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Who Is Leading Testing So Far?
Topic Started: Feb 16 2007, 11:27 AM (377 Views)
Paul_Murtagh
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Chief Engineer
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With all the pre-season tests giving out mixed signals so far, with Honda not doing well and Red Bull going from the back to the front, which team do you feel has genuinely been the fastest in pre-season testing so far? With only 4 weeks left until Melbourne things aren't as clear and you would expect them to be
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dcoulthard19
Chief Engineer
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For me the mclaren is leading at the moment, the orders in the tests have been all over the place but despite that mclaren have been consistently at the top end, if not on top.

Also they are looking genuinely very reliable which is a pleasure to see.

Just behind mclaren lie Ferrari, their raw pace looks as if it is quite good but they have teething problems, sort them out and I think they will almost be on par with Mclaren.

Behind those two I think is BMW, they have been mighty impressive and look as if they will be up there with my top 2.

After these 3 teams there is a huge midfield containing: Toyota, renault, Williams, Honda, and Red Bull.

One of those teams may emerge to challenge what I consider to be the top three, lets see what happens in the next 4 weeks.

So to summarize my order SO FAR

Mclaren
Ferrari

GAP

BMW

GAP

Renault, Williams, Toyota, Honda and Red Bull

GAP

Spyker, Super Aguri and Torro Ross
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safc_fan89
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safc_fan89
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Testing has been even more inconclusive this year than it normally is...I'd say there are up to 6 teams that appear to have shown good pace at some point or other through the winter: Ferrari, Renault, Mclaren, Red Bull even, Williams, BMW...they will not all win races next season, I'd expect 2 teams to rise above the rest, as has happened for the last 2 seasons. And do you really think Honda are going to be this far down the times all season? I wouldn't have thought so...
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TheCompleteGuitarist
Driver
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Zero Points for testing, zero points for showing that you are fastest pre race, minus points for showing your hand too early and giving away all your secrets.
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ELUSIVEJIM
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TheCompleteGuitarist,Feb 16 2007
12:14 PM
Zero Points for testing, zero points for showing that you are fastest pre race, minus points for showing your hand too early and giving away all your secrets.

Yeah totally agree.

Over the years we have heard the hype of teams doing very well pre season but not having the pace come the start of the season.

Ok Mclaren have had a good time in testing but for performance i would still say come the start of the season it will be Ferrari with the best package.

We will not know until the F1 season starts so heres hoping its all very close <thumbs>
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NewMrMe
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Testing is always difficult to read. Often it appears someone has made a big step forward and when it comes to the races they are where you would expect. Sometimes a team appears to struggle in testing but are on the pace when the serious action begins.

My thoughts at the moment are that it will be between McLaren and Ferrari. McLaren have a slight edge as I think Ferrari have a few niggles they need to iron out.

BMW look to have made big progress. There pace has been consistently quick but there still could be some showboating. They could challenge for wins.

Renault are roughly where I expect, good but not good enough.

Williams have shown steady improvement over testing which is a positive sign. If their reliability has improved they could be a reguler points scorer.

Toyota have shown pace but not often enough to indicate they have genuine speed and were not going for a time. I do not see a reason to suggest they will be anything but midfield.

Red Bull are difficult to predict. They have shown occasional flashes of speed but I think they may disappoint.

Honda have been the big let down. They have not shown themselves to be competitive. Unless they can find a big chunk of time they maybe in the second half of the grid.
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TheCompleteGuitarist
Driver
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Quote:
 
Honda have been the big let down. They have not shown themselves to be competitive. Unless they can find a big chunk of time they maybe in the second half of the grid.

You presume you know Honda's agenda. We've heard very little either way from them and no one is complaining. I'm not saying that I know either, but everyone has had a crack at posting a fast time, just look at AllBull. I imagine they are just holding back after last years marketing fiasco.

As a Honda/JB fan I will only get disappointed in their performance once they're racing in anger and it's not happening for them.
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flood1
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I'm interested in knowing how you guys see the in-team testing results between drivers i.e. Kimi/Massa or JB/RB? I would think that team testing strategies all being on different programs make team to team comparison problematic, but at some point each driver in a team would be in their fastest setup. This would allow us to compare the in-house competition.

What about the third drivers.
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TheCompleteGuitarist
Driver
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It's a good point Flood1 and the closest we can get to making any suppositions in testing, however there are still team agendas that making it difficult to analyze this (in my opinion). One driver may be working on tyre setup while the other may be focussing on chassis so they'll be driving and thinking in different ways.
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flood1
Chief Engineer
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When do you the test focus would be on first stint race pace and length (fuel load), and as a result qualifying trim? Would that be next week? Will the final aero packages be on the car then?

At some pont I think testing would necessarily funnel to that requirement.
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Rob
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Reading testing is 50% looking at the times, 50% guess work, and 20% gut feeling.

We don't know exactly what testing programs the teams are running, but the guessing is always fun.
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The Saint
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If anything can be taken from the testing (which it cannot), then I think the real winner is the fans! With no team dominating, we can only wait in glorious anticipation for the exciting season ahead.
I have not looked forward to the start of a season for a long time as I have this winter.
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Rob
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The Saint,Feb 16 2007
09:50 AM
If anything can be taken from the testing (which it cannot), then I think the real winner is the fans! With no team dominating, we can only wait in glorious anticipation for the exciting season ahead.
I have not looked forward to the start of a season for a long time as I have this winter.

There really has not been so much change as from 06 to 07, really fans of almost every team has reasons to be optimistic.

Ferrari has Kimi

McLaren has Alonso and (maybe) future mega star Hamilton

Renault, even though they lost Alonso has Hekki (another possible future mega star)

BMW improved all of last year, and could continue, maybe a win this year

Honda came off their first win, and a strong finish last year

Williams is looking on the up

Red Bull has their first Newy designed car

The Toyota fan may not have as much to look forward to

Even the minnows look like they could cause some problems for the bigger boys. It will be a every interesting year.



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TheCompleteGuitarist
Driver
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I gotta agree with Rob and the Saints last comments.

Unfortunately I live in Uruguay and don't speak great Spanish but it would be good to have an off season show which featured what the teams are up to, more pre race info etc, then the testing might mean something. Maybe you're already getting in Europe but I got to rely on cable (foxsports) and it's in Espagnol.
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The Saint
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TheCompleteGuitarist,Feb 16 2007
04:54 PM
I gotta agree with Rob and the Saints last comments.

Unfortunately I live in Uruguay and don't speak great Spanish but it would be good to have an off season show which featured what the teams are up to, more pre race info etc, then the testing might mean something. Maybe you're already getting in Europe but I got to rely on cable (foxsports) and it's in Espagnol.

What on earth are you doing in Uruguay? I assume that because you don’t speakee da lingo that well that it is probably work related?
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