So let’s get back to talking about F1, shall we?
Years ago, testing of F1 cars was able to be conducted at
will and throughout the season at locations of the team’s choosing. In 2008, in an effort to control the
ever-apparent issue of costs, the Formula One governing body set regulations
that limited constructors to 30,000km of testing per season (the equivalent of
nearly 6,500 laps of Circuit de Catalunya, or 150 hours of constant testing at
an average race pace). Then in 2009,
this was cut in half to 15,000km, with in-season testing banned. Long gone are the days of
pick-your-own-circuit shake downs and test running.
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Circuito de Jerez in Spain, site of the first preseason F1 test in 2015 |
Nowadays, in preparation for the season, there are three
test sessions with two more later in the season following the Spanish and
Austrian Grands Prix. All are controlled
by the FIA. The first of the three
pre-season tests was held at Jerez in Spain this year, and the following two
tests are held in Barcelona at Circuit de Catalunya. Each team’s drivers are
generally allowed to test drive for two days of the four days for each of the
preseason tests.
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Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain, site of the second and third preseason F1 tests of 2015 |
Last year in testing, the RB10 didn’t fare very well, along
with cars from other teams as they struggled to get the new V6 turbo engines to
be both powerful and reliable. The RB10
would pretty much set itself ablaze at will, and we completed only roughly 1060
miles, compared to Mercedes’ 3090 or Williams’ 3040. Given that start to RB10, the car ended up
rather successful, being the only team to beat Mercedes in 2014.
So, you can take certain things away from testing as clear indicators,
and there’s other things to take with a grain of salt. Lap times are one of those things to take as
the latter, especially in the earlier tests.
Remember, it’s a shake down and validation for all teams. Thus, a majority of the testing is not run at
full race pace. Nor are they all running
on the same tires! Reliability, aero
mapping, tire testing, pit practice, driver ergonomics, and various simulation
validation runs are a few of the myriad of bullet items for testing. Race simulations, which come later in the
preseason testing, along with some of the faster times, are certainly important
factors to consider.
This year, I’m on the inside. Seeing what it takes to produce a car and
push design to the absolute limit is nothing short of incredible.
Preseason testing is like an awakening. Rumors for who will drive for which team have
long died out, and teams have been working tirelessly to get their cars to the
track. It is a show, an emergence of the
latest and greatest from each team. The
reveals for the vehicles draw as much attention as anything during the season,
and the liveries are unveiled. And boy,
did we have an amazing one in store for testing.
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Camo Bull! |
This dazzle livery, dubbed Camo Bull, was an amazing take on what has become
popular for road car