Winter Testing 2012

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iceman1
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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by iceman1 » 02 Mar 2012, 14:37

Another red flag?

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phil1993
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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by phil1993 » 02 Mar 2012, 15:26

ESPNF1:

Had issues tweeting from trackside, but here's what I saw: Alonso really struggling to get power down out of turn 8, easier for Vettel...
-...Grosjean could also get the power down well, albeit later the the RB8. Hamilton well balanced through nine, Vettel on rails...
-...Alonso's tyres seemed to give up quickly, after his struggles exiting eight he couldn't carry the speed through nine like McL and RBR...
-...similarly Grosjean didn't have to lift too much through nine, Senna looked OK too but I think he was lighter...
-...Alonso definitely heavier than the others, and didn't look too happy on high fuel.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by iceman1 » 02 Mar 2012, 15:32

Toro Rosso confirmed that it was an engine failure that caused the smoking on the back of the car.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by reppo » 02 Mar 2012, 15:34

frubbs wrote:I´ve read somewhere else that:

"Ferrari 2012 car is hard to handle when going out of the turn. They also have dificulties warming the rear tyres. The new Pirelli tyres have a better grip on front tyres compared to last year´s, added to the "out of the turn" problem, we have a car more suited to Massa´s drive style (brake inside the turn and going out slowly) than to Fernando (brake at the right time and throttle as soon as possible)"

does it make sense to you ?
Maybe. Looks like the car now turns quickly because of better front grip, they are lacking grip at the rear due to tyre temperature. Alonso breaks harder before the turn and drives faster to the corner than Massa. When he throttles earlier out of the turn than Massa the car becomes unstable because of rear grip. Remains me the problem Kimi was having in 2008.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by reppo » 02 Mar 2012, 15:59

Way to go Romain. Over 60 laps of race simulation and couple of tyre changes. Around 1:30-31 with full tank and best laps around 1:27-28. Not too bad. Last stint was 25 laps and times got slower at the end when tyres was wearing out. He made same lap times with hard compound as Alonso with medium. Alonso really has a problem with the grip.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by phil1993 » 02 Mar 2012, 16:03

"Red Bull very strong, Ferrari all over the place. Caterham 'pops' on throttle, Lotus very smooth."

It seems that the E20 is good, F2012 still with problems.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by iceman1 » 02 Mar 2012, 16:10

STR7 on track again with a new engine.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by phil1993 » 02 Mar 2012, 16:18

Alonso:

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.

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reppo
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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by reppo » 02 Mar 2012, 16:25

Ferrari doesn't work well on soft tyres. What is the track temperature?

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by Coopz » 02 Mar 2012, 16:37

You can't really take anything from testing in my opinion. Its just over-analyzing. I remember last year when everyone was saying how strong Ferrari was and McLaren were really struggling. Its nice seeing the cars out on the track however.
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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by tderias » 02 Mar 2012, 16:40

iceman1 wrote:
frubbs wrote:in these tests, teams have one car for each driver , or they share the same car ?
I guess it's the same car. Mclaren has the same car for both drivers.

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Hamilton
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Aren't those different numbers on the nosecone?
Last edited by tderias on 02 Mar 2012, 16:42, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by tderias » 02 Mar 2012, 16:41

reppo wrote:Ferrari doesn't work well on soft tyres. What is the track temperature?
mmm they were struggling with harder compounds last year and now it's the other way round?

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by donald29 » 02 Mar 2012, 16:50

Overcompensated. :p With Mercedes, Lotus and Force India looking good and Sauber looking handy, I wonder if we could be looking at Ferrari struggling to break into the top ten in Melbourne...

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by phil1993 » 02 Mar 2012, 16:54

The Sauber does not look handy. Ferrari will be in Q3, but probably not in the front 2 rows.

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Re: Winter Testing 2012

Post by reppo » 02 Mar 2012, 16:59

tderias wrote:
reppo wrote:Ferrari doesn't work well on soft tyres. What is the track temperature?
mmm they were struggling with harder compounds last year and now it's the other way round?
Could be just the track temperature. The situation can change to better in Melbourne and there is still two days to learn the car.

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