04-03-2013, 23:45
(Este mensaje fue modificado por última vez en: 04-03-2013, 23:51 por El abuelo.)
Recogido de los foros de autosport, de uno que ha traducido un artículo aparecido en Auto Motor und Sport:
Well, well, well. Looks like AMuS is insisting that the illegal maps were indeed tried by the Renault teams earlier than on the third day of Barcelona 1 (contrary to what Permane said), and that their absence does hurt the Renault teams. Also there is new info that Ferrari asked FIA for clarification earlier than Renault did, and were told the same thing.
I translated the whole long article, but left out some of AMuS's bad flowery prose, shortened some parts, and left out some filler. If you want to read the original in English, please use machine translation. If something is ambiguous in the result, I will be happy to help out.
QUOTE
Adrian Newey was not there. That's suspicious. During the first two test weeks, RB's technical guru was present, with his notebook, every day in the RB garage. During the most important test he was missing. Just at the time when new development parts arrived. For example, a new FW, the passive DRS, and a new exhaust environment. His absence is a sure sign for him not being happy with the performance of his car.
The RB9 was neither among the quickest nor the most reliable cars. Vettel recorded not a single fastest time, Webber one, but on a rainy day that allowed only a few dry laps at the end.
RB also was the only team that was slower at Barcelona 2 than Barcelona 1. On the overall 6th test day, Vettel recorded a 1.22,197; at Barcelona 2 he managed only 1.22,514, and Webber 1.22,658.
Reliability was missing as well. RB managed 4.468 km over 12 days and were only 7th in mileage charts, less than Sauber (5.405 km), Mercedes (5.215 km), Ferrari (4.950 km), McLaren (4.627 km), Toro Rosso (4.516 km) and Caterham (4.513 km).
One could read concern in faces of the RB bosses and Vettel. Vettel, Horner, and Marko had hour-long conferences during lunch break. The RB9 was modified conspicuously frequently, which indicates serious setup changes.
[Not new: Quoting Vettel about the problems with tyre consistency making it difficult to understand setup changes]. While the RB press release talked about a good day, Marko thankfully was open: "We have balance problems. The car does not allow a correct setup."
Because of the setup problems it made no sense for RB to hunt times. At least they know now what Merc and Ferrari can do. Experts think that Rosberg and Alonso used 10-15 kg fuel for their fast times, Hamilton at least had 20 kg for his 1.20,610.
Even if RB ran 60 kg on new tyres, Vettel could only have achieved a 1.20,9 with 20 kg on board, meaning a few tenths missing compared to Alonso and Rosberg.
It's strange that RB started perfectly into the tests. In Jerez and Barcelona 1 they looked excellent and were seen as clear favorites by their competitors. There were few reliability problems, and their speed put them in the top group. Everyone thought that RB was not showing its hand.
During the Barcelona 2 week the news changed. The car was difficult to set up, which was unheard of during the first 10 days, when Vettel and Webber had loved the RB9 immediately and called it a much better starting point than the RB8 a year ago.
So what happened between the second and third test week, which may have broken RB's stride? They admitted that the new developments that were added on Sat and Sun did not bring the gains they had hoped for, but that can't be the sole reason: it would have been easy to return to the previous spec. The answer might lie in the exhaust config.
By the end of the Barcelona 1 week the FIA informed the engine manufacturers that the 2012 rules about engine settings continue to be in effect. Renault had acted on the assumption that the reference software would be redefined for the first races in 2013, and had conducted developments based on this assumption during winter. And these maps were used during the first 8 test days. It is no accident, that it's the 3 Renault customers RB, Lotus, and Williams who continued to develop the exhaust concept RB had used in 2012.
All other teams followed the McLaren direction, even Sauber, who in 2012 had used the RB concept. The changes in downforce when the driver goes off throttle is less critical with the McLaren concept.
The difference this can make was found out by Williams. During the Barcelona 1 week, Williams used a McLaren concept exhaust, but changed to the RB concept in the middle of the Barcelona 2 week. The drivers immediately reported grave changes of balance. A Williams team member revealed that the FW35 works brilliantly in quick corners, but suddenly struggled with downforce deficit in slow corners.
The best times in the 3rd sector in Barcelona, with its 6 slow corners, show as much. Quickest was Alonso with 27.519, followed by Rosberg with 27.530. Vettel lost drastically with 28.477. 9 tenths are a lot even if he carried more fuel. Räikkönen certainly carried an amount of fuel on the low side, and still only reached 28.177.
Maldonado reached 28.331, the best Williams sector time. With last year's car he had been among the quickest in the same sector. In summary, one can say that all cars with an RB-style exhaust lost time in the 3rd sector.
The topic seems to be important for Renault. The other engine manufacturers claim to have heard that Renault demands a change of maps with the argument that the Renault V8 has a reliability problem at high mileage. Engine experts however doubt that such a thing could be cured by changing the maps.
Because every change request for the engine must be made public, Merc and Ferrari will have a close look. FIA allows changes only if all 3 manufacturers agree. Ferrari, for example, already received a rejection when they asked for clarification in winter. They wanted new maps for a new exhaust configuration, which would have been outside the 2012 rules. FIA rejected that, Ferrari was told to kindly build an exhaust that can be run with maps that are within the rules that are in effect.
RB has a lot of work prior to Melbourne. "We could not check all points", Vettel said after the final test day, and added, "We are in good shape, and there is still time to improve". We remember: it was the same last year, and RB nevertheless won the WC. Marko adds with a whimsical grin, "It's not over till the fat lady sings".
Well, well, well. Looks like AMuS is insisting that the illegal maps were indeed tried by the Renault teams earlier than on the third day of Barcelona 1 (contrary to what Permane said), and that their absence does hurt the Renault teams. Also there is new info that Ferrari asked FIA for clarification earlier than Renault did, and were told the same thing.
I translated the whole long article, but left out some of AMuS's bad flowery prose, shortened some parts, and left out some filler. If you want to read the original in English, please use machine translation. If something is ambiguous in the result, I will be happy to help out.
QUOTE
Adrian Newey was not there. That's suspicious. During the first two test weeks, RB's technical guru was present, with his notebook, every day in the RB garage. During the most important test he was missing. Just at the time when new development parts arrived. For example, a new FW, the passive DRS, and a new exhaust environment. His absence is a sure sign for him not being happy with the performance of his car.
The RB9 was neither among the quickest nor the most reliable cars. Vettel recorded not a single fastest time, Webber one, but on a rainy day that allowed only a few dry laps at the end.
RB also was the only team that was slower at Barcelona 2 than Barcelona 1. On the overall 6th test day, Vettel recorded a 1.22,197; at Barcelona 2 he managed only 1.22,514, and Webber 1.22,658.
Reliability was missing as well. RB managed 4.468 km over 12 days and were only 7th in mileage charts, less than Sauber (5.405 km), Mercedes (5.215 km), Ferrari (4.950 km), McLaren (4.627 km), Toro Rosso (4.516 km) and Caterham (4.513 km).
One could read concern in faces of the RB bosses and Vettel. Vettel, Horner, and Marko had hour-long conferences during lunch break. The RB9 was modified conspicuously frequently, which indicates serious setup changes.
[Not new: Quoting Vettel about the problems with tyre consistency making it difficult to understand setup changes]. While the RB press release talked about a good day, Marko thankfully was open: "We have balance problems. The car does not allow a correct setup."
Because of the setup problems it made no sense for RB to hunt times. At least they know now what Merc and Ferrari can do. Experts think that Rosberg and Alonso used 10-15 kg fuel for their fast times, Hamilton at least had 20 kg for his 1.20,610.
Even if RB ran 60 kg on new tyres, Vettel could only have achieved a 1.20,9 with 20 kg on board, meaning a few tenths missing compared to Alonso and Rosberg.
It's strange that RB started perfectly into the tests. In Jerez and Barcelona 1 they looked excellent and were seen as clear favorites by their competitors. There were few reliability problems, and their speed put them in the top group. Everyone thought that RB was not showing its hand.
During the Barcelona 2 week the news changed. The car was difficult to set up, which was unheard of during the first 10 days, when Vettel and Webber had loved the RB9 immediately and called it a much better starting point than the RB8 a year ago.
So what happened between the second and third test week, which may have broken RB's stride? They admitted that the new developments that were added on Sat and Sun did not bring the gains they had hoped for, but that can't be the sole reason: it would have been easy to return to the previous spec. The answer might lie in the exhaust config.
By the end of the Barcelona 1 week the FIA informed the engine manufacturers that the 2012 rules about engine settings continue to be in effect. Renault had acted on the assumption that the reference software would be redefined for the first races in 2013, and had conducted developments based on this assumption during winter. And these maps were used during the first 8 test days. It is no accident, that it's the 3 Renault customers RB, Lotus, and Williams who continued to develop the exhaust concept RB had used in 2012.
All other teams followed the McLaren direction, even Sauber, who in 2012 had used the RB concept. The changes in downforce when the driver goes off throttle is less critical with the McLaren concept.
The difference this can make was found out by Williams. During the Barcelona 1 week, Williams used a McLaren concept exhaust, but changed to the RB concept in the middle of the Barcelona 2 week. The drivers immediately reported grave changes of balance. A Williams team member revealed that the FW35 works brilliantly in quick corners, but suddenly struggled with downforce deficit in slow corners.
The best times in the 3rd sector in Barcelona, with its 6 slow corners, show as much. Quickest was Alonso with 27.519, followed by Rosberg with 27.530. Vettel lost drastically with 28.477. 9 tenths are a lot even if he carried more fuel. Räikkönen certainly carried an amount of fuel on the low side, and still only reached 28.177.
Maldonado reached 28.331, the best Williams sector time. With last year's car he had been among the quickest in the same sector. In summary, one can say that all cars with an RB-style exhaust lost time in the 3rd sector.
The topic seems to be important for Renault. The other engine manufacturers claim to have heard that Renault demands a change of maps with the argument that the Renault V8 has a reliability problem at high mileage. Engine experts however doubt that such a thing could be cured by changing the maps.
Because every change request for the engine must be made public, Merc and Ferrari will have a close look. FIA allows changes only if all 3 manufacturers agree. Ferrari, for example, already received a rejection when they asked for clarification in winter. They wanted new maps for a new exhaust configuration, which would have been outside the 2012 rules. FIA rejected that, Ferrari was told to kindly build an exhaust that can be run with maps that are within the rules that are in effect.
RB has a lot of work prior to Melbourne. "We could not check all points", Vettel said after the final test day, and added, "We are in good shape, and there is still time to improve". We remember: it was the same last year, and RB nevertheless won the WC. Marko adds with a whimsical grin, "It's not over till the fat lady sings".
¿Tres campeonatos?
El problema es que entonces querré conseguir otro, y otro y otro... La ambición es imparable, infinita.
Fernando Alonso
El problema es que entonces querré conseguir otro, y otro y otro... La ambición es imparable, infinita.
Fernando Alonso