ATLAS F1 - THE JOURNAL OF FORMULA ONE MOTORSPORT
2003 SuperStats: Winter Testing

By David Wright, Australia
Atlas F1 Magazine Writer



Advice: With each table, click on a column's header (title) to sort the table by that column; click again to change the sorting order.

Fastest times is a listing of the fastest time by each team at the six tracks that have been used during winter testing. For each team at each track, the fastest time set during testing is listed first. This is then followed by the fastest time set during the November/December testing period and then January testing, followed by the improvement recorded between November/December and January testing if a time was set in both periods (- indicates a faster time was set in January, while + indicates te team was slower in January).

At all the tracks they visited (including the two that they were the only team to test at), Ferrari top the tables. Toyota must be slightly disappointed that at the Paul Ricard track where they do a huge amount of testing, Renault turned up for a couple of days of testing of their new car and managed to outpace them, while at Valencia, McLaren just holds off Williams at a track which Michelin favour for testing.

Barcelona:

Fiorano:

Jerez:

Mugello:

Paul Ricard:

Valencia:


Driver days compares the number of days each driver, and team, has driven during winter testing, with a driver day being counted for each driver that tests for a team on a day of testing - multiple drivers for one team on a day of testing mean multiple driver days. A total of 39 drivers have driven for the ten teams in these tests from November through to January, for a total of 292 driver days of testing. With Jordan testing in January every team has taken part in the testing, while of those drivers confirmed to drive in 2003, Minardi's Justin Wilson and Jos Verstappen have not taken part.

Of the drivers that have taken part, Marc Gene clearly leads the way with 23 days, from Luciano Burti and Cristiano da Matta on 18 days and Olivier Panis on 17. From the teams' perspective, Williams-BMW clearly lead the way with 56, from Ferrari on 42, with Renault, McLaren-Mercedes and Toyota closely bunched together, while Jordan and Minardi clearly trail the field.


The driver totals compares the total number of laps completed by each driver during testing, with the total number of laps broken down circuit by circuit. A total of 15709 laps have been completed during testing since the end of the 2002 season. Marc Gene has taken over the top of the standings for the dizziest driver with 1420 laps, including a mammoth 103 laps during one day at Barcelona in January. Next up is Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer with 1211 laps, as he pounds away the miles for Ferrari and Bridgestone. Next up is Williams-BMW's Juan Pablo Montoya closely followed by Ferrari's other test driver Luciano Burti, both completing more than 1000 laps, enough laps for a full season of racing. Then there are a large group of drivers who have completed several days of testing with around 600 to 800 laps of testing led by Toyota rookie Cristiano da Matta. Similar to Ferrari's use of Fiorano and Mugello, Toyota spend a lot of time testing by themselves at the Paul Ricard circuit, with more than half of da Matta's testing at the French circuit. At the bottom of the table is a group comprising mainly of drivers the teams evaluated for possible further use as test drivers.

By default, the table is sorted by total laps in descending order.


The team totals compare the total number of laps completed by each driver during testing, with the total number of laps broken down circuit by circuit. Again, 15709 laps have been completed during the testing period. On top are Williams, moving well clear of Ferrari during January, having completed just over 25% more laps than the Scuderia, both teams spreading their testing over several circuits. McLaren-Mercedes are clearly next, followed by Renault, Toyota, Jaguar-Cosworth, Sauber-Petronas and BAR-Honda. Meanwhile Minardi's testing token effort of testing, completing just over 100 laps, still places them ahead of Jordan who have begun testing recently.

By default, the table is sorted by total laps in descending order.


The distance totals compare the total distance completed by drivers and teams during testing. A total of 72089.959 km has been covered during testing, the equivalent of over 236 Grand Prix distances! These two tables follow a similar pattern to the previous tables, though Toyota moves ahead of Renault. Jordan and Minardi's testing is the equivalent of just over one and a third Grands Prix, compared to pacesetter Williams who have completed approximately 50 and a half! Meanwhile Marc Gene's testing has seen him cover the equivalent of more than 20 race distances.

By default, the tables are sorted by total distance in descending order.


The averages compare the average distance completed and average laps completed by the drivers and teams. The drivers leading the table have averaged more than a race distance per day of testing, with the Ferrari team itself averaging almost a race distance per day per driver. Meanwhile Minardi and Jordan continue to lag behind the other teams.

This table is listed in alphabetical order (drivers by surname).


Finally, the battle of the two tyre companies. With the departure of Arrows, and Jordan not testing before building their new car for 2003, Bridgestone had only three teams at their disposal in November and December while Michelin had six teams out there running. This table tends to reflect this imbalance, with Michelin's totals either just under or just over double Bridgestone's total in each of the categories of total distance, total laps, and driver days. Interestingly, when looking at the averages, Bridgestone runners have averaged almost 10% more running per driver day compared to their Michelin counterparts.

This table is also listed in alphabetical order.


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Volume 9, Issue 5
January 29th 2003

Atlas F1 Special

Back to the Future: The FIASCO War
by Don Capps

Articles

The FIA's Hard Stance: Zero Tolerance
by Will Gray

2003 SuperStats: Winter Testing
by David Wright

Columns

The F1 Trivia Quiz
by Marcel Borsboom

Off-Season Strokes
by Bruce Thomson

Elsewhere in Racing
by David Wright & Mark Alan Jones

The Weekly Grapevine
by Tom Keeble



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