Jerez Test 7th-10th Feb 2012 - news and pics

[Hermann]

Glued to the asphalt? Horner will be on the phone calling Whiting as we speak.

[Super M]

Glued to the asphalt? Horner will be on the phone calling Whiting as we speak.

[Schumyboy83]

[medeni73]

Patience is virtue so have virtue people all will be just fine :)

[Kyss4k]

One little tweet and suddenly this place is full of joy

[OSS EL BOSS]

I t seems like Ferrari is preparing a bad surprise for the red cows at melbourne.

[alex1s]

One little tweet and suddenly this place is full of joy

+1

[Omegablue]

One little tweet and suddenly this place is full of joy

Passion is like Bipolar.

[alex1s]

Mechanics quickly covering our exhausts. Looks like the secret is in there.

[Chicane]

How many laps for alonso today? anyone? tnxs

[OSS EL BOSS]

Alonso did 67 laps tody

[Chicane]

hmmm.. i saw at bbc only 67 laps for fernando..90+ for vettel..looks like a bad day at the office

[Chicane]

Yes tnxs..thats not a lot of mileage..i think

[OSS EL BOSS]

They were workingng on gathering data to understand cars behaviour.
And they were changing things on the car the regularly, and thats why Alonso spent long time in the pit.

[MarlboroFA]

They were workingng on gathering data to understand cars behaviour.
And they were changing things on the car the regularly, and thats why Alonso spent long time in the pit.

that and the Hydraulics problem in the morning...

[Butterfly]

I t seems like Ferrari is preparing a bad surprise for the red cows at melbourne.

That has got to be the funniest thing I've ever read!

[ferrari4life]

wow.. sounds like we already won the championship based on that one tweet..
this place is nuts

[Fiondella]

Go Kimi!

[medeni73]

joseluisf1:

"Ferrari has now tested a large amount of aerodynamic parts, some 'long' among which a new floor"
"The parts were tested one by one for individual assessment to avoid the 'interference' from other data in making"
"There were problems in the balance of the car going from understeer to oversteer, Alonso drove with his usual mastery"
"Finally got all the pieces together and the car regained his balance, unfortunately a red flag prevented to test some more"
"Reliability problems in the new module to hydraulic prevented expected returns, we could not do the 'stress' suspensions"
"The results seem encouraging, the new floor provided an immediate improvement in performance, despite the diffuser was unsuitable"
"The software modifications also were an improvement, but not enough. Tomorrow there will be further changes in this area"
"Responses to changes in car parts and setup have been immediate, as yesterday, which is a good indication"

Infos should be taken with pinch of salt although the man said yesterday that they are bringing new floor and he was right...small reminder what the guy said yesterday...

joseluisf1 reports:
"Massa has tested the system output in one of his turns, the results were not good, a new clutch is on its way to test"
"Hirohide Hamashima has enough data to analyze, but has requested further evidence, then report to Pat Fry"
"Heal and other engineers are awaiting the recommendations of Hirohide Hamashima to make modifications to the suspensions"
"The aim is that in Maranello modified suspensions are without fault in the following test, given its importance in performance"
"We need to improve traction. Tire warming is slower than it should, if he is forced, the tires are short"
"Alonso will continue tomorrow with tire testing requested by Hirohide Hamashima, then test some more aerodynamic parts"
"Handling also needs some minor adjustments. In principle, nothing more or less not wait, there is much work"
tweets from truzonef1:

"Fernando can give better orientation, anyway tomorrow there will be new parts: floor, diffuser and software among others."
"Aren't the final versions, but are in Jerez this afternoon. There will be more aerodynamic tests, no time."
"They have also brought new mechanical and electronic parts to improve balance and traction."

[Tony]

wow.. sounds like we already won the championship based on that one tweet..
this place is nuts

Thinking the same thing.... you really can't read anything into this test session.....

[Butterfly]

The thing is, people were expecting something good to happen, and it did - the car is working, which is what everybody was expecting based on the "leaked" info from Ferrari over the winter.

[Fiondella]

Kimi Kimi kimi the man after midnight drinking till all hours till the break of the day............

[Butterfly]

wow.. sounds like we already won the championship based on that one tweet..
this place is nuts

It is, but in a good way :)

[Fiondella]

Please forgive me as I was bored and thought I'd use this wonderful thread to hone my musical talents

[Butterfly]

joseluisf1:

"Ferrari has now tested a large amount of aerodynamic parts, some 'long' among which a new floor"
"The parts were tested one by one for individual assessment to avoid the 'interference' from other data in making"
"There were problems in the balance of the car going from understeer to oversteer, Alonso drove with his usual mastery"
"Finally got all the pieces together and the car regained his balance, unfortunately a red flag prevented to test some more"
"Reliability problems in the new module to hydraulic prevented expected returns, we could not do the 'stress' suspensions"
"The results seem encouraging, the new floor provided an immediate improvement in performance, despite the diffuser was unsuitable"
"The software modifications also were an improvement, but not enough. Tomorrow there will be further changes in this area"
"Responses to changes in car parts and setup have been immediate, as yesterday, which is a good indication"

Infos should be taken with pinch of salt although the man said yesterday that they are bringing new floor and he was right...small reminder what the guy said yesterday...

joseluisf1 reports:
"Massa has tested the system output in one of his turns, the results were not good, a new clutch is on its way to test"
"Hirohide Hamashima has enough data to analyze, but has requested further evidence, then report to Pat Fry"
"Heal and other engineers are awaiting the recommendations of Hirohide Hamashima to make modifications to the suspensions"
"The aim is that in Maranello modified suspensions are without fault in the following test, given its importance in performance"
"We need to improve traction. Tire warming is slower than it should, if he is forced, the tires are short"
"Alonso will continue tomorrow with tire testing requested by Hirohide Hamashima, then test some more aerodynamic parts"
"Handling also needs some minor adjustments. In principle, nothing more or less not wait, there is much work"
tweets from truzonef1:

"Fernando can give better orientation, anyway tomorrow there will be new parts: floor, diffuser and software among others."
"Aren't the final versions, but are in Jerez this afternoon. There will be more aerodynamic tests, no time."
"They have also brought new mechanical and electronic parts to improve balance and traction."

What I read from that is that in the hands of Felipe, the F2012 is crap, whereas Fernando makes it shine.
Apart from that, Ferrari seem to be producing new parts at warp-speed, which is very encouraging, makes them able to take on anybody development-wise.

I think it's going to be a great year for Fernando, not so much for Felipe - guess he can't get heat into those tires no matter the car.

[medeni73]

What I read from that is that in the hands of Felipe, the F2012 is crap, whereas Fernando makes it shine.
Apart from that, Ferrari seem to be producing new parts at warp-speed, which is very encouraging, makes them able to take on anybody development-wise.

I think it's going to be a great year for Fernando, not so much for Felipe - guess he can't get heat into those tires no matter the car.

Well its a spanisch guy of course he will favour Alonso :) Anyway todays car is a MUCH different car than yesterday. Maybe Massa would be better in it too...
As for new parts I think they had them all the time but couldnt test them all at once before they ger basic data and feeling about the car...Maybe they have A B and C variants of different parts and try them out which functions the best...

[medeni73]

From Autosport:


Ferrari has admitted its new car is not delivering what it had been hoped for so far - but it has faith that it can get on top of its issues before the first race of the season.

After three days of extensive evaluation of its new F2012 at Jerez in Spain this week, Ferrari has confessed it is not yet in a position to feel totally comfortable with the progress it is making.

While main title rivals McLaren and Red Bull Racing have both openly declared their satisfaction with the early indications from their car, Ferrari is more circumspect about where it is at with its new challenger.

When asked by AUTOSPORT about whether Ferrari was where it wanted to be at this stage of testing, technical director Pat Fry said: "I am not happy with where we are at the moment.

"I think there is a lot of room for us to improve from where we are. Reliability wise it is good. Performance wise I think we are okay, but we can play around with the performance and improve [the car in] some corners and some particular parts of the corner, but I would not say I am happy yet until we get the whole thing working."

Fry suggested that the biggest issue Ferrari was facing was in trying to understand how to get its car into the perfect set-up, having opted for a radical design this season.

And, with just two more tests after this week's running in Jerez, Fry admitted that there was pressure to get on top of matters quickly.

"Certainly the three tests rather than four does compress things a little bit," he said. "I think we have got a lot of work to do.

"The basic platform is okay. We are looking at the various characteristics – and all the bits we have to test. We can play around with the through corner characteristics, so we can do different things at corner entry, mid corner to exit, and it is really trying to find the right balance of those things.

"We are working through a reasonably large matrix here, so on each run we are trying almost a different configuration. There is a lot of analysis here and then back at the factory. We are using the simulation and the simulator to make sure everything ties in, so we can put the right package together."

He added: "I think everything is a lot more compressed, so there is a lot of pressure on everyone. You have to try and make decisions quickly.

"We have a one-week break coming up, but then it is two solid weeks and then you are packing the freight for Melbourne. So there is a lot of work for everyone to do. It is the same for every team up the pit lane."

Fry said that there was no interest from his team in chasing headline-grabbing quick laptimes because, having lost a shakedown test to snow last week, it needed to maximise its running over the next few weeks.

"We are not concentrating on taking the fuel out and trying to set a laptime. With only 12 days of testing before the next race, we have to make the most of all the time we have got.

"We were set back a little bit by the foot of snow in Fiorano, certainly the first morning of Felipe [Massa] was spent doing what we would have done there, so we are now trying to play catch up. Right now, it is about trying to get the right package together."

Fry made it clear, however, that the difficulties the team was having with the car were not related to its decision to run a pull-rod front suspension.

"The front suspension is not that a big a deal to be honest," he said. "It is a small aero benefit, a small centre of gravity benefit, and I know it is different from what people have done in the past - but it is not that big a risk to be honest.

"With a sensible structure to come you sort it out. We have gone for every last little bit of performance. That was a small benefit and it cost us a small amount of weight, but the weight is low down and in the end it was the right thing to do."

Fry said that Ferrari was flying out new hydraulic parts overnight to ensure there was no repeat of the problem that prevented Alonso running for a part of Thursday.

"The first two days we did not really have any reliability issues as such. Today there was a small hydraulic issue. We will get some new bits this evening which hopefully will see that one put to bed.

"That side of it, I think – the car, reliability wise, seems quite good as normal. Performance wise, it is literally trying to get the right bits together so a lot of analysis is needed."

Asked for what his message would be to Ferrari fans, Fry said: "We are all working very hard..."

[Hornet]

Thinking the same thing.... you really can't read anything into this test session.....

While the lap times don't tell the true stories, IMO the behavior of the car is a different thing. If its bad, then its going to show, there's no hiding the physics of the car.

Last season, Red Bull showed many hints that they had a superior aero package, they were very well balance through the high speed corners, the car was going where the driver wanted it to go, and they could deploy the DRS earlier at the exit of a corner. By the end of the test session, many people were already saying the Red Bull is a strong car, and it was true. All of this did not came from the lap times, it came from how the car behaved on track.

So to me, at the very least, there's some reason to be confident if we can observe our car behaving like it should on track during this winter testing. If our car is still twitchy by the end of the test session, that would be something to worry about. No team is going to intentionally make their car bad and go into the season blindly without any idea how they will perform. Every team will want to know the true performance of their car, albeit not through the lap times.

[Butterfly]

Well, Fry wants the perfect car. He'll get it eventually...

[Kingdom Hearts]

Good day and I like Pat's words, honest and direct.