Barcelona Test

[teecof1fan]

Axle,

I'm with you: it's fantastic to see the teams close to each other, and I'm especially happy to see Williams right up there for the past couple of tests! I have to say, though, that there's no need to tell POL to chill. We know Ferrari are fast, but Schumacher could have been 2 seconds off of Kimi's pace, but he ended up only 1/10th off. And like POL said, that's just jumping in a new car and driving. I'm not gushing over Schumi; he's retired and it's useless to go into great detail. Suffice it to say his test was impressive. Now I'll reiterate my real point: great to see some close times during these tests! Especially now that crunch time is approaching! I really hope the pecking order is shuffled around this year...

[joseff]

FIF1 showed a good turn of pace...

Just like STR, the Ferrari motor must be a real asset.

[teecof1fan]

I second that, joseff: STR have been in the top ten on each day of the past few tests that they have joined (specifically Vettel)! January 22nd if I'm not mistaken is Vettel's last top ten during practice, and when you include Le Seb the top ten record continues another test-day or two. Now, the real question is, since the homologation, what would make a Ferrari engine so much better than a BMW engine or Mercedes engine?? Ah well, maybe it's just Vettel...

[jaho101]

Man all that news stuff on the BMW makes it look about as efficient as a sack of potatoes, they're really taking their CFD ideas a bit far. I doubt they learned from Toyota's example in 2005 when they'd add winglets to everything and get no real returns. Doesn't look too rosy for BMW, everyone else is catching. Also: Renault's new wing is hardly radical.

[Astro1]

Well...here is the video from yesterday, have a listen between 1:22 and 1:40. Is that not some form of a TC attempt I'm hearing? I have the high res video if anybody is intrested as well.

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=olgA5rY2PwE

[FLC]

Looks like Renault it trying some BMW ideas...

[Roland Ehnström]

Is that not some form of a TC attempt I'm hearing?

No, that's just the engine spluttering at very low revs.

[ben_watkins]

Track times for the day...

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.276 78
2. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:22.319 82
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:22.428 83
4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.724 54
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.852 71
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.974 108
7. Alonso Renault (B) 1:23.021 79
8. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.075 75
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:23.091 62
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.115 71
11. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:23.188 95
12. Klien BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.239 43
13. Liuzzi Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:23.270 70
14. Piquet Renault (B) 1:23.442 42
15. Glock Toyota (B) 1:23.609 86
16. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:23.880 29
17. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:24.460 115
18. Wurz Honda (B) 1:24.667 109
19. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:24.826 25

[joseff]

...what would make a Ferrari engine so much better than a BMW engine or Mercedes engine??

Could be a number of things...
- Able to run hotter = less cooling necessary = better aero efficiency
- more fuel efficient = lighter car
- slimmer, more aerodynamic gearbox casing
- stiffer engine + gearbox assembly = more predictable rear end handling
etc etc

Homologation => same power output. Doesn't mean that everything else is equal.

[db__]

Something strange going on in Barcelona - How have Honda jumped forward so much??

TIEMPOS- 12:07
1.- Raikkonen -1:21.722 - 29 Vueltas
2.- Hamilton - 1:22.232 - 21 Vueltas
3.-Rosberg - 1:22.309 - 22 Vueltas
4.-Kubica - 1:22.625 - 30 Vueltas
5.-Button - 1:22.659 - 28 Vueltas =D>
6.-Massa - 1:22.909 - 24 Vueltas
7.-Liuzzi - 1:23.116 - 34 Vueltas
8.-Barrichello - 1:23.159 -30 Vueltas =D>
9.-Alonso - 1:23.208 - 34 Vueltas
10.-Kovalainen - 1:23.240 -13 Vueltas
11.-Fisichella - 1:23.347 - 35 Vueltas
12.-Trulli - 1:23.348 - 27 Vueltas
13.-Vettel - 1:23.438 - 36 Vueltas
14.-Piquet - 1:23.467 - 33 Vueltas
15.-Bourdais - 1:23.836 - 46 Vueltas
16.-Nakajima - 1:23.860 - 49 Vueltas
17.-Heidfeld - 1:23.944 - 20 Vueltas
18.-Glock - 1:24.277 - 33 Vueltas
19.-Webber - Sin Tiempo - 14 Vueltas

[axle]

They could easily be doing qualifying runs in practice for Aus. low fuel to know what their ultimate pace is and how the car behaves on that limit. I'd expect pitstops and qualifying to be tested heavily this week...I expect reliability is pretty much done within reason and now they must be drilled and ready for Aus.

[waynes]

Something strange going on in Barcelona - How have Honda jumped forward so much?

sandbagging in previous tests

[rghai6]

Hey db__, why no clapping hand for Liuzzi ?

sandbagging in previous tests

Or running or fumes now ?

[mx_tifoso]

Another strange thing going on, why has Piquet been posting such slow lap times lately? He's mostly been too far down with the lower teams, which is not a normal position for a Renault to be in. Hope this doesn't reflect the teams pace .

And a question for anyone who might be able to answer; are there any sensors or cameras that could be placed on the bargeboards I ask this because I saw something that resembled a sensor/camera on a McLaren bargeboard yesterday while going through some testing pics.
Thank you in advance.

[waynes]

Testing times from Barcelona (February 26)

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m21.234s
2. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m21.434s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.722s
4. ROSBERG Williams 1m22.309s
5. MASSA Ferrari 1m22.513s
6. FISICHELLA Force India 1m22.516s
7. VETTEL Red Bull 1m22.558s
8. KUBICA BMW 1m22.625s
9. BUTTON Honda 1m22.659s
10. LIUZZI Force India 1m22.942s
11. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m22.977s
12. TRULLI Toyota 1m23.023s
13. ALONSO Renault 1m23.112s
14. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m23.159s
15. HEIDFELD BMW 1m23.284s
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m23.323s
17. WEBBER Red Bull 1m23.458s
18. PIQUET Renault 1m23.467s
19. GLOCK Toyota 1m23.561s


Fisichella straight on the pace