498 replies to this topic

[Fourjays]

Quote

The bull duct is for driver cooling according to Newey

via RacecarEngineer on Twitter, retweeted by Scarbs

So, morning test is over and Raikkonen is top. First time on the Pirellis for him so quite possibly pushing a bit to get used to the tyres. Interesting to see him top though.

Quote

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m19.670s 50
2. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m19.772s 52
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.219s 56
4. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m20.694s 40
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.474s 8
6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.534s 29
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.402s 22
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m23.056s 51
9. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m23.178s 32
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m23.371s 23
11. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m24.322s 16

via Autosport

[+Mephistopheles]

Seen at the Jerez test:



Testing coverage:

• On Autosport
  
• Live timing on the Williams F1 website
  
• f1tests.co.cc - another nifty live timing site.

[+Mephistopheles]

Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test

Kimi Raikkonen got his F1 comeback off to a positive start as he set the quickest time in testing at Jerez.

Raikkonen ran a series of rapid laps in the morning culminating in a 1’19.670 which put the Lotus E20 at the top of the times.

Paul di Resta came closed to deposing him with a best effort just a tenth of a second slower in the new Force India.

As always, the headlines times should not be taken as a simple reflection of who’s quickest and who’s slowest. For example, HRT (running last year’s car) were only 5% slower than the fastest time, well below the 7-8% range typically seen in last year’s races.

With nine new cars in action on the first day of the test some teams had comparatively quiet days.

Mark Webber got the year off to a slow start for defending champions Red Bull. He was unable to run during the first few hours of the session as fog at the track delayed the arrival of parts for the new RB8.

Heikki Kovalainen logged 28 laps in the new Caterham CT01 but his day’s running came to an end when the car’s starter developed a fault.

Another driver whose test ended early was Daniel Ricciardo. A drop in oil pressure on his Toro Rosso STR7 caused him to pull over with just over half hour remaining, causing the first red flag of the day.

“We had a very productive morning, doing over 40 laps and we made good progress with our programme,” said Ricciardo.

“Then in the afternoon, we did a couple of longer runs, but had to cut it short, although we only lost an hour. I was using the medium tyre on that last run, having used hard tyres for the rest of the day.”

Meanwhile Kamui Kobayashi, who had shaken down the Sauber C31 yesterday, did over 100 laps in the new car today. But he hit trouble with less than half an hour left in the session, bringing the red flags out a second time.

A brief restart gave Pedro de la Rosa time to post the final improvement of the day in last year’s HRT, before the chequered flag brought the first official test day of 2012 to an end.

Jerez test times


Source: F1 Fanatic

[TheLegendOfMart]

Hot damn thats one sexy machine, it looks so sleek next to the HERP DERP stepped nose cars.

This one gave me Brawn flashbacks, shame its a HRT, I think Jensons Brawn car is going to be my favourite F1 cars of all time.

[what]

The McLaren is so beautiful. I want to make love to it.

They're doing themselves a favour with the low nose and no step. Apparently next year the platypus noses will be gone. McLaren will barely have to change their car.

[+Mephistopheles]

Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners

Michael Schumacher topped the times on the second day of testing at Jerez.

Driving last year’s Mercedes W02, Schumacher set a best time of 1’18.561, more than a second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen’s fastest lap yesterday.

Raikkonen completed his second full day of testing for Lotus, he and Schumacher sharing a track for the first time since Schumacher first retired at the end of 2006.

He had a minor off in the morning, skidding into a gravel trap in the E20. But he continued his programme, running a longer stint in the afternoon and ending the day fourth having logged well over 100 laps.

Mark Webber also beat Raikkonen’s time with a 1’19.184 at the wheel of Red Bull’s RB8, quickest of the 2012 cars.

Daniel Ricciardo snuck inside Raikkonen’s best time from Tuesday, setting a 1’19.587 in the Toro Rosso STR7. Jean-Eric Vergne will have his first run in the car tomorrow.

The Ferrari F2012 completed almost 100 laps in Felipe Massa’s hands. He was seventh-fastest ahead of Jenson Button in the McLaren.

Among the new faces was Jules Bianchi, who had his first run at the wheel of the Force India in the morning, before handing it back to Paul di Resta.

Sergio Perez took over from Kamui Kobayashi at Sauber.

At Caterham, Heikki Kovalainen used KERS in the car for the first time, and racked up an impressive 139 laps. New reserve driver Giedo van der Garde will make his debut for the team tomorrow.

Tomorrow Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will be in action for their respective teams.

Jerez test times


Source: F1 Fanatic

[Daedroth]

The only thing that would make the McLaren sexier in my opinion is the re-introduction of low rear-wings. I've always hated these new high wings.

[JoeC]

I dunno, replacing the sidepods with boobs would probably make it a bit sexier.

[+Mephistopheles]

Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test

Mercedes remained on top of the time for a second day in Jerez with their 2011 car.

This time it was Nico Rosberg’s turn to lap the Spanish circuit quickest, setting a time of 1’17.613, almost a second quicker than Michael Schumacher’s best effort in the W02 yesterday.

That concluded Mercedes’ involvement in the test as they will not be present for the final day’s running. The team will launch its W03 before the next test in Barcelona.

It was a largely wasted day for Force India after Jules Bianchi crashed and damaged the team’s car on his third lap of the day. The team’s reserve driver damaged the right-rear of the car

That forced the team to abandon plans to give Nico Hulkenberg his first run in the new car. The F1 returnee will instead get to drive the VJM05 for the first time tomorrow.

Another reserve driver who hit trouble during the test was Giedo van der Garde. The Caterham driver spun and stopped with just over an hour remaining in the test.

Romain Grosjean was fastest earlier on in the day, setting a 1’18.419 as he drove the Lotus E20 for the first time. Like Rosberg, Grosjean registered well over 100 laps of the circuit. The Lotus driver stopped on the track with five minutes remaining in the session, bringing out the red flag for the third and final time.

Sebastian Vettel was third-fastest on his first day in the new Red Bull RB8. Red Bull owner dietrich Mateschitz was in attendance to see the world champion trying out his latest car for the first time.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso also made their first appearances for McLaren and Ferrari respectively – the latter greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in his home country.

At Williams Bruno Senna had a productive day in the FW34, completing more laps than Pastor Maldonado had managed in the previous two days combined.



Source: F1 Fanatic

[+i11usive]

Nice ..... on my way to Jerez this morning -- about an hour away from where I live ..

[Zain Adeel]

do let us know how the new cars sound.

Are the engines changed or just tweaked?

[Daedroth]

The engines are the same this year aren't they? I think they're switching to 1.4 v6 turbos in 2014. http://www.formula1....11/7/12241.html

[+i11usive]

Daedroth, on 10 February 2012 - 08:26, said:

The engines are the same this year aren't they? I think they're switching to 1.4 v6 turbos in 2014. http://www.formula1....11/7/12241.html

Yeah - that's right .. which I think is a crying shame!!!

[Fourjays]

i11usive, on 10 February 2012 - 08:08, said:

Nice ..... on my way to Jerez this morning -- about an hour away from where I live ..

Let us know what the Red Bull sounds like... been reading reports from others who've been to the test that it still sounds like it is blowing the diffuser. How they'd have managed to circumvent the rules for that I don't know so I'm a little sceptical at the moment..

[+Mephistopheles]

Alonso ends Jerez test quickest for Ferrari

Fernando Alonso was quickest on the final day of testing at Jerez.

His lap of 1’18.877 served as a timely response to questions over the performance of the Ferrari F2012.

Alonso set the lap early in the running before spending much of the day conducting aerodynamic tests in the new Ferrari.

Behind him the times were close – Jean-Eric Vergne, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Kamui Kobayashi all lapped within two-tenths of a second of each other.

The world champion had a quiet start to the day as the team had to fix an electrical fault on the RB8.

Another driver to hit trouble was Bruno Senna, who caused two red flags when his Williams stopped on track. Nonetheless Senna completed another busy programme, logging 125 laps in his FW34 as he did yesterday.

Kamui Kobayashi lost a significant amount of time after an hydraulic leak in his Sauber C31 caused him to stop on the track. But was able to return to the circuit before the end of the session.

Having missed out on yesterday’s running, Nico Hulkenberg had his first taste of the Force India VJM05.

Jarno Trulli got behind the wheel of the Caterham CT01 for the first time. Having struggled with the power steering in last year’s car, he quickly reported back that the new model seemed to be an improvement in that area.

The next test will begin on 21st February at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Jerez test times


Source: F1 Fanatic