2022 Car Launches and Pre-season Testing (March 10-12, Bahrain)

Red flag. It looks like Perez's Red Bull has hit a snag.

what kind of "wire mesh with nails" is he talking about regarding the Ferrari rear end

Anthony Baker84 said:What on earth is this "wire mesh with nails" nonsense he's talking about regarding those weirdly shaped aero parts?

It's an aero rake. They use them all the time during testing, pretty much just like they use that specific paint job.

Anthony Baker84 said:What kind of "wire mesh" is he talking about on those weirdly shaped parts?

Here are a few variations of this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitot_tube

Most commonly, it's this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel_probe

It's set up to measure air speed and pressure at specific points. This gives the aerodynamicists a clear picture of how the airflow behaves on or around the car.

Jason Campbell70 said:Mercedes will likely end up adding either a wider cooling inlet—similar to what McLaren is doing—or some venturi tunnels, much like Aston Martin.

Fast forward four days:


Another thing you can spot from that top image... the sidepods.
Mercedes just doesn't have any volume there. 😁

Purpoise

First one to figure this out wins

Hey neighbor, where'd you disappear to?
Maybe you're stuck somewhere out in Ukraine?
Anyway, what are we thinking about these initial tests...

Red Bull and Germany are just sticking to the hard compounds...
I remember one year, Germany ran nothing but hard tires through the entire testing phase...

The softs don't really change the game during the race anyway
They last maybe 10-15 laps before you're basically screwed

Ferrari has a stunning car. It’s such a treat to watch 🙏

Live Podcast

graniteharbor502 said:I can't tell if it's just some weird camera angle or what, but looking at this, it honestly looks like the driver is sitting way too far back in the Red Bull cockpit:

And don't even get me started on those engine covers, man, there's a ton of variation going on there

@Pilatus and @graniteharbor502/">@@graniteharbor502 thanks for getting back to me on that question

so basically we've got Ferrari with those wide hips now—and Mercedes looking totally anorexic

Jason Campbell70 said:A little free advice—don't act like a know-it-all about things you clearly don't understand. Eventually, you'll run into someone who loves to troll and actually knows more than you do, and they'll make you look ridiculous.

And who am I supposed to argue with? People who claim Alpina is going to show up without sidepods? That sounds like someone who just started watching Formula 1 yesterday. Seriously, if you think you’re smarter than me, please, just draw me a technical sketch or a quick scribble showing what a car without sidepods would even look like.

I see even the President is messing around... Honestly, why bother reading through technical regulations for hours just to explain to everyone that it's physically impossible to cram the cooling systems—which normally go in the sidepods—into the engine cover? Why else would Formula E, the only series that could potentially do this, still stick to cars with sidepods?

You guys are all ganging up on me for no reason. Go find that Scrabble tweet and mess with him instead, or just send him a DM if that's more your style. If you keep picking on me, I might just go into total isolation, much like Lewis Hamilton did. Take it easy and go find some other people to debate technical topics with...

On topic—I haven't had much time to keep up because of work. All I can say is that this is the most exciting pre-season testing I've seen since 2014. Though, in this era, the cars are all pretty, there aren't any ugly ones. 🎉

Gregory Brown94, why all the drama and arguing? If someone's getting under your skin, just hit the ignore button...

Gregory Brown94 said:If you guys keep messing with me, I’m honestly going to follow Lewis Hamilton's lead and go into total isolation like a hermit. Maybe try finding some people who actually want to start Grand Prix discussions and stuff like that...

🤦

🤣🤣🤣

Only people under a Presidential decree go into quarantine.
And since the President is stuck in quarantine himself, everyone else stays free.
As for starting topics—I can whip those up myself—and I'll get them all posted this weekend.
Just relax.
There's really no point in dissecting airflow specs in detail on the Forum....

Haas has officially stripped that Russian sponsor off their livery. If I’m being honest, I actually think the car looks much cleaner without it.

It seems this new Chinese entity is already waving the red flag for the second time in a row. 🤦
What a massive "win" for Formula 1...

Now that we have concluded the very first round of testing, I thought it might be prudent to share the final tally regarding total laps completed and distance covered by each team:
1. Ferrari - 439 laps - 1275 miles
2. Mercedes - 393 - 1837
3. McLaren - 367 - 1715
4. Red Bull - 358 - 1673
5. Williams - 347 - 1622
6. AlphaTauri - 308 - 1439
7. Aston Martin - 296 - 1383
8. Alpine - 266 - 1243
9. Alfa Romeo - 175 - 818
10. Haas - 160 - 748

Furthermore, if one wishes to look at the data through a more individual lens, here are those exact figures broken down per driver:
1. Carlos Sainz Jr. - 236 laps - 686 miles
2. Daniel Ricciardo - 212 - 991
3. George Russell - 209 - 977
4. Alexander Albon - 207 - 967
5. Max Verstappen - 206 - 963
6. Charles Leclerc - 203 - 949
7. Pierre Gasly - 187 - 874
8. Lewis Hamilton - 184 - 860
9. Sebastian Vettel - 174 - 813
10. Lando Norris - 155 - 724
11. Sergio Pérez - 152 - 710
12. Fernando Alonso - 141 - 659
13. Nicholas Latifi - 140 - 654
14. Esteban Ocon - 125 - 584
15. Lance Stroll - 122 - 570
16. Yuki Tsunoda - 121 - 565
17. Guanyu Zhou - 112 - 523
18. Mick Schumacher - 89 - 416
19. Nikita Mazepin - 71 - 331
20. Valtteri Bottas - 54 - 252
21. Robert Kubica - 9 - 42

My personal rankings for the cars after spending three days out in Austin:
1. Mercedes
2. Red Bull Racing
3. Ferrari
4. McLaren
5. AlphaTauri
6. Aston Martin
7. Alpine
8. Williams
9. Alfa Romeo
10. Haas

One must certainly keep in mind, of course, that by the time we reach Bahrain, most of these cars will likely look quite different from the versions we have seen here in Austin; after all, isn't it standard practice for every team to keep their "ace in the hole" hidden away to prevent the rest of the field from simply copying their design?
In my estimation, Red Bull Racing possesses the greatest potential for development moving forward.

graniteharbor502 said:My ranking of the cars after these three days in Barcelona:
1. Mercedes
2. Red Bull Racing
3. Ferrari
4. McLaren
5. AlphaTauri
6. Aston Martin
7. Alpine
8. Williams
9. Alfa Romeo
10. Haas

Of course, we have to keep in mind that most of these cars will probably look a bit different by the time we get to Bahrain. Everyone is hiding their best tricks so the others don't just copy them.
In my opinion, Red Bull Racing has the most potential for development.

I agree. Honestly, I haven't had enough free time away from work to follow everything closely, but if I understood correctly, Red Bull doesn't seem to have that weird porpoising issue—where the floor suddenly gains or loses grip and you see the drivers bouncing all over the place. I think the key to getting 100% performance out of these things will be exactly that: taming the porpoising. If they can fix it, the driver gets maximum grip, a much more stable car under braking, and naturally, way more confidence in the machine.

But...



I'm sure Mercedes will do whatever it takes to get rid of that problem. I've written quite a bit about how I was initially convinced that cars with a certain sidepod philosophy—maybe having a sharp drop-off—might have an advantage. Later on, though, I started doubting that, and now I suspect those very cars might actually hold a slight edge. I'm thinking of teams like Red Bull Racing, Alpine, and AlphaTauri, because they don't have that sudden drop; instead, they guide the airflow smoothly toward the diffuser.

Mercedes doesn't have that setup, so perhaps that high level of grip they have at the top creates an imbalance. It’s like the high-pressure area on the floor is fighting against the ground effect trying to suck the car down. From what I've managed to observe, cars struggling with porpoising seem to struggle on the main straight in Barcelona, which is slightly downhill with minor bumps. That's really tough on ground effect; any little bump on the track that forcibly "lifts" the car can have disastrous consequences for grip. You could end up with a driver oversteering instantly because the rear end just snapped loose.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/vide...esting-day-two
Ted breaks down how Ferrari actually works. 😁