Inside Line: What they say and what they really mean during testing

Tuesday, 19 February 2019 at 08:53

Corporate speak is what we tend to get from teams after every Formula 1 session - be it practice, qualifying or race sessions as well as after each day of testing - and thus deciphering what drivers and engineers supposedly say is something of an art.

Here we have a go at getting to the bottom of the meaning of what was really said after day one of Formula 1 preseason testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona:

Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel: “Coming here I was pretty open-minded and had no expectations and I didn’t need that much time to familiar with the car, as it was making everything quite straightforward for me. I must say I am still a bit rusty, but I’ll sleep well tonight."

Meaning: "The SF90 is good, very good."

McLaren

Carlos Sainz: “It looks like our hard work has paid off today. It’s been a very positive start as we’ve been able to run without big issues.”

Meaning: "Fingers crossed."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: “Today was a positive day, where we completed nearly every test we had planned and had very few issues to contend with. All-in-all, today was a good first step for our team in 2019.”

Meaning: "We are relieved!"

Mercedes

Valtteri Bottas: “I quite enjoyed this morning, it’s good to be back at the track. I’m looking forward to more time in the car tomorrow afternoon.”

Meaning: "I had fun, but can't wait to get those extra ponies Toto has in his bag of tricks."

Lewis Hamilton: “It feels quite a bit different compared to last year and we’re now getting to know it, trying to understand the balance and trying to understand the characteristics we’re working with."

Meaning: "Hmmm, not sure about the handling guys."

James Allison, Technical Director: "Today was not about absolute pace and we’re reasonably pleased with the handling of the car and the way it is behaving."

Meaning: "Wait until we really switch it on and release all those silver ponies." Said with a smile.

Racing Point

Sergio Perez: “I felt quite happy with the car straight away. The conditions weren’t great: the track was quite cold and green to begin with, but I end the first day feeling positive."

Meaning: "We have a fast car."

Tom McCullough, Performance Engineering Director: “We had some teething problems, but nothing overly concerning. Sergio was very upbeat about the initial feeling from the car and the baseline set-up so that’s really encouraging feedback."

Meaning: "Sure we had a niggle or two but Sergio is very happy and we were second quickest. Yes, we have a fast car."

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat: “I have another three days in the car which gives us the chance to improve on the things we worked on today, so we will look over the data to see which direction we will take on Wednesday.”

Meaning: "I am rusty but I will get there."

Jody Egginton, Deputy Technical Director: “It is good to get back to the serious business of testing and start to understand our new car. We end today having started down the road of achieving this and as always we are starting to answer questions but also generating new ones at a similar rate!"

Meaning: Blah, blah, blah.

Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director: "It was a trouble-free day on the PU side, which is a positive start to the test. We hope to continue this good momentum over the remaining seven days of testing.”

Meaning: "We hope that when we crank it up that it won't go: boom."

Renault

Team Report: "The team’s main focus for day one was building mileage in the Renault R.S.19 and ensuring the various systems on the car were working as designed."

Meaning: "Not sure why we are slowest..."

Nico Hülkenberg: “It was fun and very enjoyable to be back driving a Formula 1 car. You forget how fast these cars are, especially Turns 3 and 9 around here, so it’s great to be back driving again."

Meaning: "I am getting old, I better sharpen up."

Daniel Ricciardo: "Today was about bedding ourselves back into it and, for me, continuing to learn about a new car and a new team."

Meaning: "Why was I the slowest?"

Williams

Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal: "It is looking more likely than not that we will now not be in a position to run on track until Wednesday at the earliest."

Meaning: "Paddy where is our friggin' car!!!"

Haas

Romain Grosjean: "We didn’t have a smooth run in the morning, but saying that, the afternoon went better. We had lost a fair bit of track time, but we recovered to put in some good runs."

Meaning: " I f@cked up again."

Guenther Steiner: “Not the best day today. In the morning we had an issue with the control of the fuel pumps, which forced us to stop out on the track. That lost us some time."

Meaning: "Romain f@cked up again, and we used the 'fuel pressure' excuse for him this time."

In other words don't believe what they say, F1 media peeps dish out reams of much-appreciated content but the truth is they are preaching the politically correct line they are paid to do by their teams.

But I often think how refreshing it would be to have teams and drivers to call it as it really is, we might get the like of:

Our guy was sleeping, he must think he is still out there surfing or skydiving.
We're confused and struggling to understand why we are so fast.
Now let's see what they give Daddy's boy...
Why is the Red car so much faster than my Silver car?
My car is faster than yours nah-nah-na-nah!
Fuel pressure? More like brain fade.
He is driving like a Granny and this is his third chance!!!
This car is a heap of cr@p, I want to go back to my old team.
Idiots! How can they miss the first two days of testing?

Etc etc etc