Slickeningly quick
April 15th 2008 04:04
A Force India with slicks
Felipe Massa’s outrageously quick time at today’s opener to Barcelona testing is the latest proof that a little bit of rubber goes a long, long way.
Massa clocked a 1min18.339 on his set of smooth Bridgestone slicks, nearly three seconds faster than next quickest man, Alex Wurz in his Honda.
Nick Heidfeld, one of two drivers at the test opting not to don the slicks, clocked a best time of 1min21.679 – over three seconds off the pace – in a BMW!
But, Heidfeld and his team have no reason for concern, as in December last year, the German topped the Jerex testing timesheets with his F1.07 kitted out with slick tyres – the first time an F1 car had run them since 1997.
The tumbling times will no doubt come as sweet salvation for long-time fans, frustrated by F1’s over-reliance on aerodynamic witchery, which has they may argue is detrimental to racing.
But the nature of slicks mean cars will rediscover the joys of mechanical grip, as opposed to aerodynamic grip.
That is, instead of relying on simply the increased forces of gravity to keep them roadbound, the cars will have more rubber in physical contact with the road – a simple scientific fact that equals faster cornering speeds.
However, while Massa’s banzai time does it must be remembered that the downforce levels in 2009 will be reduced in order to counteract the effect of the slicks.
After the December test Heidfeld noted how the slick tyres’ potential was negated, almost dangerously, by the removal of much of his car’s aerodynamic downforce.
Following the test in which he topped the timesheets, the BMW driver issued this very negative statement:
Today, we ran with the 2009 downforce package, which will be around half as effective as the one we're driving with this season,If the slicks return, they won't give as much grip as you'd expect as we will also lose grip as there is less downforce, so we will be slower in 2009.
If it will stay like this and the tyres will stay like this, it will be extremely dangerous in 2009. On my outlap I even thought about coming back in, because there were so many drivers flying past me. You feel like you're standing still compared to the others and it's very easy to spin the car. It's very, very dangerous.
Without traction control it's even worse, but if we would run with traction control (in 2009), it would still be very, very difficult. Even if the tyres are hot, you have so little grip with the new package.
We have too much power and too little grip. I don't like it at all.
If it will stay like this and the tyres will stay like this, it will be extremely dangerous in 2009. On my outlap I even thought about coming back in, because there were so many drivers flying past me. You feel like you're standing still compared to the others and it's very easy to spin the car. It's very, very dangerous.
Without traction control it's even worse, but if we would run with traction control (in 2009), it would still be very, very difficult. Even if the tyres are hot, you have so little grip with the new package.
We have too much power and too little grip. I don't like it at all.
Nevertheless, it must be remembered that the car Heidfeld was driving was not a 2009-spec car – but a 2007 car with a 2009 aero package.
F1’s engineers love a good challenge, and knowing that slicks are back on the menu, they will have a renewed energy to maximize the downforce from the new regulations.
F1 may well be getting back up to speed again.
Barcelona day 1 times:
01 F. Massa Ferrari 01:18.339 77 laps
02 A. Wurz Honda 01:21.059 75 laps
03 P. de la Rosa McLaren 01:21.566 113 laps
04 N. Heidfeld BMW 01:21.679 105 laps
05 N. Piquet jr. Renault 01:22.125 69 laps
06 D. Coulthard Red Bull 01:22.197 59 laps
07 K. Nakajima Williams 01:22.431 72 laps
08 T. Glock Toyota 01:22.590 92 laps
09 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 01:22.846 91 laps
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