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

[Greem]

Originally Posted by peebee2

All rather bizarre. They must have known this some time ago, and PR making them look very bad yet again, unless found an unexpected fundamental problem.

Normal practice would be to send the car as it is and then fly bits out as they are ready, which would generally save a lot of time and get the car on track much earlier than this way.

The factory has been working flat out for days, if not weeks, to get the car to this test - a friend of mine who works there was working on Sunday (again). To quote: "this winter has been unbelievable". No further detail has been forthcoming, as you might expect.

Another friend of mine has recently started working as a truckie for them, had a 29 hour ferry trip across the Bay of Biscay in a force 9 gale and has been sleeping in the cab for the last few days but is finding the experience rather less stressful; I suspect that'll change when the car arrives!

[BertMk2]

Pretty good mileage from all of the teams running on day one - the Honda looking reliable in the back of the Bulls, although as ever with testing it's hard to judge the pace.

Day 2 and a bad start for Albon - four corners and into the gravel! A tad embarrassing but at least the car looked undamaged - plenty of time to get the laps on the board.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Pretty good mileage from all of the teams running on day one - the Honda looking reliable in the back of the Bulls, although as ever with testing it's hard to judge the pace.

Day 2 and a bad start for Albon - four corners and into the gravel! A tad embarrassing but at least the car looked undamaged - plenty of time to get the laps on the board.

A few spinners this week, Vettel says that Pirelli lowering the temperature of rear tyre blankets has made cold rear tyres more of a problem.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

A few spinners this week, Vettel says that Pirelli lowering the temperature of rear tyre blankets has made cold rear tyres more of a problem.

I can understand that in the context of a race situation, but when testing surely just wait until the tyres are up to temperature before pushing?

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I can understand that in the context of a race situation, but when testing surely just wait until the tyres are up to temperature before pushing?

But you have to warm the tyres by pushing... and you have to try to get the rears in relative to the fronts too...

[E.B]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I can understand that in the context of a race situation, but when testing surely just wait until the tyres are up to temperature before pushing?

Kimi was a bit more honest than the excuse hunting Vettel looking for a tyre warmer temperature problem to blame it on, Kimi saying something along the lines of its 9am in February. Its cold. 'It' happens.

[BertMk2]

Looks like Renault have had a partial rear wing failure (causing Ricciardo's off), worrying but I guess that's what testing is for. A bit of duck tape, a few cable ties and they should be ok

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

A bit of duck tape, a few cable ties and they should be ok

There’s speaks a true rally man......

Kimi’s comment so.... Kimi!

[bella]

Originally Posted by Greem

Another friend of mine has recently started working as a truckie for them, had a 29 hour ferry trip across the Bay of Biscay in a force 9 gale and has been sleeping in the cab for the last few days but is finding the experience rather less stressful; I suspect that'll change when the car arrives!

there seems to be a high turnaround for garage techs in f1 at the moment and that's got to be for a reason, so i'm sure it'll change! hope they don't have him on night shift or anything daft this week...

i'll never understand why motorsport uses the long ferry to spain though, especially f1. you have no control over most of the journey versus going by road and overnight channel crossing when you've got so many more options if something goes a bit wrong.

the williams thing seems interesting - if they're having to hold the entire car back it means it's pretty fundamental stuff that's running behind. means that reliability won't have had much of a look at it either. i wonder if paddy's ways of doing things are translating badly from a team with plenty of money to one with not a lot.

[S griffin]

Ferrari already looking good, we'll see if they can sustain through all days of testing till the first race

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by bella

the williams thing seems interesting - if they're having to hold the entire car back it means it's pretty fundamental stuff that's running behind.

That's the worrying part for them isn't it? It's not like they're just waiting for some bolt on aero components - the tub isn't there yet. Presumably the tub itself is ok (if it hadn't passed the crash tests I assume it wouldn't be allowed to run), so maybe an installation issue with the power train? It's got to be something big otherwise the car would be in the garage at the circuit ready for the missing bit(s) to be bolted on.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by bella

the williams thing seems interesting - if they're having to hold the entire car back it means it's pretty fundamental stuff that's running behind. means that reliability won't have had much of a look at it either. i wonder if paddy's ways of doing things are translating badly from a team with plenty of money to one with not a lot.

The rumor that has been circulating is that the design of key items (carbon?) was signed off on very late leaving not enough time to construct. That comes across as very much a management issue (enforcement of the delivery timeline) or a very late discovery of a problem with the design that required fixing.

There are reports that they are on schedule to have the car on track on Wednesday. Regardless it is a bad start for Williams. I hope it doesn't set the tone for 2019 for them.

Richard

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Williams according to the Sky Sports, will have the car arrive in the early hours of tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. So hopefully for them they will get a few shakedown laps if nothing else later in the day.

[chillibowl]

another question is for how long have they known they were going to be late?

obviously just speculating, but first canceling the shake down/filming day, then one day of testing, then second, now Wednesday hopefully they can start.

being late for the first test isnt the worst thing in the world and is fairly a common occurrence for teams with limited budgets.

last place, loss of sponsor, loss of Stroll $ - that they have problems is entirely reasonable and one i think fans and sponsors can understand.

for sure the press likes to make things sound worse but in this case it seems to me the team is making this worse on themselves. a new press release each day with a new plan screams lack of leadership/proper management/lack of faith in those who support them.

imo the narrative would be very different if they were more up front about their situation.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

another question is for how long have they known they were going to be late?

obviously just speculating, but first canceling the shake down/filming day, then one day of testing, then second, now Wednesday hopefully they can start.

being late for the first test isnt the worst thing in the world and is fairly a common occurrence for teams with limited budgets.

last place, loss of sponsor, loss of Stroll $ - that they have problems is entirely reasonable and one i think fans and sponsors can understand.

for sure the press likes to make things sound worse but in this case it seems to me the team is making this worse on themselves. a new press release each day with a new plan screams lack of leadership/proper management/lack of faith in those who support them.

imo the narrative would be very different if they were more up front about their situation.

According to rumours elsewhere, it is to do with the braking system and cooling ducts that allegedly had a design fault and didn't fit when building the car which was discovered last week, forcing a redesign and new manufacturing of some components.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

another question is for how long have they known they were going to be late?

I know nothing more than what has been posted here and on a handful of other F1 sites. I suspect the answer is "days" at the least.

Originally Posted by chillibowl

being late for the first test isnt the worst thing in the world and is fairly a common occurrence for teams with limited budgets.

I am trying to remember the most recent first day testing drama. It's not too uncommon for teams to have mechanical issues that limits running on the first day. They are at the track, but working through issues. I think McLaren/Honda had a terrible time in 2016 and RBR was cutting holes in bodywork for extra cooling in 2014.

I am trying to remember the last time someone "wasn't even at the track" for the first day or testing. The most recent that I can remember is Marussia in 2012 for not having successfully passed the chassis crash test?

While not the worst thing to happen, just not showing up is pretty bad. There is no way to put a pretty face on this. But lets see how it goes once they do finally show up. Maybe they can recover well enough for the second test.

Richard

[chillibowl]

Force India in 2015 missed the 1st and 2nd pre season test for financial/development woes and they finished 5th that season...these things happen. maybe not every year but common enough over F1 history.

i guess if i was head of PR i would have handled it differently. this is not an unheard thing, there are circumstance which make it understandable, no one was expecting a title challenger so why not just come out say what the reasons are?

instead they have left it open to speculation and rumours and a narrative about whose head needs to roll has filled that empty space.

how they are handling it is worse then the actual thing imo.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Force India in 2015 missed the 1st and 2nd pre season test for financial/development woes and they finished 5th that season...these things happen. maybe not every year but common enough over F1 history.

i guess if i was head of PR i would have handled it differently. this is not an unheard thing, there are circumstance which make it understandable, no one was expecting a title challenger so why not just come out say what the reasons are?

instead they have left it open to speculation and rumours and a narrative about whose head needs to roll has filled that empty space.

how they are handling it is worse then the actual thing imo.

I tend to think there are few good reasons and I can't remember the details on the 2015 FI situation, but if I remember correctly, their financial woes were well known so putting the blame there is maybe not "new news". But when the issues are purely internal (assumption here with Williams) who wants to publicly point the finger at themselves?

I just took a peek at the two official statement that are listed on the Williams site. They are short and vague. But to be honest, they don't really owe the general public a detailed explanation. The behind the scenes story is not likely to settle any conversations and commentary anyhow. It may just fuel the flames. Their best bet at this point (given this seems to be a short lived crisis) is to keep their heads down, get the car to the track and put it behind them.

Richard

[bella]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i guess if i was head of PR i would have handled it differently. this is not an unheard thing, there are circumstance which make it understandable, no one was expecting a title challenger so why not just come out say what the reasons are?

in fairness it probably wasn't her shout. it's hard to tell the truth about a situation without inadvertently pointing fingers as well, which isn't really fair in a team scenario.

[BertMk2]

Well Williams have got their car at the circuit now and it's been fired up in the garage - so it looks like they may hit the circuit today.

Magnussen isn't in the Haas again today - seat issues to be resolved.

[justracing]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Well Williams have got their car at the circuit now and it's been fired up in the garage - so it looks like they may hit the circuit today..

Fingers crossed, I'm trying to stay optimistic. To watch the last bastion of F1 disappear in such an ignominious fashion is truly unthinkable.

[justracing]

George Russell on circuit now in the Williams

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by justracing

George Russell on circuit now in the Williams

After all that, it would be funny if he posted fastest time this afternoon.


Obviously not going to happen.... unless they have done a Brawn.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

...The behind the scenes story is not likely to settle any conversations and commentary anyhow. It may just fuel the flames...

Originally Posted by bella

it's hard to tell the truth about a situation without inadvertently pointing fingers as well, which isn't really fair in a team scenario.

very true. full disclosure is a difficult ask. however, i do think there is a middle ground between short and vague and a full explanation (like publicly naming names etc).

personal preference i suppose as i do think sports teams owe their fans/public better explanations if for no other reason then to crowd out the clickbait media.

anyways they are on track and from the summary i read today, it sounds like CW offered a balanced explanation of the last few days.

[F1Pete]

More importantly....rather than discussing the woes of Williams....

Kimi has topped Ferrari's times that everyone has been raving about. Everyone says testing is early days and means nothing, but I believe this is NOT the case. Kimi's time being on top for day 3 equates to being on top of the podium this season.