The Winter Testing thread

Results from the last day of testing in Jerez:

1. J. Button McLaren MP4-25 1:18.871 108 laps
2. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:19.114 +0.243 117 laps
3. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:19.188 +0.317 117 laps
4. V. Liuzzi Force India VJM-03 1:19.650 +0.779 80 laps
5. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP W01 1:20.061 +1.190 130 laps
6. F. Alonso Ferrari F10 1:20.436 +1.565 137 laps
7. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso STR5 1:21.053 +2.182 139 laps
8. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB6 1:21.194 +2.323 87 laps
9. N. Hülkenberg Williams FW32 1:21.919 +3.048 137 laps
10. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:22.433 +3.562 27 laps
11. J. Trulli Lotus F1 T127 1:23.470 +4.599 141 laps


Button did this time on a 3-lap stint, which ended up being the quickest time of the 4 day test at Jerez.

Ferrari was testing some interesting looking wheels :sick: Instead of wheel covers we get these :lol:

13182faseara2p.jpg



Five more days until the 4 day test at Barcelona to wrap up 2010 winter testing. It will be an interesting test because several of the teams will be bringing some fairly large updates, while most likely doing a wide variation of testing (qualy simulations/heavy stints).

After the test in Barcelona next week, it will be just 2 weeks until the teams begin the first official practice in Bahrain :) 👍
 
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The key part to focus on those wheels is the nuts - they are automatically fastening to speed up the pit stops.
 
Interesting to note that despite Kovy binning it on day 2, the Lotus has laid down almost twice the amount of laps Virgin has this past 4 days. So even though the Virgin may be faster (difficult to tell though), it appears the Lotus is a very strong platform.
I really want to see Trulli go out on a light run though, just to see its true pace.

Its also been quite interesting to follow Mike Gascoyne's twitter:
http://twitter.com/MikeGascoyne

Very revealing information 👍 (particularly the breakfast of M&Ms and Diet Coke! :lol:)
 
I can't wait to see Trulli doing his usual qualifying pace brilliance in that Lotus. Even if it is to keep it off the last row, seeing that green and yellow car flying 'round Bahrain will be a blast! 👍
 
Todays testing times...

Unofficial Thursday times from Barcelona:
1. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:21.487, 109 Laps
2. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:22.407, 82 Laps
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:22.514, 107 Laps
4. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:23.144, 73 Laps
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:23.452, 101 Laps
6. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:24.064, 65 Laps
7. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:24.170, 74 Laps
8. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:24.173, 74 Laps
9. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:24.869, 111 Laps
10. Lucas di Grassi, Virgin, 1:27.057, 31 Laps
11. Fairuz Fauzy, Lotus, 1:28.002, 76 Laps

Everyone getting plenty of laps in there...

Webber reckons the RB is the best car - not sure - 2 swallows don't make a summer?!

Virgin still *appear* quicker than Lotus - but Lotus are still doing many more laps than Virgin...

C.
 
Other teams appear confident that Red Bull are not miles ahead, so the talk indicates a consensus that the top 4 should be close, maybe even top 6/8 as Force India, Sauber and Williams look handy.
No light runs from Fauzy today in the Lotus, and Virgin were trying some aggressive setup work by the sounds of things, which is what caused Di Grassi's crash.
So hopefully we see some better times over the next few days from them, though Virgin are not expecting to be running tomorrow till after lunchtime while they repair the car. Hopefully Trulli does a light run on fresh tyres tomorrow though, fingers crossed.
 
Top 4? McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull &? Mercedes?

Sauber definitely look like possible the best of the rest - with williams a close 6th - and I'm sure ForceIndia also useful... not sure about the Renault yet - nothing amazing coming from their camp yet...

Toro Rosso might have a tough season ahead - if they lose out to one of the newcomers - then some P45's will be sure to be handed out.
----
Also just been reading this article...

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/2/10468.html

Looks like Virgin either have some issues with their hydraulics - or they're really trying to push it...

As also stated - Lotus did a lot of technical testing today - hence slow(er) times than the rest...

C.
 
Ferrari/Alonso have replied to Webber/RBR's dominance yesterday with quali simulations this morning. Along with Sauber and Pedro de la Rosa. 3rd was Liuzzi in his Force India, also better than yesterday's Webber time.

Apparently, Vettel did the same (quli simulation) but came only 4th, not that much faster than Webber yesterday.

Times this morning:

1. Alonso Ferrari (B) 1:20.637 60
2. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber (B) 1:20.973 46
3. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:21.056 23
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.258 55
5. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:21.571 36
6. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:21.689 45
7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.152 39
8. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:23.513 82
9. Kubica Renault (B) 1:24.912 44
10. Glock Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:26.622 18
11. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth (B) 1:26.677 40



PS _ Nice battle for last position between Lotus and Virgin. And the gap to the best time is now reduced to 6 seconds, let's hope both teams keep improving 👍




EDIT - Hey ... Surprise surprise: Hulkenberg on top for today!

1. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:20.614 99
2. Alonso Ferrari (B) 1:20.637 134
3. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber (B) 1:20.973 114
4. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:21.056 90
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.258 125
6. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:21.571 104
7. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:21.689 85
8. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.152 93
9. Kubica Renault (B) 1:24.912 53
10. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth (B) 1:25.524 70
11. Glock Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:25.942 52


PS - And Virgin/Lotus just shaved off another second during the afternoon. Good job! 👍 👍
 
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I am surprised by Hulkenberg's time. I don't doubt his talent, and I know that Williams can make a great chassis, but I thought the Cosworth was going to be a bit down on power compared to the others. Has there been some improvements made to the Cosworth, or is the Hulkenberg/Williams combo that fast?
 
Cosworth is allowed to update the engine until the season's start, so yes, they are constantly upgrading it and the more data gathered right now, the better.

The Williams isn't (that) impressive if you look at stint times, they are not ahead of Ferrari at the very least. Of course, its always assumptions being made when I say that.
The cars that have stood out over the tests so far with very good pace and consistencey are Ferrari, Force India and Sauber. They should be all somewhere in the front half of the grid. The rest of the teams are too hard to read, apart from Virgin and Lotus who are safely at the back of the grid, though in which order we will have to find out.
 
peterjford
I am surprised by Hulkenberg's time. I don't doubt his talent, and I know that Williams can make a great chassis, but I thought the Cosworth was going to be a bit down on power compared to the others. Has there been some improvements made to the Cosworth, or is the Hulkenberg/Williams combo that fast?
Click to expand...

Hulkenberg's time was based on a 3 lap stint using super softs while Alonso's time was the first lap of a 5 (some say 10) lap stint using soft tyres.
 
Shiparch
Hulkenberg's time was based on a 3 lap stint using super softs while Alonso's time was the first lap of a 5 (some say 10) lap stint using soft tyres.
Click to expand...
I recall reading that Alonso only did a qualifying run when he set that time.
 
With the completion of day 3 of the Barcelona Test Rosberg is on top with a low fuel quali run of 1m20.686s which he set early in the morning before the rain set in.

1 Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.686s
2 Buemi Toro Rosso 1m21.413s +0.727
3 Button McLaren 1m21.450s +0.764
4 Barrichello Williams 1m21.975s +1.289
5 Massa Ferrari 1m22.344s +1.658
6 Petrov Renault 1m22.523s +1.837
7 Sutil Force India 1m22.606s +1.920
8 Vettel Red Bull 1m23.254s +2.568
9 Trulli Lotus 1m25.059s +4.373
10 Kobayashi Sauber 1m26.216s +5.530
11 Glock Virgin 1m26.305s +5.619
 
Virgin yet again having technical issues and Lotus yet again doing over 100 laps.
Also, the Lotus front wing end-plates are becoming very intricate compared to the rest of the car:
su_jm1027fe25-2
 
Yeah I thought that Trulli or Kovalainen was complaining the car lacks of downforce. So maybe they add that bit to the end-plate to add the downforce up a bit.
 
Ardius
Virgin yet again having technical issues and Lotus yet again doing over 100 laps.
Also, the Lotus front wing end-plates are becoming very intricate compared to the rest of the car:
su_jm1027fe25-2
Click to expand...

From the looks of things - Virgin *may* have the quicker car - but Lotus have a car that will finish a race... (not quite sure Virgin can be called the Hare though or indeed lotus the Tortoise)

C.
 
Todays times...

Fastest laps from final day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes one minute 20.472 seconds
2. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.496 (+0.024secs)
3. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:20.539 (+0.067)
4. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 1:20.611 (+0.139)
5. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.667 (+0.195)
6. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes 1:20.745 (+0.273)
7. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Williams-Cosworth 1:20.870 (+0.398)
8. Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.911 (+0.439)
9. Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:22.135 (+1.663)
10. Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:23.175s (+2.703)
11. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus-Cosworth 1:25.251s (+4.779)
12. Lucas di Grassi (Brz) Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.160s (+5.688)

Interesting that McLaren hold the fastest laps at Jerez & Barcelona in the final analysis... who had the quickest laps at Valencia? (Does that even matter now a month of development later?!)

C.
 
Top 8 covered by less than half a second....thats the story of today. Hope this suggests a close season, at least in qualifying anyway.
 
Ardius
Top 8 covered by less than half a second....thats the story of today. Hope this suggests a close season, at least in qualifying anyway.
Click to expand...

Agreed - reckon that everyone would've wanted some really quick times today...

2 weeks til we find out!!

C.
 
So, we can define two points.

It's going to be another close season between most of the field. Lotus and Virgin are miles off the pace.
 
Sureboss
So, we can define two points.

It's going to be another close season between most of the field. Lotus and Virgin are miles off the pace.
Click to expand...

I wish they'd have done some light load runs so that we can see where their truly speed is at. As far as I'm aware of they've only done heavy runs. 5 seconds is an incredibly large gap to close, but I hope it'll be less in Bahrain.
 
Sureboss
So, we can define two points.

It's going to be another close season between most of the field. Lotus and Virgin are miles off the pace.
Click to expand...

"Miles off" is subjective though, in my opinion they are the closest a new team has ever got in their first season with such little resources and time.
Remember Super Aguri's debut?
Virgin and especially Lotus have done a great job and they are exactly where I expected the new teams to be. Its impossible for a new team to be within a second of established teams on debut.

But yes, those are two definite points. We can also say that USF1, Stefan and Campos are going to have a hard time even finishing races or even free practice sessions! If they even make it to them, that is.
Oh and we can also say that the Cosworth looks to be solid despite the critcism they got for 2006.
 

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