Barcelona Testing Times Vs Qualifying Times

[rjs]

I haven't double-checked the numbers but over at F1 Banter they are suggesting that essentially everyone but Red Bull was slower in qualifying for the race than they had been during testing. This is after numerous upgrades to the cars and is on a warmer track.

Naturally qualifying is a difficult phase and it can be difficult to hook up a car for that one or two laps but almost the entire field was down and some of them by a lot!

I did read Vettel mention that it was windy during the race and that made it difficult into turn 7; does anyone know what the weather was like on Saturday? Or have some other explanation for why such a disparity exists?

Rj

[Sean H]

Didn't it rain the night before qualifying, washing the rubber off the track?

[hollus]

Did you miss the extra chicane?!?!?!

No, seriously, colder temperatures mean extra power from the engines. That for sure is a factor.
Is the air density also a factor? Colder air means more dense air, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_of_air
So not only there is more temperature difference between the cold air entering the engine and the hot air exiting (meaning more power), but there is more oxygen getting into the engine (even more power) and probably more important, more air hitting the wings and all other aero parts, hence more downforce. Heck, even the driver feels more comfortable in colder weather.
Plus the cold makes clocks run slower

[marcush.]

certainly track and ambient temperatures will play a big part in track performance.Never heard of the cloud that helped to find that last tenth of a second?..
It not only affects engine power but downforce as well ,the less dense air will have less
reisistance but also less downforce will be generated.
Also all parts working in ground effect will be affected more than those higher up ... so basically different everything.

[rjs]

Didn't it rain the night before qualifying, washing the rubber off the track?

No, I don't think so. It did rain after qually (night before the race).

Rj

[rjs]

Did you miss the extra chicane?!?!?!

Damn, I drove straight through it.

No, seriously, colder temperatures mean extra power from the engines. That for sure is a factor.
Is the air density also a factor? Colder air means more dense air, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_of_air
So not only there is more temperature difference between the cold air entering the engine and the hot air exiting (meaning more power), but there is more oxygen getting into the engine (even more power) and probably more important, more air hitting the wings and all other aero parts, hence more downforce. Heck, even the driver feels more comfortable in colder weather.

In the absence of any other explanations, I guess this must be a relatively significant factor... although I'm not 100% convinced that this is a sufficient to cancel out all of the extra "tenths" that the teams say they've been taking out of their lap times.

Plus the cold makes clocks run slower

LOL. That must be it. Who's doing the timing these days? must remember to not get one of their watches!

Rj