Tag Archives: testing

Mar201019

Rob

0

What happened to BMW Sauber Ferrari in Bahrain?

In pre-season testing the Sauber cars were quick, they weren’t the fastest but they showed a turn of pace that was going to challenge for those last points positions and maybe the big four on occasion. However they turn up at Bahrain and were nowhere – were they running light in testing, and if they were why?
Some of the problem may come from the fact that the weather was so different at the two venues that tyre wear would have been very different and the cars would have required a completely different setup. Which leads into the first option – the car is very difficult to setup. This would explain some of the lack of pace as they have much less time at a GP than in testing to optimise the settings, and know the trade offs for the race.
Another option is that the team were simply running light in [...]

Mar201008

Rob

0

The Bahrain GP – the track, the tests and a prediction

F1 has just under a week to go until the first winner of 2010 will lift the trophy. It all starts in the Kingdom of Bahrain at the Sakhir circuit. It’s been on the calendar since 2004 and has provided some good racing, it stays in it’s position of the first race from last year having deposed the Australian GP.
This year the drivers will run on the full length circuit compared to the Grand Prix circuit. This change takes that circuit from 5.412 km to 6.299 km and adds a twisty in field section after turn 4, the drivers will run 49 laps for a total race distance of 308.651 km. It will be the first few miles of running in anger for the new teams and the new drivers to F1, lets hope that they can all keep it together for those first few corners.The first corner is tight [...]

Mar201001

Rob

0

McLaren lead the teams across all four days of the last test with Lewis Hamilton

When we look at the full four days of the testing in Barcelona the picture is much the same as the last day of the test. Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa take the top spots again showing the form of these teams.
In this list Mercedes GP look of the ultimate pace taking 6th spot behind Force India and Williams but as the first seven places are separated by less than half a second perhaps the story that it tells is that this season will be very close. In this list the new teams seem to have a lot of work to do, they are five seconds adrift.
The odd teams are Toro Rosso and Renault, they seem to be off the pace of the others even if they have managed to impressive on particular days, the Toro Rosso was also fast at Jerez so perhaps it’s just the [...]

Mar201001

Rob

0

McLaren and Lewis Hamilton end the last test on a high

The McLaren is looking good for this year posting the fastest times of the last few tests. It looks quick in both the hands of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. The Red Bull and the Ferrari also ended the testing at the sharp end – it looks like the title contenders are starting to show themselves.
Force India take fourth spot in a reasonably impressive set of pre-season testing times, I wonder how they will perform at the first GP, the car was good at the end of last year so perhaps they can impress. Sauber have impressed at Jerez but they haven’t made a massive impact at Barcelona, does that point to a car that is hard to setup or one that prefers certain circuits? Whatever the reason they now have two weeks to understand it.
Lotus have made a good start to their F1 challenge too, they have completed the [...]

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