Formula 1’s pre-season testing kicks off tomorrow, with it the cars set free to start recording their first runs and miles. Testing is crucial for teams, with the fastest times being technically worthless, what should we expect and look for in this period?
While the overall car looks and colors have already been set, vehicles will have several changes from the launching versions seen last week. Teams will try various set ups as well as different parts. So the final look is yet to be set for the cars, and observers should expect several modifications over the eight days of testing.
The changes are usually with small technical and aerodynamic parts. But for a major change, an eye is to be kept on the shark fin and T-wing. In fact, the already launched cars have different models. For example, several reports claim that the defending champions Mercedes, who launched their car with a T-wing without a shark fin, have another model that includes a shark fin.
Although leading the timesheets is meaningless during the testing period, several other significant data can be interesting. The first and most important data to keep an eye on is mileage. Teams will be aiming to maximize their run durations and mileage with several scenarios being run. The number of laps performed would give great indications about the new power units, stability and functionality.
With the new rules, the cars are expected to be significantly faster than the previous years and this is a major change that interests the whole F1 world. A taste of this change will be given during the test. Even if most cars don’t run full power during their laps, the upgrade from previous years will be available.
Even though the season is yet to start, the competition might already be under way and the suspense is starting to build. Who will have the most stable car? Who will run the most miles? Who will face problems? All these questions will be answered over the course of the next two weeks of testing and hopefully, they will indicate that the next year is set to be outstanding.