Official Pre-season Testing Thread

[Quiet One 15]

I think Schumi was faster than that on Bahrain.

[Boudica 0]

Last year's best Q2 time was 1:31.359, however Massa did a 1.29.989 in March last year.

The difference is it was after 6 days of testing, and the track was well rubbered in because all the teams were testing and of course all the drivers aids were present.

Schumi didn't test at Bahrain last year.

[Quiet One 15]

Last year's best Q2 time was 1:31.359, however Massa did a 1.29.989 in March last year.

The difference is it was after 6 days of testing, and the track was well rubbered in because all the teams were testing and of course all the drivers aids were present.

Schumi didn't test at Bahrain last year.

I know. I meant that he (Schumi) did a faster lap than that in the past. Anyways, impressive amount of data you are feeding us, Boudica. Thank you!

[Boudica 0]

Bahrain day 2

1. K. Raikkonen

[Fed up 0]

Kimi is faster than light

Any news on any other drivers

[hookedon-f1 0]

These are quite something..... especially seeing as the track has not been used.......

everyone had better watch out!!!

[Rainmaster 7]

I look at Kimi's times and all I can do is

[goferrarigo 0]

Kimi is flying by day 2 hes allready on 1:30's day 5 or 6; a 1:28's???

[David Adams 0]

Will sure be impressive if that laptime is true...

Remember though, lap times are unofficial, could have been put there to give some teams a fright :-)

[Boudica 0]

As a joke the Ferrari mechanics held a 'winner' sign out and started hugging and celebrating in keeping with Raikkonen's GP simulation once he'd completed it.

[Boudica 0]

Second day of testing for the Scuderia at Sakhir

Maranello, 5th February

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir - (5.412 km)

Drivers: Luca Baoder and Kimi Raikkonen

Cars: F2008

Weather: air temperature 12/18

[Boudica 0]

At 14.25 Raikkonen kicked off a race simualtion ending at 16.10, at the end of his 77th lap. He drove a few 1:31's, a lot of low 1:32's and very little laps towards the 1:33. This indicates that the F2008 is already one second faster than the F2007 was.

Some of the good performance is down to the 2008 medium Bridgestone tyres which are close to the characteristics of the 2007 soft tyre but have a greater consistency on one of the most abrasive circuits of all, also due to the sand.

Trulli's AND Glock's gearboxes both went bust.

[goferrarigo 0]

As a joke the Ferrari mechanics held a 'winner' sign out and started hugging and celebrating in keeping with Raikkonen's GP simulation once he'd completed it.

[Jean Todt 4]

Kimi is flying by day 2 hes allready on 1:30's day 5 or 6; a 1:28's???

hmm, by day 130, me may set no time at all, he would be that fast!

I think 1:30 is the maximum he can do, there is a limit Ankit!

[goferrarigo 0]

hmm, by day 130, me may set no time at all, he would be that fast!

I think 1:30 is the maximum he can do, there is a limit Ankit!

You mean to say, you have a Kimi-meter, to check his limit??

Nah but i think with more rubber on the ground he could gain around 1 more second. this is after all a week long test so...

[aussief1 4]

Kimi / Felipe & Ferrari will want to go quicker and in doing so sending out a strong message out to McLaren on the final day of testing in Bahrain when as AJ said the track is at it's quickest. How quick will they go we will have to wait and see.

[Jez 0]

hmm, by day 130, me may set no time at all, he would be that fast!

[Boudica 0]

1. R

[Jean Todt 4]

You mean to say, you have a Kimi-meter, to check his limit??

Nah but i think with more rubber on the ground he could gain around 1 more second. this is after all a week long test so...

possible!

But, look who else is eyeing that red car!

http://totalf1.com/fullstory/view/244047/A...errari_rumours/

Feb.6 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has reignited speculation that his future lies at Ferrari by suggesting that he would already like to be piloting the Italian team's newly launched F2008.

"At the moment they have the best car and that is why everyone wants to be in the places of Kimi and Massa," the Spaniard said in an interview with the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell.

Former double world champion Alonso, 26, was strongly linked with Ferrari towards the end of his unhappy tenure at McLaren last year, but for 2008 he has returned to Renault.

It is understood that his new contract with the French team binds him only for this year.

Along the same lines, Alonso refuses to confirm that he will still be a Renault driver in 2009.

Asked if he can guarantee that he will still occupy the same seat next season, he answered: "No. My decision will depend on a combination of three factors: the competitiveness of the car, the atmosphere and the financial element."

Alonso is also not confident that he will be a championship contender with Renault's R28 machine.

"The title is more a medium-term goal," he said. "It is going to be very difficult to fight with the fast ones; the objective (for 2008) is to fight for the podium."

[Boudica 0]

Ferrari are doing the same program as yesterday namely the goal is to replicate a grandprix weekend, they did short runs in morning, and after that they will mimic a qualifying session and after lunch they will do some long runs and pit stops.

Kimi did a short run were his lap times were 1:31.011, 1:31.359, 1:31.468, he also did a 1:31.564 in another stint. One can effectively say he conquered the best lap of Massa four times. (Of course Massa will need a bit of time at first to get used to the track conditions and so on).

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Ferrari are doing the same program as yesterday namely the goal is to replicate a grandprix weekend, they did short runs in morning, and after that they will mimic a qualifying session and after lunch they will do some long runs and pit stops.

Kimi did a short run were his lap times were 1:31.011, 1:31.359, 1:31.468, he also did a 1:31.564 in another stint. One can effectively say he conquered the best lap of Massa four times. (Of course Massa will need a bit of time at first to get used to the track conditions and so on).

I'm waiting with bated breath for the next laptimes....

[Boudica 0]

Bahrain day 3

1. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:30.455 74

2. F. Massa Ferrari 1:31.293 72

3. J. Trulli Toyota 1:32.145 97

4. Kobayashi Toyota 1:32.265 53

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Bahrain day 3

1. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:30.455 74

2. F. Massa Ferrari 1:31.293 72

3. J. Trulli Toyota 1:32.145 97

4. Kobayashi Toyota 1:32.265 53

ah, I thank theee....

[Boudica 0]

Massa was doing various set-ups (I think he continued Badoer's work from yesterday) but had an hydraulic problem at around 15:00 and his car was returned on a truck after he had switched off the engine. After 90 minutes he went out on track again, the problem wasn't too big and seemed easy to repair.

Today was another experimental day for Raikkonen. He was trying out mechanical set ups and experimented with the electronics which augurs well. For the third consecutive day he obtained the best time, each time in different conditions. He set his best time in the afternoon.

In th morning the tracktemperature was 41 C but went down to 20 C in the afternoon when the sun went down.

As soon as testing ended the Ferrari drivers left the circuit afraid of being stuck in traffic.

The TF108 seems very slow, their times never seemed to go down and the eventhough it's no race, their gap to Ferrari never became any better. But at least they didn't encounter problems.

[Boudica 0]

Bahrain Test ? Day 3

Wednesday 6 February 2008

Location: Bahrain International Circuit

Drivers: Jarno Trulli, Kamui Kobayashi

Track length: 5.412km

END OF PART ONE

Panasonic Toyota Racing brought the first part of its Bahrain test to a close today with Jarno Trulli and Kamui Kobayashi resuming work on set-up and development items on day three. Both drivers looked at different mechanical set-up options, gathering important information for the team to study in order to get more out of the TF108. Kamui also completed some practice pit stops and neither driver suffered any reliability problems which enabled both to complete all their planned work on a warm and sunny day. The team will remain in Bahrain for another three-day test which starts on Saturday, with Jarno and Timo Glock at the wheel.

Jarno Trulli- Chassis TF108-03

Best Lap Time: 1min 32.145s

Position: 3rd

Total laps: 97

?This was a better day for us because we had no technical problems and the weather improved quite a bit. We completed a lot of laps which was important because we had quite a few things to test and we needed to get some information about the different mechanical set-ups. Everything went well and we are making progress but we still have to push hard to continue this improvement.?

Kamui Kobayashi - Chassis TF108-02

Best Lap Time: 1min 32.265s

Position: 4th

Total laps: 53

?Today was successful and I did all the work we had planned. The weather has improved here since Monday, when I last tested, and that made for better track conditions, especially as there was much less wind today. This was my last day in the car until Barcelona later this month so I hope Timo and Jarno can continue to find improvement during the rest of our time in Bahrain.?

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis

?We can be pleased with today?s work, which was mainly focused on mechanical set-up for race conditions. We wanted to investigate several options and we now have a lot of data to study which will help us. It has been a very useful three days. Even if we did not get temperatures in the very high range we have had very good weather conditions and we have been able to test all day long during the three days. The only minor downside is it tends to be a bit windy but that was better today and all in all we have done some good work.?