First race in just over two weeks. Barcelona - 09/03/2009 1 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:20.338 (+ 0.000 ) - 96 laps 2 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 1:20.908 (+ 0.570 ) - 81 laps 3 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 1:20.937 (+ 0.599 ) - 121 laps 4 . J. Button - Brawn GP Mercedes BGP001 - 1:21.140 (+ 0.802 ) - 82 laps 5 . N. Piquet - Renault R29 - 1:21.662 (+ 1.324 ) - 126 laps 6 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 1:22.158 (+ 1.820 ) - 86 laps 7 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 1:22.246 (+ 1.908 ) - 117 laps 8 . A. Sutil - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 1:22.452 (+ 2.114 ) - 129 laps 9 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW31 - 1:22.813 (+ 2.475 ) - 111 laps 10 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 1:22.948 (+ 2.610 ) - 90 laps. Earl ALEXANDER © CAPSIS International
there's talk they're sandbagging....but........ Following a troubled test last week at Jerez, the McLaren Mercedes team were back in action today in Barcelona with Heikki Kovalainen behind the wheel. The test team today fitted the MP4-24 with the 2009-specification rear wing after opting to run the older high downforce 2008 device for the bulk of the pre-season running. The morning session was spent focusing on longer runs using an existing bodywork package in order to establish an accurate baseline ahead of the evaluation of new parts in the afternoon. During the lunch break, MP4-24 was fitted with a new front wing, floor and top body and the programme continued - on identical fuel-loads - throughout the afternoon. Kovalainen completed 90 laps over the day, his best lap of 1:22.948s coming on his 85th tour. The Finn was the slowest of the ten runners, 2.610s off the ultimate pace. The team now turns its focus towards tuning the set-up in order to fully exploit the characteristics of the new aero kit. E.A. © CAPSIS International Image Unavailable, Please Login
Today saw Scuderia Ferrari initiate its final test session at the Catalunya Circuit, near Barcelona, prior to the start of the World Championship season. Kimi Raikkonen was tasked with taking the controls of the Ferrari F60, alongside nine other teams testing here the first time this year that all the teams have been present at the same time. The Finnish driver worked on finding the best set-up for the car, on reliability and on a comparison between various aerodynamic solutions. Raikkonen covered a total of 81 laps, the quickest in a time of 1:20. 908, second fastest on the day. Testing continues at this circuit tomorrow, again with Raikkonen on track. © CAPSIS International
Barcelona - 10/03/2009 1 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 1:20.314 (+ 0.000 ) - 55 laps 2 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW31 - 1:20.907 (+ 0.593 ) - 66 laps 3 . R. Barrichello - Brawn GP Mercedes BGP001 - 1:20.966 (+ 0.652 ) - 111 laps 4 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 1:21.182 (+ 0.868 ) - 121 laps 6 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 1:21.347 (+ 1.033 ) - 66 laps 7 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:21.615 (+ 1.301 ) - 127 laps 8 . A. Sutil - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 1:21.834 (+ 1.520 ) - 82 laps 9 . F. Alonso - Renault R29 - 1:21.834 (+ 1.520 ) - 111 laps 10 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 1:21.991 (+ 1.677 ) - 88 laps 11 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 1:23.039 (+ 2.725 ) - 14 laps 12 . S. Buemi - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - No Time (+ N/A ) - 6 laps. Earl ALEXANDER © CAPSIS International Tuesday was the second day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari at the Catalunya Circuit, near Barcelona. Once again it was Kimi Raikkonen who was on track today and his planned programme consisted of a comparison of various set-up options at the start of the day, followed by Grand Prix weekend simulation - both qualifying and the race. The simulation came to a premature end however because of a problem with the KERS cooling system. Up to that point, Raikkonen had completed 55 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.20.314s, which nevertheless turned out to be the fastest lap of the day. The Scuderia continues testing at this circuit tomorrow, with Felipe Massa on track. E.A. © CAPSIS International Image Unavailable, Please Login
I know this isnt a great indicator for how the season will pan out but Brawn GP seem to be doing quite well.
it would be sort of funny if the drivers and chassis were always good, and it was the engine that was the trouble all that time.
Think Jensen would happily agree with anything that puts some wood back in his peker for this season. Get the feeling the guy desperately wants to race for a change.
Agreed. I must say after seeing these testing results i am a little excited to see how they get on this year. As Jim would say...GO BUTTON!
Barcelona - 11/03/2009 1 . J. Button - Brawn GP Mercedes BGP001 - 1:19.127 (+ 0.000 ) - 130 laps 2 . F. Massa - Ferrari F60 - 1:20.168 (+ 1.041 ) - 109 laps 3 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:20.217 (+ 1.090 ) - 114 laps 4 . T. Glock - Toyota TF109 - 1:20.410 (+ 1.283 ) - 132 laps 5 . F. Alonso - Renault R29 - 1:20.863 (+ 1.736 ) - 107 laps 6 . S. Vettel - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 1:21.165 (+ 2.038 ) - 102 laps 7 . N. Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW31 - 1:21.324 (+ 2.197 ) - 89 laps 8 . G. Fisichella - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 1:21.545 (+ 2.418 ) - 97 laps 9 . S. Buemi - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 1:21.569 (+ 2.442 ) - 145 laps 10 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 1:21.657 (+ 2.530 ) - 86 laps. Testing is one thing and racing is another, but based on the times recorded in Jerez last week and so far at Circuit de Catalunya this week, Formula One could be in for a real shake-up when the season gets underway in Australia. Jenson Button took over testing duties in the new Brawn Mercedes from Rubens Barrichello today and set the pace a cool second clear of Felipe Massa in the Ferrari. Button completed 130 laps, his fastest time of 1:19.127s coming on his 93rd tour of the day. To put Buttons pace into perspective, Kimi Raikkonen claimed pole position, albeit with race fuel on board, at the same circuit for the Spanish Grand Prix last year on a 1:21.813 while the fastest lap so far this week was a 1:20.314. Ross Brawn and his team remarked throughout the off-season that should the team make the grid for the Australian Grand Prix, the then RA109 would be something special. We dont know the fuel loads but looking at this week's performance and assuming nothing untoward, the BGP001 could well prove to be every bit as good as previous claims. Well see in Melbourne... With Michael Schumacher again watching the progress of the Ferrari team Massa took over the test programme from Kimi Raikkonen and was second fastest in the F60 ahead of Robert Kubica who returned to the BMW Sauber cockpit today. Timo Glock continued Toyota's impressive pre-season form with the fourth fastest time in the TF109. Fernando Alonso completed his second day of running in the Renault with the fifth fastest time on a day when team boss Flavio Briatore is reportedly unhappy with some teams reading of the rules with regard to the rear diffuser. Sebastian Vettel took over testing duties from Mark Webber and posted the sixth best time in the Red Bull Renault ahead of Nico Rosberg who was back on test duty for the Williams Toyota team. Giancarlo Fisichella was eighth fastest in the new Force India Mercedes while Sebastien Buemi had his first 'proper' run in the new Ferrari-powered STR4 and was ninth fastest of the ten runners. While Ron Dennis insists there are no major problems at McLaren Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton languished at the tail of the timesheets for much of the day before going off at turn two, damaging both ends of the so far difficult MP4-24 lightly. This brought out the red flags with about 90 minutes remaining and Hamilton ended the day slowest of all, 2.5 seconds off the ultimate pace. With Brawn Mercedes fastest and McLaren Mercedes slowest, the final day of group testing tomorrow should be interesting.... Earl ALEXANDER © CAPSIS International
I've never really followed testing results, is it normal for them to be in this much of a mess? Or are we seeing a change in pace for a few of the teams? (I understand from a few posts here we should not read too much into these figures, but they do seem consistent?)
Every year people say 'don't take notice of testing...it's the racing that counts'...but every year it's mostly significant.
Lewis Hamilton joined the Barcelona test this morning as the McLaren Mercedes team began working through a series of pitstop practices. The morning session was spent introducing Hamilton to the new aero package and setting up the car to his liking. That work continued into the afternoon, with the team focusing on longer runs and additional pitstop practices. Running was halted by an off at turn two at mid-afternoon as Hamilton lost the car at the exit of the second corner and hit a tyre-barrier breaking off a front-wing endplate and damaging the nose struts. After some repairs to the front-end, he was able to complete the remainder of the session. Hamilton completed 86 laps over the day and his time of 1:21.657s left him slowest of the day. E.A. © CAPSIS International McLaren Group Chairman Ron Dennis has played down suggestions the Mercedes-powered team is set for a season in the midfield. The MP4-24 seems to be struggling for winter test pace, amid rumours the car may be flawed aerodynamically at the rear. But Dennis, who earlier this month handed control of the Woking-based team to his long time deputy Martin Whitmarsh, said pre-season form should not be relied upon. "Whatever performance level McLaren have today we will be a competitive racing team," he told the BBC at the Science Museum in London. "That means we will be fighting for the world championship. Dennis admits McLaren is slightly behind schedule with its 2009 programme, but pointed out the timeframe to the season opener in Australia. "Whereas our main competitors are finishing testing in two days we still have the ability to test next week in Jerez," Dennis explained. "We expect our car to go faster with every Grand Prix and we expect to maintain our pace to allow us to win the world championship." He played down the link between the lack of test pace and the team's prolonged use of the 2008-specification rear wing. "We ran the 2008 rear wing because it was more relevant in its performance to the wing that we are going to have in Australia," Dennis said. "It doesn't mean you are lost or that you don't know what you are doing." Source: GMM © CAPSIS International Image Unavailable, Please Login
I agree, unlike most other teams, Brawn quickly gave up further developing the 2008 car and set about working on the 2009 car from the outset. He's one of the cleverest designers in F1 and we all know what he achieved at Benetton and Ferrari. Another ex-March guy too! Meanwhile, McLaren have been busy congratulating themselves since the end of 2008, their culture is weighed down with hubris and arrogance, from driver to team owner.
+1 Think we'll see more variation in the order from track to track this season. The circuit layout, KERS function and weight distribution looks like being a new, three way balancing act.
