2009 F1 testing: 5th March (Update: pictures added)

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Nick Heidfeld was fastest on the final day of the Jerez test

It’s the final day of F1 testing at Jerez this week although Renault have packed up and left the test already after Fernando Alonso went fastest yesterday. Force India have done the same.

Much of yesterday’s discussion surrounded exactly what McLaren are up to and whether their continued use of a 2008-spec rear wing hints at problems with their new car. How will they fare today?

Today’s testing line-up

Ferrari: Kimi Raikkonen
BMW: Nick Heidfeld
Toyota: Jarno Trulli
Williams: Kazuki Nakajima
Red Bull: Mark Webber
McLaren: Lewis Hamilton

Pictures from today’s test

Live timing

For live lap times check out F1today.nl, Sportlifepress, MSFree or TheF1 (various languages).

If you find any more good sites for following testing lap times, please post details below. If you’ve got images or video to share you can upload them to the F1 Fanatic drop.io.

Further updates will be posted in the comments and any images or video from today’s testing will be added here.

2009 F1 testing

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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45 comments on “2009 F1 testing: 5th March (Update: pictures added)”

  1. It looks like Mclaren has the 2008 rear wing on again.

  2. Red flag because McLaren has a problem… more sandbagging?

    1. That was raikkonen mate.

    2. Raikkonen red flag has to do with a red light or something… not clear why…

  3. Jonesracing82
    5th March 2009, 9:17

    not sure why they are running the ’08 wing! reminds of pre-season ;’04 when they had the ’03 wing (for ’04 they had to use 2 elements and not 3) and they were quick til they ran the ’04 wing, hope it’s not the same this time.

  4. I just google- translated some stuff from the spanish website; and the information seems weird.. Can some spanish guy explain please ? Here’s the translated comment

    10:01 pm We have just seen one of the most comical of Formula 1: Famous spies. Following the arrest of an engineer from BMW Hamilton has moved to McLaren in the box and tried everything I could observe the car while I dropped the truck brought it.

    10:06 pm Back on the subject of spies noted that at the end of the BMW engineers have opted for leaving the impossibility of seeing anything and the hostility that has been found in the British team.

    Here’s the spanish website link : http://directo.thef1.es/tests/

    1. let me help:

      10.01. We have just witness the most funny images in F1: the famous spies. After Hamilton stopped (Hamilton stop in the middle of the track at 9.45) a BMW engineer went to the McLaren box and tried to see everything about the car while it was being unloaded from the truck

      10.06 Going back to the spy thing, at the end the BMW engineer has decided to leave because he could not see anything and because of the hostility of the english team

    2. thanks a lot guys :)

    3. Sumedh, I think is better not trying to translate using tools like google (or any other)!!!

      That was an small comment talking about, how a BMW engineer has tryed to watch closely the McLaren of Hamilton, when they were returning back the car to the pits after the red flag, and how McLaren engineers have hide the car to the eyes of the BMW engineer.

      Nothing really important or relevant. They were just commenting about how everybody during the races or tests are trying to obtain as much as possible information from the other teams.

    4. IDR; I am an Indian and have absolutely no clue about Spanish. And google translator generally gives a good idea of whats going on. Of course; it goes wrong sometimes :). In such cases; I have you guys to help me out.

  5. I’ll try my best…
    10:01 We have just seen one of the most comical scenes of Formula 1: Famous spies. Following Hamilton stop, one engineer from BMW has moved to McLaren box and he tried to watch (the car, details about the car) as much as he could, while they dropped the car from the truck that brought it (the car).
    10:06 Back on the subject of spies: at the end, the BMW engineer has opted for leaving, because of the impossibility of seeing anything and the hostility of the British team (because McLaren engineers tried to block him).

  6. On a side note, the BBC’s F1 website has been given its facelift. Functionality is still the same as it ever was, ie: awful.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/default.stm

    1. watch this video its actually quite good.

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7925005.stm

      more importantly listen to the background music. Its the chain but horrifyingly its a remix i hope to God its not going to be the BBCs intro.

  7. On another side point the bbc have a story about Honda has confirmed it will be on the Grid in Austrialia.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7911490.stm

  8. Nick Fry has announced that Honda has “survived” there is a short piece on the BBC site, more news to follow very shortly hopefully!

  9. I am getting quite concerned about McLarens pace as a Lewis Hamilton fan. They seem to be consistently at least a second off the pace, and with more more downforce as they are using a 2008 rear wing. What are the chances of them sandbagging? I have never watched testing so closely before.

  10. Hamilton broke something… maybe using 2008 rear wing was a good choice, at the end… anyway, I guess they know what they are doing…

  11. I think next week’s test will be very interesting. Do we know which drivers are scheduled to be in the Macca’s whihc days?

    If they aren’t using the 09 spec wing on all days next week then I will start to believe that they have serious problems.

    At the same time though, they do appear to have added new developments to the front-wing today – if they were struggling that much with the back you would think they wouldn’t be adding new parts to the rest of the car as they would (presumably) want known results to compare the rear wing to…

    On the other hand, perhaps they are going to bring a new diffuser to the Barca test and have decided there’s no point redesigning the 09 wing to fit the old diffuser when that’s not the one it will be used with…

    Wow this is fascinating..!!

  12. Hey!!!!!! they doesn’t seems too worried about the rear wing:

    http://directo.thef1.es/tests/gallery/images/008.jpg

  13. That’s a very nice front wing, very sculptured.
    It has 4 elements? I thought the front wing for this year could never be so developed, but the engineers always managem to come up with some inovation, even when unexpected!

  14. Hamilton had a very high speed crash. not sure of his condition though.

  15. http://www.thef1.com/galerias/test/test_jerez_040309/28_jerez_040309.jpg

    this is frontwing MCM used yesterday

    where is the difference?

  16. High speed crash!? He collided at 44km/h according to the Mclaren press release. Anyways as a Mclarne fan i’m not worried YET. At the last Jerez test with an 08 rear wing they went 1:19:6 and today they were 1:21:2 is. Except for a revision to the front wing they cars were aerodynamically identical. You dont just lose 1.6 secs, i suspect the car will change greatly next week at Barcelona, with it being an aero circuit and dont forget they have another test after that. If they are still fiddling around with the 09 wing during the latter stages of next week then i will start to get worried..

    1. f1.com said it was a very high speed crash. But looking at F1 live I see it wasn’t a high speed cras at all. The car crashed because of a big gust of wind apparently.

  17. I meant Mcalren and ish not is

  18. Mclaren just to prove i can spell

  19. OK it’s press release o’clock:

    Toyota

    ROUNDING OFF THE WEEK
    Panasonic Toyota Racing today completed its week’s testing at Jerez with an afternoon of work on the new Bridgestone slick tyres for 2010. Rain during the morning meant that conditions were unsuitable for running but the track dried out by 12.30pm, enabling the test to begin. Jarno Trulli was at the wheel of the TF109 as the team began collecting data for next season. The test was brought to an early close when he suffered some damage to his front wing after running over the kerbs midway through the afternoon. Toyota will next return to the track on Monday in Barcelona for its final test in preparation for the first race of 2009.

    Jarno Trulli – Chassis TF109-03
    Best lap time: 1min 23.119s
    Position: 6th out of 6
    Total laps: 38
    “That was a short day for us. We lost the morning to the weather but in the afternoon we had a chance to try out the 2010 Bridgestone slick tyres. The conditions remained difficult because the wind was still strong. On one run I picked up some damage to the front wing after running over kerbs. Still, we made it through a number of runs and collected data for the future. As for this season, this test shows that things are going well for us so we can be confident.”

    Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager
    “This morning’s wet weather meant we had to play a waiting game before starting today’s test of the 2010 Bridgestone tyres. But the track dried out at lunch and we put in several runs of comparison for next year, when tyre warmers are banned. Overall this week has gone very well. We have been reliable and shown good pace so now we can look forward to our last test of the winter, starting on Monday in Barcelona.”

    BMW

    Weather conditions: Overcast all day with some sun and strong winds in the afternoon.
    Air temperature: 15 – 20°C, track temperature: 14 – 22°C
    Number of drivers participating: 6 from 6 teams
    Fastest lap overall: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1 Team) 1:20.052 min Circuit length: 4.428 km

    Nick Heidfeld

    Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-03 / BMW 86/9
    Test kilometres today: 545 (123 laps)
    Fastest lap: 1:20.052 min

    Programme: In the morning on a damp track Nick Heidfeld took the opportunity to work on the car’s set- up on wet tyres. Although later in the day the track dried out quickly, gusty winds prevented any useful aerodynamic work. Instead the BMW Sauber F1 Team concentrated on the mechanical set-up of the car. Heidfeld’s 123 laps today brought the mileage to a total of 1,728 kms (plus 209 kms on 2010 tyres) for the Jerez test.

    Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber Technical Coordinator, said: “The ever changing weather made it quite difficult to do continuous work during the Jerez test. Nevertheless we achieved the main targets of our development programme. Basically we concentrated on set-up work and evaluation of new components. Running the BMW Sauber F1.09 for the first time in full wet conditions was a valuable experience as well. In addition on one of the days we had the chance to test the 2010 specification tyres. Now we will have a busy weekend working out the programme for the last pre-season test in Barcelona next week. Then we will also have a complete race simulation and pit-stop practice on the schedule.”

    Red Bull

    Driver: Mark Webber
    Car: RB5 – 02
    Laps: 47
    Best time: 1:22.219
    Circuit length: 4.423 km
    Fastest lap: N. Heidfeld – 1:20.052

    The penultimate test of the winter came to a close in Jerez de la Frontera today. Even though the 2009 season hasn’t even started, Red Bull Racing nominated this fifth day of the test to evaluate Bridgestone’s 2010 season tyres.

    Unfortunately, the weather yet again played its part and because of rain in the morning, Mark Webber didn’t start running until noon. Overall, this has been a reasonably productive week, with Sebastian and Mark racking up around two thousand kilometres, despite the poor weather.

    Now, all that stands between the teams and the opening round in Melbourne is the final dress rehearsal in the shape of one last test session which starts at Barcelona’s Catalunya circuit, this coming Monday, 9 March.

    Williams

    Circuit: Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. 4.423km

    Objective: Preparation of the FW31 for the 2009 season, including set-up work, tyre and aero testing.

    Weather: Cold, wet and windy.
    Average ambient temperature: 13°C

    Pos Driver Team Best Time Best / Total Laps
    1 N Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:20.052 92 / 123
    2 K Raikkonen Ferrari 1:20.414 49 / 112
    3 L Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 1:21.272 48 / 58
    4 M Webber Red Bull Racing 1:22.219 30 / 47
    5 K Nakajima AT&T Williams 1:22.226 42 / 54
    6 J Trulli Toyota 1:23.119 26 / 38

    * Please note that these times are recorded by the AT&T Williams team and there may therefore be some discrepancies with alternative recording methods.

    Team Quotes:

    Sam Michael, Technical Director, Williams F1:
    “We finished our five day test in Jerez today with Kazuki running through the 2010 tyre programme for Bridgestone. The tyres are designed to run without blankets, while the fronts will also be narrower than this year’s. Overall, we’ve had a productive week evaluating aerodynamic components and mechanical set-ups, as well as putting valuable mileage on engines and transmissions to be ready for Melbourne. Although we have not completed our programme fully, the Toyota engine’s durability (with the new, longer life regulations) has been extremely impressive.”

    Nico Rosberg:

    “I managed to get some productive running in dry conditions this week and I covered a lot of mileage. Reliability was also good. We’ve done lots of development work on the car and Toyota seem to have done a great job in modifying the engine to 18,000rpm. Lap times are slower during the long runs, but that seems to be across the board with these tyres and will probably make the racing very interesting. Apart from the long runs, we mainly tested mechanical set-ups and aero parts over my three days in the car.”

    Kazuki Nakajima:

    “My two days in Jerez were quite badly affected by poor weather. We had strong winds on both days and then some rain this morning as well. When out on track, we worked on our aero package and testing mechanical parts. We had a good run yesterday, doing lots of comparison work, and we now have some good results to take back to the factory. We spent today testing the 2010 tyres which was interesting and it’s given us an idea what running tyres without blankets will be like.”

  20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re_rdYVC1ow

    There is a bit of video from today. The audio is in Spanish, but you can see Lewis’ car on the back of a truck all covered with a tarp.

  21. Kimi aprrently has had some problems with his seat moulding. Those modern day drivers are like primadonnas- one bad stitch and they start complaining…

  22. and one bad stitch over 2 hour in race can be the small thing that makes the diffenrence in such a high precision sport

    1. Irony my friend is a powerfull weapon. As is aerodynamics in F1: can anyone give me 3 valid reasons for McLaren’s 2008 rear wing usage? And I’m not talking about sandbagging or a possibility of a mistake in development. I’ll even give one reason myself: the amount of data gathered on the old one is great enough to be usefull in working on traction and suspension set up. I’m waiting for at least two other suggestions…Anyone?

  23. One thing I’m considering regards the McLaren rear wing… There’s a chance that McLaren have discovered some particularly advantageous design quirk. Leaving it as late in the day as they can possibly afford before revealing their final design would hamper other teams taking advantage of their discovery.
    just a thought :)

    1. this is a good thought :-)

    2. I have my money on them redeveloping the diffuser and hence no point testing a 2009 wing that will never be used, much better to collect data so that they can ensure their wind tunnel is as accurate as possible for taking new items straight from the tunnel to the track for mid-season upgrades.

  24. Anyone notice that Red Bull seem to have extended their shark fin engine cover so that it extends right up to the rear wing…

    God those things are ugly and I wish the FiA had banned them when they were reworking the regs…

  25. the red bull looks quite illegal just like renault

    but i think theres no reason für Mclaren’s usage of 08 spec wing. i think they have some little probs. if they still use the wing in barcelona i think they have big problems. but now mclaren is just testing and collecting datas

  26. i dont see the point in testing with any wing other than the 2009 spec wing… wouldn’t that give false data? mclaren are really dragging their heels… any thoughts??

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