2013 Testing - Jerez 5-8 Feb

[MarkedOne8]

He is there and actually sees the cars. At this point you can't see anything by looking at the lap times.

That's better then.

[stefan_]

So, it's the same start to the season than two years ago for Mercedes...

Lotus had potential bigger problems last year in Barcelona but in the end they pulled it off nicely.

[SchumiSutil]

Well, it does not mean anything performance wise, of course. But anyway, it's not a good start to the season.

[MarkedOne8]

Marussia is going nowhere by this approach to testings.

[stefan_]

Red flag. Chilton goes off at the end of the backstraight.

14:50 As the Marussia is taken away, we get a better look at the damage. The car has taken a hit on the right rear and damaged the suspension.

Autosport

[ben_watkins]

Good shot of the Mercedes on fire with Nico at the wheel.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/fe ... first-test

[MarkedOne8]

Good shot of the Mercedes on fire with Nico at the wheel.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/fe ... first-test

We already have that image.

[GrizzleBoy]

This won't be doing much for Max's lap times in terms of confidence now.

15:12 Edd Straw has been checking out suggestions that Chilton's crash was caused by a mechanical failure. He says the team is currently investigating.

Autosport

Marussia really don't need any stories about drivers crashing due to mechanical failures right now....

[Maelstrom]

Wow.. look at Button's last run.

1:20:848 - lap 11
1:20:611 - lap 12
1:21:460 - lap 13
1:21:408 - lap 14
1:21:443 - lap 15
1:21:589 - lap 16
1:21:426 - lap 17

Very neat laps. I'm sure the laps were not at top speed... but still. Very little time drop.

[GrizzleBoy]

15:24 "We've identified an issue with the rear suspension which requires further inspection and so we won't take part in any more running for today," said the team.

"After such a positive start to our test it is disappointing, but this is what testing is for and, most importantly, Max is just fine."

15:23 News from Marussia: Max Chilton's earlier crash was caused by a suspension failure.

Autosport

What does the fact that Grosjean is the only person to break into the 1:19.X times mean?

Edit: Mark Webber obviously not happy with that question and immediately goes 0.087 seconds faster than Grosjean lol.

[Maelstrom]

Probably that he was pushing harder than the rest.

Edit: Webber just went fastest. There you go.

[desl]

Wow.. look at Button's last run.

1:20:848 - lap 11
1:20:611 - lap 12
1:21:460 - lap 13
1:21:408 - lap 14
1:21:443 - lap 15
1:21:589 - lap 16
1:21:426 - lap 17

Very neat laps. I'm sure the laps were not at top speed... but still. Very little time drop.

His next run looks also pretty good:

1:21.410 (29)
1:21.448 (28)
1:27.275 (27)
1:21.395 (26)
1:21.010 (25)
1:20.702 (24)
1:20.375 (23)
1:20.081 (22)

[Maelstrom]

15:34 autosportlive Button's times were more consistent. He has gone from a 1m20.081s to a 1m21.395s, losing almost exactly 0.3s with each lap

Yep. I wonder which car is going to have the least tyre degradation this year.

[desl]

Now Button made a 1:18.861 ... that looks good for McLaren

[SchumiSutil]

And Button smashed the best time, 1:18.8, only 4 tenths behind Grosjean's best last year.