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By vaptin
#186513
Alonso also said Ferrari are hiding some of their cards, Massa went out with a bin-bag one test to hide their new DDD and I've yet to see any shots of it. . .
I'm glad he is sounding happy though, but still suprised at the comments since it seemed to me Ferrari wanted to play down the hype and expectation.
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By 7UpJordan
#186519
Alonso also said Ferrari are hiding some of their cards, Massa went out with a bin-bag one test to hide their new DDD and I've yet to see any shots of it. . .
I'm glad he is sounding happy though, but still suprised at the comments since it seemed to me Ferrari wanted to play down the hype and expectation.

Ahhh nothing like taking a leaf out of Gordon Murray's book by covering it with something you'd associate with bins. :P
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By cap-dude
#186525
Alonso also said Ferrari are hiding some of their cards, Massa went out with a bin-bag one test to hide their new DDD and I've yet to see any shots of it. . .
I'm glad he is sounding happy though, but still suprised at the comments since it seemed to me Ferrari wanted to play down the hype and expectation.

Image
That was taken on the last day at Jerez.
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By scotty
#186576
Virgin's car sure seems unreliable... not good. I dare say it's a touch quicker than the Lotus - but at least they appear to be getting more runs in, and the pace will obviously build from there... :scratchchin:


Nick Wirth confirms my previous thoughs here:

Wirth admits Virgin behind schedule

By Matt Beer Sunday, February 21st 2010, 12:30 GMT

Virgin Racing technical director Nick Wirth has admitted that the persistent hydraulic problems his team suffered at Jerez this week have delayed its test programme.

Wirth said the intention had been to bring aerodynamic developments to Barcelona next week, but with Lucas di Grassi and Timo Glock only able to complete 144 laps between them over the past four days at Jerez, Virgin will now have to keep focusing on reliability work in the final test.

"It has been a character-building week, that's for sure," said Wirth. "Despite our best efforts to cure the hydraulic problem which has beset our entire test, this was simply not achievable with the components that we had available in the field.

"The specific problem is that we have been losing hydraulic oil at a rate which has limited the number of laps we can achieve on each run and so we look forward to receiving updated parts for the Barcelona test, which we expect to fully resolve the problem.

"Having said that, we will now need to continue focusing on reliability work when we would have liked to introduce our Bahrain-specification aerodynamic updates. The revised programme means we will be reserving our full set of aero warpaint for the first race."

But Wirth added that while the test delays were a blow, he was very optimistic about the VR-01's pace.

"On a positive note, despite these issues, we have actually completed a lot of good race preparation work and it is satisfying to see the car's potential with minimum set-up changes or development, bearing in mind that we have consistently run with a healthy amount of fuel," he said.

"Indeed, none of our lap times have been achieved with anything close to qualifying fuel and therefore we are not letting the frustrations in one specific area overshadow what has generally been an encouraging start to our development programme."


Alonso also said Ferrari are hiding some of their cards, Massa went out with a bin-bag one test to hide their new DDD and I've yet to see any shots of it. . .
I'm glad he is sounding happy though, but still suprised at the comments since it seemed to me Ferrari wanted to play down the hype and expectation.

Image
That was taken on the last day at Jerez.


Looks the same as in the other Jerez pictures. If they are actually running the new one, either they only ran it with the bin bags over the top and are waiting til Barcelona, or all the changes are on the undertray of the car...
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By ivey
#186579
At the same time Button said he has some improvemets to make on McLaren which he needs ;D
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By f1ea
#186606
At the same time Button said he has some improvemets to make on McLaren which he needs ;D


If he says he has some improvements, its probably set up ideas. If he had said "we have", or "the team is working..." then its probably updates/new parts.
Doesn't matter much either way, because I'm sure they are ALL working on updates and new parts for either Barcelona or the 1st race.

From their hints though, seems like Mercedes is the one with the most stuff "under their sleeves" or at least the ones with the most development work to do... Red bull seems quite up there in the pace race, but they are probably working on reliability; which cost them last yr's...

Right now, i think Ferrari has the best car (so far) to start as a basis. It has been very reliable and consistent over long runs, and not bad on shorter runs and raw pace. Both the drivers are quite comfortable, which will make it easier to start/continue building from where they are now.
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By cap-dude
#186609
I know, the Ferrari seems pretty bullet proof during testing. It's a change given their reliability hasn't been that great the last few years. It was abismal at the start of last year. They had an issue every weekend.
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By f1ea
#186610
Ok, so who have the best cars?

1.) Ferrari. Maybe not by much, but seems like they have a solid car to develop into the season.
2.) Mclaren. Its not bad like last yr's. Maybe needs some more 'headquarters' work than the F10, but it is reliable and the drivers like it. Mclaren always do a good job during the season...
3.) Red Bull. But they have to improve reliability.
4.) Mercedes. They have quite some work to do, maybe all their "bussiness" in the off season took some time from developing the car and it still needs some basic stuff sorted... however, they know what they need to do and have the team to do it with.
5.) Renault. Are they the best of the rest? i dont know... the short wheel base maybe helps them get some blistering laps in, but will it be able to compete over a race?
6.) Sauber. Or are they going very fast to get sponsors? well... even if they were, they are going fast.
7.) Williams. Maybe they are faster, and actually ahead of Renault and Sauber... problem is reliability as well. I guess we'll see in Barcelona.

From then on... it could be whoever finishes the races without crashing or seizing out.....
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By f1ea
#186611
I know, the Ferrari seems pretty bullet proof during testing. It's a change given their reliability hasn't been that great the last few years. It was abismal at the start of last year. They had an issue every weekend.


The last couple of yrs there have been either reliability issues or team mistakes; reliability looks better, and there will be now a bit less work during the pits, so there's a 'probability' improvement just from the "things that could go wrong" right there :)
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