2014 Car Launches and Testing Thread

I wonder how much of the Merc-engined speed advantage is down to them being out phase with the rest of the guys (i.e. they are already working on set up etc because their engine is sorted while the others are still just getting mileage to fix engine issues)...I mean there is no way Merc has 1 sec advantage over the rest....

Pat Fry said that the priority for Ferrari in this test had been to do more drive-train evaluations and to get the engine sorted. They said they'll focus on performance in the next test.
 
Pat Fry said that the priority for Ferrari in this test had been to do more drive-train evaluations and to get the engine sorted. They said they'll focus on performance in the next test.
And that's what really, in the bigger picture, should shut up anyone who claimed that F1 would be "too slow" with the new engines: The only driver who really tried a qualifiying run simulation was Nico, who clocked in a 1m33.283s. That's not even a second off his pole from last year (1m32.330s). Given that all teams, including Mercedes, are only starting to move from reliability/basic setup to performance testing programs, I think we will see laptimes comparable to last year once teams start pushing.

EDIT: Nico's time would have landed him on P9 last year. Not shabby at all for a first try.
 
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And they have another 4 days of testing to chase times if they can do so. Plus it seems that the cars are now making their laptimes in very different ways compared to last year, reports are that the 2014 cars (at least the Mercedes-powered ones) are about 20 kph faster in a straight line than the 2013 cars.
 
I trust the FIA to somehow put a cap on that, ban it somehow.
 
And they have another 4 days of testing to chase times if they can do so. Plus it seems that the cars are now making their laptimes in very different ways compared to last year, reports are that the 2014 cars (at least the Mercedes-powered ones) are about 20 kph faster in a straight line than the 2013 cars.

In that case Monza should be fun. Especially with the shady brakes...
 
I can see why they have changed a bunch of regulations for 2014, but I can't see why they had to make the brakes shittier. Overtaking is a weak argument imo.
 
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It's not about the brakes being shitty, it's a matter of getting the brake-by-wire systems to work properly with the energy harvesting.

I thought they had mandated smaller discs at either the rear or front? Maybe I'm wrong.
 
I thought they had mandated smaller discs at either the rear or front? Maybe I'm wrong.

Technical regulations don't seem to mention that, both 2013 and 2014 tech regs say brake disc maximum dimensions are 28mm thickness and 278mm outside diameter. We have to take into account increased minimum weight though.
 
I thought they had mandated smaller discs at either the rear or front? Maybe I'm wrong.

AFAIK the brake discs at the back are smaller because energy harvesting is more aggressive this year hence less need for stopping power from the brake discs themselves, as more of it comes from MGU-K.

A very good case in point here were the overheating rear discs on the Red Bull. Because the Renault powertrain isn't sorted and energy harvesting didn't work properly they overheated the rears until they caught fire. Just underlines the fact that if one of the systems lets you down during a race, you're in big trouble.
 
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