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F1Lite Offline
#1 Posted : 24 December 2011 18:28:51(UTC)
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Here are the dates for the three winter tests. Most teams will be launching their cars for the first test in Jerez, most notably McLaren, Ferrari and possibly Red Bull. Mercedes have confirmed that their 2012 challenger will not be ready until the second test.

Jerez 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th February

Barcelona 21st, 22nd, 23rd & 24th February

Barcelona 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th March
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Flying Finn Offline
#2 Posted : 05 February 2012 11:05:53(UTC)
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Cars launched so far:

Force India VJM05:


Ferrari F2012:


McLaren MP4-27:


Caterham CT01:


It is interesting to notice that McLaren is so far the only car without the lowered nose. Also interesting is that once again Caterham is the first one of the new teams that joined in 2010 to release their new challenger.

Today LRGP will launch their new challenger and tomorrow Sauber, STR and RBR will do the same. I suppose I'm not the only one eagerly awaiting to see what the new Red Bull looks like.
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bobbydazzler Offline
#3 Posted : 05 February 2012 13:57:58(UTC)
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So the Ferrari's dipped nose appears to be the only one of the 3 (excluding the McLaren) that doesnt have a bowl in the dip.

I would have thought, from an aerodynamic point of view that this would be advantageous to have as it would "pool the air" into that centre point, therefore creating greater down force.

The Ferrari's nose would mean that the car will probably cut through the air easier, but lose downforce as the air glides over and around the sides of the nose. I guess they could compensate this via their front wing setup...but it's interesting to see the difference.

Does anyone have any strong technical opinions on this, as I am merely speculating?
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felix-portalf1 Offline
#4 Posted : 05 February 2012 19:00:01(UTC)
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I read earlier today (but can't remember where!) that the step hardly affects the aero at all. Think Ferrari might have said it.
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Flying Finn Offline
#5 Posted : 05 February 2012 19:21:03(UTC)
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LRGP:

Potentially the best looking car with a nosestep, now let's just hope it also runs fast.
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Flying Finn Offline
#6 Posted : 07 February 2012 17:51:24(UTC)
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Red Bull RB8:


Sauber C31:


Toro Rosso STR7:


Williams FW34:


Winter testing commenced today at Jerez and the fastest man on track was Kimi Räikkönen with the new Lotus car, one tenth of a second faster than Paul di Resta on second place. It's a promising start for LRGP and Force India but it's still early days so let's see how it goes from here.

Lap times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m19.670s 73
2. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m19.772s + 0.102 101
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.219s + 0.549 56
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m20.496s + 0.826 53
5. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m20.694s + 1.024 57
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m20.794s + 1.124 41
7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.353s + 1.683 106
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.530s + 1.860 60
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m22.815s + 3.145 69
10. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m23.178s + 3.508 28
11. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m23.371s + 3.701 25
11. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m23.676s + 4.006 44
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Spaceframe Offline
#7 Posted : 08 February 2012 10:48:27(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Flying Finn Go to Quoted Post
Winter testing commenced today at Jerez and the fastest man on track was Kimi Räikkönen with the new Lotus car, one tenth of a second faster than Paul di Resta on second place. It's a promising start for LRGP and Force India but it's still early days so let's see how it goes from here.

Lap times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m19.670s 73
2. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m19.772s + 0.102 101
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.219s + 0.549 56
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m20.496s + 0.826 53
5. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m20.694s + 1.024 57
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m20.794s + 1.124 41
7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.353s + 1.683 106
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.530s + 1.860 60
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m22.815s + 3.145 69
10. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m23.178s + 3.508 28
11. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m23.371s + 3.701 25
11. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m23.676s + 4.006 44

Quite remarkable that Mercedes has both drivers active. Mickey the Shoe is well known for requiring a set-up very different from anybody else. He wants a front that grips and can live with a loose rear end. Perhaps Rosberg and Schumacher are pursuing different paths of developing the car?

Other than that, the poor performance of Williams deserves notice. If they don't move ahead of at least the Caterham Lotus, they will have gone from being the lead Cosworth-powered team to the back the Renault hierachy. And while Caterham have stuck with proven winners to drive their cars, Williams appear to have slipped back to the pre-Patrick Head era of paying drivers.

The three expected front-runners most likely are sandbagging to some degree. Nothing unusual in that!
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Flying Finn Offline
#8 Posted : 27 February 2012 11:36:46(UTC)
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Swiss magazine Blick compiled a team ranking based on the opinions of experts from five different medias after two tests:

If their prediction is true, then Force India will be the dark horse of the season. I wouldn't actually be all that surprised; they're still a relatively new team and each season so far has been their best. In 2008 they scored no points but in 2009 they showed a glimpse of their potential, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking a surprise pole in Spa and a second place in the race. In 2010 they were already a regular points-scoring team which they continued in 2011, placing 6th in the championship. 4th in 2012 sounds like hopeful thinking but, in my opinion, they have all the ingredients required to achieve it.

Nevertheless, this is all just speculation for now; let's see what happens when the season actually begins.
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