Mugello F1 testing,1-3 May 2012

[Quasar]

Another comparison, both zoomed to a similar level.

I think they are the same. It seems different because of poor picture quality caused by too much light

[Naeem]

Dare I say it, the back end looks MUCH better! and we appear to have some balance, perhaps even some understeer but i'm just a backseat driver.

[anupa2k]

Felipe Massa :: " I think that in the next few weeks we will find two or three tenths.”
This is not we want we want atleast half second or more than that...

[Chicane]

Felipe Massa :: " I think that in the next few weeks we will find two or three tenths.”
This is not we want we want atleast half second or more than that...

im sure alonso can find that half a second or more i dont know about massa

[Tifoso]

im sure alonso can find that half a second or more i dont know about massa

How can you know? Support both drivers, if for no other reason than the WCC.

[Quasar]

Felipe Massa :: " I think that in the next few weeks we will find two or three tenths.”
This is not we want we want atleast half second or more than that...

I think Massa is talking about finding 3 tenths from now until BCN. In BCN we will find a few more tenths. I hope.

[Chicane]

How can you know? Support both drivers, if for no other reason than the WCC.

i like massa i hope he stays at ferrari..but alonso definitely much better his skill and talent can surely bring out more tenths than massa..

just check the drivers classification: alonso 43 massa 02

so far..

[theforce]

Please don't turn this thread into Alonso Vs Massa Vs Massa to leave Ferrari

TESTING!!!

[Chicane]

I think Massa is talking about finding 3 tenths from now until BCN. In BCN we will find a few more tenths. I hope.

yah..i think so too..

[Fer12]

They have also updated the vanes behind the rear wing..There were two earlier now its been increased..
http://photos.gpupdate.net/large/198072.jpg

[scuderiafan]

Felipe Massa :: " I think that in the next few weeks we will find two or three tenths.”
This is not we want we want atleast half second or more than that...

Now, if that was said now, that is encouraging.

[Hornet]

I think Massa is talking about finding 3 tenths from now until BCN. In BCN we will find a few more tenths. I hope.

Problem is Barcelona is just next week.

So my guess would be to include Barcelona's update, and perhaps even after that. I certainly hope we can find more than 0.3 though.

[vcs316]

The curtain comes down on the Mugello test

Circuit: Mugello Circuit – 5.245 km
Driver: Fernando Alonso
Car: Ferrari F2012
Weather: air temperature 13/22 °C, track temperature 14/28 °C. Cloudy with occasional sunny spells.

Maranello, 3rd May - Third and final day of testing for eleven teams today at the Mugello Circuit: Fernando Alonso was back on track for Scuderia Ferrari.

Today’s programme centred on experimenting with some new aerodynamic components introduced on the F2012, as well as a study of the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres. An off-track excursion in mid-morning caused damage to the front wing and the left front corner, which took two and a half hours to repair. By the end of the day, a total of 98 laps had been completed, the quickest in a time of 1.21.363.

The next appearance on track will be on Friday 11 May at the Catalunya Circuit, near Barcelona, for the first two free practice sessions for the Spanish Grand Prix. Before that, on Tuesday 8 May, Fernando will be at the Fiorano track to take part in the event which marks the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Gilles Villeneuve. On the day, his son Jacques will drive the 312 T4 with which his father contested part of the 1979 season.

[Nova]

How can you know? Support both drivers, if for no other reason than the WCC.

[vcs316]

Teams brand Mugello test a waste of time and money, as Alonso crashes

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/0...lonso-crashes/

“It’s very beautiful and the food is very good, but we are spending a lot of money and honestly we didn’t feel the need to come here,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner when asked about the usefulness of testing at Mugello in Tuscany.

Lotus boss Eric Boullier described the test as “money spent needlessly” while one of Mercedes’ senior engineers told Gazzetta dello Sport, “I wonder about the sense of having just one test session during the season. Either we do more tests or we forget it.”

Mark Webber meanwhile said, “It would be amazing to hold a Grand Prix here, but it’s too fast for a test; in the calendar there isn’t another track like it.”

The drivers on the whole have been having a ball on the 5.25km Mugello track, which is in one of the most beautiful parts of Italy, near Florence. The circuit has many high speed corners and is a thrill to drive in a modern F1 car, according to most of them. “Spectacular”, “Incredibly fast” and “Stunning” are just some of the reactions from the F1 drivers at the test. Mugello has an average lap speed of 138mph.

But they will also admit that there has been a limit to the value that the engineers have been able to derive from testing new parts on their cars on this atypical circuit.

The logical thing to do would have been to test at Barcelona this week and then leave the trucks and equipment down there for next week’s Grand Prix, which is what the teams used to do in the early 2000s. This made for rather dull Spanish Grands Prix as everyone had such a good set up for the race and the order was entirely predictable. But at least Barcelona is representative of what the teams will face for most of the season in terms of the variety of corners. Mugello only prepares them for Spa and to half of Silverstone.

Also with the young drivers’ test set for Silverstone in July this test isn’t the only opportunity the teams have to test updates on their cars during the season. So it’s importance and relevance is diminished compared to what they expected.

Today Fernando Alonso got his hands on an updated Ferrari with a new rear wing, rear bodywork and new exhausts, but then crashed it. He went off, damaging the nose section of the car, which came to rest with its left side in the barriers.

“At least two hours to repair the damages. It is a shame but that’s testing!”, said the official Ferrari twitter.

Vitaly Petrov had said on Wednesday that he felt the track wasn’t suited to F1 cars, “I don’t think we should have come here,” he said. “It is not safe and wide enough. If you lose it, the walls are so close and you will smash into the tyres. It is not for Formula 1 and, if you lost the steering or the tyre pressure dropped or whatever, then it will be a big crash.”

Ferrari’s full update kit, featuring a new front wing and new diffuser, has not been seen in Mugello this week. It will only break cover next week in Spain, the team saying that it wanted more time in the wind tunnel.

Felipe Massa appeared to criticise this decision in the Italian media yesterday, saying “It would have been better to test everything here. but we are not ready. To close the gap to the top we need to grow faster than them. But I think that in the next few weeks we will find two or three tenths.”

Meanwhile Sauber’s chief designer Matt Morris has spoken out about the feasibility of copying the Mercedes Double DRS system, which was definitively passed as legal by the FIA last month. It seems that only the richest teams are likely to consider copying it, as the cost to benefit ratio doesn’t stack up for most,

“We have done some evaluation on it in the factory, but at the moment it’s not really working for us in terms of cost versus performance,” Morris told Autosport.com. “It doesn’t really stack up for us at the moment. And beyond the cost versus performance issue, it’s difficult to know exactly the potential benefits and then it’s only really useful in qualifying as well.

“It’s definitely a few tenths of a second in qualifying, but to get that [benefit] so many parts in the car would have to be changed. That’s the problem.”

[Jose Lorca]

• Gary Anderson said: “Potentially you could be looking at two or three tenths from that one change alone." - referring to our removal of the "letterbox radiator exit system. On the BBC article he said "It looks like a reasonable step forward - you could be looking at 0.2 seconds a lap, possibly more".
• Jose Luis says that the update in Mugello has made the car four tenths faster, and the update for Spain should improve the car by a further 4-6 tenths.

Red Bull, Lotus and McLaren haven't brought any major updates to Mugello, but they might have big updates for Spain. Overall though, we shouldn't be too far behind in Spain.

[Greig]

Jose Luis LOL, we have probably lost 4tenths if he says we gained it.....

[Ferrari Man]

• Gary Anderson said: “Potentially you could be looking at two or three tenths from that one change alone." - referring to our removal of the "letterbox radiator exit system. On the BBC article he said "It looks like a reasonable step forward - you could be looking at 0.2 seconds a lap, possibly more".
• Jose Luis says that the update in Mugello has made the car four tenths faster, and the update for Spain should improve the car by a further 4-6 tenths.

Red Bull, Lotus and McLaren haven't brought any major updates to Mugello, but they might have big updates for Spain. Overall though, we shouldn't be too far behind in Spain.

[scuderiafan]

Problem is Barcelona is just next week.

So my guess would be to include Barcelona's update, and perhaps even after that. I certainly hope we can find more than 0.3 though.

It was said today, it seems. So 3 tenths added on is good. .
P.s., don't see any Ferrauber??????
Lol

[Tifoso]

[rossopervincere]

Fernando Alonso says Ferrari 'must' build on a solid week of testing with a step forward in performance at the Spanish Grand Prix if it is to keep its title hopes alive.

With the team delivering the first parts of a major update package on the final day of Mugello testing, Alonso says he is under no illusions about the importance of Ferrari's development plans - even though it is too early to judge how much of a step forward it will bring.

"We will try to reduce the gap with the leaders at the moment because we were on average eight or nine tenths off the top guys in the first four races between Q1 and Q3," he said. "We need to reduce this immediately if we want to be in the fight for points and the championship.

"In Barcelona, we need to do the first step. We know there is no magic button that in Barcelona we will be on pole position, because everyone will improve their cars as well. But we need to reduce this gap.

"Barcelona has to be the first step, in Canada the second step, and Valencia the third – to be close to them. But the Barcelona one for sure is one of the most important steps that we have to do. We must do it. We cannot be fighting for Q3 if we want to be fighting for the championship."

Alonso ran a new exhaust concept and rear bodywork on the final day at Mugello, but has played down the significance of what he tried out - and thinks too much is now being made about exhaust designs.

When asked for his feeling on the new exhaust configuration, he said: "Nothing surprising in terms of performance. I think we tried different configurations of exhaust layout and each day we had a different one and different parts on the car. I think it was just to confirm what our thoughts were and what to bring for the next races and for development.

"This year it is not any more important what position you choose [for the exhausts], or how you manage the position. We saw in Australia one of the quickest cars had the lateral exhausts like McLaren, we saw in China two Red Bulls with different [exhaust] positions and we saw in Bahrain, Red Bull with the lateral ones, but the quickest car was Lotus with the straight ones.

"So we cannot lose even five minutes on this. There are bigger areas of the car where we need to improve and we try to do it."

What was encouraging for Alonso was the fact that there now appears to be a good correlation between windtunnel figures and Ferrari's track data.

"In a way it was a positive week and a positive test, because all the parts we put on, even if they were small in terms of performance, they worked as expected," he said.

"After some problems in the winter and last year, where we brought new parts for testing, six were working and four of them not working, here even if we only brought three or four, all were working as expected.

"So this gives us confidence for Barcelona, of bigger updates and future development. And now it seems we can trust the factory a little bit more."

[Grillo]

Jose Luis LOL, we have probably lost 4tenths if he says we gained it.....

I hope he's right for a change.

[rossopervincere]

Obwohl Fernando Alonso den Mugello-Test nicht nur positiv bewertet, schöpft er Hoffnung und schmiedet einen Dreistufen-Plan zur Siegfähigkeit
Ferrari scheint endlich verlässliche Daten aus dem Windkanal zu erhalten
Zum Abschluss der Testwoche in Mugello fuhr Fernando Alonso heute die drittbeste Zeit, 0,328 Sekunden hinter Spitzenreiter Romain Grosjean und weniger als eine Zehntelsekunde hinter WM-Leader Sebastian Vettel, obwohl der Red-Bull-Pilot mit weicheren Reifen unterwegs war. Ferrari scheint also mit den jüngsten Updates einen Schritt nach vorne gemacht zu haben, auch wenn Alonso diesen nicht überbewertet wissen will.

Man habe jetzt zwar "auf jeden Fall" den richtigen Weg eingeschlagen, aber was sein bevorstehendes Heimspiel in Barcelona angeht, ist er auch nach 98 Runden am Schlusstag "nicht wirklich" selbstbewusst, den erhofften Schritt zu machen: "Heute hatten wir nur kleine Änderungen am Auto, die wir testen mussten, damit sie für Barcelona fertig sind. Es war schön, damit zu fahren und sie auf etwaige Probleme hin zu untersuchen, aber die größten Schritte für Barcelona werden bis Freitag in Barcelona nicht fertig sein. Die bringen wir dort, das ist wichtiger."

Keine Überraschungen im Vergleich zum Windkanal

"Heute war die Performance nicht groß anders, aber irgendwie war es eine positive Woche", so Alonso. "Alle getesteten Teile haben wie erwartet funktioniert, auch wenn sie für die Performance keine großen Schritte sind. Das ist eine fantastische Neuigkeit für uns, denn im Vorjahr und im Winter hatten wir das Problem, dass nur sechs von zehn neuen Teilen funktioniert haben, vier aber nicht. Hier hatten wir drei oder vier neue Teile, die allesamt wie erwartet funktionieren. Das stimmt uns für das größere Barcelona-Update optimistisch, aber auch für die zukünftige Weiterentwicklung."

Die Quintessenz, die Alonso aus dieser Testwoche mitnimmt: "Es scheint, dass wir der Fabrik jetzt ein bisschen mehr vertrauen können." Heute sei aber "nichts Überraschendes" herausgekommen, "was die Performance angeht. Wir haben verschiedene Konfigurationen ausprobiert, jeden Tag ein anderes Auspuff-Layout und auch andere neue Teile. Aber der Test diente in erster Linie dazu, unsere Ansätze zu bestätigen, um zu wissen, was wir für die nächsten Rennen tun müssen.

"Viel hat sich nicht geändert", fährt der Spanier fort. "Dieses Jahr kommt es nicht mehr auf die Auspuffposition an. In Australien hatte das Siegerauto einen neuen Auspuff, nämlich McLaren, aber in China sind die zwei Red Bulls mit zwei verschiedenen Varianten gefahren. In Bahrain hat Red Bull mit einem seitlichen Auspuff gewonnen, aber das schnellste Auto war der Lotus mit einer geraden Version. Dieses Jahr gibt es andere Bereiche, die wichtiger sind."

Neue Auspuffkonfiguration überschätzt?

Dabei war die veränderte Auspuffkonfiguration, die Felipe Massa gestern noch vorenthalten wurde, heute die augenscheinlichste Veränderung am F2012. Wurde bisher auf unkonventionelle Weise versucht, die Auspuffgase aerodynamisch zu nutzen, um mehr Anpressdruck zu generieren, so ist man davon zwar nicht komplett abgegangen, aber Ferrari setzt nun auf eine konservativere Lösung, bei der die Endrohre in den hinteren Bereich der Seitenkästen eingelassen sind und nicht mehr nach außen ragen.

Fernando Alonso fuhr heute mit einer neuen Auspuffkonfiguration
Wie viel das bringen kann? "Es ist schwierig, das in Rundenzeit zu quantifizieren", wird der frühere Technische Direktor verschiedener Formel-1-Teams, Gary Anderson, von 'Autosport' zitiert. "Aber ich glaube, dass sie mit dem Briefkasten-Auspuffendrohr-System, das sie hatten, viel Anpressdruck verloren haben. Es ist einfach nicht richtig, langsam strömende Luft aus dem Kühler in einen Bereich zu leiten, in dem man einen schnellen Luftstrom benötigt. Diese Änderung alleine könnte zwei bis drei Zehntel bringen."

Alonso will in Barcelona versuchen, "den Rückstand zu reduzieren, den ich im Moment auf die Führenden habe, was die Performance angeht. Durchschnittlich hatten wir in den ersten vier Rennen in Q2 und Q3 acht oder neun Zehntelsekunden Rückstand. Das müssen wir sofort reduzieren, wenn wir in den WM-Kampf eingreifen wollen. In Barcelona müssen wir den ersten Schritt machen. Wir wissen, dass es keinen magischen Knopf gibt, der uns auf die Pole-Position bringt, denn alle anderen verbessern ihre Autos auch, aber wir müssen den Rückstand reduzieren."

Klarer Fahrplan zur Siegfähigkeit

Die Marschroute, die ihn in den Kampf um die Fahrerkrone zurückbringen soll, hat der Ferrari-Pilot schon genau im Kopf: "Barcelona muss der erste Schritt sein, Kanada der zweite, Valencia der dritte. Dann müssen wir dran sein", setzt Alonso die Ingenieure in Maranello unter Druck. "Barcelona ist sicher einer der wichtigsten Schritte, denn der muss kommen. Wenn wir um den Q3-Einzug kämpfen müssen, können wir nicht Weltmeister werden. Hoffentlich ist unser Schritt also größer als der der anderen."

Der Crash am frühen Morgen kostete Ferrari zweieinhalb Stunden des Tests
Der Unfall am frühen Morgen, als er schon nach einer Stunde in der Correntaio-Kurve abflog und mit der Nase voran die Reifenstapel küsste, blieb ohne signifikante Folgen. Zwar dauerte die Reparatur zweieinhalb Stunden, aber Alonso konnte das Testprogramm noch vor der Mittagspause wieder aufnehmen und am Nachmittag fast alle Daten sammeln, die sich Ferrari für heute vorgenommen hatte. Denn das Testprogramm war straff, obwohl die überarbeitete Aerodynamik erst am Barcelona-Freitag kommen soll.
"Wir hatten diese Woche viele Tests zu erledigen, hinsichtlich der Reifen, Konstanz, Einzelrunden-Performance. Wir hatten neue Bremsbelüftungen, eine neue Kupplung. Wir haben immer so viel wie möglich getestet", berichtet Alonso. "Wir hatten keine Aero-Teile, die uns die Performance bringen können, die wir brauchen, aber unsere Entscheidung ist eben, so viele wie möglich nach Barcelona zu bringen. Aber Tests sind Tests. Wir testen 200 Stunden im Simulator, aber eine Runde hier war viel mehr wert als alle Simulator-Runden des ganzen Jahres."

[Kiwi Nick]

Danke!

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Mugello Update Comparison

[Ste]

Great pic Jason, thanks!

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Great pic Jason, thanks!

Thanks mate. Didn't include the new turning vanes or gearbox cooling slot, ran out of room. And forgot to highlight the new beam wing difference. :((

[c-man]

THANKS @Crucial_Xtreme.

any chance of getting a larger comparison of the diffuser?

[Ste]

[anialonso]

What was encouraging for Alonso was the fact that there now appears to be a good correlation between windtunnel figures and Ferrari's track data.

"In a way it was a positive week and a positive test, because all the parts we put on, even if they were small in terms of performance, they worked as expected," he said.

"After some problems in the winter and last year, where we brought new parts for testing, six were working and four of them not working, here even if we only brought three or four, all were working as expected.

"So this gives us confidence for Barcelona, of bigger updates and future development. And now it seems we can trust the factory a little bit more."

THis just confirms that ferrari are not having any windtunnel issue!!!!!!!!
Forza Ferari..!!!!!!!!
WDC and WCC