Official 2008/2009 Winter Testing Thread

Christophe Berton · Feb 13, 2009

Andreas Hultgren said:
Finally some good times from Renault. I saw McLaren was still running with the '08 rear wing so no real clue on how fast the car really was today.

Can't wait 'till Melbourne :eat:

Edit: Just saw that Williams are running with a new, higher and smaller, nose cone.

me too, cant w8 until vettel wins again

Damian Henderson · Feb 17, 2009

Bahrain 16th:

Code:

[B]Times[/B]
1  C. Klien BMW  1:32.544 131 laps
2  K. Räikkönen Ferrari  1:32.804 116 laps
3  J. Trulli Toyota  1:33.064 141 laps

Bahrain 17th:

Code:

[B]Times[/B]
01  K. Räikkönen Ferrari  01:32.102 107 laps
02  J. Trulli Toyota  01:32.230 149 laps
03  N. Heidfeld BMW  01:32.585 104 laps

The Scuderia test session continues at Sakhir circuit
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit - 5.412 km
Driver: Kimi Raikkonen
Car: Ferrari F60
Weather: air temperature 20/29 °C, track temperature 21/35 °C. Sunny, hazy skies in the morning, then overcast in the afternoon.

Once again today at Sakhir, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro continued with the test session that began at this track last week, alongside BMW and Toyota.

On Kimi Raikkonen's programme was evaluation of various set up options on the Ferrari F60, of the Bridgestone tyres available and on development of new components. A problem with the cooling element of the energy recovery system, shortly after 11.30, delayed the proramme as it lead to a three hour stop. Once it was fixed Kimi concentrated on long runs interspersed with pit stops. Yet again the day ended with practice starts on the grid.

The day in figures is as follows: 107 laps completed by Kimi, the quickest in a time of 1.32.102.

The Scuderia continues testing at this circuit tomorrow, when Felipe Massa will return to the track.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BMW Sauber F1 Team - Test in Bahrain - Week two/Day two
02-17-2009 Press Release

Test in Bahrain.

February 16th – 19th 2009

Week two / Day two – Tuesday

Weather conditions: Sunny in morning, hazy in the afternoon.

Temperature: Air: 20 – 29 °C, Track: 21 – 35 °C

Number of drivers participating: 3 from 3 teams

Fastest lap overall: Kimi Raikkönen (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:32.102 min

Circuit length: 5.412 km

Nick Heidfeld
Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-02 / BMW 86/9
Test kilometres today: 563 (104 laps)
Fastest lap: 1:32.585 min

Programme:
Despite the weather not being as perfect as yesterday, the BMW Sauber F1 Team continued with development work on the F1.09 car. Nick Heidfeld concentrated on the mechanical set-up, trying various specifications of dampers and torsion bars. He also did a couple of practice starts in the morning and at the end of the session.

“Today I drove the new BMW Sauber F1.09 in warm weather conditions for the first time, so the most important thing for me was to learn more about the general balance of the car”, Heidfeld said after completing xxxx laps. “Overall it was a good day because I tried a lot of different set-up solutions. I already feel happy about how the car reacts to changes.”

In the morning the car stopped on the track when a standard kill switch accidentally cut off the main electronic control unit and engaged the automatic fire extinguishing system. With some modifications to the switch linkage – and a cleaned up car – Heidfeld resumed testing.

What comes next:
Tomorrow Nick Heidfeld will be at the wheel of the BMW Sauber F1.09 again for another day of testing at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit.

Damian Henderson · Feb 17, 2009

It was thought Williams would be testing this week in Barcelona but not now.

http://www.williamsf1.com/news/view/822

Sam Michael, Technical Director, Williams F1:
“This week we had all three drivers working on aerodynamic and mechanical set-up optimisation while also evaluating tyres for Bridgestone. The main target at the moment is to improve the balance on slick tyres, something we are all learning about as quickly as possible. We completed all of the systems, reliability and aero checks that we set out to at the beginning of the week. We finished off the test with some pitstop practice work with the race team so they could get used to all of the new equipment, and to give the drivers an opportunity to get used to pitting on slicks. It's been a productive week and we are looking forward to the next test back here in Jerez in the first week of March.”

It looks like nobody will be testing this week in Europe, next full test is everybody and their dog at Jerez, here is McLaren's current schedule.

Mar 1-4 - Jerez - Group Test Three

1st March - Drivers TBC
2nd March - Drivers TBC
3rd March - Drivers TBC
4th March - Drivers TBC
5th March - Drivers TBC

Mar 9-12 - Barcelona - Group Test Four

9th March - Drivers TBC
10th March - Drivers TBC
11th March - Drivers TBC
12th March - Drivers TBC

Mar 15-18 - Jerez - Group Test Five

15th March - Drivers TBC
16th March - Drivers TBC
17th March - Drivers TBC
18th March - Drivers TBC

Damian Henderson · Mar 2, 2009

Day One belongs to Vettel

The opening day of testing at Jerez belonged to Sebastian Vettel, who beat his rivals by over a second.

For the first time in pre-season testing, eight F1 teams were out in force in their new 2009 challengers. It was Red Bull, though, who proved to have the early upper hand.

Code:

Times
1  S. Vettel Red Bull  01:19.055 87 laps
2  F. Massa Ferrari  01:20.330 63 laps
3  K. Kobayashi Toyota  01:20.699 79 laps
4  N. Rosberg Williams  01:21.171 71 laps
5  R. Kubica BMW  01:21.292 47 laps
6  G. Fisichella Force India F1  01:21.584 31 laps
7  P. de la Rosa McLaren  01:21.831 94 laps
8  N. Piquet jr. Renault  01:22.011 52 laps

De la Rosa explains McLaren's slow pace

Pedro de la Rosa has explained that McLaren's slow pace at Jerez - which saw him beaten by a Force India - was down to the team running some 2010 specs.

McLaren spent the first day of this week's Spanish test evaluating compounds and casings for Bridgestone's 2010-spec rubber.

One of the requirements was to run with the upcoming restriction on tyre warmers while the second was to use a heavy fuel-load due to the ban on refuelling.

And de la Rosa's lap times were proof that it is not going to be easy for the drivers as he finished seventh out of the eight runners, 2.7s behind pace-setter Seb Vettel.

In fact the Spaniard was so far off the pace that even the Force India of Giancarl Fisichella was ahead of him on the timesheets.

"Running without tyre blankets makes it harder to get heat into the tyre - but that's the objective for next year and that's why Bridgestone will supply the teams with different compounds," the McLaren tester said.

"We managed a lot of laps today and the work with the tyres was very positive."

Damian Henderson · Mar 4, 2009

Glock leads the way for Toyota

Timo Glock led the way for Toyota on the third day of testing at Jerez, outpacing the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Following Monday's rain, it was back to sunnier weather for the eight teams in action at Jerez today, although they did have to contend with a damp track for the first two hours of testing.

Glock made the most of the dry track, completing 141 laps - the second highest number for the day - with a best time of 1:19.814.

Code:

[B]Times[/B]
1  T. Glock Toyota  01:19.814 141 laps
2  F. Massa Ferrari  01:20.238 134 laps
3  F. Alonso Renault  01:20.296 152 laps
4  H. Kovalainen McLaren  01:20.535 85 laps
5  A. Sutil Force India F1  01:20.621 63 laps
6  M. Webber Red Bull  01:21.021 98 laps
7  R. Kubica BMW  01:21.069 98 laps
8  N. Rosberg Williams  01:21.412 125 laps

Bram Hengeveld · Mar 4, 2009

Thanks for all the updates and beautiful pictures all the time Damian :thumb:

Omer Said · Mar 4, 2009

Wow Toyota again, going first. I began to fear from them. Also, is it only me or cars are looking better day by day :victory:

Lewis Fergusson · Mar 5, 2009

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA0tOIfjSfA&eurl=http://f1zone.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3609&start=495[/media]
Me not like spinny car.

Damian Henderson · Mar 9, 2009

Barca update: Brawn GP hits the ground running

Jenson Button hit the ground running as he showed off the new Brawn GP car to the public for the first time at Barcelona on Monday morning.

The week's action began under dark clouds with a light drizzle falling over the circuit, forcing the drivers to venture out on intermediate tyres. After an hour, though, the rain cleared up and the sun came out, quickly drying out the track, allowing the drivers to put on the slicks.

Two teams, Brawn GP and Toro Rosso, debuted their new cars this morning, both cutting it fine as this week's test is the second last before the new in-season test ban kicks in. As such both were eager to get in as many laps as possible with Jenson Button completing 30 laps while Seb Bourdais amassed 45X.

Button and his BGP01 were quick out the box, with the Brit hovering around the top three times for much of the morning's session. Half an hour before lunch Button even managed to put his BGP01 into first place with a 1:21.140, finishing ahead of Jarno Trulli and Nelson Piquet Jr.

Meanwhile at the other end of the timesheets lay Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen. Heidfeld, though, missed out on much of the morning's session as he was forced into the team's garage after completing just one installation lap. It is not known the cause of the problem, however, his mechanics worked furiously to ensure that he made it back out onto the track.

Kovalainen and McLaren will be concerned to find themselves languishing at the bottom of the timesheets after 54 laps. Trying out a new 2009-spec rear wing, Kovalainen struggled for pace and was just over three seconds down on Button's P1 time.

Code:

Times
01. J. Button  Brawn GP     1:21.140
02. J. Trulli  Toyota  1:21.794
03. N. Piquet Jr.  Renault  1:22.008
04. A. Sutil  Force India  1:22.452
05. S. Bourdais  Toro Rosso  1:22.660
06. M. Webber  Red Bull Racing  1:22.679
07. K. Nakajima  Williams  1:22.813
08. K. Räikkönen  Ferrari  1:22.869
09. N. Heidfeld  BMW  1:23.605
10. H. Kovalainen  McLaren  1:24.289

Edit-

Updated times:

Code:

01. Nick Heidfeld  BMW-Sauber 1'20''751  
02. Jarno Trulli  Toyota 1'20''937 
03. Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 1'21''032 
04. Jenson Button  Brawn GP 1'21''140 
05. Nelson Piquet Jr  Renault 1'21''665 
06. Adrian Sutil  Force India 1'22''452 
07. Sebastien Bourdais  Toro Rosso 1'22''660 
08. Mark Webber  Red Bull 1'22''679 
09. Kazuki Nakajima  Williams 1'22''813 
10. Heikki Kovalainen  McLaren 1'23''600

Live timing:

http://directo.thef1.es/tests/

Péter Bártfai · Mar 9, 2009

Happy about the great debut of Brawn GP

Like Button and Barrichello both, I hope they'll have a good season! Still amazed about McLaren though, seriously, what they're doing out there? Happy about Heidfeld too! Waiting for the first race, it'll be interesting, it seems the teams are very close again!

Sander Hogendoorn · Mar 9, 2009

I don't think we should worry about McLaren

Technical analysis: McLaren's new floor

By Craig Scarborough Monday, March 9th 2009, 17:42 GMT

McLaren may not be impressing with their out-and-out lap times so far in testing, but at the first day of this week's Barcelona test they surprised the paddock with a radical reshape to their car's floor.

Rather than a flat continuous floor inside the coke bottle shape, the MP4-24 has appeared with a curious cutaway section just ahead of the rear wheels.

A triangular section of floor is missing between the forward part of the floor, which follows the curve of the sidepods, and a squared off edge just ahead of the diffuser. This can be clearly seen in the photograph above.

The rules demand a flat bottom underneath the car, with no part of the car visible from below. In recent years this cut-out would have exposed the flip-ups that surrounded the sidepods, but the cleaner sidepod lines allows the team to try this new floor shaping.

A diffuser creates its downforce at two points: firstly at the kick-line between the diffuser/floor, then secondly at its leading edge.

By effectively moving this leading edge backwards, McLaren are also moving the downforce it creates towards the rear. This may be part of a McLaren strategy to focus downforce production on the front wing and diffuser, as both devices are efficient at creating downforce with little drag.

If these two devices can create enough downforce, then the rear wing can be smaller reducing drag and gaining speed on the straights.

With no question on the floor's legality, McLaren may have stolen a march on the opposition at a time that many observers have been questioning the team's testing pace.

McLaren confirmed on Thursday that the introduction of the new floor came alongside the use of a new front wing and top body. The team conducted back-to-back tests in the morning and afternoon with and without the parts to establish a baseline for the improvements, and will now work on honing the developments.

Damian Henderson · Mar 10, 2009

Day 2 Barca

Code:

Times
01.  K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:20.314 55 laps
02.  K. Nakajima Williams 1:20.907 +0.593 61 laps
03.  R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:20.966 +0.652 106 laps
04.  J. Trulli Toyota 1:21.182 +0.868 110 laps
05.  M. Webber Red Bull 1:21.347 +1.033 62 laps
06.  N. Heidfeld BMW 1:21.615 +1.301 116 laps
07.  A. Sutil Force India 1:21.834 +1.520 76 laps
08.  F. Alonso Renault 1:21.937 +1.623 106 laps
09.  H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:21.991 +1.677 75 laps
10.  S. Bourdais Toro Rosso 1:23.039 +2.725 14 laps
11.  S. Buemi Toro Rosso no time 6 laps

Péter Bártfai · Mar 11, 2009

Button on top today with a low 1:19!!!

1. Jenson Button, Brawn BGP 001, 1:19.127
2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari F60, 1:20.168
3. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber F1.09, 1:20.217
4. Timo Glock, Toyota TF109, 1:20.410
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault R29, 1:20.863
6. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB5, 1:21.165
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams FW31, 1:21.324
8. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India VJM02, 1:21.545
9. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso STR4, 1:21.569
10. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-24, 1:21.657

James Johnson · Mar 11, 2009

Lewis Planted the Mclaren into Gravel today. And Schumi having a good look.

Damian Henderson · Mar 12, 2009

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEaCjaBmsgY&feature=haxa_popt02us01[/ame]

Damian Henderson · Mar 12, 2009

Rubens ends Barcelona test on top

The new Brawn GP team must have been all smiles after Thursday's final day of testing at Barcelona as Rubens Barrichello finished at the top of the timesheets.

Testing began a few minutes late on Thursday morning as the result of heavy fog hanging over the Circuit de Catalunya. But once green-lighted the drivers were quickly out on track, eager to get as much laps in as possible with over half the teams completing 100 or more laps.

Barrichello, who amassed 110, followed up team-mate Jenson Button's Wednesday P1 time with one of his own as the Brazilian crossed the line with a 1:18.926. It was yet another impressive showing from the Brawn GP team, who only unveiled their new car on Monday, and perhaps a sign that they haven't been chasing glory laps this week.

Code:

[B]Times[/B]
01.  R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:18.926  110 laps
02.  N. Rosberg Williams 1:19.774 +0.848 120 laps
03.  T. Glock Toyota 1:20.091 +1.165 128 laps
04.  S. Vettel Red Bull 1:20.576 +1.650 83 laps
05.  F. Alonso Renault 1:20.664 +1.738 64 laps
06.  F. Massa Ferrari 1:20.677 +1.751 92 laps
07.  R. Kubica BMW 1:20.740 +1.814 134 laps
08.  L. Hamilton McLaren 1:20.869 +1.943 70 laps
09.  S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:21.013 +2.087 62 laps
10.  G. Fisichella Force India 1:21.045 +2.119 141 laps
11.  S. Bourdais Toro Rosso 1:21.629 +2.703 27 laps

Péter Bártfai · Mar 12, 2009

WOW! This is really cool! Go Rubens!

Unhappy to see Massa in the midfield though... but yesterday he ran a better time. I hope in Melbourne he can go for the win!

Brawn GP's performance is stunning! But Alonso said he's not surprised about that, as Honda developed this car for a long time! And he's right. Could be awesome to see them on top, both Rubens and Jenson are great drivers and they both deserve winning, I hope they'll stay fast through the season!

James Johnson · Mar 12, 2009

that car has to be underweight at the moment.

Péter Bártfai · Mar 12, 2009

James Johnson said:
that car has to be underweight at the moment.

But the difference is so huge, I can easily imagine they'll race for the win!

BTW Alonso said they couldn't do these laptimes even with empty fuel tank, so there's something in it!
Just hope they really used almost empty fuel tank as if not, nobody will catch them...:/

Ryan Callan · Mar 12, 2009

It is frankly astonishing, with all the shenanigans etc, that Brawn are able to go so fast.

BTW does anyone find Brawn Racing a little strange to say? lol