2009 Testing - March (Jerez & Barcelona)

[imightbewrong]

Swedish commentator (and old driver) Eje Elgh said this (translated):

I am a bit surprised that McLaren seems to be having problems. I believe that I have got it verified from within the team that they can't get the settings right. I talked to a friend within McLaren that said that they haven't found the right balance in the car and that "we can in retrospect conclude that we pot a lot of effort into the title and that we have now fallen behind".

I can venture a guess that it is the aerodynamics that is causing the trouble and they tested a few models of the rear wing.

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One has to mention how incredibly purposefully Fernando Alonso works. Very few will go to such length to ensure that everything is perfect. The probability that he will fight at the top is high.
He has an incredible capacity to develop the car in the needed direction.

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I talked a bit with Nico Rosberg, who said that McLaren are having problems - as are Renault. Especially Piquet.

I have also got to mention Toyota. They have without a doubt gotten under more pressure to start winning and they have taken the challenge in a good way. They have always had the most people and if you have seen anybody not doing anything in the depot, then he has been in Toyota clothes for sure. Now they have stepped it up a notch.

Original:
http://www.viasatsport.se/f1bloggen

[sac]

There's something strange going on under the Williams nose:

[i70q7m7ghw]

There's something strange going on under the Williams nose:

It's a.... a.... an EMP cannon, to disable cars in front!

[wesley123]

New shark fin engine cover for Red Bull.

this looks so rubbish almost like a hoax photo.... it's so ugly. RBR, please remove.

i quite like it. probably stabalises the airflow and stops the fin vibrating. maybe mclaren could use this to hold their rear wing on......

Wow, i love such things, this idea iss oemthing genius although quite old i believe...

Actually i expected something else, like a tapered edge or something, but this is genial.

[timbo]

Regarding McLaren pace I can only notice that they were not unknown for strange fluctuations of their overall speed between the seasons. Look at 2005-2006-2007 series especially - they were bloody fast in 2005 and completely out in 2006 and in 2007 they were fast again.

[MustGoFaster]

Looks like we have adiscrapancy as to who's the quickest. Per F1 Live:

Barcelona - 09/03/2009
1 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:20.338 (+ 0.000 ) - 96 laps
2 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 1:20.908 (+ 0.570 ) - 81 laps
3 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 1:20.937 (+ 0.599 ) - 121 laps
4 . J. Button - Brawn GP Mercedes BGP001 - 1:21.140 (+ 0.802 ) - 82 laps
5 . N. Piquet - Renault R29 - 1:21.662 (+ 1.324 ) - 126 laps
6 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 1:22.158 (+ 1.820 ) - 86 laps
7 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 1:22.246 (+ 1.908 ) - 117 laps
8 . A. Sutil - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 1:22.452 (+ 2.114 ) - 129 laps
9 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW31 - 1:22.813 (+ 2.475 ) - 111 laps
10 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 1:22.948 (+ 2.610 ) - 90 laps.

[timbo]

Looks like we have adiscrapancy as to who's the quickest. Per F1 Live:

This is final data. Looks like most teams made final runs with low fuel.

[Miguel]

Hello again,

First, excuse my random-order answering:

It could be that Mclaren lucked into a design in as much as they bolted on the bridgestones and the car flew, and they didn't know why THE TYRES had such a significant effect. But I doubt that they are brainless to the extent that they had no idea why the car is fast.

Finding out why a car is fast is EASY compared to figuring out why it ISN'T.

I'd never ever dare to say or think that McLaren engineers are brainless. I may like them or not, or I may prefer other drivers, but you don't end up in an F1 team by being a brainless engineer. Also, the equations of aerodynamics are complicated enough that it wouldn't be a real issue if someone admitted they don't understand why something works.

As a totally unrelated example, many brilliant physicists have been trying to explain why cuprates have high superconducting temperature for the last 25 years. Without success. And they also know the underlying equations.

Same way a championship winning car like the R25 & R26 then led to the R27...only in reverse, and MUCH less dramatically.

You make a totally valid point. I suppose that's part of the reason some people think that Renault only won in 2005 and 2006 due to some sort of Michelin conspiracy (in this forum too). However, please note that Fisichella only scored 7 points more than Kimi in 2006. And though the difference between McLaren/Ferrari and Renault was huge in 2007, I'd say it would have been less had Fernando been driving the R27 that year.

And one thing to be considered when looking at the points total is that the top 4 drivers got almost 64% of the total points, compared to 58% the previous year. Scoring high was never more difficult than in 2007.

Anyway, if what you mean is that Renault and McLaren saw just opposite sides of the same coin, I think I agree with that.

[kilcoo316]

McLaren @ 2.6 seconds?


At 0.1sec per lap, that is 26 laps of fuel guys...


Big big sandbagging if they aren't in the brown stuff....

[jddh1]

Barcelona - 09/03/2009
1 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:20.338 (+ 0.000 ) - 96 laps
2 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 1:20.908 (+ 0.570 ) - 81 laps
3 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 1:20.937 (+ 0.599 ) - 121 laps
4 . J. Button - Brawn GP Mercedes BGP001 - 1:21.140 (+ 0.802 ) - 82 laps
5 . N. Piquet - Renault R29 - 1:21.662 (+ 1.324 ) - 126 laps
6 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 1:22.158 (+ 1.820 ) - 86 laps
7 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 1:22.246 (+ 1.908 ) - 117 laps
8 . A. Sutil - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 1:22.452 (+ 2.114 ) - 129 laps
9 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW31 - 1:22.813 (+ 2.475 ) - 111 laps
10 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 1:22.948 (+ 2.610 ) - 90 laps

I think Button and Bourdais are probably light on fuel compared to the guys around them. I' surprised Williams is behind Fi today.
And i'm shocked at where macca is. Have they gotten it all wrong this year?

[McMacca]

Anyone got Lap by Lap times from Today.......?

[andartop]

Probably just wishful thinking, but I'd just LOVE to see McLaren struggle this year: not out of pure malice, but because I REALLY REALLY want to see what Lewis can do in a car that's not one of the best. I'll have a party if Brawn GP finish even a single race ahead of McLaren (DNF's don't count), but it's hard even for me to see a Fi being ahead.. (GO FISICO!!!)

[Rikhart]

Yes I cant wait to see how lewis copes with a dog on wheels. Should bring his cockiness down a notch (or ten)

And at this point I dont think anyone can say they are sandbagging, its pretty clear they are in deep deep trouble right now.

Im a bit surprised as well with the apparent lack of new bits on the Ferrari, I was hoping they had something different saved for this final test.

[Wilfko]

Im a macca lad, and that stated i think the lads at mac might be finding the whole media coma quite amusing, although i am i no way suggesting im certain everything is ok, but you never know with mclaren, they are famously anal with these things and might just be going off on a tangent, or as previously suggested focusing on race trim.. i hope so anyway. Tbh, we will see in the last 2 days of testing.

[Wilfko]

A quote from my Haug downplaying testing.

"Mercedes motorsport supremo Norbert Haug has moved to downplay speculation that the McLaren team had serious problems at last week’s test in Jerez. The Woking-based squad had been experimenting with different rear wing arrangements and rumours began to emerge that the team’s overall pace was lacking as a result. But speaking to German newspaper Auto Motor und Sport, Haug dismissed ideas that the team were off the pace.

“Whenever the track conditions were the fastest and the best times were set, our car was always in the box (pits),” he insisted.

While nothing concrete can be read into testing times, McLaren’s experimentation with rear-wing configurations - including running with their 2008 rear wing for large parts of the Jerez tests - could nevertheless be a source of concern. The team will want to resolve any outstanding issues at this week’s test in Barcelona before returning to Jerez next weekend."

http://www.forumula1.net/2009/f1/f1-new ... aren-pace/