:
INGs colours are predominantly white and dark blue with orange details.

This is the new ING Renault F1 Team logo, as featured on the website:

ingp.jpg


It would be fair to assume the same colour balance will be applied to the car. So its not going to be "mostly orange."

Can't really comment on the R27 aero discussion ;)
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Perhaps you could shed some light on the 'secretive' Ferrari rear end?
 
Type_R said:
Perhaps you could shed some light on the 'secretive' Ferrari rear end?
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Apart from the fact that they are and always have been very careful about unnecessary exposure to cameras/pit crew of their lower rear wing, diffuser and RCD (rear central diffuser) design?
 
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