2010 Testing Thread

I think they will be a lot more to come from the Virgin yet. Saturday was the only day it came near to getting some "representative" track time in.

They did what sixty something laps, which was basically a few short runs and maybe a longer one. Limited amount of programmes, and it was Di Grassi who had more track time. I think Glock would have probably been a better show of the cars potential.

But to be honest, I don't think they've even thought of going for a lap-time yet. I think its been just been making sure that everything works, which of course the front wing supports didn't.

Looks unlikely that we'll get much dry weather at Jerez this week either, so look to Barcelona for the first signs of lap-time competitiveness.

Agreed, there's nothing we've seen yet that suggests Virgin aren't doing a very solid job. Considering the amount of track time they've had and the steep learning curve they're on, I'd say they're doing pretty impressive things so far.

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The worrying thing about the Virgin isn't the Virgin... it's the other new cars yet to have a public run. Lotus have only had a basic shakedown (even less of a one than Virgin had at Silverstone) while Campos don't have their chassis and USF1 don't have a clue. Neither of them are even due to run for another week and a half, if they're on schedule at all (and every one of us will have some degree of scepticism on that being met - and if they do meet it, they'll only be permitted 3 days of testing). Stefan have never ran an F1 car to our knowledge, so even if they're permitted, them covering for either Campos or USF1 in Bahrain will likely only make them a laughing stock.

What Virgin have shown is no matter how well prepared you are, you're going to come across a whole host of unforeseen problems.

gav Wrote:
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> What Virgin have shown is no matter how well
> prepared you are, you're going to come across a
> whole host of unforeseen problems.


what they showed is that they were not really that well prepared considering their staff have previous F1 experience. There is no hope for the other new teams of course. I would be surprised if they make it to the end of the season....if they actually get to the start that is.

gin Wrote:
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> what they showed is that they were not really that
> well prepared considering their staff have
> previous F1 experience. There is no hope for the
> other new teams of course. I would be surprised if
> they make it to the end of the season....if they
> actually get to the start that is.

Because a front wing broke? Really?

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The last all-new F1 team moving up was Stewart (and Lola)*. Stewart had an equal level of experience (ie seasoned in the lower formula), and they're looking roughly similar I'd say. They're respectable. Of course, when Stewart entered, the field spread was so vast (5 seconds as opposed to the 1.5 or so we had in 2009) that it was relatively easy to slot into the mid-lower field - it's fair to expect Virgin to be slower than all the existing teams, but the relative difference appears to be similar. If they're less than 3.5 seconds off the fastest car at Silverstone (it's only fair to give until the mid-season with the lack of testing now), then they've have eclipsed what Stewart did. And Stewart were very impressive in '97 and eventually evolved into Red Bull (so hardly a crap base), despite having to go through the pain of Jaguar.

I think Virgin have been excellent. They've got their car out in plenty of time, so long as they address the problems they've encountered, then they're looking fine.

* Yes, of course we've had Toyota since then, but they did spend a season testing before entering, so don't have any parallels with other any new entrants... at least until Stefan take that route.

Some quite intriguing information can be found from this, the lapcharts from the last day at Jerez.

[f1around.files.wordpress.com]

A nice find if I do say so myself!

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Saw it earlier and was abit scared to note Hamilton didnt really improve much over the stint like Massa did... So far ive kept discarding Ferrari's pace, with the hope that Mclaren ahve been going easy, but looking at those times Ferrari are looking menacing. The only time Lewis puts in good times are at the end, when I persume alot of fuel was taken out and he went out to go quickest to satisfy the need to be at the top.

Are there data sheets like that available for the other days?

Some good times there from Rubens !

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I did have a look, even doing some URL hashing but to no avail. Even that one isn't complete by the looks of it, as Schumacher is missing.

I wouldn't be too negative on McLaren, it certainly is a very consistent pace but whether its controlled or not is another matter! Rubens does seem to be fitting in well, but its going to take them quite a while to bed everything in until they are 100% happy. It's a lot of new equipment to test, but the engine does seem to be encouraging at least.

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DaveEllis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> gin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > what they showed is that they were not really
> that
> > well prepared considering their staff have
> > previous F1 experience. There is no hope for
> the
> > other new teams of course. I would be surprised
> if
> > they make it to the end of the season....if
> they
> > actually get to the start that is.
>
> Because a front wing broke? Really?

no, because they they poorly constructed their front wings in the first place if all of them were faulty, and if not, then they poorly organized their logistics as they had to wait for days doing nothing...

I'm sorry but this is a new team - if this was an existing team then we might be inclined to agree.

Yes the front mount failure was unexpected, but things like this will happen. Being a new team, time is short and money will always be tight. It really is a massive deal that they and Lotus have even gotten to this stage from a completely blank sheet. So when you need to make a correction to a part unexpectedly, of course it wont be available instantly, its just unfortunate.

Good on Virgin for going well, things are looking reasonable so far for the season ahead.

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no, because they they poorly constructed their front wings in the first place if all of them were faulty, and if not, then they poorly organized their logistics as they had to wait for days doing nothing...

Yeah. Because no teams ever made a defective part before. Honda spent most of the time in F1 making defective cars for christ sake.

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Also, wasnt the failure caused by Glock running over a curb too hard?

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I read the bond failed in the carbon fibre, which is a manufacturing error, rather than design. Don't know how true that is.

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It happens a "lot" of time that the front wing or even the rear wing fails during testing ( Toyota, BAR or Ferrari for example ), it's better that it happened during testing than during racing

I think the speed of which they reacted, designed, produced, shipped it from base to Jerez, and got the new parts on the car was actually extremely impressive when you consider it's a start up team, with probably significantly smaller resources than the established teams.

Their lack of running during the test was unfortunate, yet this is a new team, working to new procedures and learning all the time. When all things are considered we only really have cause to be impressed.

Granted there is no conclusive evidence to say this car is on the pace (of respectability) but there sure is little that it isn't either. I think Fondmetal Team Malaysia....sorry, Lotus will be similar. They seem to be getting along quite nicely in spite of Gascoyne

Campos, if they get there and thanks to Dallara could yet be respectable once they get through teething problems that will undoubtably arise when they first run the car, likely to be Bahrain practice Although if the latest investment rumours bear any fruit, maybe they get a quick shakedown at Silvestone and make the Barcelona test.

USF1 on the otherhand... if they even turn up to Bahrain... will probably bring a cardboard box. But don't worry folks it's from blue collar America, so it'll be swell :P :D

Video footage of the Virgin front wing falling off:

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Circuit Thermalito

Liverpool Waterfront Circuit (WIP)

Cheers. Clearly it was broken well before he turned in there, so yeah, that looks to confirm what Dave said, and where the reports that it fell apart over a kerb came from.

gin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DaveEllis Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > gin Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > what they showed is that they were not really
> > that
> > > well prepared considering their staff have
> > > previous F1 experience. There is no hope for
> > the
> > > other new teams of course. I would be
> surprised
> > if
> > > they make it to the end of the season....if
> > they
> > > actually get to the start that is.
> >
> > Because a front wing broke? Really?
>
> no, because they they poorly constructed their
> front wings in the first place if all of them were
> faulty, and if not, then they poorly organized
> their logistics as they had to wait for days doing
> nothing...

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gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stefan have never
> ran an F1 car to our knowledge, so even if they're
> permitted, them covering for either Campos or USF1
> in Bahrain will likely only make them a laughing
> stock.

They're not going to be great, but the Toyota TF110 chassis should be quite a good one to use for a new team, and they do have some Toyota staff helping them out. And if they can get Nakajima and Ralf/Grosjean/Senna, then on paper they shouldn't be that much worse than US F1 with Lopez and Valles or whoever else they get.

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X (@ed24f1)