And a whole bunch of improvements later plus a whole week of testing, you would expect improvements.

Vettel's 1:19, wasn't that on launch day?

Quite a sophisticated new diffuser



just kidding ;)

Vettel's time was done on the first day - green track and conditions weren't as good as now.

http://galeria.sprintame.com/album0.html

front wheel covers look new, less veins in them, more smoother consistent surface is you ask me. Id say mclaren are bolting on the updates as we speak as they havent been on track for a good 20+ minutes and with that measuring device on the diffuser, im expecting the new one on after lunch. i just hope that 20 flat wasn't the 'as fast as we can withthis package' vs's the new one, cos that is slow.

They're keep on searching to find what's wrong with the car

Any idea on how many kilometers they tested using:
1) 2008 wing
2) 2009 wing

And how many time they changed they front wing? Not many i think.

Since they have tested most of the times with 2008 wing + a fairly standard front wing; they spent all their time on the diffuser+floor. Either its too experimental or they have produced a crappy one (diffuser + floor)

--------------------------------

So anybody have any ideas on how this testing device works?
Looks as if each one of those prongs are wired individually to give out airflow read-outs :\

It is similar to another device they used a month or so back.






At the time it was explained by those in the know as being a device with tiny pitot tubes attached which can precisely measure flow patterns.

Hopefully Scarbs or another with sound technical knowledge can explain what it might be doing here.

I'd presume it measures pressure out of the diffuser exit and how the readings compare to what they'd modelled on computer and in the wind tunnel.

Cheers Potmotr. Sounds about right

At least it shows they're doing something with it. Looks like Hamilton's gone to lunch now, so hopefully when he's back on track, we'll see some new parts.

hey i bet its a way of putting data, directly into the simulator without having to translate it over. Makes sense... if that is its purpose :\

Yup, that's pretty much it.

Looks really good in that picture, too bad its not turned out to be quick early on.

Back of the car now looks much smaller.

Looks the same to me, just a different exhaust?

Just look at lower wishbone lenght, you can see full lenght on the first pic.

It seems to me that the first picture just have a different angle of view... Of course I could be wrong...

good spot, i think you are right, definitly looks like it curves more inwards faster, than the old design,

so we havn't had any of the much rumoured new parts being put on yet

No, but there's no big rush. The Barcelona updates came on after lunch on the first day I think, so keep watching. Hamilton left for lunch at about 12 20 his time, and its now 1 45. Should be back soon.

Don't worry McLaren are just hiding them still.

I find it strange that F1 teams quit their entire test program for lunch. Track testing is expensive, especially McLaren are having lots to test still. Why not eat a bit during testing or eat in shifts, instead of interrupting the program completely.

How should Lewis eat in shifts?

Enjoying the Schadenfreude?

I thought teams could only test during set times on each day of testing - 3hrs in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Or is that just friday practice Enkei?

do people really think we are gonna see a new rearwing and floor, seriously, they dont present two new rearwings and floors in a week,

My god, the way McLaren are chucking out rearwings i wouldn't be surprised to see at least three more new ones this week , but the floor pretty much seems the finished thing for Melbourne.

Testing normally runs from 9-5 with an hours break for lunch, that's more for the track workers than the teams. They occasionally run later if there have been a lot of stoppages.

Cheers Clatter.

Ah, that makes more sense. Although they could just eat at their posts, it's not like they're busy all day ;)

Well, one of McLaren fans stated 3 months are needed to produce new wings.

Let's suppouse they figured out that their final package for Australia doesn't work on the first day of Barcelona test (that's 9 March), so exactly ONE WEEK passed today. If 3 months figure is true there's no way they will present completely new wings this week in Jerez. They will rather do it somewhere in May, which would correspond with Haug's words about 1/3 of the season needed to solve the problems.

Anyway they've already tested many new components and to be honest I don't expect them to show anything new in Jerez.

Maybe apart diffuser, because Williams & Toyota's are already known from relatively long time.

And who will be driving?

So Hamilton has been eating for the last 2 hours? Drivers have lots of time to eat, when the team prepares the car for another run for example.

No need to roll your eyes btw

3 months not true.

And they knew since earlier than they told the public there's lack of downforce at the rear. They were using oversized illegal 09 rear wing even on the former Jerez test. Why? Because they knew already the car lack enough downforce.

They might know since Portimao there's serious problem with the car.

Oops, you crashed. Be there in a minute just finishing my sandwich first.

Need to now because we all know McLaren with have a rocket next year. They always do this, peak, trough, peak trough.

Acording to Sportlifepress, Hamilton is currently on a 25 laps stint and is lapping in low 20's.

Doesn't look too bad... eventhough Rubens' been able to lap in high 18's, low 19's in a 12 laps stint this morning :\

Hamilton was over 20 laps into his stint, has a small off-track excursion and after that pits.

If Hamilton needs more time in the car to maximise its potential, then I doubt Kovalainen will get to test this week. There's no way McLaren management are going to ignore Lewis' demands if he needs more time to make the car better "for the guys back at the factory". Still, I have no sympathy for Kovalainen; he knows he is nothing more than a lapdog.

On a serious note, I acknowledge the improvement this car has made today. They were always going to improve, sure, but now it seems they are just about faster than Renault (which will annoy Alonso), and only 4 more teams to overhaul now (maybe only 3, if Brawn keeps breaking down).

Stop posting.

I think the Brawn is out of reach for now, I'm simply happy that he's doing stints over 10 laps and doing times that are significantly quicker than last time out. If were a second slower than the Brawn, then we must only be about 5-7 tenths of ferrari/bmw/toyota.

X2



yea Brawn looks out of reach. But i think if the car right behind them runs Kers, Brawn might be overtaken at the first corner and kept within arms length for most of Melbourne.

Who knows though, free practice will be when we start having a proper idea of the relative standing of all the teams

Why? Do you have no concept of irony or no concept of predicting? Enlighten us all, please. Actually, don't bother. The rest of us want this thread to stay OT.

I think Hamilton can be pleased with his day's work. There will be a few worried faces at the rate of progression from this car, but as I mentioned earlier, there is still work to be done. Plus, they seem to have been relatively reliable recently too, which is a good factor, especially in the heat and humidity of the first 4 races (Melbourne maybe excluded).

No way if Brawn is 1s/lap faster than McLaren. It would only work if the difference was 0.1-0.2s which doesn't seem to be the case.

x3 Great news for mclaren. it needed personally it

Regards

yea obviously if mclaren is still 1s or more slower they wont be right behind Brawn on the grid

X4.