Pirelli Seek New Test Car For 2013 Tyres

[Jersey Tom]

Having just read the article.. the option of doing a lot of it in a simulator seems like a really terrible idea to me.

[waynes]

crazy suggestion ahoy, but why not turn up to a GP a day early (where theres more than a week gap before Gp's) and do the tyre test there?

no 2012 tyres allowed. spectators get an extra day seeing the cars in action, circuits make more money, teams get even more set up time

[mx_tifoso]

Waynes, that would surely be too simple for F1, hence the search for a more complicated and xpensive way to go about it.

But I like the idea of staying a day or two after so that the running doesn't affect the GP weekend, similar to how MotoGP tests.

[Jersey Tom]

Yep. Pretty straight forward. Schedule a handful of tests (4? 5?) immediately following a GP weekend. At each one, invite a spread of cars - some top level, some mid, some lower. Arrange it so at the end of the year you've had every car/driver get a shot.

[raymondu999]

I'd suspect the uninvited teams would cry foul though. Would probably be better to invite all teams. JT; how hard would it be to normalize the track conditions in that case? Given that the track would probably have a few more marbles off-line; and a more rubbered in racing line (though the Pirellis don't seem to "rubber in," they still add some rubber to the track, don't they?)

[Jersey Tom]

The intent would be to invite new people at each test, so that at the end of the year you've cycled through everyone. No reason to have the entire field there testing. Would be impractical.

(Public domain information) this is the typical way Goodyear does tire tests in NASCAR. Typically 4 cars/drivers per test (some special cases excepted) which get shuffled around each go so everyone gets a crack at it eventually.

[beelsebob]

The intent would be to invite new people at each test, so that at the end of the year you've cycled through everyone.

Right, but what if McLaren got a beautiful sunny day at Barcelona, near the beginning of the season, where they can do lots of aero testing and setup work; while RBR got a day of 90% wet running at Abu Dhabi?

This is obviously an extreme example, but unfairnesses in who got to do what, when would crop up.

[Jersey Tom]

Well extreme cases are extreme cases. Besides, if you're running a tire test program you're not there to dick around with your car. You're evaluating tire sets. Pretty sure this was even the general routine of things back in the day when Goodyear was doing F1 and tire tests. It's not a big deal, and having the ENTIRE field there just isn't practical.

And life isn't fair anyway.

[beelsebob]

Well extreme cases are extreme cases. Besides, if you're running a tire test program you're not there to dick around with your car. You're evaluating tire sets. Pretty sure this was even the general routine of things back in the day when Goodyear was doing F1 and tire tests. It's not a big deal, and having the ENTIRE field there just isn't practical.

And life isn't fair anyway.

The point is that even the non-extreme cases matter, different teams getting different conditions to test in isn't on.

Aside – assuming that a team will pay attention when you say "now, now, no collecting any data for your own purposes" is extremely naïve.

[Jersey Tom]

Teams collect their own data at NASCAR tests. That's fine, and expected.

Different teams get different conditions or tracks to test on... sure! So what. Like I said, this is pretty standard practice elsewhere and has been in F1 in years previous. It's not a big deal.

[beelsebob]

Teams collect their own data at NASCAR tests. That's fine, and expected.

Different teams get different conditions or tracks to test on... sure! So what. Like I said, this is pretty standard practice elsewhere and has been in F1 in years previous. It's not a big deal.

When has this been the case in F1?

[Jersey Tom]

80's, 90's for sure. Probably in the 2000's as well.

This is how tire testing usually goes.

[beelsebob]

80's, 90's for sure. Probably in the 2000's as well.

This is how tire testing usually goes.

In the 80s and 90s they could simply run any testing they liked when they liked – all teams were equal in this respect. Am I missing something?

[ESPImperium]

I think that all teams testing at 4 tracks for 3 days with a Test, Reserve or Development driver would be ideal for me. However if they were to do the tire tests on the Monday after each event would also be a good idea.

The 10 events id take would be;

02] Malasia, Sepang
04] Bahrain, BIC
05] Spain, Circuit De Cataluna
09] Britian, Silverstone
10] Germany, Hockenheim/Nurburgring GP
11] Hungary, Hungaroring
12] Belgum, Spa
13] Italy, Monza
15] Japan, Suzuka
16] Korea, KIC

With this id say that each team can select 2 events to run 2 cars at for a day.

[scotty86]

No reason to have the entire field there testing. Would be impractical.

Not really, every team would have been at the track for the race anyway. Pre season tests can handle all teams being there and this is no different really. Plus, Pirelli can gather more data in a much shorter time.