Latest testing news round-up

As the third test session of 2012 draws to a close, we have only 4 more testing days before the teams roll into Melbourne. While many cars are still sandbagging in terms of pace, a clearer picture of the 2012 grid is now visible. Here is the latest news from the last few days: HRT [...]

Barcelona testing day 4: Kobayashi ends test on top

Kamui Kobayashi finished the third test session of 2012 on top of the timesheets. While the Sauber C31 was delayed by a broken exhaust, the Japanese driver set a 1:22.312, ahead of Pastor Maldonado. Kamui is the eighth driver in 8 testing days to be on top, following Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Fernando [...]

Barcelona day 3: Maldonado leads for Williams

Pastor Maldonado headed the third day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. The Venezuelan driver set his fastest time early in the morning, and was almost a second faster than second-placed Michael Schumacher. Kamui Kobayashi ran out of fuel on track during the day, but still finished in 3rd. Jenson Button, Mark Webber and [...]

Barcelona testing day 2: Hulkenberg puts Force India on top

Force India’s new driver Nico Hulkenberg topped the timesheets for the second day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. The German, who clocked a 1:22.608 put the VJM05 0.04 seconds ahead of Sergio Perez for Sauber. Sebastian Vettel had an entertaining on-track duel with Lewis Hamilton for a few laps, before finishing 3rd. Fernando [...]

Lotus pull out of Barcelona testing after chassis problems

Lotus have ceased participation in pre-season testing in Barcelona, after discovering a fault with both of their chassis. Romain Grosjean drove the second E20 car today (named the E20-2) in Barcelona testing, but retired after only 7 laps, saying the car “wasn’t responding as it should”. The Lotus team completed 404 laps in Jerez testing [...]

Barcelona testing day 1: Vettel leads, while Lotus drop out after chassis issues

Sebastian Vettel led the first day of 8 testing days at the Circuit de Catalunya today. However, the main news story of the day was Lotus dropping out of testing after discovering serious issues with their chassis. More details will be posted on the site later. Vettel’s time of 1:23.265 was slightly faster than Nico [...]

Mercedes reveal W03 in Barcelona

Mercedes are the final frontrunning team to release their 2012 F1 car, called the W03. The Silver Arrows car has a distinctive nose design, featuring one of the highest steps on the grid so far. The bridge sections of the nose are particularly steep. The W03 features a lower core weight than its predecessor. The [...]

Petrov replaces Trulli at Caterham

Vitaly Petrov has replaced veteran driver Jarno Trulli at Caterham for the 2012 season. The move comes as a shock to many, as Trulli – who has been with the team since it was founded in 2010 – had a year left on his contract. Petrov, who lost his place at Lotus this year, has [...]

First impressions from 2012 Jerez testing

As the first of 4 pre-season tests draw to a close, we are beginning to form an idea of how the grid might shape out this year. Several news stories have also added interest to the speculation, as teams try to hold their cards close to their chests. Here is the summary of news and [...]

Jerez testing day 4: Alonso ends Jerez test on top

Fernando Alonso concluded the 4-day test session at Jerez by going quickest in the Ferrari. In a much colder day than previous days, Alonso set a 1:18.877, beating Jean-Eric Vergne and Sebastian Vettel by 0.7 seconds. The world champion got off to a slow start, being delayed by an electrical problem on the Red Bull [...]