[Official] 2019 Season Launch/ Pre-Season Testing Thread

[Born Racer]

The increased height of the front wing is supposed to lead to less stall, possibly helping the overtaking car, while just two strakes either side are said to send more airflow underneath the car, leading to less of a wake for the following car.

We haven't got much of an idea yet about how easy it is to follow another car. Some drivers have tried it, but I personally haven't seen their comments.

Ferrari have both Vettel and Leclerc out today, Vettel taking over in the afternoon. Hamilton's now out on the C4 for the first time. They seem to be backing out of setting fast laps, though.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

The increased height of the front wing is supposed to lead to less stall, possibly helping the overtaking car, while just two strakes either side are said to send more airflow underneath the car, leading to less of a wake for the following car.

We haven't got much of an idea yet about how easy it is to follow another car.

Mercedes discuss it here -

https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/en/mer...t-for-in-2019/

[chillibowl]

speaking of Merc... looks like they have already brought out what seems to be a fairly substantial aero upgrade for the second test. new front wing, new nose, plus a bunch of new fins/wiglets.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...e-w10/4343980/

apparently this was a planned update which just leaves me astonished by their development pace. i havent looked at the times today yet, but it wouldnt surprise me to see Merc once again ignoring the softer compounds and hiding their true pace.

wishful thinking on my part but i hope the update really means they have messed up somewhere and are unsure about the best way forward.

side note but its ridiculous that in testing they use the proper names for the tires (C1 to C5) but for the races they will just call whatever three compounds they decide to bring hard, medium, and soft regardless of their actual designation (its so ridiculous i doubt what i just typed even made sense!).

was a unified colour code really that difficult for people?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

speaking of Merc... looks like they have already brought out what seems to be a fairly substantial aero upgrade for the second test. new front wing, new nose, plus a bunch of new fins/wiglets.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...e-w10/4343980/

apparently this was a planned update which just leaves me astonished by their development pace. i havent looked at the times today yet, but it wouldnt surprise me to see Merc once again ignoring the softer compounds and hiding their true pace.

wishful thinking on my part but i hope the update really means they have messed up somewhere and are unsure about the best way forward.

side note but its ridiculous that in testing they use the proper names for the tires (C1 to C5) but for the races they will just call whatever three compounds they decide to bring hard, medium, and soft regardless of their actual designation (its so ridiculous i doubt what i just typed even made sense!).

was a unified colour code really that difficult for people?

In my link above, James Vowles suggests it was a bit difficult.

"They will remain those colours throughout the season. Previously, with six tyre colours, it could be slightly confusing for people at home, so maintaining the same colours and names every weekend should make it easier for everyone."

I think the upgrades are planned, and Merc are entering into a bit of 'trolling' with the upgrade - '83 laps this morning for Lewis Hamilton and W10! Spot anything new? 👀🤔'

[bjohnsonsmith]

There's a video that explains the changes Mercedes have made but I can't get it to play.

http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/141763

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Video can also be found here...

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/video/...lained/440700/

[chillibowl]

119 laps for Williams.

https://www.racefans.net/2019/02/26/...ting-day-five/

the site also claimed that Russell's best time (C5 low fuel run) was faster then their best time set last year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_S...rix#Qualifying

checks out! 1’19.662 today vs 1:19.695 by Sirotkin in quali last year.

just testing and no doubt down to a softer tire compound but surely this and the lap total is something that Williams can be happy about.

solid day for Mclaren as well!

Alonso was also in the building today....let the 2020 silly season thread rumours begin lol!

https://twitter.com/alo_oficial?ref_...Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

119 laps for Williams.

https://www.racefans.net/2019/02/26/...ting-day-five/

the site also claimed that Russell's best time (C5 low fuel run) was faster then their best time set last year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_S...rix#Qualifying

checks out! 1’19.662 today vs 1:19.695 by Sirotkin in quali last year.

All good fun but you can’t compare BCN laptimes Feb-May as they always differ massively.

[Oldtony]

One source only but this is encouraging


Magnussen said he followed the other car for one and a half laps, and said the main impression he had was that his car was much less unpredictable.
“The whole car just feels more consistent and stable behind another car,” he said. “So I am looking forward to see if other tracks are the same.
“There are always different factors that you might have overlooked, so you come to another track and it might be different, but the first signs are good I would say in this following aspect.”

Hope that the journo's at Barcelona ask other drivers about their impressions.

[Kempi]

Mercedes seems to have started the "oh we are so far behind, it is such a difficult uphill battle" very early this year. The last two years they at least waited until the points situation gave them some credibility.

I wonder whether all that whining is to release some more funds from the HQ.

[GregUK]

Have McLaren lost the scrip?

Being fastest was only in the Enid Blyton draft....

[E.B]

I see Vettel has binned the Ferrari pretty comprehensively after going straight into the barriers at T3 after an alleged car issue. Lengthy Red flag and a lot of work before the car returns to the track.

[chillibowl]

courtesy of someone on reddit, a distant shot of SV's off.

https://streamable.com/193rq

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/co...vettels_crash/

if this session was being broadcast there would be better footage...funny how quickly you get used to something/liberty is the worst!

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

if this session was being broadcast there would be better footage...funny how quickly you get used to something/liberty is the worst!

He would most likely have been head on the to low camera in Turn 3 that had been used to look back down the hill during the first test.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

courtesy of someone on reddit, a distant shot of SV's off.

https://streamable.com/193rq

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/co...vettels_crash/

if this session was being broadcast there would be better footage...funny how quickly you get used to something/liberty is the worst!

That does look very much like a car failure.

[Mike Harte]

Something certainly looked odd about the Vettel incident. As he was about halfway around the right-hander, there appeared to be a big puff of what looked like white smoke from the left hand front wheel area. I think it highly unlikely that Vettel would have been braking that hard that far into the corner to have caused a lock-up, and anyway, I would have expected the right front wheel to have locked up first as it would have been considerably unburdened (sorry, that's not the right word - what passes for my brain is not computing at this moment) and not the left front.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Something certainly looked odd about the Vettel incident. As he was about halfway around the right-hander, there appeared to be a big puff of what looked like white smoke from the left hand front wheel area. I think it highly unlikely that Vettel would have been braking that hard that far into the corner to have caused a lock-up, and anyway, I would have expected the right front wheel to have locked up first as it would have been considerably unburdened (sorry, that's not the right word - what passes for my brain is not computing at this moment) and not the left front.

I think unloaded is the word you're after?

And I agree. Even if Vettel had a wobble and lost the rear, there's plenty of run off to go to without needing to jam on the brakes.

[Greem]

Autosprout mention that (paraphrased) they've seen photos that suggest the left hand end of the front wing was in contact with the ground as the car left the track, so I would suspect that there was some form of suspension failure as he loaded that side of the car on the brakes into T3, or as he got the power on through T3.

Whatever it was, it was pretty much instantaneous.

[Kempi]

I think it highly unlikely that Vettel would have been braking that hard that far into the corner to have caused a lock-up

It is an almost flat corner with very little to non braking at that point. So you can basically exclude the possibility of overbraking unless something broke before.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I think unloaded is the word you're after?

That's the one. At least I won't now wake up in the middle of the night with the answer on my lips instead of the tip of my tongue.

[P38 in workshop]

Originally Posted by Kempi

Mercedes seems to have started the "oh we are so far behind, it is such a difficult uphill battle" very early this year. The last two years they at least waited until the points situation gave them some credibility.

I wonder whether all that whining is to release some more funds from the HQ.

I've been wondering about their apparent lack of performance.I don't believe the difference between their lap times and the leaders is the whole truth.Are they working on something other than extracting instantly obvious performance?I suppose they could be generating a real aero-map rather than relying on wind tunnel or CFD figures.

[Casper]

MB understand one thing and that is what practise is for and that is not setting the fastest time but learning how to set the fastest time come the first race day. I have to laugh at all the comments on the internet insisting the times run in practise are indicative of the what the pecking order will be this season. The commentators have as much idea as me and I have none which is equal to everyone else.

[steve nielsen]

onboards of the Gasly crash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=bqJTR5ikpIc

[Greem]

Car failure or just a tiny nibble of the grass at the end of the left kerb?

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by Greem

Car failure or just a tiny nibble of the grass at the end of the left kerb?

it was the gras, he touched it more with the rear wheel, he already apoligized to the team.