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

1. 

   milos said on 11th March 2009, 7:37

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

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2. 

   luky said on 11th March 2009, 8:09

   seems it is button indeed.

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3. 

   borat .s said on 11th March 2009, 8:25

   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.

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   • 

     Terry Fabulous said on 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!

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4. 

   Adrian said on 11th March 2009, 8:26

   Yep, Brawn GP are alternating the drivers each day…

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     Keith Collantine said on 11th March 2009, 8:46

     I’ve updated the drivers list – thanks.

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5. 

   carl said on 11th March 2009, 8:37

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

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     Timbo said on 11th March 2009, 9:00

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

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     Michel S. said on 11th March 2009, 13:56

     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?

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     ccolanto said on 11th March 2009, 16:54

     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.

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6. 

   Keith Collantine said on 11th March 2009, 8:45

   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).

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7. 

   Keith Collantine said on 11th March 2009, 8:45

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

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8. 

   David said on 11th March 2009, 8:47

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

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9. 

   Madurai said on 11th March 2009, 9:07

   Nobert Haug admits Mclaren not good….
   http://www.f1way.com/news/2009/March/11/mclaren-not-where-we-want-to-be—haug

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     djdaveyp said on 11th March 2009, 9:21

     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.

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   • 

     Paul Snoop said on 11th March 2009, 11:42

     LeeMcK is reporting similar things over on twitter.

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10. 

    carl said on 11th March 2009, 9:31

    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..

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    • 

      matt said on 11th March 2009, 21:11

      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.

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11. 

    djdaveyp said on 11th March 2009, 9:33

    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!

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12. 

    DB said on 11th March 2009, 10:03

    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.

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13. 

    Dr Jones said on 11th March 2009, 10:05

    Button is leading the pack again by 7/10ths! Go Brawn GP!

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14. 

    gabal said on 11th March 2009, 10:14

    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

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    • 

      prateekf1 said on 11th March 2009, 10:51

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

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    • 

      anirudh said on 11th March 2009, 14:04

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

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15. 

    Oliver said on 11th March 2009, 10:20

    How are you able to get updates on testing times.

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    • 

      djdaveyp said on 11th March 2009, 10:26

      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.

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    • 

      Phil said on 11th March 2009, 14:40

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

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