Testing
赛车测试

As the sport of Formula One racing grew ever more technically demanding, so the practice of testing grew in importance. The old principle of tinkering with an instinctively designed car has long since been superseded by systematic testing of every major component and structure - both before and after the car is fully built and ready to race.
随着F1赛车运动的技术要求变得越来越高，赛车测试也越变得越重要了。对于以前那些凭直觉设计出来的赛车，我们有一套方法来进行调试，但这些老的方法现在早就被系统测试所取代，在赛车造好之前以及赛车完全造好并做好可以比赛的准备后，我们都需要对主要的零部件以及结构进行系统的测试。

Much of this testing work happens unseen, deep within the constructors' factories and wind tunnel facilities. Once cars are assembled the more conspicuous type of testing begins, out on race tracks with real drivers at the wheel. This is where a car's fundamental abilities can be properly assessed for the first time - in the past, many cars that look great 'on paper' turned out to perform poorly on the track. But track testing - much of it now done during Friday practice at Grands Prix - is also where the steady evolution that happens to all Formula One cars during the course of their life begins, a constant improvement of tiny details and set-up.
很多的测试工作我们是看不到的，比如说在汽车制造工厂里以及风洞试验室里所做的测试工作。待车子装配好之后，我们就可以看到试车员们开着赛车在赛道上进行的那些更引人注意的测试工作。在赛道上我们才能够第一次正确评测到一辆赛车的各项基本性能，在过去，很多赛车在没造出来的时候光看图纸会觉得很不错，但真正造出来到了赛道上表现出来的性能却很糟糕。现在大多数赛车都会在大奖赛周五的练习赛中进行赛道测试，在此过程中需要对赛车的一些小细节以及装配不断的改进，因此赛道如今也成为赛车得以逐步完善的场所。

By midway through the first decade of the 21st century, a typical Formula One testing programme had become a major exercise in both manpower and logistics, with many teams using multiple test drivers to take a share of the burden away from the race drivers. Conscious of the spiraling costs, which invariably resulted in development invisible and meaningless to fans, Formula One racing’s governing body began to impose increasingly stringent testing restrictions.
在本世纪头十年的中期，对F1赛车进行一套标准测试都变成了对人力和物流的大规模演习，很多车队都需要好几个试车员来为赛车手分担一些任务。由于这些螺旋上升的花费最后都用在了对车迷们来说既看不见的又没有意义的开发上面，F1比赛的主管团体也开始对赛车测试进行越来越严格的限制。

In 2008 the regulations were amended to limit each constructor to 30,000km of testing per season, the majority done during multi-team tests (normally three days in duration) at FIA-approved racetracks around Europe, where any team could elect to pay a portion of the costs and to bring its cars. In addition, teams also operated closed sessions where they could trial top-secret future machinery or innovations.
2008年修订的规则中对每个制造商每赛季进行的测试里程限制在30000km以内。其中大部分的测试内容是在通常为期三天，在经FIA-国际汽联认可的欧洲的一些赛道上进行的多团队测试中完成的，在这些赛道上各车队可以选择付一定比例的场地费用，然后带着自己的车在这里测试。另外，各车队也会在一些封闭场所进行高机密的新装置新发明测试。

The testing allowance was slashed to 15,000km in 2009, with in-season testing banned, effectively limiting teams to just a handful of pre-season tests in February and March. This has turned the three hours of practice on Grand Prix Fridays into highly valuable track time, as it is now teams’ only real opportunity to track test in-season developments.
在2009年，规定的测试里程限制又被砍到15000km，而且赛季中禁止测试，这有效地限制了各车队只能在2月和3月进行大量的赛季前测试。这就使得大奖赛中周五在赛道上三个小时的练习赛变得逾足珍贵，因为这三个小时就是车队在赛季中进行在赛道上测试开发的唯一机会。