Official Pre-season Testing Thread

[HandyNZL 1]

Re: Red Bull....that Newey fella seems to know what he's up to...

[bathurst1000 0]

Re: Red Bull....that Newey fella seems to know what he's up to...

apparently so who would have guessed it??

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

Webbo's time was set on a quali run i reckon..........

[Boudica 0]

11:00

1. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB4 1:18.628 22

2. K. Nakajima Williams FW30 1:19.215 +0.587 25

3. N. Rosberg Williams FW30 1:19.434 +0.806 24

4. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-23 1:19.985 +1.357 28

5. N. Piquet Jr. Renault R28 1:20.180 +1.552 22

6. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.08 1:20.201 +1.573 25

7. S. Vettel Toro Rosso STR2 1:20.473 +1.845 23

8. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR2 1:20.536 +1.908 14

9. F. Alonso Renault R28 1:20.559 +1.931 9

10. R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1.08 1:20.732 +2.104 30

11. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-23 1:20.856 +2.228 21

12. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB4 1:21.036 +2.408 11

13. R. Barrichello Honda RA108 1:21.823 +3.195 7

14. J. Button Honda RA108 1:22.021 +3.393 15

15. T. Sato Super Aguri F1 SA07 1:23.187 +4.559 13

16. A. Sutil Force India VJM-01 1:23.268 +4.640 14

[Boudica 0]

Webbo's time was set on a quali run i reckon..........

It was set short stints of 5 laps.

[bathurst1000 0]

It was set short stints of 5 laps.

Most cars doing 5 lap stints including McLaren

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

Most cars doing 5 lap stints including McLaren

Thanks for the info mate. How did you know?

[bathurst1000 0]

Thanks for the info mate. How did you know?

Been watching the lap counter and when they pit, also other forums

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

Which Lap counter? Are you in Jerez? lucky Dude!

[Boudica 0]

In anticipation of a repeat of last week's behavior three British broadcasters (BBC, ITV and Sky) had representatives in attendance.

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_new...es_art_id=33899

[Boudica 0]

Thanks for the info mate. How did you know?

I think Maclaren are doing ten lap or even 20 laps stints.

If you want to follow testing live, here you go:

http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2008/02/...cuito-de-jerez/

[Boudica 0]

Times -12:35 day 2

1 .- M. Webber-1 :18.628-32 laps

2 .- N. Rosberg-1 :19.091-42 laps

3 .- K. Nakajima-1 :19.215-40 laps

4 .- F. Alonso-1 :19.710-26 laps

5 .- R. Kubica BMW-1 :19.829-61 laps

6 .- L. Hamilton-1 :19.857-62 laps

7 .- S. Vettel-1 :19.889-53 laps

8 .- N. Piquet Jr.-1 :20.014-43 laps

9 .- H. Kovalainen-1 :20.152-44 laps

10 .- N. Heidfeld-1 :20.201-47 laps

11 .- S. Bourdais-1 :20.536-19 laps

12 .- D. Coulthard-1 :20.665-43 laps

13 .- J. Button-1 :21.152-34 laps

14 .- T. Sato-1 :22.006-47 laps

15 .- R. Barrichello-1 :21.823-17 laps

16 .- A. Sutil-1 :22.222-42 laps

[Boudica 0]

Webber set his time on a two lap run (1:18.735 and 1:18.628).

[Kati 0]

Update: 13:19
coureur team wagen tijd verschil #
1. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB4 1:18.628 40
2. N. Rosberg Williams FW30 1:19.091 +0.463 48
3. K. Nakajima Williams FW30 1:19.215 +0.587 50
4. F. Alonso Renault R28 1:19.710 +1.082 33
5. R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1.08 1:19.829 +1.201 63
6. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-23 1:19.857 +1.229 62
7. S. Vettel Toro Rosso STR2 1:19.889 +1.261 66
8. N. Piquet Jr. Renault R28 1:20.014 +1.386 43
9. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-23 1:20.152 +1.524 51
10. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.08 1:20.201 +1.573 52
11. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR2 1:20.536 +1.908 19
12. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB4 1:20.665 +2.037 53
13. J. Button Honda RA108 1:21.152 +2.524 50
14. T. Sato Super Aguri F1 SA07 1:21.567 +2.939 55
15. R. Barrichello Honda RA108 1:21.823 +3.195 17
16. A. Sutil Force India VJM-01 1:22.244 +3.616 42

Credits: www.f1today.nl

[Boudica 0]

- Honda has supplied Super Aguri with a RA107 chassis with an engine and gearbox for free, but they should find the necessary budget themselves. Neither Sato nor Davidson bring in any money and thus a well paying testdriver is searched for. Sources claim it might be Andreas Zuber. The Austrian lives in Dubai and this year he'll compete in GP2 series with Piquet Sports. There has been contact between him and Honda since December.

- Red Bull's final aerodynamic package will only be ready in Melbourne. So far the team is happy as they're basically still driving with the basic RB4. Webber is already optimistic: ''Every part we've put on the car here as brought progress. That's a good sign.'' On his laptime: ''We've taken out fuel but also under these circumstances it wasn't a bad time.'' Because of a malfunction of the rearaxle he as sidelined for some time. It was the first big technical problem that Red Bull encountered so far.

- To overcome the Barcelona problems, Williams has come up with two completely new front wings and a modified old one which were fabricated in shifts. Rosberg tried the new ones, Nakajima the modified one. This 'emergency-operation' implies the construction of the fourth chassis will be delayed a bit, but it's not a real problem, Rosberg: ''The second impression (of the car) is good also. This car is a clear step forward in every area.''

After the FW30 has shown to be a very decent car mechanically in Valencia, it has now proven to be a good car aerodynamically also. Jerez is a mix between fast and slow corners: ''The aerodynamics was always our weak point so far. It's good to see we've made up terrain especially in this area.''

Rosberg was quasi-unimpressed with Webbers time: ''A 1:18.6 can be driven here.''

- Rosberg on the competition (BMW Sauber, Renault, Red Bull and Williams) : ''I estimate BMW Sauber to be the strongest from this group.'' Kubica doesn't agree though: ''Our car is still very nervous, especially when there's wind.'' Heidfeld is more positive: ''We're moving in the right direction. The problems we've had at the beginning have already become less.''

Heidfeld does admit though the wind is hard to cpe with: ''The wind is a real problem here. It's gusty and keeps coming from a different direction. It makes the car unpredictable.''

Vettel backs his fellow country man up saying the weather circumstances are crucial: ''The laptimes here are extremely dependant on the temperatures and wind.''

- Piquet thinks Renault is the third best team at the moment, with BMW Sauber behind them: ''According to our calculations Red Bull and Williams are slightly behind.'' The Brasilian still looses out too much time to Alonso, especially on long stints: ''I urgently need driving experience (with this car ).'' Therefore he has asked the team if he can drive during each day of wintertesting. Tost's opinion on the drivers' situation at Renault: ''With his driving style, Alonso makes up for some of Renault's weaknesses. Piquet is probably lacking experience there.''

Piquet once more: ''I feel the confidence is growing and I will certainly come closer to Alonso.''

- McLaren had a 'quiet' day in the midfield, working on aerodynamics.

- The Toro Rosso drivers completed their programmes without problems. Tost: ''Our drivers are still young. They need each and every km.'' Vettel: ''In terms of laptimes we're little behind the 'group of four' but we're in front of the Japanese (which would be position 7 in the field of teams). ''Obviously we're looking ahead of us. As things are looking now we'll also be able to drive in the points with the old car. But we will still need luck to do that, but already a little less than last year.''

Berger's opinion: ''We're on schedule. This year's preperation is more serious than last year's.'' Is he perhaps already looking towards the RB4 the team will get at the fifth race in Istanbul ? ''No actually. We're consciously starting with the old car because we want to avoid what has happened last year. We've trembled at every test whether or not there were enough spare parts for the new car and we've paid the price for all the teething troubles we had then.''

[Fed up 0]

The boy Piquet doesn't inspire confidence at the moment - I can see a mid term re-shuffle with Piquet relegated to the role of test driver.

[Max Mosley 2]

and SA are not testing b/c they have no moneys, I doubt whether they will even make the first GP

We can hope!

Webbo's time was set on a quali run i reckon..........

It was set short stints of 5 laps.

Yes, the times are practically meaningless, but interesting nevertheless!

- Piquet thinks Renault is the third best team at the moment, with BMW Sauber behind them: ''According to our calculations Red Bull and Williams are slightly behind.'' The Brasilian still looses out too much time to Alonso, especially on long stints: ''I urgently need driving experience (with this car ).'' Therefore he has asked the team if he can drive during each day of wintertesting. Tost's opinion on the drivers' situation at Renault: ''With his driving style, Alonso makes up for some of Renault's weaknesses. Piquet is probably lacking experience there.''

Piquet once more: ''I feel the confidence is growing and I will certainly come closer to Alonso.''

Indeed Fed Up. What's our boy Piquet been doing all year as test driver?

[HandyNZL 1]

What has Piquet been doing all year as test driver? Testing the other car...not this one. Totally different car this year, or so they say.

Don't write him off just yet - remember GP2 was fought out between him and Lewis, and we all know what Lewis did last year against Alonso. And he has been ahead in the times against Alonso on some days.

[Boudica 0]

Times -09:50 day 3

1 .- H. Kovalainen-1 :19.048-11 laps

2 .- L. Hamilton-1 :19.848-8 laps

3 .- S. Bourdais-1 :19.848-16 laps

4 .- S. Vettel-1 :19.897-16 laps

5 .- R. Kubica-1 :20.442-16 laps

6 .- N. Piquet-1 :20.602-10 laps

7 .- N. Heidfeld-1 :20.884-15 laps

8 .- D. Coulthard-1 :20.978-8 laps

9 .- J. Button-1 :20.988-9 laps

10 .- G. Fisichella-1 :21.125-16 laps

11 .- M. Webber-1 :21.275-9 laps

12 .- L. Di Grassi-1 :21.484-9 laps

13 .- K. Nakajima-1 :21.592-11 laps

14 .- A. Wurz-1 :21.605-9 laps

15 .- N. Hulkenberg-1 :22.589-9 laps

16 .- A. Davidson-1 :23.225-14 laps

[Boudica 0]

The boy Piquet doesn't inspire confidence at the moment - I can see a mid term re-shuffle with Piquet relegated to the role of test driver.

9. Alonso - 2766.200km

16. Piquet - 1585.834km

Alonso has done a lot more testing compared to Piquet already this year. While the other rookies are getting reverse treatment, in which they are doing a lot more testing then the regular driver.

Renault should give Piquet bit more testing time.

[Boudica 0]

Some info from TS:

- McLaren tried their new front and rear wing yesterday in Kovalainen's car but heavy wind forced them to switch back to old ones after few laps. Because of that McLaren doesnt have a clear understanding of how new wings are working

- Hamilton stopped working at 3pm and McLaren started to change new wings to his car so he could try them on today (14th of February)

- McLaren observed from the pit that Kovalainen seems to drive too aggressively. He is braking later than Hamilton and therefore looses mid corner speed

- Webber's time was done during a 3 lap stint so he had at least 15 kg fuel left in his car

- Webber: "Now the balance is as I want it to be and reliability seems to in order as well."

- Rosberg: "I am really pleased with the balance of our car. Webber's time was a bit of surprise. Bed Bull is for sure a strong competitor during this season. They seem to have a good car and Renault engine that works well in that car."

- Nakajima was less than 2 tenths away from Rosberg. Japanese driver controls the car well with the throttle now that TC is gone and he is benefiting from his fresh GP2 experience.

- Most impressive under braking in Jerez tests has been BMW's Robert Kubica

[Boudica 0]

- This is certainly one of the most windiest testsessions at Barcelona.

- Hamilton stopped working early indeed (15:00), as there was no point testing a new aerodynamics with such strong windblows. He went to the hotel to play golf, Kovalainen remained at the trackside discussing with his engineers and had to switch his to another programme.

- Heidfeld: ''We aborted some longruns because the strong wind was falsifying the data. The laptimes were no longer meaninful.''

Kubica added: ''We have a particular problem because the new car reacts more delicately to cross wind than the old one.''

- Sutil: ''The sky was completely blue but the wind was strong. It made it difficult to work on the planned set-up of the car. When the wind came from a beneficious direction it was good but a few seconds later (when the winddirection changed) the balance of the car was gone. Fortunately we didn't encounter any mechanical problems in the 86 laps we did, that's the good side of the day.''

- Webber: ''I've been driving a few laps behind Kovalainen when the wind was worse. Heikki was more off than on track.''

On the own car struggling with the wind: ''The big fin, that we on our car since Barcelona, is not helpful. Normally it gives the more stability but with crosswind there's too much contact surface.''

The Australian would rather test at Jerez next week because of the temperatures: ''The temperatures are higher here. The tyres work better because of that. Forget about Barcelona last week. The tyres were too hard for the tyres we had there.''

Rosberg backs him up: ''We did have to abandon the test last week due to problems with the front wing but we basically haven't lost anything because of it. The testtimes weren't representative because it was too cold for the tyres that were offered to us.''

[Boudica 0]

Times at 10:23

1. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-23 1:17.974 17

2. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB4 1:19.135 +1.161 17

3. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-23 1:19.848 +1.874 8

4. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR2 1:19.848 +1.874 16

5. S. Vettel Toro Rosso STR2 1:19.879 +1.905 16

6. R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1.08 1:20.442 +2.468 16

7. N. Piquet Jr. Renault R28 1:20.602 +2.628 10

8. G. Fisichella Force India VJM-01 1:20.774 +2.800 28

9. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.08 1:20.884 +2.910 15

10. J. Button Honda RA108 1:20.988 +3.014 9

11. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB4 1:21.276 +3.302 9

12. L. Di Grassi Renault R28 1:21.484 +3.510 9

13. K. Nakajima Williams FW30 1:21.592 +3.618 11

14. A. Wurz Honda RA108 1:21.605 +3.631 9

15. N. H

[Kati 0]

Update: 12:32 www.f1today.nl

1. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-23 1:17.974 47

2. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB4 1:18.485 +0.511 49

3. K. Nakajima Williams FW30 1:19.117 +1.143 27

4. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-23 1:19.429 +1.455 44

5. R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1.08 1:19.535 +1.561 55

6. S. Vettel Toro Rosso STR2 1:19.688 +1.714 29

7. N. Piquet Jr. Renault R28 1:19.817 +1.843 53

8. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR2 1:19.848 +1.874 19

9. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.08 1:19.934 +1.960 59

10. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB4 1:19.980 +2.006 55

11. G. Fisichella Force India VJM-01 1:20.774 +2.800 46

12. J. Button Honda RA108 1:20.988 +3.014 75

13. A. Davidson Super Aguri F1 SA07 1:21.010 +3.036 53

14. L. Di Grassi Renault R28 1:21.285 +3.311 40

15. N. H

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

New Mclaren Wheel rim developments...............Transformers style!