2009 Testing - March (Jerez & Barcelona)

[Conceptual]

Unless the FIA have actually tried a driver extraction with these fins attached, and failed, the banning is subjective and arbitrary...

I think anything banned for "safety" reasons should have a legitimate trial before getting the axe...

Or as someone said, someone cried about it, and had it banned because it isnt asthetically pleasing to them.

Banning of a part that cost alot of money and manpower should at least be proven unsafe by a trial, not by someones' sense of what it should look like!

[chasefreak]

Why is Michael Schumacher there?

He's come to give lewis a hug!

that is why the mclaren guys covered their car.. so that they will not get to see anything...sneeky guy

[bonjon1979]

Did anyone else read the article in which Briatore claimed that Brawn were simply putting in quick times to get sponsorship? I found it interesting simply because they were direct opposition to what his driver Alonso said. While Flav implied that Brawn were doing quick laps to get sponsors and didn't have real pace, Alonso admitted that there was no chance of Renault getting near BrawnGP's times.

Flav is only saying what he is because Renault are as desperate for a new sponsor as Brawn are. ING will have left a big hole that they need to fill before next year (same for Williams and RBS). Renault and Williams sponsor hunt is just as important as Brawn's. So when Flav makes statements about Brawn doing runs for the sponsors, we have to remember that he's playing the same game too, trying to corner the best deal for his team. If Brawn can be accused of doing runs for the sponsors, then we should be accusing the other teams that are 'quick' of doing the same thing.

Personally, I think that Brawn are fast. Really fast. If Massa had done a 1.19:1 at the beginning of 7 lap stint people would be declaring a win for Ferrari this year already. But because it's Brawn, and for perhaps valid reasons, most are a little skeptical. We shall see! I guess this winter testing we've needed more pinches of salt than usual!!!

[Bob Brown]

i love these fires within the exhaust bodywork

[xpensive]

For bonjon;
I think Briatore and Alonso are saying the same thing, that the way Brawn is running their car, there is no way for Renault to match them on outright speed.

Nobody can tell for sure of course, but if anyone ever had a reason to show-off in pre-season testing it is likely to be Brawn, when it's rather doubtful they have the budget to go the whole season at this point.

Renault F1 on the other hand will most probably leave at the end of this season anyway, when their parent-company are heavily dependent on taxpayer's money now and a merger with Peupeot/Citroen is in the cards.

[gcdugas]

"BGP running extra light" "Below 600 Kg" blah, blah, blah.

That was what they all said before the 2004 season when the new (much lighter) 2004 Honda engine/rear end fitted in the 2003 "interim test mule" set some fast times. The new 2004 car was then launched and they continued to shake their heads in disbelief claiming that ballast was removed for PR purposes. Then, as we all know the Dave Richards run team had their best year with Button getting almost a dozen podiums. So the pre-2004 times were correct indicators.

I suspect that the BGP car is actually legit. Remember that they started well before any other team on the '09 car. Moreover, the current engine rules specify so much about the engine (bore centers, cam locations, alloys, CG height, mass, std ECU etc. that the switch to MB power was not all that shocking to their design. A few mounts here and there, maybe a custom exhaust, and you are right back where you started with the intended Honda motor.

This could be, in the immortal words of Carl Spackler, a true"Cinderella story".

[freedom_honda]

the thing is that why would Brawn even waste time on glory laps? The team is on an extremely tight schedule to catch up the time that they have lost in the winter. It would be pointless for them to take away 80kg of ballast to "attract sponsors" as those data would be useless for development as it does not reflects the real condition of the car. Moreover, Brawn has already said they have enough funds to get the team through the 2009 season. All they need is a long term sponsor/buyer. And a topping the time sheets with glory laps would definitely raise a few eyebrows, but without actual race results to back it up, corporations wouldn't be signing any deals with the team.

[bonjon1979]

For bonjon;
I think Briatore and Alonso are saying the same thing, that the way Brawn is running their car, there is no way for Renault to match them on outright speed.

Nobody can tell for sure of course, but if anyone ever had a reason to show-off in pre-season testing it is likely to be Brawn, when it's rather doubtful they have the budget to go the whole season at this point.

Renault F1 on the other hand will most probably leave at the end of this season anyway, when their parent-company are heavily dependent on taxpayer's money now and a merger with Peupeot/Citroen is in the cards.

Apparently they do have a budget for this year. As part of the agreement with Honda they were given over 100 million euro to see them through this season. It was far cheaper for Honda to pay them this amount than it would be for them to dissolve the company and pay off people's contracts (button alone would've been £24 million). Plus there's the money they get from Bernie (£45million). Good article by JA on it here:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/

If Renault do pull out then Flav will be in the same situation as Ross Brawn was in december so even more reason for them to secure sponsors. There won't be many people willing to pump money into formula 1. If Brawn secure some big sponsors that's one less company that Flav could go to fill the gap left by ING, renault etc.
I'm not an ex-honda/brawn fan, if anyone, I follow mclaren . So not a cheerleader of theirs, just pleased/excited for them and the up coming searon. This is a bit off topic as well, so apologies all around! I'm going to turn over http://www.motor21.com/noticia.asp?dt=315&nt=61287 and watch as Hamilton does a 1.18... :^o

[mattclinch]

i love these fires within the exhaust bodywork

bit too much fire i think...

[Roland Ehnström]

Rosberg did a 1:19.888 today! Rubens 1:19.971 in the Brawn. And McLaren slowest AGAIN.

Standings just before lunchtime:

Code: Select all

1.  N. Rosberg     Williams FW31       1:19.888        28 laps
2.  R. Barrichello Brawn GP BGP001     1:19.971 +0.083 30
3.  S. Vettel      Red Bull Racing RB5 1:20.678 +0.790 15 	 
4.  R. Kubica      BMW Sauber F1.09    1:20.740 +0.852 54 	 
5.  F. Massa       Ferrari F60	      1:20.813 +0.925 21
6.  T. Glock       Toyota TF109        1:20.928 +1.040 36 	 
7.  S. Buemi       Toro Rosso STR4     1:21.151 +1.263 33
8.  F. Alonso      Renault R29         1:21.399 +1.511 23
9.  G. Fisichella  Force India VJM-02  1:21.555 +1.667 33
10. L. Hamilton    McLaren MP4-24      1:22.143 +2.255  9

[axle]

LH has only done 9 laps...we'll give him a chance yet :p

Good to see the Williams put in a good time, though still .7 down on Button's best.

[bgroovers]

MP4-24:


STR

Interesting to see these two completly different approaches to the rear end of an F1 car. McLaren have very high sidepods that sweep in to virtually nothing at the gearbox and then rear crash structure. RBR and STR have the contrasting approach side pods that sweep down to the level of the top of the deffuser but are quite wide and flat. Also the rear wing. RBR/STR with no central pillar, McL with 2 and also twisted to face outward slightly. It looks to me that the McL exhaust also points in to the centre where the Brawn for instance points up onto to top element of the rear wing.
Contrasting ideas, contrasting results... This season has already been so interesting. The new 09 regs: Most people dished the new look cars but i think on the whole we agree that they look fantastic with out all the body furniture and flip up. The ongoing will honda survive and then the apperent rising of the pheonix from the ashes for Brawn (who ive backed for the constructors champ at 80/1!) and then the apparent total lack of pace for the McL boys. And we havent even had the first race yet. Fantastic!
For my two pennies worth: although i thought the williams skate fins were within the rules and not a safety issue im pleased they were banned as it goes against the spirit of the new rules. I just wish theyd ban the pod deflectors too!
Any further photos or info on the Brawn snow shovel?

[bgroovers]

Also any thoughts on why the McLaren central diffuser is still blocked up? I really dont understand at all. Brawn, toyaota and williams all with great ideas about maximising airflow with double deckers and triangles and so on but here we have McLaren with rear end instability and a blocked Diffuser. The answer must come in Jerez next week surely...

[axle]

Also any thoughts on why the McLaren central diffuser is still blocked up? I really dont understand at all. Brawn, toyaota and williams all with great ideas about maximising airflow with double deckers and triangles and so on but here we have McLaren with rear end instability and a blocked Diffuser. The answer must come in Jerez next week surely...

Indeed the rear packaging looks just wrong. They seem to be giving away a large volume of useable diffuser, is the real issue the packaging of the gearbox? Have they gone a different way on that and left the diffuser compromised?

From the start that piece in the centre looks like it should come out, like it's a cover...I hope for their sake it is and does. And if they have been hanicapping themselves, then Bravo, for the best marketing ever

[mattclinch]

from Lee McKenzie's Twitter feed -

"Alonso says Brawn GP pace is 'true pace' and says "Toyota, Ferrari, BMW and Brawn seem very fast.""

http://twitter.com/LeeMcK