Decoding winter testing in Formula 1 with Jean Alesi

Utility of tests, performance analysis, forecasts for 2023... Jean Alesi speaks to Motors Inside from Bahrain.

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Rédigé par Par

Pre-season tests are not unanimously supported. Some people want more testing days, while others believe it has become almost pointless. According to Jean Alesi, the tests have changed a lot compared to his time. They are no longer really used to develop the car but rather to verify the correlation between work at the factory and actual driving.

The trials: a white Grand Prix

It’s a White Grand Prix because testing, with budget caps, was obviously the first thing to be reduced because during testing, not only does it cost the teams, but there is also all the equipment, since there used to be a lot of developments made. They used to come with gearboxes, they had many things brought to see if it was going in the right direction or not. Testing used to be kilometers of development, but today it’s no longer like that, meaning that the cars are made beforehand, in the factory with simulators and wind tunnels, and with a system where the car is on a balance and you can program the Suzuka or Bahrain or Abu Dhabi circuit and then the car will move as if it were on the track. It’s a whole job that is done to optimize the car.

Times have changed.

Today, they arrive with cars that are, in quotation marks, ready, and they are conducting checks these days to see if the figures they have correspond to reality.

They have what they call “bird cages”, they leave with these kinds of large cages. They control everything. It’s not testing because for us it was pure performance, for them it’s just about knowing if a 15-millimeter front ride height corresponds to a 47% front or rear aero balance compared to what they have in the wind tunnel.

For us, it was all about the feeling, meaning that we had a modified front wing to provide more downforce and overall, we would drive and say, “I think it’s rolling too much on the rear or it’s giving way too much understeer.”

Finally, before it was the drivers who were responsible for the work that is now done today with CFD and wind tunnel testing, which, according to him, proves the talent of champions like Alain Prost or Nikki Lauda.

That’s why in our era, people used to say Alain Prost was a true master at fine-tuning. Because he was someone who had sensitivity, not only to feel but also to say “it’s certain that this is better, but this will deteriorate something else”. His experience and intuition always led the team in the right direction. Lauda did it too, even more so, I think all champions had that, I am sure.

We also need a very good engineer, the Adrian Neweys of the times, that is to say, Gordon Murray, Colin Chapman, they were geniuses. Adrian Newey is a genius. If tomorrow we remove all the restrictions, he would make a car that beats everyone by a lap.

The winter trials are also an opportunity to bring in TV, journalists, and promoters: a sort of back-to-school meeting.

They use these three test days to bring together all the TV stations that have the rights, journalists, and promoters, who are the organizers of each Grand Prix. They have Mexico, Canada… They discuss the issues among themselves, it’s a bit of a meeting. Last year, the promoter of France was there, unfortunately, they are no longer there.

His perspective on the 2023 trials.

He no longer has any secrets for them, [the teams] in the sense that they know the performance of the tire, they also have tools that allow them to know the speed of the cars, not only in corners but also in straight lines, they know more or less who uses the boost or not. They manage to calibrate the work with the other teams. Even if it is a very big task, it is done meticulously in their respective factories, so they control that well, but the teams on site have a lot of things to review and analyze.

The onsite team analyzes performance data and the remote team analyzes differences with the competition. When they come back to the briefing in the evening, they have a report on the day. With that, they are able to calibrate their programs.

Regarding Red Bull tests…

For example, Red Bull is ahead of everyone, how do you know where they stand? Just yesterday, they did 3 Grand Prix in white, they did 160 laps. You can’t run 160 laps without any fuel, so they did Grand Prix simulations. It’s very simple to know how much fuel is needed. They have proper calculation methods. For them, it’s all part of their programs.

His predictions regarding Alpine’s season.

« We can have some little ideas for Q3 but not even Q2. Alpine doesn’t have the position or the pretension to say they’re playing for the championship. They have been very courageous and I congratulate them for that, for choosing two French drivers who are certainly the two best young drivers in the F1 paddock because they each have a victory to their name. Esteban led the entire Grand Prix. Gasly had a restart, he fought like a dog. They will structure it properly. I will say, they need to finish at least with the same position as last year.

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