The Official Testing Thread

[ianh 0]

It's looking close at the top, but it doesn't really tell us much yet about race pace. Who is sandbagging and who flatters to deceive?

Use Pitpass for the most accurate reporting, it is usually available before the Honda site publishes

Use Pitpass for the most accurate reporting, it is usually available before the Honda site publishes

Whoops, this should have gone to Phoenix07. sorry about that!

[YHR 0]

Jacques Villeneuve:

Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.06 / BMW P86 V8

Test kilometres today: 300 km (75 laps)

Fastest lap: 1:12.622 min (lap 42)

Programme: Jacques worked on the set-up of the car and evaluated new aerodynamic parts. He also did some starts and tested intermediate tyres for Michelin.

JV was running intermediate tires as well. Not to shabby.

[F1 FANatic 1]

considering that rossi only has about one race weekends worth of laps under his belt and that spread over 2 years with 3 different powerplants and 4 different tyre combinations 9th is a great job. ofcourse the 04 chasis did help

had they had him the 06 he would have now driven 3 different aero spec cars, 3 diff pwoerplants and 4 tyre combos in 2 years over only about 150 or so laps. if he had got anymore than 9th, he should have emidiatley droped Motogp and become the next MS Senna, Prost, and Fangio in one.

[cristiano84 0]

It's only testing and it is very hard to know who is running legal, light, heavy or whatever. It's testing!

However it is not surprising to see ITV with the most "positive spin" on Button's time. Got to say I have no faith in the honesty of ITV!

Three other sites quote the times as posted below

01. F. Alonso - Renault R26 - 1'11"229

02. M. Schumacher - Ferrari F2004/248 F1 - 1'11"821

03. J.P. Montoya - McLaren Mercedes MP4/21 - 1'11"978

04. J. Button - Honda RA106 - 1'11"998

05. R. Barrichello - Honda RA106 -1'12"063

06. J. Villeneuve - BMW Sauber F1.06 - 1'12"628

07. R. Zonta - Toyota TF106 - 1'12"668

08. V. Rossi - Ferrari F2004 V10 - 1'12"863

09. D. Coulthard - Red Bull Ferrari RB2 - 1'12"891

10. A. Wurz - Williams Cosworth FW27C - 1'12"930

11. G. Paffett - McLaren Mercedes MP4/20 V10

12. M. Webber - Williams Cosworth FW28 - 1'13"021

13. J. Trulli - Toyota TF106 - 1'13"075

14. R. Kubica - BMW Sauber C24B - 1'13"472

15. H. Kovalainen - Renault R26 - 1'13"679

cheers

The fact is that Button and Kovalainen improved their lap times just few seconds before the flag fell....so some sites took the results wthout considering those laps...F1racing.net changed their timesheet just few minutes after having published it..And regarding Rossi I regret for having said he should stay in MotoGP after yesterday's disappointing test,he's been fantastic today,the F2004 might be 1 sec quicker than the 248 Michael was driving but even if he did 1'13"8 instead of 1'12"8 it would have been phenomenal since this is the fourth time he drives a single seater since his karting days when he was 8 years old or so....

[narain fan 0]

Rivals assess Rossi's run

'I am not surprised that he drives well'

After Valentino Rossi impressed the formula one world with his pace a day later, Jarno Trulli has pardoned the MotoGP for spinning on his first out lap on Tuesday.

"A damp track is tricky even for us," the Toyota regular said.

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, too, was not surprised that Rossi clocked up a decent pace - about a second slower than Michael Schumacher - once the track dried up on much sunnier Wednesday.

"But it is true that the last few tenths are the most difficult," said the French Canadian. "But I am not surprised that he drives well."

The flamboyant rider, with the attention of nearly 200 journalists at the Valencia circuit, was also watched over by father Graziano.

"Of course he needs more time yet, but he already looks like a Formula One driver, which inspires me. Valentino drives better here than he has at the other tests."

Source GMM

[cristiano84 0]

Rivals assess Rossi's run

'I am not surprised that he drives well'

After Valentino Rossi impressed the formula one world with his pace a day later, Jarno Trulli has pardoned the MotoGP for spinning on his first out lap on Tuesday.

"A damp track is tricky even for us," the Toyota regular said.

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, too, was not surprised that Rossi clocked up a decent pace - about a second slower than Michael Schumacher - once the track dried up on much sunnier Wednesday.

"But it is true that the last few tenths are the most difficult," said the French Canadian. "But I am not surprised that he drives well."

The flamboyant rider, with the attention of nearly 200 journalists at the Valencia circuit, was also watched over by father Graziano.

"Of course he needs more time yet, but he already looks like a Formula One driver, which inspires me. Valentino drives better here than he has at the other tests."

Source GMM

Well said Jacques,the last tenths are those which make the difference between an average driver and a good one and sincerely I can't see Rossi becoming a threath for Alonso,Raikkonen or Button in the future..maybe he could be able to reach the levels of,for example,Ralf Schumacher,even exceeding all the predictions...

[narain fan 0]

1. F. Alonso Renault 1:10.904 90 M

2. J. Button Honda 1:10.907 85 M

3. F. Massa Ferrari 1:11.284 50 B

4. A. Davidson Honda 1:11.573 128 M

5. M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:11.649 48 B

6. C. Klien Red Bull 1:11.796 71 M

7. H. Kovalainen Renault 1:12.011 89 M

8. J. Villeneuve BMW Sauber 1:12.179 104 M

9. R. Schumacher Toyota 1:12.182 92 B

10. A. Wurz Williams 1:12.246 84 B

11. N. Rosberg Williams 1:12.313 46 B

12. V. Rossi Ferrari 1:12.315 54 B

13. P. de la Rosa McLaren 1:12.360 92 M

14. J. Montoya McLaren 1:12.488 61 M

15. J. Trulli Toyota 1:12.525 72 B

16. R. Kubica BMW sauber 1:12.812 48 M

[ben_3001 0]

(Edit : deleted, Narain fan beat me to the official times)

BMW Sauber and JV are getting closer and closer to the 1:11's this should get interesting. JV has been showing a constant positive improvement curve during all his tests.

Surprised to see Klien so far ahead in the Red Bull tho.....fumes lap for sure but still impressive

Hehe and another Alonso -vs- Button fight today!

On a sadder note, a Cosworth and a Honda motor were lost today!

[narain fan 0]

Times for today!

pull ur socks up mate

[ben_3001 0]

pull ur socks up mate

Noticed error right after posting and edited, now it your turn

[narain fan 0]

Noticed error right after posting and edited, now it your turn

oh,lighten up

[narain fan 0]

Thursday at Valencia saw the 'usual suspects' setting the top times as winter pace-setters Renault and Honda took the first two places once again.

An incident-filled day ended with a flurry of low-fuel runs during which Fernando Alonso edged the R26 to the top of the timesheet with a 1:10.904s, just three thousandths faster than Jenson Button in the Honda R106.

Buttons time came during further long-distance running by the Japanese squad, with his run curtailed by a rare Honda engine blow up. Anthony Davidson continues to impress with a fine fourth fastest, and a massive 128 laps completed during the day.

All eyes were again focused on the novelty that is Valentino Rossi, today joining Felipe Massa in further running with the V8 engine Ferrari F2004.

Massa posted third fastest time, also in the F2004, with a solid and uneventful days work, but Rossi began to show his lack of experience, suffering no fewer than five spins on the way to 12th position. He declared himself satisfied, and added that it had been "a wonderful opportunity."

Michael Schumacher, in the F248, ended the day in fifth place.

Christian Klien returned to the c#ckpit for Red Bull Racing, and provided the teams most promising showing of the year so far with a time just shy of Schumachers Ferrari.

Heikki Kovalainen, whose stoppage on the main straight shortly before the end of the day prompted the mass rush for 'qualifying' times, put the second Renault in seventh position.

Jacques Villeneuve's running was hindered by a trip through the gravel trap courtesy of an incident that also involved Rossi and Pedro de la Rosa, but still managed eighth fastest and over 100 laps of running in another productive day for BMW-Sauber. Robert Kubica continued development work in last years car.

Toyota continued as they left off yesterday, with Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli reeling off the laps to ninth and 15th positions, while Williams had another troubled day.

In an effort to perfect the 'seamless shift' gearbox technology, Alex Wurz (in the FW27) and Nico Rosberg in the FW28 endured several mechanical failures, and between them caused a number of red flag incidents. They finished tenth and 11th at the end of the days running.

Mclaren-Mercedes' woeful 2006 testing sequence continued today, with de la Rosa setting 13th fastest time and Juan Pablo Montoya (driving the MP4-21) 14th after another Mercedes engine failure put paid to half of the days running.

Despite the trouble experienced by a number of teams, it is worth noting that the difference between Alonso's fastest time, set with a light fuel load, and the slowest '06 specification car (Trulli's Toyota) is only one and a half seconds, indicating that,on current evidence, the new machines could be very closely matched.

Tomorrow sees the launch of the MF1 Racing M16, the much-awaited replacement for the teams old Jordan EF15 of last season. UpdateF1 will carry a full report Thursday at Valencia saw the 'usual suspects' setting the top times as winter pace-setters Renault and Honda took the first two places once again.

http://www.formula-1.updatesport.com/news/...y-2nd/view.html

BMW Sauber Valencia test notes 2006-02-02

Programme: Jacques tested tyres for Michelin and worked on the set-up of the car. Robert worked solely on a tyre test programme.

What comes next: Tomorrow Nick and Jacques will do the testing. The team will continue the tyre programme and further to this will work with Nick on several system analysis.

Jacques Villeneuve

Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06

Engine: BMW P86 V8

Test kilometres today: 392 km (98 laps)

Fastest lap: 1:12.178 min (lap 53)

Robert Kubica

Chassis: Sauber C24B

Engine: BMW P86 V8

Test kilometres today: 164 km (41 laps)

Fastest lap: 1:12.816 min (lap 25)

-bmwsauber-

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=209308&FS=F1

[ben_3001 0]

Woohooo! The highly expected show-off tomorow!!! Two F1.06's on the track and NH and JV both running side by side!

Renault and Honda are also looking very good!

Alonso fastest at Valencia

02 February 2006

On Thursday Fernando Alonso was the quickest man on track in his home country Spain. At Valencia Alonso completed 90 laps without any major problems with his Renault R26 V8. He was watched by over 8,500 fans at the Ricardo Tormo track.

MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi was out on track again. The Italian improved his fastest time from Wednesday with half a second. He was fighting with the F2004 and spun several times.

Jenson Button's Honda engine broke down in the afternoon, but the Briton was still quick underway as he set the second quickest lap time.

Michael Schumacher was the third fastest driver out there. The German continued testing in the Ferrari 248 V8.

It was the final day of testing for Ferrari, Honda and Red Bull Racing. The other teams will finish testing on Friday, while BMW Sauber will stay one extra day for a wet weather test session.

That will also be interesting.....BMW Sauber showing some great serious in testing so far and it seems to be paying off

[narain fan 0]

Woohooo! The highly expected show-off tomorow!!! Two F1.06's on the track and NH and JV both running side by side! :clap:!

where did u read that,for all i know JV is going to pilot the C-24b

[ben_3001 0]

where did u read that,for all i know JV is going to pilot the C-24b

Heard it through the branches of the thick internet jungle from forum to forum. WR apperently stated that two F1.06 would be present in Valencia this week

[narain fan 0]

. WR apperently stated that two F1.06 would be present in Valencia this week

the week is almost over

Red Bull Valencia test notes 2006-02-02

Racing series F1

Date 2006-02-02

Christian Klien could not believe his luck today, as for the first time since last year's Chinese Grand Prix, he got to drive a grand prix car on a dry track!

The lack of persistent precipitation proved propitious for our practitioners of practical pre-season car preparation, as the team got through its entire programme today. "The car ran reliably with no major problems," said Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan.

"As Christian had never driven the car in the dry, we started by just getting the set-up to his liking, before carrying out a programme centred on aero work, brake development and a Michelin tyre test."

Christian should not get too used to running in the dry as the team's next outing will be nearer to home at Silverstone, UK, starting on Tuesday 7 February.

Car: RB2

Driver: Christian Klien

Laps: 67

Best time: 1:11.749

Circuit length: 4.005km

-redbull

motorsport.com

[ben_3001 0]

the week is almost over

I know, take it for what it's worth, but it would still be amazing if another F1.06 arrived for tomorow

[narain fan 0]

, but it would still be amazing if another F1.06 arrived for tomorow

wishful thinking

[Senna 0]

Jenson

[Null 0]

no matter who beats who in BMW testing, it still proves nothing about driver ability - only through race performance can we see that.

[Jenson_Rules 0]

Jenson

[ben_3001 0]

indeed. I think on current performance the renault is marginally better than the Honda which in turn is a bit better than the ferrari, again which is a bit better than the BMW, and then on current performance its toyota, williams and mclaren! Whether this will be the case come bahrain is anyones guess

I would be delighted to see a Honda/Renault and maybe even Ferrari fight! Would be good fights! Also would be delighted to see BMW be within reach of podiums being perfect circumstances.

[cristiano84 0]

Massa's best lap of 1.11.3 was set in a F2004 while Rossi did set a 1.12.3

in a nearly identical car....very impressive effort despite his many incidents...I think he should test more often if he is serious about getting into F.1...

btw it was good to see that once again Renault and Honda had the edge over Schumacher's 248 F1...

I would be delighted to see a Honda/Renault and maybe even Ferrari fight! Would be good fights! Also would be delighted to see BMW be within reach of podiums being perfect circumstances.

I'd expect Renault and Ferrari fighting for the title rather than Renault and Honda,these times arenot very indicative since it's just testing and we don't know in which conditions were made...but I would be happy to see ferrari remain behind for another season

[Jenson_Rules 0]

Honda completes Valencia test

The Honda Racing F1 Team moved to Valencia this week for the second test with the new RA106 cars.

The main focus of the test programme was putting more mileage on the two new chassis, together with tyre and engine development work. The team also continued its preparations for the new season with qualifying and race simulations. Despite the poor winter weather conditions, the test was a positive one with the new car showing good reliability and pace and with drivers Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson regularly occupying the top of the timesheets.

Rubens and Anthony began the testing programme on Tuesday using extreme wet tyres following overnight rain at the Valencia circuit. Both drivers completed set-up runs and practice qualifying procedures to adapt to the new 2006 qualifying format. The set-up work was continued in the afternoon session on wet tyres as the track began to dry out. Both Rubens and Anthony completed 62 laps in total, with Rubens setting the fastest time and Anthony the second fastest time of the day.

Jenson joined the team on Wednesday taking over from Anthony. He began the day with an aero evaluation on wet tyres whilst Rubens ran through further set-up solutions. With the circuit drying out by lunchtime, both drivers continued the testing programme with a race simulation exercise, in combination with a dry tyre programme. Rubens completed 117 laps with Jenson totalling 86 laps and setting the second fastest time of the day.

Anthony rejoined the test programme on Friday alongside Jenson. With dry morning track conditions for the first time this week, both drivers worked through long run dry tyre evaluations followed by a race simulation in the afternoon session. Jenson suffered an engine failure in chassis 02 early in the afternoon session but was able to return to the track to complete his programme. Anthony completed an impressive 126 laps in total today, with Jenson completing 85 laps and once again ending the day second fastest.

Rubens Barrichello

[michelfx 0]

Honda completes Valencia test

The Honda Racing F1 Team moved to Valencia this week for the second test with the new RA106 cars.

The main focus of the test programme was putting more mileage on the two new chassis, together with tyre and engine development work. The team also continued its preparations for the new season with qualifying and race simulations. Despite the poor winter weather conditions, the test was a positive one with the new car showing good reliability and pace and with drivers Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson regularly occupying the top of the timesheets.

Rubens and Anthony began the testing programme on Tuesday using extreme wet tyres following overnight rain at the Valencia circuit. Both drivers completed set-up runs and practice qualifying procedures to adapt to the new 2006 qualifying format. The set-up work was continued in the afternoon session on wet tyres as the track began to dry out. Both Rubens and Anthony completed 62 laps in total, with Rubens setting the fastest time and Anthony the second fastest time of the day.

Jenson joined the team on Wednesday taking over from Anthony. He began the day with an aero evaluation on wet tyres whilst Rubens ran through further set-up solutions. With the circuit drying out by lunchtime, both drivers continued the testing programme with a race simulation exercise, in combination with a dry tyre programme. Rubens completed 117 laps with Jenson totalling 86 laps and setting the second fastest time of the day.

Anthony rejoined the test programme on Friday alongside Jenson. With dry morning track conditions for the first time this week, both drivers worked through long run dry tyre evaluations followed by a race simulation in the afternoon session. Jenson suffered an engine failure in chassis 02 early in the afternoon session but was able to return to the track to complete his programme. Anthony completed an impressive 126 laps in total today, with Jenson completing 85 laps and once again ending the day second fastest.

Rubens Barrichello