2009 F1 testing: March 11th (Update: pictures and video added)

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Mark Webber makes way for Sebastian Vettel in today's test

It’s all change at Barcelona today as most of the teams swap their drivers around for the last two days of official testing before the 2009 season gets started.

Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica are among those joining the test today.

Today’s testing line-up

Toyota – Timo Glock
Ferrari – Felipe Massa
McLaren – Lewis Hamilton
Brawn GP – Jenson Button
Red Bull – Sebastian Vettel
Toro Rosso – Sebastien Buemi
Williams – Nico Rosberg
Renault – Fernando Alonso
BMW – Robert Kubica
Force India – Adrian Sutil

Live timing

Try the following sites for live lap times (various languages):

Also keep an eye on BBC report Lee McKenzie’s Twitter account as she’ll be reporting from the test.

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.

Video from today’s test

Thanks to Luky for posting links to these below.

Pictures from today’s test

2009 F1 testing

Images (C) Getty images, Ferrari spa, Force India F1 Team, Toyota F1 World

Author information

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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93 comments on “2009 F1 testing: March 11th (Update: pictures and video added)”

  1. it should be Button, not Barrichello for Brawn today if I am not mistaken

  2. seems it is button indeed.

  3. hello f1 fanatic, first complements to keith for creating such a wonderful website & this happens to be my first post.well i am relatively new to formula 1, so please dont take my opinion seriously, in particular mclaren fans. of late there has been a lot of heated debate as to whether mclaren are so called “sandbagging” or are they really slow & struggling as the testing times suggest. i am seriously of the opinion that mclaren have committed the same mistake twice in the same decade. “radical approach”. while one could have justified this approach in the design of their 2003,2004 cars as the ferrari of that era seemed to be unstoppable & mclaren definitely needed a step up in performance. but we all know how the mp4-18 & 19 failed. not many radical designs have succeeded in the modern era. now again after 5 years they are in my opinion committing the same mistake. there was no need for mclaren to the up the performance upto an all new level since they are at par with arch rivals ferrari in any case . seeing their testing times cannot install any confidence in them.not so very long ago, McLaren used effectively to own barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, which is regarded as one of the most comprehensive tests of a car’s capabilities on the Formula One calendar & seeing them strrugling to beat their B team force india in the same circuit is a painful sight. in my opinion this is going to be a repeat of the 2004 season. i am not saying that ferrari will dominate but for sure the mclaren will struggle for the first few races . only saviour for mclaren will be the mp4-24B. thank you.

    1. Terry Fabulous
      11th March 2009, 9:55

      Welcome to the best F1 site on the web mate. Share your opinions widely and enjoy the 09 season Borat!

  4. Yep, Brawn GP are alternating the drivers each day…

    1. I’ve updated the drivers list – thanks.

  5. Is the Brawn GP car already fitted with the McLaren Mercedes Engine? Or is it only from Next year?

    1. Adrian, it already has it. The Honda team was sold on the proviso that an alternative engine was used this year.

    2. If the speculation is true, that part of HondaBrawn GP’s pace is due to the Mercedes engine being about 60 bhp more powerful, then perhaps it was a good decision for Honda to cut off their engine supply as well. It saves money for them; it’s not too expensive for the team (5 million quid plus the cost of fitting the new engine), and the performance gain is worth it.

      Of course, another part is not having a motorcycle designer be in charge of the car’s aero. Go Brawn!

      In case the car is actually really good, does anyone know who their technical designer actually is?

    3. When Honda pulled out, they stated that they’re weren’t going to continue building F1 engines.
      So they didn’t have a choice, they had to get another engine.
      I read somewhere that the Merc engine was easier to fit, so they went with that.

  6. Renault have their usual blog post up:

    The programme for today is for Fernando to continue the set-up work he started yesterday – learning what works with this car and how it responds to specific changes. Because we are at a Grand Prix circuit, anything we can learn now will help when we come back here in May – after all there will be no pre-Spanish GP test this year! There will also be some aero work, continuation of our KERS programme, and possibly some practice starts in the afternoon (depending on time available).

  7. The red flag has come out early – Massa’s Ferrari has stopped on track.

  8. Massa stopped, already!
    Ahi ahi ahi. I’m afraid Ferrari has some reliability issues. Kers again?

    1. I’m going with the “don’t believe everything you read” opinion there!

      That story seems to just be speculation. If McLaren were having massive problems they would be doing laps and laps of testing like brawngp are.

    2. LeeMcK is reporting similar things over on twitter.

  9. Im not so sure anymore… I am starting to worry now. Why have they booked next for testing when most of the other teams are packing up after this weeks tests. At least can see nothing is wrong with the Engines, cause Brawn GP are top of the Time sheets… If this carries on McLaren must go to Ross Brawn for some tips on what they did with the Aero Package. Will be a disaster if another team beat you with your own engine..

    1. IF they’re sandbagging and have are either backing off or have a better wing they’re keeping secret, then their private test would be a chance to do some proper running while keeping developments secret.

      Or they’re just slow.

  10. Correct me if i’m wrong but didn’t the teams schedule their winter testing before they decided to ban in season testing? If so it can only be wise to test as much as possible before the season opener!

  11. If the video on YouTube is correct. The one of Lewis Hamilton driving his New ’09 McLaren around a mini course at a test track BY Remote Control (see LeeMcKenzies Twitter page). Then i think they will be ok come Austrailia. I just can’t see that they would spend time doing stunts like that, or testing 2010 tyres for numerous days, if they have a serious problem. I am very prepared to eat these words, but this is either over confidence in their ability or they know exactly where they are in relation to Ferrari and are not worried in the slightest.

  12. Button is leading the pack again by 7/10ths! Go Brawn GP! :)

  13. Does anybody know who this kid is? I think he must be connected to the team because I didn’t know they make that small overalls…

    http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/2009/tests70/diapo_116.jpg

    1. Seems Piquet has gone on weight-loss overdrive. He’s lighter than the KERS unit now :)

    2. I think u get to buy those overalls, but sure whether you get extra-small ones.

  14. How are you able to get updates on testing times.

    1. the links are the top mate, unfortunatly none of them are in english. i use thef1 cos i understand a little spanish but theres one in dutch as well i think.

    2. Or use google translate to give a rough idea what they’re going on about.

  15. Button with the fastest time of the week so far. I’ma rootin’ for Kimi but whatever BGP ran to achieve that time it’s potentially put them into podium-achieving quality at least! Though I wonder if at least one team, Ferrari/BMW will set a stonker under 1″20 late today or tomorrow

    1. I really hope so (for Brawn racing). The last time a privateer team suddenly found pace, they were out of the business the same year (Prost 2001).

  16. you can use Google’s language tool to translate those websites. not perfect but readable.

    and damn that BGP001 is bloody quick!

  17. I think the last day they will run a qualifying setup session, and we’ll see the actual top performances of each team.
    I’m very happy for BGP.

    1. With BGP desperate to attract a sponsor, I’d not put it past them to be running the car under weight or the engine over this years rev limit.

    2. those things are easy to be discovered. arent all drivers and cars weighed after each race? Plus, theyre a professional team, I doubt they’d cheat.

  18. Yea u may well be right, also if anybody is gonna put some manners on anyone else it’ll be near the end of the test, could be some surprises! Or Ferrari :D

  19. nay updates on Mclaren and LEWIS?

    1. Update: Lewis is the GOD of F!! :-D

  20. Button ahead of 7 tenths.
    Glock, Alonso, Massa (just 13 laps), Kubica, Vettel behind, with similar times.
    Hamilton 9th, just ahead of Buemi. 1 second and 3 tenth from Button.
    It is surprising, really.

    Ferrari suffered major failure that force them to stay in boxes most of the time. Button run for 67 laps, much more than all the others.

    These tests are really surprising.

  21. Although McLaren seem to be off the top pace, at least in this Barcelona tests, they are having more laps, not using 2008-spec wing anymore, and actually the times are much closer to the rest of the pack.

    I still think they have a problem, but now it seems they will manage to stay with the pack, whilst regarding the Jerez tests of last week, it looked they were in much bigger problems, and were facing the rear of the pack more likely!

  22. Should it really be surprising that Brawn GP (nee Honda) are quick? Honda reputedly had the biggest budget in F1 last year, and wrote off 2008 to concentrate on developing the car we see on track now in Brawn’s (hopefully) interim colours.

    When you think about it, Brawn are only doing what everyone would’ve expected a major manufacturer-backed team to do, given the resources and time that have been put into the car. Slap a Honda badge on it instead of Brawn’s hideous logo, and it’s pace wouldn’t be quite so eyebrow-raising. Frankly, if they hadn’t been at least upper-middle-of-the-pack quick, I’d have been disappointed.

    Granted, they’ve had to retrofit a Merc engine in the back, but that would be more likely to pose reliability rather than outright speed problems, wouldn’t it?

    1. Tend to agree with Timbo… I think this is also a good indication of just how much the Honda lumps lack of power was holding the team back.

    2. I think its just that teams that started testing their cars earlier would be expected to have made more improvements since then. It’s only surprising because of the lack of testing.

  23. @djdaveyp….not this year

  24. Button is flying!

    Last year’s Q2 time: 1:20.784.
    Button’s time: 1:19.127.

    Those 2009 cars are 1.5 faster than 2008 cars with less downforce but magical slicks!

  25. Now that is impressive

  26. that’s 8 tenths faster than ANYONE has been around Jerez in pre-season testing. blistering pace from the Brawn.

  27. Lol and just as McLaren looked like they wouldn’t be much more than a second off the pace :D

    1. Oh dear. And they appear to be *behind* the STR as well now. Though that’s probably inevitable once STR sorts their car out.

  28. Timbo, you are right in saying that the BGP001 should be a good car, because it would be the R109 from Honda, which was supposed to be a good car.

    But 2 things I would like to say about that:

    1) Even if this car would be the Honda R109, for me it would be very surprising to see it flying this way, because Honda had the history of overspending, and underperforming.

    2) The R109 was designed to house a Honda V10 engine, and it had to be changed to fit a Mercedes V10, with its own transmission too. Taking into account that all the decisions were late in the timescale it is remarkable that the “modified” car is able to perform so well in the first real test.

    On the other hand, some people are crediting this good pace to the Mercedes engine, as supposedly, the Honda engine was lacking horsepower.

    But one thing we must not forget. Brawn needs to be in the headlines, as it needs to attract sponsors, so this pace in testing, may not reflect the pace in racing conditions.

    Nevertheless, in my opinion it’s still great to see the good times coming from a car that had all those undefinitions till recently, and with almost no real test at all.

    1. Part of the reason why Honda has such woes after buying a decent team (BAR) is because they decided to bring the aero development back to Japan and hand it to a bloke who admitted his only experience of aero work was in designing motorbikes.

  29. Bakano I think you mean V8 engines, not V10. Also, those crediting the good BGP001 pace as purely the Mercedes engine would also expect the McLaren and Force India to be fast as well. Since it is not obvious this is the case we have to assume they have done something right with the car.

    1. Aerodinamics, for sure, something is really wrong in the Mclaren.

  30. I think the most important thing to note is that no matter what they may or may not have done to achieve that time it’s a stunner

  31. Pedro Valenzuela
    11th March 2009, 14:38

    Hamilton has crashed, he went out of the track at Curva 3 Curva Renault). Red flag at the circuit right now.

    http://www.motor21.com/noticia.asp?dt=315&nt=61287

  32. diseased rat: yes you are right. I ment to say V8 (I guess I still can’t forget those sweet V10 engines :-P).
    Regarding the credit being given to the Mercedes engine its in comparison with the previosu Honda. We all know that Honda sucked last year, but one big part of that could be atributed to the Honda engine. So switching to Mercedes engine is one part of bettering the times, at least to some people, but of course they came up with a good car because engine it’s not all (just look at Force India last year with Ferrari engines but way of the pace).
    So my previous comment was related to this. The BGP001 seems to be a lot better than the R108, but probably one part is due to the engine switch, not just the car.

  33. I see Jos Verstappen is mooching around the paddock today, chatting with Toytoa people. Wonder what that’s all about.

    Also photos of Lewis’ McLaren in the gravel:

    http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/testsessies/testsessie-barcelona-11-maart-2009/

  34. http://www.f1today.nl/foto/6069/

    Is the guy on the right-top Michael “The Spy” Schumaher?

    lol :)

    1. It certainly is. And he has another guy with him wearing the same Ferrari headset. I guess they didn’t have time to leave those in the pits :)
      It is interesting that they are looking at the rear end specifically. It seems they are confused too.
      Also it is interesting that McLaren immediately covered the car maybe they do have something in their pocket after all just that maybe it is not working quite well just yet.

    2. I think the other guy is Nicholas Todt.

  35. I’ve been wondering about mclarens lack of pace and I have a bit of a theory about it….

    just wondering if its just me or could this be what’s happening???

    mclaren were fastest at jerez a couple of weeks ago so could they of already found the race pace and now they are testing new aero packages… to me that don’t suggest a fault at mclaren… it seems to me like they are testing new aero for places like Monaco because of the ban on midseason testing. im not sure if any of you are going to make sense of this cuz im not good of putting theories into words but I’d like to hear your thoughts if possible.

    mike.

    1. That is interesting, If they are hiding something then they will show it at there private test (hopefully)

    2. No I see where you’re coming from. They’re not setting fast times because they’re using an aero setup that doesn’t suit the circuit they’re running on. BUT they’re not going to be able to test later so are happy to do so.

      That’s a very interesting theory, but where does the use of the 2008 spec rear wing fit with that?

  36. @skuzz
    Your theory could be correct just that at Jerez the following happened:
    01 March – McLaren 7th (2.7 sec behind)
    02 March – McLaren 6th (2.3 sec behind)
    03 March – McLaren 4th (0.7 sec behind)
    04 March – McLaren 7th (1.2 sec behind)
    05 March – McLaren 3th (1.2 sec behind)
    Also please note that some of these times (don’t know exactly which) were made with the rear wing of ’08.

  37. Finally, Ron speaks:

    “Whatever performance level McLaren have today we will be a competitive racing team.

    “That means we will be fighting for the world championship.”

    “The objective is to go to Australia and be the most competitive car there, not to come out of every single test at the top of the timesheets,” he said.

    “Testing is about a disciplined approach to making the car go faster and you have to ignore the performance of the other teams.”

    “We had a strategy for this year to leave it to the last possible moment to produce our aerodynamic package for the Australian Grand Prix.

    “That in itself gave us some production challenges and we have really only started to run the car in the last day with the Australian aero package.

    “We ran the 2008 rear wing because it was more relevant in its performance to the wing that we are going to have in Australia.

    “It doesn’t mean you are lost or that you don’t know what you are doing.

    “Whereas our main competitors are finishing testing in two days we still have the ability to test next week in Jerez.

    “When we get to Australia that will be the first measurement of everyone’s performance.

    “We expect our car to go faster with every Grand Prix and we expect to maintain our pace to allow us to win the world championship.”

    Good, good!!!!!!

    LINK:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7937487.stm

    1. I love you Ron Dennis!

    2. What do you spect? Ron saying “we have messed up totally the car and it is a shoes box”
      They’re lost, and not on an island….

  38. Mate no offense but Ron Dennis is not going to say ANYTHING to the contrary. I know of a paper you might be interested in, it’s a UK daily national called “The Sun” They have a lot of scientifically proven stories and theories and are well ahead of the times ;)

  39. Why does Ron Dennis need to speak if there isn’t a problem? I thought that Martin Whitmarsh is the Team Principal this year…

    1. at a guess he spoke because someone asked him. If they’d asked and he hadn’t said anything people would have read into it that McLaren were in trouble because Ron was refusing to comment. The way the press are these days you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t sometimes.

  40. Can somebody find test times of Mclaren on february and compare those times with march testing times?….I personally think they have major problems with the car. Common sense tell that they had been allready tested their limits with the car and it´s off the pace, if not I´d be surprized. Hoping they find problems and could solve those.

    BrawnGP…STUNNING JOB!…But like somebody wrote earlier, not SO big suprise because they started to build 09 car so early last year.

    1. Ferrari
    2. BMW
    3. Toyo & BrawnGP & RedBull & Renault

    OTHERS

  41. ah i didn’t no he was 1000 of a second behind the redbull lol my bad. i dont no why they were using the 2008 rear wing… its just a theory :)

    just hope things get better!

    i’d love to see both brits fighting at the front but in 2 teams!!! not long to wait now.

    oh also jenson put in a cracking time towards the end of the test. i wonder if thats true race pace or are they running high revs or on short stints with a thimble of fuel.

  42. To Dragos:
    Regarding the times you posted for the Jerez testing, I clearly remember that when McLaren posted the 4th fastest time, they used the 08 rear wing.

    To Juhhi: In February, McLaren posted the 2nd best times (behind the STR3, the 08 car) but always running the 08 rear wing. When they runned the 09 spec car, they posted the 4th time (from 5 cars) but less than half-a-second behind the fastest 09 car

  43. McLaren release:

    Laps run today: 86
    Laps run in total at test: 264 (90/88/86)
    Kilometres covered today: 400km
    Kilometres covered in total at test: 1229 (419/410/400)
    Best lap time today: 1m21.657 at 11:07am
    Best lap time of the test: 1m21.657

    Programme:

    Lewis joined the test this morning as the team began working through a series of pitstop practices.

    The morning session was spent introducing Lewis to the new aero package and setting up the car to his liking. That work continued into the afternoon, with the team focusing on longer runs and additional pitstop practices.

    Running was hampered by an off at Turn Two at mid-afternoon: Lewis lost the car at the exit of the second corner and hit a tyre-barrier, which broke off a front-wing endplate and damaged the nose struts. After some repairs to the front-end, he was able to complete the remainder of the session.

    1. The turn name is Renault :-)

  44. McLaren are really chained at the bottom aren’t they? I’d always support them as a team and Lewis but it doesn’t matter as long as Brawn GP reamins competitive. Fairytale in making and if either Barichello or Button wrestles the title away from Ferrari then we have the most incredible season ever!

  45. am slighly worried about MCL but i know that they wouldnt take a big risk knowing Lewis has to defend the title. I honestly think they are sand bagging but again who knows in F1.

    nice to see BrawnGP going quick i just hope its honest pace. Red Bull for sure have the nicest car on the grid this year and it should be quick, hope to see McLaren, BMW, RBR , Toyota maybe and Ferrari

  46. Thanks for making a start on this Becken. More press releases…

    Force India

    Giancarlo Fisichella took over the Force India Formula One Team’s VJM02 for the third day of the team’s four day test at the Circuit de Catalunya, Spain. The Italian continued the team’s programme of evaluating different set-up options, aerodynamic improvements and tyre testing. Again the VJM02 demonstrated good reliability and Giancarlo was able to complete 97 laps in total with a best time of 1min 21.545, the eighth fastest time of the ten man field.

    Giancarlo will conclude the test tomorrow, where a race weekend simulation will be the overall target.

    Giancarlo Fisichella
    We had some good reliability again today and could go through the programme as planned. We did a lot of set up work, which we needed to do after the limited running in Jerez. I feel that the mechanical grip is good so we need to concentrate on the aero package now. I’m looking forward to the race simulation tomorrow where we can look at the performance over a longer run.

    James Key, technical director
    Giancarlo was back in the car this afternoon and carried on the trends we saw yesterday with Adrian. We made some decent progress, some down to driver preference but others were genuine improvements, so it’s been a very useful day. We completed some more work on tyres, comparing new and older sets, and began to unlock the difference between the compounds. We also tried some new aero parts, such as a tweak on the bodywork, a new rear wing and some parts around the front wing and the wheel spinners, which seemed to work as intended. Again the reliability was extremely good and we look forward to another productive day tomorrow.

    BMW

    Testing data
    Driver: Giancarlo Fisichella
    Track: Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
    Best lap time: 1min 21.545
    Laps completed: 97
    Kilometres completed: 452km
    Air temperature: High of 16C
    Track temperature: High of 24C
    Weather: Overcast

    Robert Kubica Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-04 / BMW 86/9 Test kilometres today: 508 (109 laps) Fastest lap: 1:20.217 min Programme: On his first day at the Barcelona test Robert Kubica concentrated on several different race- related situations to fine tune the working relationship between him and his pit crew. He also worked on solutions for the set-up of the BMW Sauber F1.09 on the mechanical and aero side of the car. As well as this, he tested different tyre options and, before the lunch break and after the end of the afternoon session, did a couple of practice starts. “Today was very productive”, Kubica said after covering 508 kms. “We tried various solutions we weren’t able to complete last week in Jerez because of the unfortunate weather conditions. Obviously our main target today was to do a lot of evaluations for the forthcoming Australian Grand Prix.”

    Toro Rosso

    Sebastien Buemi
    Chassis: STR4-02
    Best time: 1:21.569
    Laps: 145
    Much better! After two difficult debut days for the STR4, today’s session proved much more useful with the new car running reliably throughout and the problems of the first two days dealt with.

    For Buemi, this was his first real drive in the car, having done just a handful of in and out laps yesterday and the team made several adjustments to elements such as pedals to ensure our Swiss driver is comfortable in his new working environment. We also tackled a race simulation and this ended up being two laps short of the full total, as the session was red flagged when another car went off the track, right at the end of the day.

    For a rookie driver, Buemi can congratulate himself on having racked up an impressive 145 laps today, and he is under strict orders to get plenty of sleep tonight!

    Toyota

    PENULTIMATE TEST
    Panasonic Toyota Racing had another busy day on the track as its last week of testing for 2009 continues at Barcelona. On a cool and cloudy day at the Catalan circuit, Timo Glock took over at the wheel of the TF109. He ran through a programme of aerodynamic evaluations, suspension and set-up, clocking up 132 laps despite some interruptions for red flags. Timo will return to the cockpit tomorrow for Toyota’s last day of winter testing for 2009.

    Timo Glock – Chassis TF109-04
    Position: 4th of 10
    Best lap time: 1min 20.410s (+1.283s)
    Total laps: 132
    “This morning started well and we made it through a lot of set-up and comparisons in the course of the day. We found some different directions and overall it was a productive session. Late on we had a slightly longer break so we couldn’t quite finish our plan. But we should have enough data to investigate and make some positive steps for tomorrow.”

    Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test
    “Today was a bit more difficult for us. We had a full programme of work on aero and set-up but in the end we had a few red flags and minor problems which slightly interrupted our programme. Still, we got through a lot of laps and it was another busy day for Timo. Tomorrow is our last day of winter testing so we will try to make the most of it. Then we can look forward to Melbourne where we hope to keep up our pre-season testing form.”

    Red Bull

    Driver: Sebastian Vettel
    Car: RB5 – 03
    Laps: 102
    Best time: 1:21.165
    Circuit length: 4.655 km
    Fastest lap: J. Button – 1:19.127

    It was Sebastian Vettel’s first of two days at the wheel today and his programme focussed on two areas: set-up work with RB5 aimed at the first few races of the season and general development of the car, evaluating some new components.

    This produced some positive results, with the only glitch of the day coming right at the very end of the session, when Seb was a bit optimistic going into Turn 4 and brought the car to an undamaged halt in the gravel trap. He continues driving tomorrow for the final day of the test.

    Brawn GP

    BARCELONA TEST REPORT – DAY THREE

    Date Wednesday 11 March
    Track Circuit de Catalunya
    Driver Jenson Button

    No of Laps 130 laps
    Best Lap Time 01:19.127
    Kilometres Covered 605km
    Track Length 4.655km

    Weather Overcast
    Ambient Temperature Maximum 14°C
    Track Temperature Maximum 23°C

    Brawn GP’s Jenson Button topped the timesheets at the Circuit de Catalunya today as the Formula One team continued its maiden test in Barcelona.

    On the third day of testing with the new BGP 001 car, Jenson completed a full race distance with live pit stops in the morning, followed by a qualifying simulation and various set-up evaluations in the afternoon. Another successful day for the team saw Jenson complete an encouraging 130 laps.

    Team-mate Rubens Barrichello will take over the car tomorrow to conclude the team’s first test of 2009.

    JENSON BUTTON
    “It’s been another great day and a very positive test generally. It’s so good to have achieved a full day’s running, including a race distance, without any issues and it’s fantastic that we clocked up so much mileage. After the challenges we have faced, to come here and get off to such an encouraging start is just what we all needed and I can’t thank the team enough. All that effort has really paid off and everyone can feel very proud.”

    RESULTS (All timings are unofficial)

    Pos Driver Team Time Laps
    1. Jenson Button Brawn GP 1:19.127 130
    2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:20.168 109
    3. Robert Kubica BMW 1:20.217 114
    4. Timo Glock Toyota 1:20.410 132
    5. Fernando Alonso Renault 1:20.863 107
    6. Sebastien Vettel Red Bull 1:21.165 102
    7. Nico Rosberg Williams 1:21.324 89
    8. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1:21.545 97
    9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:21.569 145
    10. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:21.657 86

  47. Think MCL have major problems Lewis had one off last week and another today wich means he is probably pushing the limits, but the times are not there. Lets just hope they truly are sandbaging because i would hate it if Ferrari gets the title

  48. Eduardo Colombi
    11th March 2009, 20:46

    Can it be possible that BrawnGP be testing without the KERS to be lighter and get better results to get sponsors?
    Hope they have a competitive car that can, at least, be in the middle of the grid.

    p.s.: great work whit the site Keith, best blog about F1 i know.

    1. Thanks Eduardo – tell your friends! 8-)

  49. Williams

    Nico Rosberg joined the team in Barcelona today for day three of this week’s four day test, the first of 2009 involving all ten teams which will line up for this year’s Formula One World Championship.

    With the season kicking off in just under three week’s time, the team are using the week to test reliability, carry out systems checks and continue with an extensive programme of set-up work.

    On his first day back in the cockpit, Nico completed 89 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya’s 4.655km track, a total of 414kms, and set the seventh fastest time of the session with a 1:21.324.

    Dickie Stanford, Test Team Manager, Williams F1:
    “Nico Rosberg took over from Kazuki today and carried on with our programme of set-up and development work on the FW31. He’ll stay in the car tomorrow for our last day in Barcelona.”

    1. Don’t Ferrari release any press info?

  50. No sandbagging & perhaps Lewis is trying a bit too hard. And Ron would say that wouldn’t he.

  51. Is BrawnGP really doin tat good even with all the issues they had and starting late.. or are they just running on less fuel loads or some other stuff lik tat just to get the spirits up n show theyre strong.. n may be even try n get some sponsors too in the process.. Or are they genuinely doin well.. hmm.. well i guess we’ll have to wait until melbourne to find out..

    1. There’s 2 trains of thought on this question:

      First a fact, they were setting times in the low 1:21’s and 1:20’s on long runs so they weren’t fueled light and the pace is consitant and the car is reliable (both fantastic starting points to work from to make the car faster).

      Okay here are the 2 contradictory theories I’ve read so far:

      1) Ross Brawn needs to get sponsors in so they are running the car light on ballast to get some headlines.

      2) Ross Brawn knows what he’s doing, knows how to design a fast car and spent most of last year working on this car – it is genuinely fast and they wouldn’t compromise their very limited testing just to get some headlines. It’s funds for next year they need, not this year (reports suggest their budget for 2009 is around the £150 million mark – equal to Renault and red Bull I believe) and Ross will realise that by playing games now they’ll just appear stupid once they get to the actual races. They can get sponsors later in the year for 2010 and being competitive in races means much more than setting fast times in testing.

      Personally I’m in the group that thinks scenario 2 is more likely (hence why I was able to write a paragraph for it rather than 1 sentence)…

  52. @kaushal – damn tat was some crazy video..! how did they do tat

  53. sorry first time on this had to see what i was doing any way brawn gp i think last year they new there honda engine was under powered and they teied there hardest to make up for this in aro dinamics but evry thing went boobs up and they have now ended up with a more powerfull engine which is a super bonus and all this to gether is just creates 1.1 jigger watts ha ha and there flying now

  54. video part 2 of gone – any possibility to get them again ?
    Thx

  55. Sorry to ask – are there no pics from McLaren, Williams, Renault ?… It’s always the same teams that have pics day after day – and great pics I might add, but we know that all the teams are there and we can’t ‘see’ them. Brown GP also.

    Thx again!

    1. Thanks ccolanto!! :)

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