Pirelli will have to send Nico new undies for Christmas! Mercedes was not amused.
Pirelli later explained with an "oops, our bad":
"PIRELLI: MERCEDES FITTED WITH PROTOTYPE TYRES WHICH WILL NOT BE PROPOSED AGAIN. 2014 DEVELOPMENT GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN
Milan, 19 December 2013 – The tyre tests in Barhain regarded a number of prototypes, which were completely innovative in terms of structure and compounds, with the aim of developing the most suitable solutions for the next season.
This morning Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes was fitted with one of these prototypes, a tyre which had only been tested in the laboratory and which will not be proposed again.
Thus, the safety of the tyres which will be supplied for the next Championship is not in question.
The accident which happened to Rosberg’s car is being investigated and the findings will be communicated to the FIA and the teams."
Felipe Massa was braking for Turn 10 at the Circuit de Catalunya when the from left wheel on his Ferrari F138 decided it had had enough. Failed wheel hub said Ferrari, not what you want to see with just one day of testing left but, then again, that's what testing is for.
Sky Sports is doing wall to wall coverage with a dedicated channel for F1 with some of the coverage in 3D! As I mentioned many times, I would gladly pay for a similar service in the US. Here are some clips from Friday, the second day of testing from Barcellona.
On Day 3, Lewis Hamilton is lead the pack in the morning with a exceptional 1:20.5 lap.
1. Hamilton 1:20.558 Mercedes
2. Sutil 1:21.627 Force India
3. Massa 1:21.673 Ferrari
4. Maldonado 1:22.305 Williams
5. Gutierrez 1:22.553 Sauber
6. Perez 1:22.694 Mclaren
7. Webber 1:23.116 Red Bull
8. Vergne 1:23.223 Toro Rosso
9. Valsecchi 1:23.448 Lotus
10. Bianchi 1:24.307 Marussia
11. Van der Garde 1:24.520 Caterham
Looks wet and cold at Circuit de Catalunya as the teams are on their second day of the final testing session before the start of the 2013 Formula 1 season.
You might hear some funny noises from some cars, particularly the Caterham and the Williams, on the off and part throttle in the clip above. Likely it's from playing around with maps, maps which the FIA has been keeping an eye on, especially Renault's. While the old "blown exhaust" has been banned, it's certain engineers are trying everything they can to get around to accomplishing the same effect, the flow of hot gasses over the rear of the cars is just too important. One trend has been to increase gas velocity by making exhausts smaller in diameter. This in turn increases heat and compromises power, and reliability, something to watch for.
Red Bull joined Lotus, Mercedes and Sauber in testing a passive DRS system. As you can imagine a fully passive system that will stall the rear wing is massively complicated to tune effectively but, as we mentioned before, it might be the silver bullet for the team who can come to terms with those complexities. Also note Red Bull's scalloped top element on the rear wing, they are the only team to choose that solution.
Drivers weren't kidding when they complained about tire degradation in the recent tests. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels tire klag is the scourge of F1 racing, turning every track into a one car wide toboggan run.
I have avoided commenting much about Formula 1 pre season testing, in my experience it's mostly pointless but racing starts next week and it's time to get back into it for Axis.
This year, while most commentary was centered on possibly the most inconsequential piece on the whole car, the step nose, a solution adopted by every team save for Mclaren (and Marussia which gets Mclaren leftover parts and ideas technical assistance) the real action has been at the back.
Diffusers directly energized by exhaust gasses on the off throttle via clever engine mapping are gone (or at least forbidden), engine gasses now have to be discharged within a narrowly defined angle designed to do away with precisely what designers are in fact doing again, cheating the air and thumbing their noses at rule makers.
Want to limit us to an exhaust pipe that has to be visible from the top and round in section? Fine, we'll build a fairing around the pipe with a viewing slot on the top.
Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Want to impose an angle meant to minimize the influence of the 400km/h exhaust stream on the aero performance? Fine, we'll use the rest of the car to produce airflow to bend that exhaust plume and redirect it to where we want it.
You want us not to have a double diffuser? Fine, we'll figure out a way to use the starter hole in the back for aero.
The question for many is, are you excited about a formula where aero is taken to such admittedly geekily exciting heights? Maybe.
Andrew Ferraro/LAT Photographic
Towards the end of testing, it looked like the "way to go" was to have the exhaust plume run between the inside of the wheel and the outside of the wing endplate. This to create and "air curtain" (hello BMW!) on the sides of the diffuser.
Ferrari had gone with that idea first but somehow could not make it work, perhaps because the exhaust was placed too far back. Sauber had the exhaust much further up and were copied by none other than Red Bull who then have added a further air channels in their sidepods to further divert the exhaust flow where Adrian Newey wants it.
When Ferrari changed their exhaust location further inboard the consequence was that the shape of the side pods, designed for the original placement, is not optimal for the new location. Ferrari is rumored to have requested a new side crash test from the FIA indicating a completely new side pod design involving the crash structure to be debuted after the fist Asian leg go the championship. This year there is no "gentlemen's agreement" on spending so expect some radical moves by the top teams if they fall behind.
Glenn Dunbar/LAT Photographic
There has been much talk about this Ferrari crisis, I'm not so sure how much is real and how much is outlets who waste no opportunity, real or imagined, to dump on Ferrari.
The F2012 is the most "different" car, the Scuderia probably had to throw out all their setup books, they had to recalibrate the power steering, they have to figure out all the angles, takes time, something all teams are desperately short of.
Red Bull changed the aero but their suspension is essentially the same they have been running for the past two seasons, why change something that works so well?
Ker Robertson/Getty Images
The F2012 is said to be harder than others on tires, on the plus side that means it gets the Pirelli into temperature better than last year and that should help it on single laps in qualifying. We'll see next week.
But enough about Ferrari, How's that Red Bull going to hold up, steamroller or fast but fragile?
Lotus was fast, who knows if it was running at regulation weight but for sure Raikkonen looks to be better at comebacks than Schumacher was.
Mercedes might be at least on par with Ferrari, maybe faster. Rumors of more Brawn cleverness with blown wings are all about. Maybe schumi can finally win a race this season after which he can retire in peace. (leaving the way for Hamilton of course!.
Mclaren top team with Red Bull and Lotus? Bring it, I can't say it's been a long winter but I'm ready!
Check out our Flickr page for enormously sized desktops of F1 testing
The big novelty in F1 this coming season will be the addition of movable rear wings, this would allow drivers to trade stability for straight line speed and gain the few meters at the end of the straight that allow for a pass. Great you say? Not so fast.
As things stand now, drivers are not allowed to use the wing any time they choose, daring to go longer without rear downforce for example , or using the device in unexpected places on the track. No, wing usage can only happen with an electronic consent from race control!
Here are the basic rules as of today: During the race, a driver following a car within "one second" will see a light, activated by race control, on his steering wheel. Only then can the driver activate his "Drag Reduction System". This will be available not anywhere on the track but just in "designated passing zones". If the system works that would mean you would never again see a car stuck behind a slower one, think Alonso and Petrov last year. No, all a driver would have to do is get within one second coming out of a corner, done, driver in front has no defense.
I don't know about you, but I find that almost a deal-breaker even as a long time F1 fan. I hope the rule gets modified to allow at the very least, use anywhere on the track, as they are now allowed to do on Friday and Saturday.
Not that that would solve the problem, drivers will still have to proceed mostly in single file, with only one line through corners, any time after the first couple of laps. Why? in the quest for the show, the FIA has asked Pirelli for tires that shed their rubber after just a few laps, the inevitable result will be more marbles than ever before, negating the usefulness of the movable wing.
Some sensors and florescent paint from the Jerez test. After the jump, Notice how a characteristic of the top 2011 cars are the very short sidepods and low gearbox to allow as much space as possible for airflow to wrap around the rear and into the diffuse/rear wing area. (f1.photos.org)
From January 21st. Alonso and Hamilton on track. Check out the extended front wheel covers on the Mclaren, outboard brake cooling ducts?
1º. Sebastien Buemi - 1.29:435 - 56 laps 3º. Nico Rosberg - 1.33:816 - 64 laps 2º. Fernando Alonso - 1.34:610 - 52 laps 4º. Lewis Hamilton - 1.38:962 - 27 laps 5º. Timo Glock - 1.41:923 - 44 laps
Raikkonen comments on KERS
Q: Is everything working ? Raikkonen: ''On both days the use of KERS has given positive results, the system works well like all the other new components.''
Q: What changes with KERS ? Raikkonen: ''You have more power but it's only for such a short time that I don't think it can change things a lot. It may be an interesting invention but I don't think it's decisive.''
Ferrari F60 video and the rest of the interview after the jump
Q: What are your first impressions of the F60 ? Raikkonen: ''It's always nice to step into a new car but it's not easy to give a judgement due to the weather. The track was very slippery and unfortunately we haven't been able to do the work we planned to do, nor could we push the car to the maximum or simulate a Grand Prix. The tyres are not a problem, we've already tested them before Christmas. In short, the first good and real impression is that all the new parts on the car are working wonderfully and the only regret is that we haven't been able to work according to schedule.''
Q: Massa said that the F60 seemed different to him in terms of driving. Raikkonen: ''I don't know. I don't have precise references at this track to judge the difference.''
Q: Was there a reason behind the visits you paid to the gravel traps ? Raikkonen: ''Absolutely not, the car perhaps slipped away because the tyres were not yet up to temperature. Also, there was no problem during the laps in the afternoon: it rained and it wasn't worth risking to destroy the car.''
Q: Do you think it's right you're testing at Mugello instead of at Portimao ? Raikkonen: ''I believe it's also raining there. At least here we're close to home and it's easier to send people from the factory to the circuit back and forth in case it's necessary.''
