How far off are the new teams really?

tonyyeb

tonyyeb

tonyyeb

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Virgin are reported to have said they have not done a qualification simulation or ran the super soft tyres either during the recent tests (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81784)

So how far off are they really? Have they always had 5+ laps fuel in on harder (and older) tyres? The best Virgin time from Barcelona was about 5.3 seconds slower than Hulkenberg's fastest time on the same day and 5.5 seconds slower than Hamilton's fastest overall.

So where do people think they are? Would lower fuel and a decent setup on super soft tyres put them say a second closer? Does this mean they are faster than Lotus perhaps but never got the chance to show it in the tests?
 
I'd be hazarding a guess of around 2 - 3 seconds slower for both Lotus and VR. Could be way off but that's the feeling I get, especially if they havent run with qualy fuel loads/settings.
 
Yeah. It is a guess though. My thinking is the following: (roughly)

There's probably a difference of 4-6 seconds between an empty(ish) tank and a full one, all things (tyres/aero) being equal. Im guessing VR and Lotus have tested full-ish and 1/2 tankfulls. Assuming Hamilton & co do a low 1.20, probably a low fuel run, and Kovalinen did a 1.25.2 (iirc) in Barcelona, you could guesstimate that a low fuel run might knock off a couple of seconds off their time, bringing it around the 1.23 mark.

This is assuming and guessing a lot, both VR and Lotus might have upgrades in line. (so can anybody really..) There's no way I can see them within 2 seconds of the front runners. 12 days to find out :)

Hell I dont see VR finishing their first race if they dont sort out their recurrent hydraulic issues.
 
Remember when we had the 107% rule. On a 90 sec lap that's 6.3 sec. It's only recently that the field has been close. F1 usually has several cars that at at least 5 sec a lap slower than the front runners.

The introduction of these new teams restores F1 to the "good old days".
 
Trulli has admitted the Lotus is 4 seconds off the pace. Not bad considering the fact they had to start from scratch with next to no time. Looking at the testing times it actually looks like Lotus are a tiny bit quicker than the Virgin car at the moment but with testing you never can tell.

The fact that Lotus completed so many more laps than VR throughout testing will probably put them in better shape at the start of the season.

Wouldn't be suprised if Virgin are trying to cover up the fact there times are slow as they did what looked like qually runs in the last test. Also it would be pretty stupid of them not to actually test the car on a proper qually run. May well be setting themselves up for a fall relying solely on simulation results.
 
As clv101 rightly states, we used to have cars massively off the pace (Fondmetal, Brun, Coloni anyone??) Groulliard would often drag his Fondmetal home over 10 laps adrift.

We've got so used to the grid being spread over a second or so time difference that to see new teams 4 or 5 seconds off the pace is a new experience for many F1 fans.

IMO the new teams should be concentrating on reliability at the moment. To finish first, and all that....
 
Yep the field has only been super close for the last 4-5 years maybe? Before we lost Minardi, Jordan and Jaguar etc.

Should be interesting with a few slower cars / mobile chicanes on the track.
 
Didnt Trulli com out and say they were about 4 seconds off the pace last week?

Think thats about where lotus are, and id guess Virgin are half a second off that over all....
 
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