Testing times can be significant

[Valve Bounce]

I stand corrected on this subject, as I have been guilty of nagging "testing is only testing". It seems that Ralf has run a fantastic time half a second faster than TGF's pole qualifying time at this years GP at Barcelona. This means one thing to me: FRANK IS BACK!!. Could it also mean that Michelin will be the faster tyre next season? because Fisi also ran a time faster than this pole time, and Eddie wasn't that much slower either. It would be nice to have five differrent cars fighting for any GP next year instead of the two horse race we have been watching for the past few years. It would be very interesting if the WDC was fought out between the two brothers next year. I'd like to see that!!
Getting back to the topic, if we can compare testing times with the previous years pole time (on a dry track of course), then testing times can mean something.

[Tris]

Ralf’s time seems to suggest that he was running development tyres on a low fuel load, in low ambient temperatures. Least we forget that the winter test times are often faster that the times set at the warm summer races. However since he has gone a fraction under two seconds faster than his qualifying time I surmise that around a second of this was due to the tyres, the rest being due to the weather conditions.

Tyre Wars, gotta love them!

[Jay]

"Least we forget that the winter test times are often faster that the times set at the warm summer races."

I suspect that it also has something to do with the fact that it is easier to set a fast time when you have all day to do it. It is completelt different when you get 4 laps in 1 hour.

[steve nielsen]

At last weeks test in Jerez the Bridgestone teams where fastes in dry conditions, the Michelin teams where fastes in the wet, but stil: you never know what everyone tested, and Bridgestone and Michelin will use the info they gathered from these tests to make even faster tires.

[Billy_Hunt]

I've always thought there has got to be something significant in these test sessions
When there are a number of teams at a circuit putting in lap times despite which piece of new kit they are testing I cant for one minute imagine the team telling the drivers to go steady all day, sort of defeats the object of the test.
The drivers are racing drivers after all and I'm sure there is plenty of competition between them.
I'm not quite sure its so straight forward as the tyres giving Ralf a second or the ambient temperatures, Spain aint that cold this time of year.
But a mixture of the whole lot including advances in the car and engine.
The Jag's are doing well

[Valve Bounce]

I knew I was on the right track about testing times. What I didn't say was I have absolutely no idea what the heck the times mean. Everybody is lapping faster than TGF's pole time this year. I know I was going off half cocked, but now I don't even know what I was aiming at. Still, it is fun watching those times tumbling, isn't it?? This will put Max into a tail spin and he will introduce new rules to slow the cars down, which we will all cry foul at; only to see the teams come up with something else to make the cars lap faster. This latest burst in speed is apparently down to trax, as it seems the teams are testing with trax now. How fast the teams develop their own software and hardware will probably show up in these test times. I read somewhere that somebody was not that fast because the team had not fully sorted out their trax. Well that finally woke me up to what was happening. What can I say? I was right that I am confused??