2012 Testing - Barcelona 2: 1 - 4 March

[FrukostScones]

The Lotus does not have the initial pace of the Ferrari.

Ferrari appear to have stronger pace than Lotus, but their tyre degradation is worse.
In a race situation Ferrari would probably be a few seconds up the road by the time degradation will have hit them.

I'd rather be in Ferrari's position if that is the case, as sorting degredation is easier than finding pace.

well, it is a 3 stop versus 4 stop
im still trying to figure out who is quicker

Grosjeans's 61st lap was a 1:29.999 (108), Alonso's is a 1:26.732 (116), so that's a pretty positive sign on the Ferrari side.

trafficcc, anyway you compare apples with pears

[radosav]

AutoSprint & F1Today.nl confirms Ferrari's race sim conducted on USED tyres. Lotus was on new tyres

[SchumiSutil]

You just can't do 26 laps on hards, once again...
The tyres are consistent but too slow. If you stop and put a last set of softs 13 laps to the finish you gain more than the time you lost at the stops.
But this is just on paper. On real race, things are more complcated as you don't want to stop towards the end of the race if you lose positions on track.

[ESPImperium]

Any pics of the Toro Rosso fire?

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

Yes, because Grosjean finish his race sims by a long run with hard tyres, while Alonso have a 4 stopper strategies.

It's seems Ferrari will be very agressive with the tyres this year, so we will see many pit stop for them. For me, with the F150 they want to stay on track longer with less pit stop than RB and Mclaren ( this cost a Massa victory at China ), and with F2012, they will do quali lap at each stint, but they will do more pit stop.

16:15 Stint one was nine laps on mediums, consistently in 1m30s with a few 1m31s.

Stint two was eight laps on softs, starting in low 1m29s, then going up to mid 1m30s before a single 1m32s.

Stint three was 12 laps on softs, going up from low 1m28s to mid 1m31s.

Stint four was 14 laps on mediums, going from mid 1m27s to mid 1m29s.

Stint five was 14 laps on mediums again, from mid 1m24s to high 1m26s.

Ferrari use USED tyres, and Lotus new tyres...

[Blackout]

Comparing FA's sim with RG's is almost useless because there is many differences, so comparing RG'S race with Nico'S sim where there is even more different variables...

[f1316]

From the race simulation they're doing it looks F2012 it's a title challenger, for third place...

AutoSprint & F1Today.nl confirms Ferrari's race sim conducted on USED tyres. Lotus was on new tyres

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

Alonso, at the start of his race sim... His tyres is already destroyed... If it's thrue, then F2012 is a very very good car.

[bosanac1]

AutoSprint & F1Today.nl confirms Ferrari's race sim conducted on USED tyres. Lotus was on new tyres

makes the lotus look faster then it is


I guess they are saving tyres for tmmrw and sunday
as they have new parts coming

[rowano]

Word here in Spain is that McLaren is enduring a major setback on its car. It seems that today's lack of laps is due to their tunneled exhaust. It seems now that the parts of the floor are desintegrating, especially parts around the rear wheel.

Even more so, looking at the tyres, I've seen the rears of the McLaren are quite badly damaged in comparison to all tyres that I have seen yesterday.

I'd be surprised if that was the issue tbh – otherwise, how would they have run reliably for 4 days continuously last week?

Maybe they have changed the direction the exhaust gas is flowing? We saw a lot of pictures of the McLaren looking as if the floor was blistering in early tests. McLaren have said they have some major upgrades to the car so perhaps this is linked to one or more of these? Should be able to go back to previous setups with seemingly no issues if this is the case though.

[radosav]

AutoSprint & F1Today.nl confirms Ferrari's race sim conducted on USED tyres. Lotus was on new tyres

makes the lotus look faster then it is


I guess they are saving tyres for tmmrw and sunday
as they have new parts coming

lotus has more tyre sets because they didn't run first barcelona test

[Ferraripilot]

Is it possible that the Merc is overheating the tires now? What sort of geometry change removes heat from tires? Less positive camber? Or is it more complicated than that.

[Mr.S]

[img]http://img4.auto-motor-und-sport.de/For ... 12.jpg[img]

Alonso, at the start of his race sim... His tyres is already destroyed... If it's thrue, then F2012 is a very very good car.

Those are not destroyed tyres. Perfectly fine Tyres. Just maybe slightly worn out. Worn out tyres & destroyed tyres is completely difference.

If some site says he ran on destroyed tyres then that site is <wrong> & should be avoided. No car can run on Destroyed tyres & certainly cant do 1-26's & 1-27's. Alonso's times were quick,not very quick. On light fuel he was Quite quick. On a heavy load maybe not so much. Ferrari engine is not fuel efficient.He probably had to carry much more fuel than Lotus.

The tyre wear seemed genuine & consistent. Maybe he was running worn tyres & could have streched those tyres doing Slightly better times & maybe 1 Pit Stop less. I dont believe this though. Alonso ran on mediums while Romain ran on Hard tyres.

This Medium is last season's softs. There is no way this are destroyed tyres.

[Schurcedes]

Strong showing by Lotus today, I would be happier if Mercedes were up there with them and fighting Lotus for podium places rather than with Ferrari.

Wurz reckoned Red Bull and McLaren are still the best cars (with Mercedes in third), will be tough for Mercedes or Lotus but not impossible. Lotus\Renault were also impressive in last year's testing, I think people have been quick to write them off this time saying performance did not match expectations in 2011, but it actually did -they had a quicker car than Mercedes in the first few races and were regular podium contenders, only to fall away as development slackened. Wouldn't be surprised if that's the case this season as well.

Not as much mileage today for Michael as I'd hoped, hopefully we'll get to see a race sim tomorrow on on the last day.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Pat Fry has confirmed Ferrari used both used & new tyres during the race stint. )