New Driver Testing: The Engineer’s Reaction

08 | 12 | 09
Following Brendon Hartley and Mirko Bortolotti's tests in Spain, we caught up with chief engineer Laurent Mekies for his reaction to the three days.

“We tried to build a running plan that gives us the opportunity to compare Brendon and Mirko, to give them the opportunity to give some feedback on the car under different conditions, in a way that they can see how good their feeling and feedback is," said Laurent. “The second part of the programme is more technical. Every time we can, we test new elements that will be actually fitted onto the new car. So this can be mechanical or aerodynamic components, so that’s why you see us doing a lot of straightline passes, a lot of aerodynamic measurements.

“Another very important aspect is next year’s big rule change: the refuelling ban. The car will run much heavier, so we simulated the car with a very high mass. We don’t add the fuel, the monocoque is not big enough, but we added ballast to be more or less the weight of next year’s race start.”

Which was the main target for this test?
“The driver is the priority for this test. With the new testing rules, new drivers don’t really have a chance to drive a F1 car.”

How do you evaluate them?
“We have a similar programme for both and it's a simpler programme to our racing drivers'. For example, when we evaluate new components or a new set-up, we try to only change one item at a time, so they have a chance to understand what a tyre change is, what kind of feedback is required, what an aerodynamic change is, etc.”

What is the most important thing?
“To be honest, the most important thing will always be the speed, lap time.”

What about consistency?
“Yes, consistency is important. But you always prefer a driver who has very good speed, because you hope that – especially with young drivers – consistency comes with experience. Of course, there is consistency and the ability to give proper feedback, but all these things will come with experience. Speed also comes with experience, but to a lesser extent.”

Do you sometimes lie about set-up changes?
“No, we don’t tell lies! Sometimes we don't tell the driver about the changes we've done. It’s natural, if you know what you should expect, then you're already prepared to feel that. So sometimes we do blind tests, but this is for the team's and the driver's benefit.”