P for Testing & other Talking Points - 2023 Formula 1 Season

Yes, P for testing it is. You have to tune in to know why!

In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, the trio (Soumil, @f1statsguru & Kunal), get together to discuss the main talking points from the upcoming (& only) pre-season test in Bahrain.

MEET US: 26th February in Mumbai. Venue: Palladium Social (from 5-7pm)

We will discuss best moments from Drive to Survive (season 5) + stories from pre-season testing. And of course, an engaging F1 quiz hosted by @f1statsguru.

India's most-experienced Formula 1 journalists (FIA-accredited) Abhishek Takle will be our guest for the upcoming F1 Pitstop with the Inside Line F1 Podcast.

Get your access pass (INR 299 per person) on Paytm Insider.

Will porpoising continue to trouble teams? How will the rookies fare, and what about the 'young' Fernando Alonso?

Nico Hulkenberg hasn't been at work full-time since 3 years. Also, new design innovations, FIA-F1 friction and above all else, the lack of absolute clarity as to who is the quickest (or in fact, the slowest) from testing. 

There's a lot of banter and information to look forward to in this episode. Tune in!

(Season 2023, Episode 6)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora, Sundaram Ramaswami and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Aston Martin F1 Team

**Pre-Season Testing: A Detailed Analysis**

The Inside Line F1 Podcast trio (Soumil, Sundaram Ramaswami, and Kunal Shah) reconvene to discuss the upcoming pre-season testing in Bahrain, the only testing session before the start of the 2023 Formula One season.

**Key Talking Points:**

1. **Porpoising:** Will the porpoising issue that plagued teams in 2022 continue to be a problem? How will teams address it with the new technical directive in place?

2. **Rookies and Fernando Alonso:** How will the rookies, Oscar Piastri, Nick DeVries, and Logan Sargent, perform in their first pre-season testing? Will Fernando Alonso's experience and adaptability be an advantage for Aston Martin?

3. **Weight Saving and Innovations:** Several teams, including Mercedes, have openly stated their intention to reduce their car weight below the minimum limit, utilizing ballast to optimize performance. This could provide an advantage, especially for Mercedes, who also unveiled a striking black livery to convey a message against racism and discrimination.

4. **Sandbagging and PR Laps:** Teams often engage in sandbagging during pre-season testing, concealing their true pace by running with more fuel loads and lower engine modes. PR laps, where teams set quick times on low fuel on the final day of testing, are also common.

5. **Team Dynamics and Body Language:** The body language and communication of teams, particularly Ferrari under new team principal Fred Vasseur, will be closely observed for signs of confidence and stability.

**Insights, Perspectives, and Controversies:**

- Mercedes' weight-saving efforts and the effectiveness of their new sidepod design, dubbed the "0.5 pod," are intriguing.

- Alpine's increased aero testing time compared to top teams like Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari could yield promising results.

- The consistency of team car naming conventions, such as McLaren's MCL60, is questioned.

- The limited testing time (three days instead of the previous six) may impact teams' ability to complete their planned mileage.

- The possibility of teams running only one car during testing, as suggested by George Russell, is discussed.

**Highlighted Quotes:**

- "There's a lot of banter and information to look forward to in this episode. Tune in!" - Soumil Arora

- "I'm guessing nobody guessed that when Somil asked, are we all going to focus on the P word, people meant pre-season testing." - Sundaram Ramaswami

- "I'm really, really keen on seeing how much, how much of an on-track advantage it gives to all teams in general." - Sundaram Ramaswami on Mercedes' weight-saving measures

- "I don't think so we're going to be betting on Ferrari anytime soon this season." - Kunal Shah on the team's championship chances

- "The one driver I'm most excited to see is Oscar Piastri." - Sundaram Ramaswami on the highly-rated rookie

**Overall Message:**

The pre-season testing in Bahrain is a crucial opportunity for teams to assess their cars' performance, identify areas for improvement, and gather valuable data ahead of the upcoming season. While sandbagging and PR laps may create uncertainty, the testing provides insights into the competitiveness of teams and the potential for surprises in the 2023 Formula One season.

[00:00.000 -> 00:22.280] Wow, happy new year guys.
[00:22.280 -> 00:23.280] Happy new year.
[00:23.280 -> 00:24.840] This finally is the new year.
[00:24.840 -> 00:26.800] March is the time when the new year arrives. Now I know you're going to correct me and say, Sombal, it's not guys, happy new year. This finally is the new year, March is the time when the new year arrives.
[00:26.800 -> 00:31.800] Now I know you're going to correct me and say, Assamble, it's not March, it's February, but it does not matter.
[00:31.800 -> 00:38.000] This is when the year begins, it's testing time already, but I am super confused.
[00:38.000 -> 00:44.500] What is going to be tested the most here? Is it going to be the cars, the conditions or just Fernando Alonso's patience?
[00:44.500 -> 00:49.560] That is exactly what we discuss on this episode of the InsideLine F1 podcast.
[00:49.560 -> 00:50.880] We are back folks.
[00:50.880 -> 00:55.680] This is the three biggest stories to watch for from testing from each of us.
[00:55.680 -> 01:00.160] And it feels so good to be doing this after such a long time because over the winter,
[01:00.160 -> 01:04.640] we've worked so much in terms of creating live on ground meetups and we managed to get
[01:04.640 -> 01:06.600] one big one in Mumbai this time out.
[01:06.600 -> 01:10.100] And by the way, there's another one coming up on Sunday, but more on that later.
[01:10.100 -> 01:14.500] But on that note, we've been working so hard to get things on the ground
[01:14.500 -> 01:17.800] that we've actually not quite been able to record, sit down virtually,
[01:17.800 -> 01:19.500] and talk about Formula One as much.
[01:19.500 -> 01:22.400] And at last, the opportunity is here.
[01:22.400 -> 01:24.800] So I think let's dive right into it.
[01:24.800 -> 01:30.080] But before doing so, I think we must remind all of you of who we are and what we do.
[01:30.080 -> 01:31.440] My name is Somal Arora.
[01:31.440 -> 01:35.120] I am the host of the Indian Racing League on Disney Plus Hotstar.
[01:35.120 -> 01:37.840] And I've been also hosting the podcast for a very, very long time.
[01:37.840 -> 01:43.360] But joining me is Kunal Shah, the former marketing head of the Force India F1 team,
[01:43.360 -> 01:45.240] an FIA accredited Formula
[01:45.240 -> 01:50.600] One journalist and with all of us is F1 stats guru Sundaram.
[01:50.600 -> 01:51.840] I think the name says it all.
[01:51.840 -> 01:56.660] His stats have been read out by Fernando Alonso and David Croft and so many other PADEC insiders
[01:56.660 -> 01:58.940] that frankly it's just mind blowing.
[01:58.940 -> 02:01.400] So don't forget to check him out on social media.
[02:01.400 -> 02:03.920] But I've been speaking for far too long now.
[02:03.920 -> 02:08.840] Sundaram, ah, here we go. Are Are we gonna hear the P word this time? Should we say it out loud
[02:08.840 -> 02:19.240] now? Which one? Because I'm thinking poppusing. But wait before that, so
[02:19.240 -> 02:23.040] it's great to be back here and I think I might be feeling a little rusty about
[02:23.040 -> 02:29.020] this but I've almost forgotten that I should prepare some notes for the podcast, but it feels great to be
[02:29.020 -> 02:35.180] doing this once again. And very, very excited for the upcoming season. And yeah, Piastry,
[02:35.180 -> 02:41.340] Poppusing, all of those are going to be the focus points for this upcoming pre-season
[02:41.340 -> 02:42.340] testing.
[02:42.340 -> 02:45.700] That also starts with the pre-season testing.
[02:46.620 -> 02:50.940] I'm guessing nobody guessed that when Somil asked, are we all going to focus on the
[02:50.940 -> 02:55.380] P word, people meant pre-season testing, but wow, it's going to be a lot of fun.
[02:55.380 -> 02:59.080] And I also feel rusty, much like all the Formula One drivers are going to feel.
[02:59.080 -> 03:03.060] Remember, they've not really gotten to work since Abu Dhabi last year.
[03:03.060 -> 03:06.160] And if you're Nico Hulkenberg, you probably haven't been to work full-time
[03:06.160 -> 03:08.280] since like three seasons or something.
[03:08.280 -> 03:12.760] So there is this one set of rookies we are gonna focus on,
[03:12.760 -> 03:17.040] which is, you know, PS3 and Nick DeVries and Logan Sargent.
[03:17.040 -> 03:18.480] But on the other end of the spectrum
[03:18.480 -> 03:22.200] is gonna be this really, you know, what do you say,
[03:22.200 -> 03:25.680] experienced midfield driver like Nico Halkenberg,
[03:25.680 -> 03:27.180] who we're going to look out for.
[03:27.180 -> 03:31.380] And now, since we know Lance Stroll is not going to be participating in the preseason test,
[03:31.380 -> 03:37.980] another young driver in Fernando Alonso is who, you know, our eyes will be out on.
[03:37.980 -> 03:41.180] I believe by the time we record and publish this episode,
[03:41.180 -> 03:45.280] Aston Martin would come up with a plan of whether Alonso is doing
[03:45.280 -> 03:50.180] all six sessions or is somebody splitting the sessions with him or will he allow somebody
[03:50.180 -> 03:52.280] to split the sessions with him and so on.
[03:52.280 -> 03:57.960] But just going to be exciting to see how preseason testing goes. We're going to see cars going
[03:57.960 -> 04:02.200] round and round all around. We're going to try and make sense of it because for once
[04:02.200 -> 04:08.640] it probably won't make a lot of sense to us. Not that it makes sense to us all the time they go around.
[04:08.640 -> 04:14.080] But yes, P for PS3, P for Park Racing, P for pre-season testing.
[04:14.080 -> 04:17.200] I'm pretty sure everybody's as excited.
[04:17.200 -> 04:21.840] It's going to be superb because this is the first time that we properly get to see Formula
[04:21.840 -> 04:25.280] One cars designed from the ground up, considering the new technical
[04:25.280 -> 04:30.080] directive in mind and I know saying something like technical directive makes it feel very boring,
[04:30.080 -> 04:34.080] it's kind of like a doctor's letter or something like that but don't forget how important it is
[04:34.080 -> 04:40.560] because that could essentially shape up how much of bouncing we get and that for me is crucial. So
[04:40.560 -> 04:48.900] the first point that I'm very very excited to see is how the teams designed their car with that TD in mind but the one team that really comes to
[04:48.900 -> 04:53.200] mind for that one is Mercedes because I was thinking right okay Mercedes from
[04:53.200 -> 04:58.920] this year what do I want to see changed? Bouncing, side pods, the brake issues, the
[04:58.920 -> 05:03.040] drivers not hitting the other person and just running away, the weight saving
[05:03.040 -> 05:08.200] basically everything right Sundaram that's the whole team that we're probably looking at. Oh absolutely
[05:08.200 -> 05:12.720] there are quite a few things that we'll be looking at in the Mercedes car
[05:12.720 -> 05:17.720] specifically. So I think I'll start off with my first point which is going to be
[05:17.720 -> 05:22.200] the point which everyone is talking about ahead of pre-season testing, the
[05:22.200 -> 05:26.560] weight saving issue. A lot of teams have been talking about reducing their weight
[05:26.560 -> 05:30.440] below the minimum weight limit, which is 798 kilos.
[05:30.440 -> 05:32.920] And they've been really struggling to do that last year.
[05:32.920 -> 05:35.760] And this year we have two teams who have openly stated
[05:35.760 -> 05:38.520] that we are under the minimum limit
[05:38.520 -> 05:42.680] and we can use Ballast to our advantage
[05:42.680 -> 05:43.920] to try and move things around
[05:43.920 -> 05:45.480] and probably try to extract
[05:45.480 -> 05:51.040] a little bit of performance in that as well. And in Mercedes's case, it works in the case
[05:51.040 -> 05:56.100] that it's basically hitting two birds with one stone. They strip down the car to their
[05:56.100 -> 06:03.280] bare black self and they can also send the message of, you know, what do you say, fighting
[06:03.280 -> 06:05.880] against racism, racism and discrimination.
[06:05.880 -> 06:07.200] That was the initial intent.
[06:07.200 -> 06:10.680] And it kind of works both ways for them this year.
[06:10.680 -> 06:16.400] And I'm very keen on seeing how much, how much of an on track advantage it gives to
[06:16.400 -> 06:20.260] all teams in general, because most of the cars look have a little bit of black bits
[06:20.260 -> 06:21.260] on it.
[06:21.260 -> 06:24.160] It's for some, for some teams, they really don't have a choice teams like Ferrari and
[06:24.160 -> 06:28.560] McLaren, they have to go with the regular color scheme. But for Mercedes, I'm really, really keen
[06:28.560 -> 06:34.800] on seeing how much of an advantage does it give them on track. And that's P another P for political
[06:34.800 -> 06:40.880] messaging with the black liveried Mercedes out there, right. And, you know, Formula One ran this
[06:40.880 -> 06:46.600] vote of the top three best liveries. Mercedes' black W14 was the best,
[06:46.600 -> 06:49.400] followed by Ferrari's red car.
[06:49.400 -> 06:50.240] And guess what?
[06:50.240 -> 06:52.200] Number three was actually the Alfa Romeo.
[06:52.200 -> 06:55.600] So teams with all black, all red, or a mix of the two
[06:55.600 -> 06:58.620] were actually the most popular liveries on the internet.
[06:58.620 -> 07:01.000] So they're, of course, trying to keep us all engaged
[07:01.000 -> 07:04.560] till testing eventually comes out this weekend.
[07:04.560 -> 07:07.080] But talking of porpoising,
[07:07.080 -> 07:12.340] on a more serious note, I still believe it is going to be around because ground effect
[07:12.340 -> 07:16.700] cars will create porpoising just that the teams are better prepared. They have more
[07:16.700 -> 07:21.120] data. They've sort of like Somal said, gone back to the drawing board. There's a new technical
[07:21.120 -> 07:25.040] directive in place and so on, which will help them counter poppicing.
[07:25.040 -> 07:31.600] They'll have better, more improved tools to deal with poppicing while not reducing performance
[07:31.600 -> 07:36.560] of their car. So that's going to be one. But sticking still to the changes, I'm excited to see
[07:37.360 -> 07:43.520] a Formula One toothbrush, right? Because if we remember the renders that Alfa Romeo actually put
[07:43.520 -> 07:45.440] out of their car,
[07:45.440 -> 07:49.520] they had all these teeth jutting out on the floor, which is what the regulations need.
[07:49.520 -> 07:52.720] Now, imagine you run over grass, right?
[07:52.720 -> 07:56.160] You actually don't see the grass going in the side pods and getting stuck.
[07:56.160 -> 07:59.920] But this will be a dentist's nightmare.
[07:59.920 -> 08:02.320] If you run over grass, you go over gravel.
[08:02.320 -> 08:05.000] And I would love to see a Formula 1 teams actually
[08:05.000 -> 08:08.320] come with a giant toothbrush to just clean those teeth out
[08:08.320 -> 08:08.800] there.
[08:08.800 -> 08:11.240] So will testing give them a chance
[08:11.240 -> 08:12.960] to sort of showcase that as well?
[08:12.960 -> 08:16.280] I'm not too sure because Bahrain is more sand than grass.
[08:16.280 -> 08:18.240] But you guys know where I'm going with this.
[08:18.240 -> 08:20.320] The Oral-B Formula 1 team.
[08:20.320 -> 08:23.240] Not bad.
[08:23.240 -> 08:29.160] Good work. Does your car also have salt and lemons in it?
[08:29.160 -> 08:33.480] I'm nothing I'm just kidding. It's just the reference to a silly Indian ad that talks about all that rubbish
[08:33.480 -> 08:39.440] But no, it's it's true though because the teams have come up with such radical designs with their cars as well
[08:39.440 -> 08:44.680] And that's also one thing we get to see Sundaram because only a couple of them have genuinely revealed it
[08:44.720 -> 08:49.920] There are curiosities like Mercedes' side pod. Are they really going back to the zero pod?
[08:49.920 -> 08:54.240] And also things like how inspired are Aston Martin by the bigger teams as well because
[08:54.240 -> 08:59.440] at this stage not much that we can tell, can we Kunal? You know Mercedes had the zero pod
[08:59.440 -> 09:08.000] and now it's called the half pod or 0.5 pod and this reminds me of how you know alcohol brands advertise their
[09:08.000 -> 09:14.240] alcohol free and low alcohol variants. It's like you buy a regular beer it's 4% beer, you buy a
[09:14.240 -> 09:21.440] strong beer it's 6% alcohol, you buy a 0% beer it's no alcohol but hey 0.5 is just there you know
[09:21.440 -> 09:27.600] so that's the kind of Mercedes thing and And if porpoising exists, and if Mercedes continues
[09:27.600 -> 09:30.200] to struggle from porpoising, they'll
[09:30.200 -> 09:32.400] bring another P to the discussion
[09:32.400 -> 09:34.400] or to the season, which is politics.
[09:34.400 -> 09:37.660] How will they politically use their position in the sport
[09:37.660 -> 09:40.080] and use the position of, say, George Russell, who's
[09:40.080 -> 09:42.280] one of the directors of the GPDA,
[09:42.280 -> 09:44.100] to help them tackle porpoising?
[09:44.100 -> 09:45.240] They did that last year.
[09:45.240 -> 09:46.680] Will they do it again this year?
[09:46.680 -> 09:50.200] And there's been this clip that did the rounds on Twitter
[09:50.200 -> 09:51.960] and I'm sure all the other social media
[09:51.960 -> 09:57.120] that I don't use a couple of days ago with, I think
[09:57.120 -> 10:00.400] it was Lewis Hamilton in the W14 shakedown
[10:00.400 -> 10:02.040] and the car was porpoising.
[10:02.040 -> 10:04.520] It was a five or a seven second video.
[10:04.520 -> 10:05.920] Now, it could well be that
[10:05.920 -> 10:10.720] Mercedes is just playing with all of us by releasing just or you know somebody's just sort
[10:10.720 -> 10:14.560] of said okay let's just go have some fun let everybody think we still are porpoising right and
[10:14.560 -> 10:19.920] that's probably the joke in all of this but I'm pretty sure that you know they would have found
[10:19.920 -> 10:26.040] their way around it so the 0.5 concept is what they will want to bring forward. And
[10:26.040 -> 10:30.080] you know, we won't know if it's a three team battle, one team battle. I mean, pretty much
[10:30.080 -> 10:35.200] all of last year, Red Bull ran away with things. But testing will give everybody the chance
[10:35.200 -> 10:40.900] to at least test their systems like we spoke in the F1 Explained episode about preseason
[10:40.900 -> 10:50.500] testing on the podcast. And I know Sundaram did a very good reel even on his F1 stats guru handle on Instagram. There's too many references to the word
[10:50.500 -> 10:55.220] pod over here, side pod, podcast but anyway coming back to coming back to Mercedes
[10:55.220 -> 10:59.460] the other thing that I'm really looking forward to is like you mentioned the
[10:59.460 -> 11:04.340] zero pods because last year it seemed like a radical concept and this year a
[11:04.340 -> 11:06.160] year later I'm sure teams must
[11:06.160 -> 11:10.720] have tried every single variant in their wind tunnel, the one that Red Bull has, the one that
[11:10.720 -> 11:16.000] Ferrari has, and probably tried variants of what Mercedes came out with last year, the ZeroPod.
[11:16.000 -> 11:21.280] And you can see that nine of 10 teams have not gone or even come close to that concept. So they
[11:21.280 -> 11:31.040] probably see that concept as something that doesn't really give them any benefit. Whereas Mercedes still has that in the car that they launched. So it's either,
[11:31.040 -> 11:36.240] I mean, it's probably their plan A, plan B as well. So I'm expecting that they see,
[11:36.240 -> 11:41.280] they probably see some gain in running that concept. And if it doesn't work, for example,
[11:41.280 -> 11:49.960] in the first three races, probably they might switch to a plan B around one month long break in April. Exactly and with those things as well
[11:49.960 -> 11:54.480] the teams having the chance to be more adaptable and change things I'm actually
[11:54.480 -> 11:58.120] so curious to see to what degree will they go ahead and try those weight
[11:58.120 -> 12:01.600] saving measures because in the liveries we've seen a couple of teams do it but
[12:01.600 -> 12:09.440] always the car that comes around to testing is different so what sort sort of extra parts come about? What sort of weight saving measures do the teams actually
[12:09.440 -> 12:14.960] bring about? And also, I'm generally intrigued about one big story from testing this year,
[12:14.960 -> 12:18.640] and that's going to be Alpine and their fireworks displays, because as you all know,
[12:18.640 -> 12:23.440] we love to celebrate the new year with a little bit of pop and bang, right? So will that firework
[12:23.440 -> 12:25.440] or those fireworks come from Alpine
[12:25.440 -> 12:26.280] or somewhere else?
[12:26.280 -> 12:28.320] Because with the sliding scale aero
[12:28.320 -> 12:31.120] properly being implemented this year,
[12:31.120 -> 12:33.120] Alpine have a lot more testing time
[12:33.120 -> 12:34.680] in comparison to Mercedes, Ferrari,
[12:34.680 -> 12:36.900] and obviously Red Bull Racing too.
[12:36.900 -> 12:40.020] And they've been pretty confident in saying that,
[12:40.020 -> 12:42.160] yes, this is the year where we can close down the gap
[12:42.160 -> 12:44.720] and we can use our increased aero time
[12:44.720 -> 12:48.000] to get some sort of advantage over and maybe push towards the top three.
[12:48.000 -> 12:50.480] But this is the moment of truth.
[12:50.480 -> 13:01.960] This is the moment where we actually really find out just what have they got or is it just 2017 or 2018 all over again, where the end stone team always says something and ends up in P4 somehow all the time.
[13:02.000 -> 13:07.400] ends up in P4 somehow, all the time. That's a very interesting point that you made because what I've observed whenever Mercedes
[13:07.400 -> 13:13.120] have been the champions, Red Bull was always out there making bold claims about how fast
[13:13.120 -> 13:15.500] the car is going to be ahead of the season.
[13:15.500 -> 13:18.760] And this time Red Bull has really kept it very silent.
[13:18.760 -> 13:20.120] They've kept everything under wraps.
[13:20.120 -> 13:23.840] You don't see them or hear them making any bold claim that you're going to go for three
[13:23.840 -> 13:25.640] in a row in the Drivers Championship.
[13:25.640 -> 13:30.080] So I feel that there have been not many bold claims made so far.
[13:30.080 -> 13:33.640] People are pretty, teams are very realistic about their expectations.
[13:33.960 -> 13:39.320] Even Alpine and McLaren and Aston Martin are not boldly claiming that they're going to win races this year.
[13:39.840 -> 13:46.980] But I see some slight bits of positivity, especially like you mentioned in Alpine, considering that the car is underweight
[13:46.980 -> 13:49.840] and with how the car design looks like.
[13:49.840 -> 13:53.420] It does look that there might be flashes of brilliance
[13:53.420 -> 13:55.260] from Alpine and maybe even from Aston Martin
[13:55.260 -> 13:57.760] because there's some very positive,
[13:57.760 -> 13:59.780] choppy chatter that's happening
[13:59.780 -> 14:01.400] around the Aston Martin car as well.
[14:01.400 -> 14:05.120] So I don't know what could happen for them this year.
[14:11.600 -> 14:19.440] That's the F word, the Fernando Alonso effect at Aston Martin in play. But where you guys are going actually is very simple. It's going to a very, very used term, which is something we can convert
[14:19.440 -> 14:25.520] into a drinking game when it comes to preseason testing. the word is called sandbagging, right?
[14:25.520 -> 14:26.360] I'm sure you know it,
[14:26.360 -> 14:28.200] not that I need to explain it to you folks,
[14:28.200 -> 14:30.440] but for our listeners,
[14:30.440 -> 14:34.360] it's when a team doesn't want to showcase their true pace.
[14:34.360 -> 14:37.400] And there are very easy ways to sort of sandbag,
[14:37.400 -> 14:39.420] you just carry more fuel loads,
[14:39.420 -> 14:42.920] you run your power units in lower modes and so on.
[14:42.920 -> 14:47.120] So you are able to sort of push, but not push enough
[14:47.120 -> 14:48.560] to showcase that you're the fastest.
[14:48.560 -> 14:49.880] And will that be the case?
[14:49.880 -> 14:53.960] Will the top three teams specifically hold back?
[14:53.960 -> 14:55.760] Or will they turn around and say, you know what?
[14:55.760 -> 14:56.200] That's it.
[14:56.200 -> 14:58.200] This season, we're going to go hammer and tongs
[14:58.200 -> 14:59.800] and let people know from the first lap
[14:59.800 -> 15:03.080] itself that we have come up with a very strong car.
[15:03.080 -> 15:07.240] Because Red Bull, as we know, have an even bigger disadvantage
[15:07.240 -> 15:10.080] with the lesser aero time, thanks to their budget gap
[15:10.080 -> 15:12.320] breach that was there last season, right?
[15:12.320 -> 15:17.080] So I'm excited to see who is sandbagging and by how much.
[15:17.080 -> 15:20.320] And each time you hear the word sandbag, OK,
[15:20.320 -> 15:22.720] since I'm almost a teetotaler, you'll
[15:22.720 -> 15:24.760] remember the Inside Line F1 podcast
[15:24.760 -> 15:26.380] when you hear the word sandbag
[15:26.380 -> 15:29.340] during the pre-season testing broadcast.
[15:29.340 -> 15:31.880] But there's another P that I want to bring forward here,
[15:31.880 -> 15:33.920] which is PR Laps, which is again,
[15:33.920 -> 15:37.280] something that Formula One teams have done
[15:37.280 -> 15:39.520] for years and years before, right?
[15:39.520 -> 15:40.360] What does it mean?
[15:40.360 -> 15:41.560] You'll take on low fuel,
[15:41.560 -> 15:44.080] specifically on the last day of the test.
[15:44.080 -> 15:45.600] You will bang in a really quick
[15:45.600 -> 15:50.960] lap time, create a lot of positive headlines around your team and your performance and how
[15:50.960 -> 15:56.080] the car is going to do well and sort of use that to get some bit of spotlight on you before the
[15:56.080 -> 16:02.960] first race of the season and then eventually just blow your cover when it comes to performing
[16:02.960 -> 16:09.880] at the first race of the season. So PR laps are usually something that we've seen in preseason testing as well.
[16:09.880 -> 16:10.880] That's another P.
[16:10.880 -> 16:13.960] It's like wearing a tuxedo when they've asked you to dress up in semi-casuals.
[16:13.960 -> 16:15.560] It's like you don't need it.
[16:15.560 -> 16:20.080] But the moment when everyone wears a tuxedo, you probably won't look that much more special.
[16:20.080 -> 16:22.120] I again, I don't get it.
[16:22.120 -> 16:26.240] But there are times when PR laps are not always like PR laps. I mean,
[16:26.240 -> 16:31.440] Braun GP in 2009 most people thought that was a PR lap but inside the paddock there was a genuine
[16:31.440 -> 16:39.040] fear that hey these guys are fast but I'm curious about events like those because I mean logically
[16:39.040 -> 16:43.360] speaking this is the year where we should start to see some changes, some midfield teams getting
[16:43.360 -> 16:51.440] closer, some sort of change towards let's say creating a new world order in Formula One if that word is well. I haven't
[16:51.440 -> 16:55.360] I haven't said that word for so long and I don't think you've probably heard it since the 2000s as
[16:55.360 -> 17:00.560] well. So there's there's a word that's getting back again. That's that's a bit of a start but
[17:00.560 -> 17:04.880] maybe this is the season where we start to see something quite like that. But what's actually
[17:04.880 -> 17:08.400] been annoying me more than the fact that the midfield teams haven't been able
[17:08.400 -> 17:14.480] to close up is the fact that how inconsistent their names are. McLaren folks have just launched
[17:14.480 -> 17:21.600] a car called the MCL60. So I did some very basic sixth grade math, rather third grade math but in
[17:21.600 -> 17:26.560] 2047 will the McLaren Formula One car be then called the MCL37?
[17:27.280 -> 17:33.120] Because they've just named the MCL60 in 2023 and then so just to kind of replace the order,
[17:33.120 -> 17:40.000] they will have to put this year's car in 2047? Why? It could be worse. It could be Ferrari.
[17:40.000 -> 17:44.320] It could be the SF something. I think Ferrari named their cars like Elon Musk names his kids.
[17:44.400 -> 17:45.120] it could be the SF something. I think Ferrari named their cars like Elon Musk names his kids.
[17:50.880 -> 17:59.760] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, these car names are so tough to go by. And, you know, especially from 2020 to 2021 and 2022, when the new regulations were delayed, suddenly it was RB16B, right. And
[17:59.760 -> 18:08.800] I remember Alfa Romeo actually used the 2021 nomenclature in 2020 and so on. And with McLaren, of course, it's 60 years since Bruce McLaren started the team,
[18:08.800 -> 18:14.760] and hence they've used the MCL60, just the way we had SF1000 in the Ferrari,
[18:14.760 -> 18:17.800] I think a couple of years ago when they did the 1000 races or something.
[18:17.800 -> 18:20.920] But here's some interesting stats, right?
[18:20.920 -> 18:30.000] Not every team will do the equal number of mileage or laps as they would in those three days of pre-season testing.
[18:30.000 -> 18:35.000] There could be reliability issues, there could be different run plans and so on.
[18:35.000 -> 18:46.560] For example, Ferrari did 788 laps last year, as opposed to Haas, who could only do 413 laps, right? And it's going to be very exciting to see what the
[18:46.560 -> 18:51.920] mileage count this year would be because last year was six days of testing. This year is, of course,
[18:51.920 -> 18:58.160] just three days of testing. The teams have had more time with these concept cars, but also less
[18:58.160 -> 19:07.400] half the time of testing than last year. Also, could Aston Martin just run one single driver throughout the three days of pre-season
[19:07.400 -> 19:08.400] testing?
[19:08.400 -> 19:10.320] I mean, much as we joked about it at the start of the year.
[19:10.320 -> 19:13.520] So lots of different stories to look forward to.
[19:13.520 -> 19:18.520] And crucially about pre-season testing, this is one area where there can be very little
[19:18.520 -> 19:23.200] friction when it comes to FIA and Formula One.
[19:23.200 -> 19:24.200] Why?
[19:24.200 -> 19:26.200] Because, you know, there isn't really anything that
[19:26.200 -> 19:30.920] one needs to regulate in pre-season testing. Like we said in the F1 Explained episode,
[19:30.920 -> 19:37.480] a team could come with a completely illegal car in pre-season testing and not be disqualified
[19:37.480 -> 19:43.000] for it. So will Mohammed bin Sulaym be there? I'm pretty sure Stefano Dominicali will be
[19:43.000 -> 19:45.840] there. Will they be, you know, crossing paths
[19:45.840 -> 19:52.320] again? Will they be at it again? Something new to argue about? I don't know. I don't think preseason
[19:52.320 -> 19:58.560] testing will have all that garnishing and masala as say a normal race weekend would. But hey,
[19:58.560 -> 20:04.000] Formula One is back and that's what we're going to celebrate this preseason test.
[20:04.000 -> 20:05.040] I'm just wondering though
[20:05.040 -> 20:09.580] will we be able to celebrate Ferrari at the end of the day because if there's
[20:09.580 -> 20:14.440] one thing that I'm genuinely excited to watch it's the way the team behaves what
[20:14.440 -> 20:17.880] sort of body language do they carry what sort of way do they communicate with the
[20:17.880 -> 20:21.680] media just how much of an impact can a new team principal like Fred Vasseur
[20:21.680 -> 20:25.080] have and also just simple things like how confident
[20:25.080 -> 20:26.040] are the engineers?
[20:26.040 -> 20:28.520] Because under the past couple of managements,
[20:28.520 -> 20:30.120] they just seemed clueless.
[20:30.120 -> 20:32.320] And at last, we have a leader who
[20:32.320 -> 20:35.680] seems at least to have that sort of control and balance
[20:35.680 -> 20:36.320] within the team.
[20:36.320 -> 20:38.400] So that's also one thing I'm very intrigued to see,
[20:38.400 -> 20:38.880] Sundaram.
[20:38.880 -> 20:41.160] What sort of body language do they carry into testing?
[20:41.160 -> 20:43.480] And by what stage will we start to bet on them
[20:43.480 -> 20:44.760] when in the world championship?
[20:44.760 -> 20:49.680] Because it always happens. It's not testing if we don't do that, it's just a staple at this point.
[20:49.680 -> 20:53.600] I don't think so we're going to be betting on Ferrari anytime soon this season, even if they
[20:53.600 -> 20:58.080] win the first five races, I think people are going to hold their horses and reserve their
[20:58.080 -> 21:03.120] predictions about how Ferrari could probably end the season. So until the second half of the
[21:03.120 -> 21:07.500] of the year, I don't think so people are going to be expecting Ferrari
[21:07.500 -> 21:09.240] or predicting Ferrari to end because you know
[21:09.240 -> 21:12.000] how that jinx works or how it worked last year.
[21:12.000 -> 21:13.580] And, you know, pre-season testing,
[21:13.580 -> 21:15.600] each team allowed to run one car,
[21:15.600 -> 21:18.000] which means drivers are sharing sessions.
[21:18.000 -> 21:20.520] George Russell has already come out and said,
[21:20.520 -> 21:23.960] let teams run two cars for the test,
[21:23.960 -> 21:24.880] because as a driver,
[21:24.880 -> 21:26.540] you just get one and a half days to prepare.
[21:26.600 -> 21:30.040] And in some way, I like this whole efficiency era of Formula One.
[21:30.100 -> 21:33.640] You have lesser time, lesser money to still come up
[21:33.700 -> 21:36.840] and deliver the best possible results that you would, right?
[21:36.900 -> 21:42.800] And why don't we all pick one driver that we are all excited to follow on track?
[21:42.860 -> 21:46.520] And I can go first, since I'm always the one answering my questions first.
[21:46.520 -> 21:49.760] The one driver I'm most excited to see is Oscar Piastri.
[21:49.760 -> 21:50.260] Right?
[21:50.260 -> 21:50.760] Yes.
[21:50.760 -> 21:55.000] Now, he has been the hottest property in Formula 1
[21:55.000 -> 21:57.600] without actually having driven a Formula 1 car.
[21:57.600 -> 21:58.200] Right?
[21:58.200 -> 22:00.120] Now, the preseason test is only going
[22:00.120 -> 22:02.680] to be his first shot at driving the latest
[22:02.680 -> 22:03.840] spec of Formula 1 cars.
[22:03.840 -> 22:07.000] So I don't think it'll impact his stock right away.
[22:07.000 -> 22:08.920] But how quickly will he settle in?
[22:08.920 -> 22:10.960] How much time will he need?
[22:10.960 -> 22:12.320] How fast can he go?
[22:12.320 -> 22:13.040] How many missed?
[22:13.040 -> 22:15.320] How few mistakes he'll make?
[22:15.320 -> 22:18.800] And hence, will his stock continue
[22:18.800 -> 22:22.080] to rise at McLaren against a very, very capable Lando
[22:22.080 -> 22:23.040] Norris?
[22:23.040 -> 22:24.000] And so on.
[22:24.000 -> 22:27.400] So Oscar Piastri is my pick of the driver
[22:27.400 -> 22:29.640] to follow in preseason testing.
[22:29.640 -> 22:31.600] And maybe I'm going to say this for the first three races
[22:31.600 -> 22:32.480] of the season as well.
[22:32.480 -> 22:35.360] But Sundaram, what's your pick?
[22:35.360 -> 22:37.080] And apart from the obvious, I mean,
[22:37.080 -> 22:39.160] obvious being the youngest driver on the grid,
[22:39.160 -> 22:43.240] I am keeping my eyes on Nick DeVries
[22:43.240 -> 22:45.880] because there's been a lot of talk about if he deserves
[22:45.880 -> 22:47.880] his place in Formula 1.
[22:47.880 -> 22:53.840] He didn't have the most natural promotion to Formula 1 since he became the Formula 2
[22:53.840 -> 22:54.840] champion.
[22:54.840 -> 22:59.880] But yeah, I'm quite interested to see how he fares through this year.
[22:59.880 -> 23:01.560] And I think I'll go last.
[23:01.560 -> 23:07.000] In my opinion, the most exciting driver to watch for in testing this year has to be Logan Sargent.
[23:07.000 -> 23:14.000] Because let's be honest, Williams have really done a fantastic job to shelter him. He's not been in the media attention at all.
[23:14.000 -> 23:21.000] And normally think about it right, an American driver entering Formula 1. This should be headline news.
[23:21.000 -> 23:30.640] We should be laughing, crying, celebrating. I think, no, some of us were laughing, but some of us should be just exclaiming in joy here and there about finally an American
[23:30.640 -> 23:36.480] driver coming to Formula One, but that hasn't happened. And so I'm finally excited to see,
[23:36.480 -> 23:40.440] okay, what can this guy do in a Formula One car of modern spec? I know we've had a couple
[23:40.440 -> 23:47.680] of FP1 runs, but that's not enough. This is the time where we actually understand what Logan Sargent is made of and so that's the one thing
[23:47.680 -> 23:52.040] I'm very curious about among so many other things but that's all to come over
[23:52.040 -> 23:55.280] the course of the next couple of days folks and I hope that you truly enjoy
[23:55.280 -> 23:58.740] watching testing because thank goodness for all the access that we get these
[23:58.740 -> 24:04.240] days but if you are in Mumbai in this next couple of days in fact on the 26th
[24:04.240 -> 24:05.520] of February on Sunday,
[24:05.520 -> 24:11.440] then you have to come to our second ever F1 pit stop, our live meetup that happens at Palladium
[24:11.440 -> 24:16.800] Social. So we're going to be talking a lot about testing, drive to survive and joining us will be
[24:16.800 -> 24:21.840] Abhishek Thakle, a very, very experienced Formula 1 journalist from the country who spent years and
[24:21.840 -> 24:28.440] years covering the sport on ground. And as usual, there'll be lots of banter, lots of talk about the upcoming season, and
[24:28.440 -> 24:33.120] most importantly, a chance to interact for us with all of you to know your opinions on
[24:33.120 -> 24:34.120] the sport as well.
[24:34.120 -> 24:39.680] So don't forget to join us and check out the link in the episode description for more information.
[24:39.680 -> 24:42.000] But for now, folks, we've got to say goodbye.
[24:42.000 -> 24:43.680] See you on the 26th if you're in Mumbai.
[24:43.680 -> None] Bye-bye. you