12th February: Testing results

Jaime Alguersuari at today's testing

Jaime Alguersuari went fastest in today’s test at Jerez, as heavy rain yet again hit the circuit in the afternoon.
Half an hour before the test session began at 9 in the morning, light rain began to fall. Temperatures were as low as 9°C throughout the day. However, by 9, the water on the track had mostly dried out. The session was quickly stopped though, because after only 8 minutes Pedro de la Rosa pulled over because of an unspecified problem. He was able to rejoin half an hour later.
But, the rain came back at 9:50, which gradually increased across the next half an hour. The conditions still diminished after this, and Rubens Barrichello was the first to be caught out, spinning at Turn 14 and bringing out the red flags for the second time.

Rubens Barrichello after spinning at Turn 14

Rain continued to fall for the next few hours. By 1:00, the cars were beginning to kick up spray behind them. It became very apparent that the morning times were going to be the fastest of the day. The falling conditions were well shown by Nico Rosberg, who was the first to switch to extreme wet tyres, at around 2:00. Very few cars were running after this.
From 2:30 until 4:30, conditions were at their worst, with very heavy rain now pounding the track. Rubens Barrichello summed it all up, saying the track was “like a river and undriveable”. Adrian Sutil spun off at 2:45, causing a third red flag of the day. The Force India car remained in the pits for the rest of the day, because of the team having to repair an electrical problem. The team said afterwards that they were looking to have another flying lap, but didn’t have enough time.
The Virgin team had yet another torrid day, with Lucas di Grassi at the wheel. On Wednesday, they were caught out by the rain, and yesterday Timo Glock had a front wing failure. Today, the Virgin car was forced to wait in the pits until 3:40 (6.5 hours), because the team were still redesigning the front wing after the failure yesterday. A shortage of components hampered their work. Di Grassi made 1 installation lap, before having to return to the pit lane again. He managed another 7 laps over the rest of the day. Since all of his laps were in the wet, his fastest lap was a miserable 1.37.107, more than 17 seconds behind Alguersuari. The Virgin team have managed only 25 laps across 3 days.
The Spaniard’s fastest time was a 1.19.919. He was followed by Pedro de la Rosa (1.20.736) and Adrian Sutil (1.21.428). The rest of the drivers, in order, were: Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, Vitaly Petrov, Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton, and Lucas di Grassi.

Times from today’s tests:

	Driver	Team	Car	Fastest lap	Difference	# of laps
1.	J. Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	STR5	1.19.919		76
2.	P. de la Rosa	Sauber	C29	1.20.736	+0.817	48
3.	A. Sutil	Force India	VJM03	1.21.428	+1.509	48
4.	F. Massa	Ferrari	F10	1.21.603	+1.684	72
5.	S. Vettel	Red Bull	RB6	1.21.783	+1.864	59
6.	V. Petrov	Renault	R30	1.22.000	+2.081	68
7.	N. Rosberg	Mercedes	W01	1.22.820	+2.901	53
8. 9. 10.	R. Barrichello L. Hamilton L. di Grassi	Williams McLaren Virgin	FW32 MP4-25 VR-01	1.23.217 1.23.985 1.37.107	+3.298 +4.066 +17.188	120 68 8

Pictures from today’s testing:

11th February: Testing results

Kamui Kobayashi put in a low-fuel run near the end of today’s testing, to take the fastest lap of today’s running in Jerez.

Sebastien Buemi had led for most of the day, with a 1.20.026, but Kobayashi’s lap of 1.19.950 was enough to see him on top. However, there was concern at Virgin, where Timo Glock had a “front wing mounting problem”, which basically ment the front wing fell off. This was only after 11 laps, and even worse, there was a shortage of components, which meant that the team will have to wait until tomorrow to continue testing. Glock has managed a miserable 16 laps in 2 days, and has finished last on both occasions.

Back at the top, Jenson Button was behind Kobayashi and Buemi in third (1.20.618), and was followed by Hulkenberg, Liuzzi, Schumacher, Alonso, Kubica, Webber and then Glock.

There was another problem, however, in the form of yesterday’s intermediate tyres wearing too quickly. Many of the drivers were today complaining about excessive wear on the tyres, even when the track was saturated with water. Nico Hulkenberg said:

“Even though we were picking up a lot of water on the track they still seemed too soft. They were wearing a lot quite quickly.”

Jenson Button, however, believes the problem is with the Jerez circuit itself:

“It’s quite an abrasive surface here. The wet tyre felt like it would last forever but the intermediate had a much shorter lifespan. I think that was the same for everyone. It’s about keeping a balance so you’re not destroying one end. It is an abrasive surface and layout here and we saw the same thing last year.”

On another subject, Hulkenberg has said that there is definitely a power increase with this year’s Cosworth engine, compared to last year’s Toyota one. He said:

“It’s good, I’m very positively surprised about it. There’s been no issues with reliability and drive-ability’s very good. It feels better, it feels stronger [than the Toyota].”

Times from today’s test:

	Driver	Team	Car	Fastest lap	Difference	# of laps
1.	K. Kobayashi	Sauber	C25	1.19.950		103
2.	S. Buemi	Toro Rosso	STR5	1.20.026	+0.076	121
3.	J. Button	McLaren	MP4-25	1.20.618	+0.668	83
4.	N. Hulkenberg	Williams	FW32	1.20.629	+0.679	67
5.	V. Liuzzi	Force India	VJM03	1.20.754	+0.804	80
6.	M. Schumacher	Mercedes	W01	1.21.003	+1.133	124
7.	F. Alonso	Ferrari	F10	1.21.424	+1.474	129
8. 9. 10.	R. Kubica M. Webber T. Glock	Renault Red Bull Virgin	R30 RB6 VR-01	1.22.003 1.22.043 1.29.964	+2.053 +2.093 +10.014	103 99 11

Pictures from today’s testing:

10th February: Testing results

Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets today, in a rain-soaked session.

The Mercedes driver clocked in a fastest lap of 1:20.927, which was set in the morning, before the rain came out. Timo Glock was the only driver who was completely caught out by this, and could only set 5 laps, at a point where the track was at its wettest. His time was a 1:38.734.

Sebastien Buemi was second fastest (1:21.031), followed by Nico Hulkenberg for Williams (1:22.243). The other drivers, in order, were Fernando Alonso, Kamui Kobayashi, Jenson Button, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Vitaly Petrov, Mark Webber, and Glock.

Mark Webber was the first to bring out the red flags, when he stopped out on track half an hour after the session had started at 9 in the morning. It was described as a “simple component failure”, which later turned out to be an oil leak. However, the fault meant that the engine had to be changed, which stopped him running until 4.45 pm. Then, he only got 3 laps after that, when Rosberg stopped out on track, bringing out the red falgs and ending the session.

Nico Rosberg attributed his fastest lap to a better seating position in the car:

“The car felt very good today,” he said. “Compared to Valencia where I was sitting too low which affected my visibility and the set-up wasn’t perfect, today I felt really comfortable and I could push so it was an enjoyable day and a good start to the test for me.”

The times are as follows:

	Driver	Driver	Team	Car	Fastest lap	Difference	# of laps
1.		N. Rosberg	Mercedes	W01	1.20.927		57
2.		S. Buemi	Toro Rosso	STR5	1.21.031	+0.104	84
3.		N. Hulkenberg	Williams	FW32	1.22.243	+1.136	118
4.		F. Alonso	Ferrari	F10	1.22.895	+1.968	88
5.		K. Kobayashi	BMW Sauber	C25	1.23.287	+2.360	55
6.		J. Button	McLaren	MP4-25	1.24.947	+4.020	68
7.		V. Liuzzi	Force India	VJM03	1.24.968	+4.041	71
8. 9. 10.		V. Petrov M. Webber T. Glock	Renault Red Bull Virgin	R30 RB6 VR-01	1.25.440 1.26.502 1.38.734	+4.513 +5.575 +17.807	27 50 5

Pictures from the test:

3rd February: Testing results

Yet another day with Ferrari on top of the timesheets today in Valencia, but this time it was Fernando Alonso who led the way.

A massive crowd of over 35,000 (compared to 7,000 for the last 2 days) greeted Alonso at the track. His fastest lap was a 1m11.470s. This was not only a great lap, but it was at the start of a long stint, so it wasn’t just a loght fuel load that was pushing him on. However, Alonso has remained cautious, saying:

“I think maybe if we topped the times the three days is related to fuel load or whatever, or maybe because it’s true we are competitive. But before being competitive we need to make sure we do a lot of laps and that the car is strong and can finish all the grands prix. We are at that period of winter testing.”

“We need to make the car very, very strong and until Barcelona or the last test at Jerez I think we will not look for the performance.”

He added: “The first impression is always good. It was very good last year, and I was not in Q3 very often. For that I’m very, very cautious.”

Pedro de la Rosa continued to set fast laps, coming in 2nd with a best lap of 1m12.094s. It is understood that the Mercedes car does not have its full diffuser integrated yet, but Michael Schumacher still came third with 1m12.438s.

Behind them, Jaime Alguersuari was fourth, followed by Jenson Button, Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg. Nico was involved in an incident with de la Rosa earlier in the day, where the two clashed. Hulkenberg’s car was believed to be marginally damaged. He still managed to get 126 laps out of the car across the day.

Times from the day:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time     Laps
 1.  Alonso        Ferrari              (B)   1:11.470  127
 2.  de la Rosa    BMW Sauber-Ferrari   (B)   1:12.094   80
 3.  M.Schumacher  Mercedes GP          (B)   1:12.438   82
 4.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)   1:12.576   97
 5.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)   1:12.951   82
 6.  Petrov        Renault              (B)   1:13.097   75
 7.  Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth    (B)   1:13.669  126

Pictures from today's testing:

February 2nd: Testing results

Felipe Massa has finished top of the timesheets again in Valencia, as the second day of F1 testing concluded.

His best lap of 1m11.722 was faster than Kamui Kobayashi (1m12.056) and Lewis Hamilton (1m12.256). Kubica was much faster today than yesterday, his fastest lap being 2.5 seconds quicker than yesterday’s best. Nico Rosberg was 5th, followed by Rubens Barrichello and Sebastien Buemi. There is no news yet as to if Toro Rosso are still having downforce problems.

Robert Kubica stopped out on track, after just setting his two fastest laps. The red flag was out, and the session did not restart after that. This happened at around 16:00.

Robert Kubica after stopping out on track

Another interesting thing to note is that both Kubica and Buemi put on different helmets today, to test aerodynamic efficiency.

We also saw McLaren’s secret new diffuser, without the use of spy cameras. This picture is included in the photo section.

		Driver	Team	Car	Fastest lap	Difference	# of laps
1.		F. Massa	Ferrari	F10	1.11.722
2.		K. Kobayashi	BMW Sauber	C29	1.12.056	+0.334
3.		L. Hamilton	McLaren	MP4-25	1.12.256	+0.534
4.		R. Kubica	Renault	R30	1.12.426	+0.704
5.		N. Rosberg	Mercedes	W01	1.12.899	+1.177
6.		R. Barrichello	Williams	FW32	1.13.377	+1.655
7.		S. Buemi	Toro Rosso	STR5	1.13.823	+2.101

Photos from today’s test:

February 1st: Testing results

The first day of testing concluded in Valencia today.

We saw the launches of the Williams, Mercedes and Toro Rosso cars. Then, 7 of the teams headed out for testing at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. Temperatures were around 12 degrees Celcius.

Felipe Massa finished top of the timesheets today, ahead of Pedro de la Rosa and Michael Schumacher. Massa completed the most laps (102) and set the fastest lap at 1:12.574. Mercedes were the onlt team to run both of its drivers, with Schumacher 3rd (1:12.947) while Rosberg was 4th (1:13.543). Robet Kubica was last, driving for Renault, lapping in a 1:15.000 as a fastest lap, 2.5 seconds slower than Massa.

The only red flag was for Rubens Barrichello, who spun while out on track at around 4.45 pm. Toro Rosso only got 18 laps in with Sebastien Buemi, because of a gearbox problem.

Full testing results:

		Driver	Team	Car	Fastest lap	Difference	# of laps
1.		F. Massa	Ferrari	F10	1:12.574		102
2.		P. de la Rosa	BMW Sauber	C25	1:12.784	+0.210	74
3.		M.Schumacher	Mercedes GP	W01	1:12.947	+0.373	40
4.		N. Rosberg	Mercedes GP	W01	1:13.543	+0.969	39
5.		G. Paffett	McLaren	MP4-25	1:13.846	+1.272	86
6.		R.Barrichello	Williams	FW32	1:14.449	+1.875	75
7.		S. Buemi	Toro Rosso	STR5	1:14.762	+2.188	18
8.		R. Kubica	Renault	R30	1:15.000	+2.426	69

More photos of testing today (more photos in the individual car launches):

Williams FW32 released

The Williams FW32 was released in Valencia today.

There was much less hype about this car, because practically everyone had seen the “spy shot” video released a few days ago.

Most of the livery has now been filled in with sponsors. There is still areas of black on the front wing, so I’m assuming that there will be more sponsors there later.

Now that we can see the car properly, I can definitely see changes from last year’s car. The nose is higher than last year, the front wing has been revised, and there are new sidepods. There aren’t much photos out yet, so I can’t confirm if they have covered up their diffuser like everyone else has.

The most interesting new feature seems to be a new type of engine air intake, one smaller one behind the other. I’ll upload pictures of this soon.

Pictures from the launch:

New spy shots of Williams FW32

New footage of Williams’ new FW32 has been released.The team were at Silverstone today, to film a promotional video.

It was described as “secret undercover spy shots”, meaning, two blokes with a camcorder.

Nico Hulkenberg was at the wheel of the car at the time.

Yet another diffuser row?

McLaren's diffuser was blocked away

The prospect of another diffuser row boiling up again appears to have come back, with many teams pursuing “extreme” solutions.

At the launch of the McLaren MP4-25 today, McLaren engineering director Paddy Lowe said the team had had pushed the diffuser regulations as far as possible. Not only this, but he believes that other teams will go for extreme solutions. He said:

“This is the first car in which we have had a clean sheet of paper to really exploit the interpretation [of diffusers] that was developed last year for a design of floors,” said Lowe.

“You will see we have produced a fairly extreme incarnation of that but we won’t be alone in that. We believe you will see some pretty extreme solutions on our competitors’ cars as well.”

The writing on the wall comes from the fact that, when the MP4-25 was launched today, the diffuser was blocked from view with black boards. However, Lowe believes there is no rule infringement, saying:

“We think the interpretation is very clear,” he said. “In certain aspects we have sought guidance from the FIA and they have come out with very clear interpretation, understanding and guidance – and we think that has been made available to all the teams.”

“We are hoping for a much cleaner start to the season then we had a year ago in terms of the teams’ collective understanding of the basis from which we go racing.”

Ferrari, however, say differently. Aldo Costa told Gazzetta dello Sport:

“We were and still are convinced that the double diffuser concept was illegal. We feel there may still be interpretation over this, as the rules leave the door open to many possibilities. It’s up to the FIA to supervise, but we are rather worried.”

This sort of thing coming up again would just be a disaster. The double-decker diffuser row last year put so much doubt into people’s minds and, as Fernando Alonso predicted, decided the outcome of the championship. Hopefuly, the FIA have learnt their lessons from last year, and hopefully the teams won’t have been too radical with this year’s design.

First picture of Williams FW32

Autosport has revealed the first picture of the new Williams FW32. For copyright resaons, I can’t reproduce the photo on this site, but you can view the photo here.

Nico Hulkenberg gave the car a shakedown today, before the F1 tests begin in Valencia on 1st February.

Sam Michael, the Williams technical director, said of the FW32:

“The FW32 is a clean-sheet design from front to back. It’s pretty much brand new from an aerodynamic point of view.”

“The fact that we had a consistent car across all of the tracks in 2009, and wiped out a lot of the vices that we had in the previous car, gives us confidence.”

Rubbish, as far as I can see. The nosecone looks to be higher, and the bargeboards have been hightened. Apart from a revised engine intake vent, it looks exactly the same to me.

Also, this is not the livery that Williams will be using. I’m not sure about the colour scheme, but there will be more sponsor logos on it when the Valencia tests begin.