2010 F1 testing: February 1st

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Michael Schumacher drives the Mercedes W01 for the first time

F1 finally bursts back into life today as more than half of the 2010 F1 teams send their new cars out on track.

Michael Schumacher will get his first test of the first Mercedes F1 car since 1955. Williams and Toro Rosso will also be showing off their 2010 machines in public for the first time.

Join us and follow the first official test session at Valencia as it happens below.

Testing results

DriverCarBest timeLaps
Felipe MassaFerrari F1072.574102
Pedro de la RosaBMW Sauber-Ferrari C2972.78474
Michael SchumacherMercedes W0172.94740
Nico RosbergMercedes W0173.54339
Gary PaffettMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-2573.84686
Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth FW3274.44975
Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari STR574.76218
Robert KubicaRenault R3075.00069

Testing notes

The greatest point of interest today is the first official appearance of three new cars – the Mercedes W01, Williams FW32 and Toro Rosso STR5. The latter is especially interesting as it’s the first car the team have built without the assistance of sister team Red Bull (although certain common parts are allowed).

There’s lots more to look out for at the first test. Besides the first appearances of drivers at new teams (see below) we’ll also see the first Cosworth-powered F1 car since 2006 and BMW Sauber’s return to Ferrari power.

For all the anticipation, today will probably be a low-key day in terms of actual running. Expect lots of installation laps and settings checks. Reading too much into testing is a mug’s game at the best of times – especially on day one.

As tests go on we’ll build up data on which drivers and teams have done the most laps and had the most time in their cars.

Testing starts today at 9am British time (10am CET).

Update: the new cars have begun to appear:

Today’s testing line-up

The following drivers are expected to participate today:

McLaren MP4-25 – Gary Paffett
Mercedes W01 – Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg (Shared)
Ferrari F10Felipe Massa
Williams-Cosworth FW32 – Rubens Barrichello
BMW Sauber C29 – Pedro de la Rosa
Renault R30Robert Kubica
Toro Rosso STR5 – Sebastien Buemi

The track

Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit is the venue for the first of this year’s tests, just a few miles away from the street circuit where the European Grand Prix is held:


View Larger Map

Last year BMW were the only team to test at the track and they did not release any lap times.

Weather at the track today is expected to be dry and sunny with temperatures around 12-14C.

Timing and other resources

The following sites often have live timing information:

Motor 21
F1 Today
Live GP

If you know of any others, please post details in the comments.

Another good source of live information from the tests is drivers’ and team’s Twitter pages. You can find them in the F1 Twitter directory

You can find details of future F1 tests in the F1 Fanatic Google Calendar

Pictures from today’s test

Pictures from today’s test:

Video from today’s test

Images (C) Red Bull/Getty images, Williams/LAT, Ferrari spa, Renault/LAT

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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557 comments on “2010 F1 testing: February 1st”

  1. Oh man!!…. the wait is getting longer all of a sudden

      1. Credits to Goofy

        1. And its working,just saw a white wagon go by.

    1. im surprised by shumaches speed just 40 laps and hes just .4 rom massa who did 100 laps of course they could have been testing different things. the williams hes pretty much the same car

  2. Keith, January 1st? Or you actually mean February 1st?
    Its my birthday today so it must be February 1st.

      1. It will be February 1st,Happy Birthday Kutigz.

        & Yeah the wait is finally over all those beautiful music is back on track.

    1. LOLz Kuti such a mistake on your birthday….. btw, who cares Jan first or today? ;-). Main thing is that the season has started in earnest ……. that is what counts for a petrolhead like me :-)

      Oh! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! ;-)

    2. And we’re off to a good start…

      Fixed the date, thanks guys!

      1. Is it just me, or is the STR5 extremely attractive? I personally think that is one of the best looking 2010-spec cars we have seen yet…

        1. Yeah I agree. The shape and livery work perfectly together.

          1. José Baudaier
            1st February 2010, 21:52

            Specially the bull on the vertical stabilizer or whatever the name is.

  3. Looking forward to this, will have to try very hard not to read into the times and such, even though I know we all want to!

  4. Happy birthday Kutigz

  5. What time does it start anyway?

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      1st February 2010, 7:35

      9am. It’s current 8:30 in Madrid, so it starts in half an hour. I’ve heard Toro Rosso were unveiling their car at 8am, but it clearly hasn’t happened.

  6. Thanks man :)

  7. Can hardly contain my excitement .. have waited for this for quite sometime now :)

  8. me 2…pun intended :)

  9. :D

    Is anyone aware of any websites streaming the testing?

    1. Doubt anyone would bother, there’s only a small audience for this – die hard F1 fans.

      1. A steady webcam at the pit exit or along the main straight wouldn’t be too diffictult, would it?

        1. Like the one at the Nurburgring…

    2. ditto! it’d be great to have it!!

      can’t wait until Kamui/ SV/ MS get in to action these weeks!

      As usual thanks Keith!

      And happy birthday to Kutigz!

    3. Prisoner Monkeys
      1st February 2010, 7:57

      There is no coverage of the testing in any form exept for print media like Autosport or online blogs like this one.

      You’re not missing much, anyway. They do an installation lap and return to the garage, spend a while doing setup stuff and only return to the circuit intermittently. The drivers are aiming to be within range of a pre-determined lap time, and they never race one another on the circuit. The cars are released at intervals to prevent them from encounteing one another on the circuit, and if ever one car catches up with another, the first driver always yields by slowing right down and getting off th racing line.

      It’s very boring. Trust me when I say you’re not missing anything at all.

      1. That is true Prisoner Monkeys… but what we are truly missing is seeing the new cars on track.. and true hardcore fans of Formula 1 know at this point… that’s all that matters… lap times mean nothing until Bahrain… :) 7 more minutes… 8)

  10. Be with F1F,if anybody have the time please post it as soon as you get it.

  11. Hey guys…. the mclaren twitter page says testing starts at 10 am at the local track time. so we’ll have to wait another hour

  12. Three new cars running? This stands a decent chance of being the most exciting day at Valencia all year! :D

  13. Mercedes have rolled out their new F1 car: Mercedes W01 debuts (Pictures)

  14. Can some one post the direct link to the correct pages for timing info the sites listed above are Dutch & Spanish & I’m embarrassed to say I understand neither :(

      1. Hi thanks for that ! :)

      1. Yeah, it says “The Sauber of Massa…” and has translated his name from F.Massa to F.Bulk!!! :)

  15. use yahoo babelfish or google translator..it helps

  16. Keith is this right?
    “Michael Schumacher will get his first test of the first Mercedes F1 car since 1955. “

    1. Why are pple so critical? Every F1 fan knows that Mercedes raced last in 1955!

      I think with the speed at which Keith informs us here, we should be a bit THANKFUL instead of this constant ranting :-(

    2. Before this season Mercedes only ran as a full factory team in the world championship in 1954 and 1955. They’ve been an engine supplier in F1 since 1993. More here: Mercedes team information.

  17. *his with *the ;)

  18. And now the new Toro Rosso has appeared: Toro Rosso STR5 breaks cover (Pictures)

    1. You are ON FIRE Keith :) Love your work.

  19. Is the testing going to be shown on TV ? tnx

  20. The new Williams should be the next new car due then with the first outing of the Cosworth engine.

  21. Someone have an idea where we can find live timing or some stream???

  22. How many minutes after testing begins will the first team whisper “illegal diffuser” to a journalist?

  23. The test has started!

  24. Silly season complete. Sandbagging season begins ;)

  25. At the rate at which comments are flowing in, a live chat might just be needed for testing sessions as well.. :)..

    Cant wait for the sessions to begin,even though there wont be a whole lot of laps..

  26. Check this out : http://twitter.jamesallenonf1.com/live ..pretty helpful..

    1. Interesting – I could potentially put something like that on this page if people find it useful?

      1. Magnificent Geoffrey
        1st February 2010, 10:33

        Whist test sessions aren’t as fascinating a spectacle as Free Practice sessions are on race weekends, I know I would enjoy being able to get a steady drip of info on what’s going on on track throught the evenings here. Especially as test sessions now happen about as frequently as a Piquet Jr classified finish used to, every lap now counts for so much more. So yeah, go for it!

      2. Yes, please do. I think its cool and will surely be useful.

      3. The problem I already see with the JA twitter aggregator is that it becomes spammy – a lot of the posters will re-tweet what someone else on the aggregator has already posted, on the basis that their followers on twitter may not be following the person they’re re-tweeting. In some cases, this means that “big” names like Sarah Holt, official teams etc are updating, then getting re-tweeted 10 or 15 times.

        1. Hairs, I agree about the retweeting but tbh I think it’s a great service nevertheless, I’ve been on it pretty much all day refreshing it.

  27. Massa 1:32.873

  28. I can’t find live timing on the Spanish-language Motor21 site. Here is the direct link to f1today.nl’s live timing page, but they haven’t posted any times as of 10:10 CET.

    http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2010/02/01/circuit-de-la-comunitat-valenciana/

  29. Thanks Varun ..

  30. Twitter really is coming into it’s own on days like this. eddstrawF1 and team feeds particularly fruitful.

  31. Could someone list the f1 teams’ twitter account names?

    1. I put a link to it in the article. Here it is: F1 Twitter directory

  32. http://www.n-tv.de/mediathek/livestream/

    German TV, at this moment live from Valencia….

    1. Nice one thanks Scarb!

      1. At 13.30 CET there will be a Schumacher special on the same TV channel

  33. Barrichello 1:26.715

  34. 1:26.395 buemi

    1. Where are you getting those timings from please?

  35. what’s a ‘good’ time for this circuit?

    1. I have raced on this trackon my MotoGP URT 3.

      The best time is close to 1:23. But F1 cars will definitely be faster.

      Massa’s 1:32 here seems extremely bad. 1:26 by Barrichello seems ok, considering that it was his first lap.

    2. The last F1 test at the track I can find times for was BMW in February 2008 – Nick Heidfeld did a 1’12.258. Two weeks before that Heikki Kovalainen did a 1’11.000 in a McLaren. But these were 2008-spec cars, of course.

    3. dont worry about times…it’s day 1 of 1st test of the year…todays test results = zero….

  36. what’s the lap record here?

  37. @jay…check the motor21 link above or the twitter link by varun…

    1. thanks Vikas

  38. 1:39.489 was what Hamilton got for last years Pole Position

    1. The race run in Valencia was a different track..That was the street circuit..This one is a different track..Its called Ricardo Tomo or something like that..

    2. You are confused between street cicruit and the permanent circuit where they test now.

      1. Sorry :| I realised after I posted

    3. ?
      huh….I cant remember that race 8p

  39. 1:38.683 Timo Glock got fastest lap in last years race here in a Toyota

  40. 12 seconds dif?
    Any track changes?

  41. jay, you’re talking about the valencia street circuit….but this test is happening at the nearby valencia ricardo tormo circuit…

  42. @Jay:

    That is the Valencia street track. Which is not being used for testing. Check the image by Keith, it is fairly different.

    Which BTW begs to question, if the teams come to Valencia, why don’t they race on this track instead of the street one?

    1. Looking at the track layout I don’t think we’d see good races here at all – it’s far too short, tight and twisty. On the few occasions GP2 raced here the races were no good and if the GP2 cars can’t have a good race on it F1 definitely can’t.

      Having said that the street track seems little better!

    2. I guess you cant shut down city roads just for the sake of testing..

      1. oops..sorry..my bad..read the post completely wrong..my bad..

  43. I was wrong about the times, sorry. I didn’t realise that this wasn’t the Valencia race track but a track down the road

  44. Thanks fabzx

  45. McLaren is having a ingenious new diffuser according to this website:
    http://www.f1-direct.com/include/livegp/we/temp/essais.php

    Ill quote:
    Après la présentation de la McLaren MP4/25, les rumeurs faisaient état de triple, voire quadruple diffuseurs à l’arrière de la McLaren.

  46. De la Rosa: 1:18.848

    1. Yep – rather upped the pace there, or took a shortcut!

      1. This just proves shortcuts in F1 will work :P

    2. This was set on the short configuration of the Ricardo Tormo track.

  47. Quadruple diffusers… fish!!

    1. it’s like the razor blade wars, 4 blades, swivel head, smoothing strips etc…
      oh, a possible advertising revenue stream opening up!

    1. thats because its ferrari’s 2009 car

  48. http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2010/02/01/circuit-de-la-comunitat-valenciana/

    is now updating with the times. Its great to see Pedro back as a race driver. I expect him to do well.

  49. pedro 1:16.531

  50. new rear wing on renault too?

    1. yea definately looks like its got some bumps on the bottom

  51. G. Paffett 1:14.359

  52. it looks like teams are questioning the legality of the Mclaren diffuser. Here we go again…

    1. surprise surprise!

  53. yay mclaren…thanks rusty

  54. De La Rosa now 1:16:531

  55. Times after one hour: 1 Paffett, 1m14.359; 2 De la Rosa, 1m14.898; 3 Kubica 1m16.602s; 4 Barrichello 1,17.004

  56. According to the Wikipedia page, the unofficial F1 lap record is 1:08.5 by Anthony Davidson in a 2006 Honda. In 2007, Hamilton was best in 1:09.

    1. still some ways to go then!

  57. Here is more live timing http://www.f1-direct.com/include/livegp/we/temp/essais.php
    Sorry if this link has been posted before
    I recommend twitter for anyone who doesn’t have it. It has been brilliant
    http://twitter.jamesallenonf1.com/live
    Apologies if this link ahs been posted too

  58. I hope ferrari posts a fast time soon

  59. The diffuser of McLaren will be under investigation by the FIA for its legality.

    1. hopefully this time we have an outcome before the racing season starts!

      any pics of said quadruple diffuser?

    2. Really? Here we go again then

    3. Did anyone see any pictures of this diffuser yet? Would love to have a look at it.

    4. Ben – according to who?

      1. Keith, it is Beri by the way, Ill translate loosely of what I understand of French. Forgive any mistakes, copyright not by me ;-)

        Original text from: http://www.f1-direct.com/include/livegp/we/temp/essais.php

        “Beaucoup d’interrogation se posent sur la légalité du diffuseur de la McLaren.”
        Translation:
        “McLarens diffuser will be checked on its legality later.”

        1. Why later… why not now? All this ‘later’ stuff is what screws everything up.

        2. Many question arise concerning the legality of the diffuser of the McLaren.

          This is what it means”Beaucoup d’interrogation se posent sur la légalité du diffuseur de la McLaren” in english
          “Many question arise concerning the legality of the diffuser of the McLaren.

          Source : Google translator and thye language is french

          1. Haha what a joke.

          2. Counterstrike = what a joke. My feelings precisely.

          3. Paddy Lowe stated at the launch that they sought FIA guidance during development. They have no problems, a la Brawn last year.

        3. French tends to have a lot of subtleties. Can’t find it in the link provided, but reading between the lines of what’s quoted here, it adds up to: “The rumour is that it might be illegal.”

  60. I hope there won’t be any controversy over car parts this year :(

  61. who’s complaining… the people in red?

    1. typical if it is

      1. So Ferrari arrive at the track and immediately assumptions are made that they are complaining? I’d say that is pretty typical.
        Fair enough if they are saying that but it’s not certain yet. Ferrari weren’t the only ones to have issues with duffusers last year if I remember rightly

        1. you are right :)

          1. Felipe Bulk!

      2. and guess who’s president of the people who will decide it’s legality? none other than former Ferrari team principle, Jean Todt…

        1. Given there’s no confirmation of any kind of protest yet it’s way to soon to be getting into the conspiracy theories.

  62. Has anyone noticed that Massa appears to be running intermediates and/or wets?! Look closely at the pictures….very odd as it certainly isn’t raining there

    1. Wow..awesome observation..hawk eyes.. :)

      http://twitpic.com/10u5is ..theres a line running around the middle of the tyre here..

    2. Did you notice the tires on de la Rosas Sauber? Those are grooved tires!

    3. Look like inters or something, pretty sure you can see texture on them

    4. It’s called a shakedown. Nothing to see.

  63. that was when he clocked 1:39 or something…he’s definitely back on slicks now

  64. Massa : 1:14.496

  65. Current standings

    1. G. Paffett McLaren MP4-25 1:14.359
    2. F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:14.496 +0.137 3. P. de la Rosa BMW C25 1:14.898 +0.539
    4. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:18.304 +3.945
    5. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:18.328 +3.969
    6. S. Buemi Tororosso STR5 1:26.395 +12.036

  66. Nico Rosberg started the test but he seemed to have stopped. God knows why… is there some glitch ?

  67. would be interesting to see what time schumy does when he gets on track

  68. Some closeups of the Mclaren: Borrowed from the James Allen Twitter.

    http://twitpic.com/10u7cr
    http://twitpic.com/10u7g4

    It does look very very different than other cars. They have surely pushed the rules to the edge.

    1. Interesting details, especially the vent on the sidepod (those Tweets are from Craig Scarborough by the way).

      1. Oh, ok.

        That bump above the V of vodafone looks very odd. Isn’t that obviously producing a lot of drag?

      2. At launch they said throughout the designing they were working with the FIA then how it can be illegal. Please correct me if I’m wrong Keith.

      3. I find the exhaust system more worth to mention. Thats the most narrowest system, the two exhausts being close together insteal of on each side far apart, we have seen since the introduction of the high exhausts.

    2. But they said they were working with the FIA throughout the designing to check if it was within the rules. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was banned though.

      1. If the FIA knew about it and didn’t advise against…. I don’t see how it would be banned….. just like last year’s double diffuser

    3. Hope Macca rnt running KERS. he he

      1. Hughes, the power is with Ferrari, they can get mclaren banned if the want to, so…

        1. Come on CounterStrike, you know that isn’t true.

          1. They’ve got them banned on many occasions.Just to name a few

            Secondary braking system in 97-98, protested against a steering column gearbox in 2000, the so called spygate.

            Other instance have been when LDM remarked that even the mp4-23, the car with which hammi boy won the title is a Ferrari & now this.

            Its not something new.

            How can Ferrari still expect to be competitive after firing people like Brawn,Schumi,Todt,Rory Byrne, Stepheny etc?

            The glory days are long gone mate.

          2. No one is buying into all this “glory days are long gone” stuff. Without those guys you mentioned, Ferrari were still very competitive in 2008. 2009 was clearly a blip, for Ferrari AND Mclaren.

  69. The Renault reminds me of a 1999 Jordan

  70. Wouldn’t it be a shame if this diffuser costs either Button or Hamilton in the race to becoming World Champion

    1. Let them be declared illigal first, then only it ll be a hindrance in their WDC campaign.

  71. Id love to see a little chatroom to get realtime updates. I got one over at mine but my site is dead as a dodo.

  72. Did Mercedes set any time ?

  73. Nico just took the Merc back out on track after a long wait with screens in front of the garage – from live NTV news

  74. Are groove tyres legal now? Why was De La Rosa using them?

    1. was those grooved tyres or intermediates ?

        1. That’s because you’ve yet to go down to your local optometrist to get yourself a pair of glasses. They’re intermediates.

          One word: shakedown.

  75. R.Kubica Renault 1:15.298

  76. Massa 1:14.006

  77. is Massa still running intermediates ?

    1. Massa just put in a 1:13.522.
      That would lead me to believe he is on slicks now.

      1. typo: 1:13.552

  78. Massa 1:13.552

  79. What does this mean and which language is this ?

    “Rosberg rentre au stand”
    “Massa améliore ses temps tours après tours”

    is this spanish ?

    1. Looks like French but not sure

      1. “Rosberg rentre au stand”

        I think that means: “Rosberg re-enters the garage”

        It’s definately French…can’t translate the second one except that it’s about Massa and I think “tours” will refer to laps and “apres” is after…so could be something about Massa doing lap after lap…

    2. My limited french thinks it translates roughly into:
      “Rosberg returns to the pits”
      “Massa improves his time lap after lap”

    3. I’m sure it’s French.

      1. It is French.

    4. Yep, French:

      “Rosberg returns to the pits”
      “Massa is improving his time each lap”

    5. it’s french

      “Rosberg comes back to the stand (garage, pit)”

      “Massa gets better times lap after lap”

  80. I know testing times mean absolutely nothing right now but it’s so good to see the words ‘p1 Massa’ again

  81. Rosberg’s first stint ends at 1:30.886 after 7 laps

    1. I think for the later half of the day, Schumi will take over.. right ?

      1. Yes, after break Schumi will take over.
        Can’t wait to see how fast he is after 3 years of break.

  82. Any news on Macca diffusers ?

  83. Can’t wait for pics of the Williams. Seen a few pop up already, but not enough!

    Haven’t been able to find a pic of this supposed McLaren mega-diffuser yet either…..

  84. This is what it means
    ”Beaucoup d’interrogation se posent sur la légalité du diffuseur de la McLaren” in english
    “Many question arise concerning the legality of the diffuser of the McLaren”.This is mentioned in f1-direct.com website,not a official statement

    Source : Google translator and thye language is french

  85. Lets not jump to conclusions about the McLaren diffuser until we have seen it, which is not doubt only a few hours away.

    And also lets think logically, FIA won’t ban double diffusers, it would hinder the WHOLE grid not just McLaren. Maybe theres an aspect of the McLaren’s diffuser they disagree with, just a singular aspect, i strongly doubt they would have to redesign the whole car, maybe remove a singular channel or somethiong. Until we’ve seen pictures it is all speculation!

  86. Massa now quickest 1m13.552, ahead of Paffett on 1m14.018 and de la Rosa on 1m14.898s

  87. Keith, you want to look for the driver that does some hot laps, jumps out of the car, grabs a cell phone, and tells his mother to put her life savings on the WC!

    1. whats that funnel looking thing above the rear light? You can also see it from the front in this pic that others have posted: http://twitpic.com/10u7cr

    2. that funnel is also there in the Macca launch pics

    3. launch pic with odd funnel above rear light: https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mp4_25_3.jpg

      don’t see any other teams with it… then again, no one’s letting the diffuser cat out of the bag as yet…

      1. Looks like Merc have the same take on the area directly above the rear light as McLaren: https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/rosb_merc_2010.jpg

        looks like a mini wing on the Merc but a funnel with air being fed from somewhere on the McLaren…

        1. hummm… bit of googling later and scarbsf1 has a writeup on diffusers, seems McLaren have history with exhaust fed diffusers, could this be that?

  88. The RedBull decision to delay its test does seem to have advantages now. There are 2 scenarios:

    1. They have made a diffuser similar to Mclare’ns. In which case, they get more time to work on it (or change it so that it is within regulations) while Mclaren probably pursues a legal battle.

    2. They haven’t made a diffuser similar to Mclaren’s. And now they can copy it

    1. But that would almost certainly take them more than a week…

  89. Rosberg improves to 1:18.228

  90. how long do they test today?

  91. What about Renault? Same as yesterday?

  92. I’m sorry about my comment on ferrari steph :(

  93. How funny would it be if Red Bull turn up at their first test with a BGP001 style nose..!!

  94. ScarbsF1 says that Paffett does a 1:11.

  95. http://twitpic.com/10ud3c

    Gary Paffett is also trading times with Massa. He gets into the 1:11s ???!!!??

    1. probably a typo

    2. That time set by Mclaren is of no worth, its an illegal car that they are running.

      Hope Todt swings into action & gets them banned & fines them another 100 million$.

      Happy? :|

      1. I think you have the plot for a good novel there more than anything else :P

        1. Yeah, ur rite . I’ve written many other “plots”(as you call it) on various other forums in the past that turned out to be highly palpable.

  96. I think he meant 1:14. F1today.nl’s live update from 3 minutes ago shows (sorry for the spacing):
    F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:13.088 26 pit
    2. G. Paffett McLaren MP4-25 1:14.018 +0.930 21 pit
    3. P. de la Rosa BMW Sauber C25 1:14.435 +1.347 12 pit
    4. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:15.298 +2.210 24 pit
    5. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:15.660 +2.572 26 pit
    6. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP MGP W01 1:18.228 +5.140 15 pit
    7. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:26.395 +13.307 5 pit

  97. massa 1:13.088

  98. Ferrari with a positive start it seens, would like to compare with Shumacher times in the afternoon.
    Happy Birthday Kutigz!

    1. its the f60!!! the 2009 car. of course it’ll be quicker.

  99. Awesome job here Keith. Mindblowing. Never been easier to follow testing. I just refresh this page every 10 minutes, and the latest times are already here.

    But I must ask, last week, I just couldn’t logon to f1fanatic. Infact, I even tracked down a comment by you on James Allen’s blog and asked you there. Did you do some server change over the weekend?

    1. Seems so. I’ve not had a single “Error 500” for the past 4-5 days.

      1. I got one this morning, but refreshed it and no problems since.

    2. Sumedh – yes, there’s an explanation here:

      F1 Fanatic round-up: 29/1/2010

      Site much quicker and more stable now, still a few problems to fix though.

      1. Many people wants to get the timing from here,that’s why it sometimes get some error,

        THANKS KEITH

  100. Massa now 1:13.088

  101. Check out the testing pics from f1ive:
    http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/laatst-toegevoegd/

  102. Please take a look at this photo..look at the cone above drivers head is it split or designed that way.What purpose does it serve?

    http://www.f1today.nl/foto/7447/

    1. It is the feature that appeared on last years car too – seperate cooling inlets for gearbox and other internal components.

  103. Rosberg improves to his personal best 1:15.118

  104. Renault has debutted a W-shapped rear wing. This kind of rear wing was mentioned in the past, but this is the first time we see it. This R30 has a different front-wing (although not easily noticeable) and a VERY different rear-wing (W-shapped) thatn the car from the offical launch.

    I think we saw a R30 with last year wings, although for sure the car didn’t seem as long as it is specified, but we need to see some side-by-side pics with a bigger 2010 car (like the McLaren or the Ferrari) to check if it is roughly the same dimensions.

    Either way, nice stuff from Renault, bringing an old look livery, but an innovative design (in what comes to the rear wing at least)

    1. Great info, an you give us the link to a pic?

      I tried to find, but no luck

  105. Anyone have an idea what they are measuring at Ferrari?
    I assume this is just for testing and they wont actually drive around with that on top of the car: http://www.f1today.nl/foto/7452/

    1. It’s a pitot tube, so airflow is what they are measuring.

  106. There is no possible stream???

    1. There aren’t any as far as I’m aware – if there was I would have put a link in the article.

      1. Thanks. When you have any, please let me know. :D

        1. I think someone posted a web cam link to the start-finish line. I’ll search for it right away.

  107. oki doki :)

  108. Standing so far
    1.F. Massa 1:13.088
    2.G. Paffet 1:14.018
    3.P. de la Rosa 1:14.040
    4 R. Barrichello 1:14.449
    5.N. Rosberg 1:14.753
    6.R. Kubica 1:15.298
    7.S. Buemi 1:19.279

    1. Pedro De la Rosa did 1.13.838 on his last lap

  109. Anthony Davidson holds the unofficial lap record, set in 2006 while testing a Honda, with a time of 1m 08.540sec. Obviously it’s hard to read anything into testing but, it’s interesting to know what a really quick time is. It probably suggests that even Massa’s time of 1m 13.088 has been set with a lot of fuel onboard.

  110. Pedro did a 1:13:247

    1. I think that was Paffet?

  111. De la Rosa had to get him, that BMW Sauber is right on the pace.

    But what is Renault up to. They did quite some laps but do not want to show real speed?

  112. De la rosa becomes second driver to break into 1:14s mark
    1:13.247 for spaniard.

  113. 1. F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:13.088 32
    2. P. de la Rosa BMW Sauber C25 1:13.247 +0.159 21
    3. G. Paffett McLaren MP4-25 1:14.018 +0.930 30
    4. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:14.449 +1.361 42
    5. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP MGP W01 1:14.753 +1.665 24
    6. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:15.298 +2.210 37
    7. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:19.279 +6.191 8

  114. Rosberg 1:13.543

    1. ????
      5. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP MGP W01 1:14.753 +1.665 24 pit

      1. That is not his best time:

        “13:30 h Rosberg mejora su tiempo: 1:13.543”
        from http://www.motor21.com
        http://www.f1-direct.fr has this as well

  115. Does any of you have an idea what Mercedes are measuring here in this picture?
    http://twitpic.com/10uo25

    1. Are they measuring anything???

    2. I would say they’re measuring EGT’s and the effect it’s having on the suspension components.

    3. Bummer that some kid broke into the garage last night and messed up the wing with that teal spray paint.

  116. I thought the exhausts were not allowed to stick out that far?

  117. 1 F.Massa 1:13.088
    2 P.De la Rosa 1.13.247
    3 N.Rosberg 1:13.543
    4 G.Paffett 1.14.018
    5 R.Barrichello 1.14.449
    6 R.Kubica 1:15.298
    7 S.Buemi 1:19.279

  118. De la Rosa is very consistently lapping between 1.13 and 1.14.. Suppose that is not on these tires: http://twitpic.com/10unwd
    I bet the diffusor is pretty good

  119. These pictures from F1Lite are pretty good on the point and detailed!
    ( I follow that on JA on F1 Tweets)

    1. Any idea about which drivers are using intermediates and which are using slik ones?

      1. In the morning we saw Felipe Massa on intermediates and De la Rosa on grooved tires (maybe for installation laps only?)

        This picture was of De la Rosa on intermediates.
        Most other pictures are of cars on slicks, but i am not sure, should have went to spain, to see for myself

      2. It’s not wet in Valencia. They will all be using slicks to set these times. Might have run an instalation lap or two on inters this morning, but no more.

  120. I quite like the new livery on the Toro Rosso, those red bulbs on the nose and the gold in between make it look nice.
    Also the position of the cameras as a hammerhead shark (Williams has this as well).

  121. Hey guys in formula1.com the diffusers of mclaren,ferrari,mercedes,williams are put up in the gallery section.what do feel?
    (the diffusers are big story this season,thats why i want to know..please…!!!!)

    1. Great spot
      Ferrari’s looks very basic, with Sauber and Williams looking the biggest. Mclaren looks very intricate and Mercedes looks pretty small by comparison, unless i’m looking at the wrong bit!

  122. Any photos of the Renault with W wings?

    1. here is a link to one picture of that.
      http://www.f1today.nl/foto/7449/
      what do you think of their diffusor?
      http://www.motor21.com/noticia.asp?dt=315&nt=79115

  123. Ok, lets get this straight. McLaren have hardly put in 30 laps with not even a single picture of their so called “extreme” DDD emerging.

    McLaren have sort FIA’s advice & clearance during the development of the DDD & from the stories I’ve been reading on various sites, the FIA seem pretty satisfied about it.

    So how come that Ferrari are starting to raise suspicion on macca’s ddd even without having a single glance at it?

    Two possibilities here:

    1) Ferrari have screwed up their ddd design so badly that they prettey well know they will get trampled over by not only McLaren, but other teams as well

    2) The FIA headed by Mr Todt must have surely leaked McLaren proprietary to Ferrari.

    Otherwise there is no reason to be whinging so early in the morning.

    1. Mark Hitchcock
      1st February 2010, 13:26

      Obviously Ferrari think they’ve been given different advice regarding the rules.

      1. Maybe they didn’t ask the correct questions. And surely this isn’t good for FOTA relationship.

        1. Mark Hitchcock
          1st February 2010, 13:31

          They shouldn’t have to. The rules should be clear enough that questions don’t need to be asked. And if questions are asked then the same advice should be given to everyone.

          You would think that the FIA would have learnt from their mistakes last year but clearly they haven’t.

    2. I agree, that it’s too early to be talking about illegal DDD’s or even TDD or QDD’s…

      However I don’t think Ferrari (who are at the same track as McLaren) would be waiting for photographs to be posted online to look at their opponents’ cars!!

    3. CounterStrike – where have you got all this stuff about Ferrari complaining about McLaren’s design from?

      1. One of many sources.

        http://ferrarif1forum.com/2010/01/29/is-this-the-source-of-the-ferrari-f10b-spec-rumor/

        And its always customary of Ferrari to whinge about things during pre-season testing.

        1. So nothing specific about McLaren then.

      2. Mark Hitchcock
        1st February 2010, 14:14

        Quote from Aldo Costa: “We were and still are convinced that the double diffuser concept was illegal. We feel there may still be interpretation over this, as the rules leave the door open to many possibilities. It’s up to the FIA to supervise, but we are rather worried.”

        http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81128

        1. Mark, he also remarks in one other interview that he knows “AT LEAST ONE OTHER TEAM” that might have stretched the current diffuser rule interpretation too far.

          And might not adhere to the “Sprite of the Rules”

          Very rich.

  124. Mark Hitchcock
    1st February 2010, 13:20

    I dunno if it’s been mentioned already but the BBC are providing occasional text updates from the test.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8491190.stm

  125. Okay i just found photos of Renault’s wing. Looks interesting.

    http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.php?photoID=144464&catID=4597

    1. Looking like a gull wing.

  126. I think teams are breaking for lunch right now.

  127. No, been recent track action, Parfett and De La Rosa just had short runs. Schumacher due out shortly…

  128. Wing does look odd, but i can imagine creating the wing shape will a little less drag.

  129. Man, stupid school district blocks all of the pics and times. Does anybody know how renault is doing, have they improved?

  130. I think they have gone for launch.Schumacher may come on track on the second session.

    1. Which launch? I thought all the launches were over.

      1. He means lunch. Surely you knew that…

        1. When’s the USF1 lunch?

          1. Mark Hitchcock
            1st February 2010, 14:21

            At least another 3 or 4 hours. But I heard they don’t actually have any real food. It’s all cardboard and plastic.

          2. So a McDonalds tie-in then…

        2. I had lasagne for lunch. It was tasty.

      2. @counterstrike….you don’t always need to be a jerk…..No body will believe that you didn’t understand what he mean…..all your BS comments.

  131. Hello everyone (this feels a bit like a live blog!). I missed the morning testing, did anything interesting happen?

  132. Oh, and Jezson’s Toro Rosso livery has been cited on another blog:

    http://f1colours.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/first-day-of-testing-sees-more-cars-roll-out/

    1. What a shame about the Toro Rosso livery, I was hoping so bad for that sugar free car

  133. so does anybody know when they’ll resume, or is it an unoficial break with an unoficial starting time?

  134. Toro Rosso with gearbox problems. Not a good start.

    1. Sauber have had a cooling problem as well.

      1. Not unusual for new cars to have teething problems – this is why you go testing!

  135. If anyone wanted to see the Mclaren diffuser in more detail…

    http://f.imagehost.org/0656/Picture_4b.jpg

    Looks like they’ve really maximised what they can get away with, fingers crossed…

    1. It’s great that in such situations, we have a completely independent head of the FIA in Ari Vatanen…

      Oh hang on!

      1. Stuart, the image doesn’t seem to show up. Sure about the link?

  136. Schumacher almost ready to start testing.

  137. Why do Ferrari and McLaren have those ridiculous poles sticking out from the top of their cars, it looks comical!

    1. Oh ok nevermind, I think I know what it is.

  138. G. Paffett – lowered his time to 1:13.84 ???

    Is that right?

    1. yes, it is.
      Paffett – 1:13.846

    2. Yes,absolutely.

  139. have mclaren got an illegal diffuser? whats all the hype already?

    1. Too soon to make any guesses, I suppose.
      Anyway, the diffuser looks really complex.

      http://img3.imageshack.us/i/dddyxw.jpg

      1. It says 404 Not Found!

  140. Massa back on track

    1. Where do you get the info?

  141. Massa 1:12.842

  142. Massa two laps in the 1:12’s

  143. looks like mclaren have got the jump on everybody with the diffuser

  144. Latest from the web

    1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:12.842
    2 P.De la Rosa Sauber 1:13.247
    3 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:13.543
    4 G.Paffett McLaren 1:13.846
    5 R.Barrichello Williams 1.14.449
    6 R.Kubica Renault 1:15.298
    7 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:19.279

    Schumacher still to come out of the pit.

    1. Any idea where I can get English commentary.

      1. You can translate these pages using google translate.It’s the only way.

  145. 1:12:842 Felipe flying with the Spaguetti Special

    1. If they swith to black wheels they will go slower.
      The silver wheels are much nicer looking, worth 0.2 seconds a lap.

  146. Schumi coming out to play…

  147. Anyone got a good live timing link? I can’t get the others to work and I had to go to uni so I’ve lost the ones I was using

  148. Oh I found an interesting tweet from @byronf1 Nico Rosberg has handed over to Michael Schumacher but he is taking a while getting out on the circuit. Rosberg was not as calm as usual.

  149. Now pedro goes 1:12.784….

  150. De la Rosa – 1:12.784

  151. Hi steph…read that… but I don’t know what he meant by nico not being calm…

    1. Me either. Suppose if want to really stretch it then it could suggest he’s not entirely comfortable knowing Schumi was waiting for a go. Big strecth and most likely he was just trying to get to grips with the car and fuel etc. but it will be interesting to see how this linem up plays out

      1. Vikas, Keke’s at the test & looks cross himself. So…

        http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6394/aviaryformula1compictur.png

        What baffles me is that McLaren are the only team to have allowed their reserve driver to test.

        Good sign for macca hopefuls :)

        1. McLaren are planning to run 15 days of testing – Paffett gets the first run so Button and Hamilton get 7 days each.

  152. Anyone know if there’s any video feeds for this… ?
    Don’t mind if it’s got a foreign language over the top but I’d like to watch

    1. NTV are showing some stuff occasionally:

      http://www.n-tv.de/mediathek/livestream/

      1. thanks :]
        btw, im finally following f1fanatic on twitter (noobhands)

  153. From @NobleF1:
    Michael Schumacher’s first three laps in the car. 1,18.331s; 1m15.907s; 1m14.998s. Quicker than Kubica already

  154. Michael Schumacher times for the first three laps
    1,18.331s; 1m15.907s; 1m14.998s.

    He didn’t rusted!

    1. Schumacher 1.14.250 five min back.

  155. We can’t know about fuel loads though. This is always going to be a tough call. That said this is Schumi so I don’t see why they would send him out of lightn fuel to pump up his ego unless they really had an area they wanted to look at

  156. hmm… kinda gives the impression nico’s not happy about a few things…anyway, early days to speculate too

  157. Keith: live blogging, please!

    1. Ohh Becken took the words right out of my mouth! There’s 4 pages worth of comments so I think people would definately use the live blogs :P

      1. Hey! Guys stop posting these lap times every 2 min or so, we can look it up for ourselves from the sites Keith’s provided link to. All these times pretty much mean nothing. Its only gobbling up server space.

        Maybe once in 15 min would be a good idea.

        1. Please DON’T stop posting updated times. Some of us are at work so it’s useful to have 1 site that we can just refresh every 10 or 15 minutes to keep up to date…

    2. Could do but we’ll need a lot of moderators. We use six or seven for race coverage which takes three hours, and we’re looking at nine hours here. If you’re happy to moderate a live blog for testing email me and I’ll see if I can set one up.

      To be honest, I expect interest to drop a bit after today when there are fewer new cars appearing.

      1. Keith where is that calendar link and I’ll check dates for testing and let you know if/when I can offer my services as a mod

  158. I think Schumi is genuinely fast. People are hoping he cant put in the laptimes. Although im a mclaren boy. I still want schumi to be fast to contest with the like of Hamilton Vettel Button.

  159. Looks like Schumi’s out there just to do some quick laps today…

  160. 1 P.De la Rosa Sauber 1:12.784 39
    2 F.Massa Ferrari 1:12.842 50
    3 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:13.543 39
    4 G.Paffett McLaren 1:13.846 53
    5 M.Schumacher Mercedes 1:14.250 5
    6 R.Barrichello Williams 1.14.449 42
    7 R.Kubica Renault 1:15.298 37
    8 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:19.279 10

    Good job from Schumi to be within 8 tenths of team mate after 3 years and five laps. Might be lighter fuel though…

  161. fantasticplanet
    1st February 2010, 14:52

    Didn’t Toyota release a multi deck diffuser midway through last season? Additionally, they also had an air channel above the light extending from the gearbox where they exploited the rule about extra bodywork close to the car’s centerline? If they did all that, bravo Toyota- another manufacturer that shoulda stayed in the sport.

    Also, two ferrari powered cars top lap times?

    1. I think they did, yes – I remember them being very secretive about it during one of Martin Brundle’s grid walks early last year.

  162. De la Rosa (BMW Sauber): 1:12.784 (51 laps)
    Massa (Ferrari): 1:12.842 (71 laps)
    Rosberg (Mercedes GP): 1:13.543 (39 laps)
    Paffett (McLaren): 1:13.846 (60 laps)
    Schumacher (Mercedes GP): 1:14.255 (9 laps)
    Barrichello (Williams): 1:14.449 (60 laps)
    Kubica (Renault): 1:15.298 (50 laps)
    Buemi (Toro Rosso): 1:19.279 (10 laps)

  163. Anyone know whos testing at Silverstone on Thur Friday?

    1. Virgin apparently.

      1. thanks, no one else? Otherwise i wont make the effort to pop down and watch.

        1. I think it’s intended as a shakedown rather than a full on test session.

  164. i’ve got to say from looking at the gallery on autosport, we’ve got some good looking cars this year!
    (click ‘next’ from here)-
    http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/1324373

  165. Schumacher 1’13.840

  166. Schumi: 1:13.574
    Rosberg 1:13.543

  167. 1:15.595 extremely close to Rosberg.
    He seems to still have the speed. Which I expected

    1. aarrrggghhh of course that should be 1:13.595

  168. Can’t understand language,who did 1:13.498 Schumi?

  169. Some lap times from Schumacher:

    1:18.331
    1:15.907
    1:14.998
    1:14.255
    1:13.840
    1:13.595
    1:13.574
    1:13.498 = faster than Rosberg

    Schumacher is currently 3rd overall

  170. Shumi – 1:13.498 – 3rd fastest already!

  171. Interesting that no one’s really commented on the fact that de la rosa was pretty much out of an F1 car almost as much as Schumi and also seems to have the pace, in a team that has gone through alot of uncertainty in the run up to today’s practice

    1. I think the difference is Schumi is the most popular driver out there.I feel good that somebody have spotted it.

      1. Or the most unpopular… ;-)

    2. agreed. glad i’m a sauber fan atm.

    3. You’re right. Pedro is being impressive. The problem is that, for now, we can’t compare it with the team-mate =)

      1. It’s definitely been noted, he’s doing good and I look forward to seeing how Kobayashi compares, on Wednesday is it?

    4. Good point, I am extremely happy to see de la Rosa racing again. And the times today make you wonder if the teams are right to go for young talent ;-)

    5. The difference is de la Rosa has been testing F1 cars at McLaren for years whereas Schumacher has retired completely from the sport but for a handful of tests for Ferrari in 2007…and he’s older.

  172. It seems like we have the old schumi back for real

  173. It is just testing so I dont think any of you should be reading too much into the track timings.

  174. That Renault looks awesome on track. Same with the new STR :)

  175. Incredible. Almost beyond believe. Someone has been out of competition for over 3 years, and has found his way back into the field. With an astonishing feat of impressive pace he immediately pushes away his new teammate to rank 2 in the team.
    How incredible is this record holder? “Der rote baron” is back, and how!

    I have always disliked him for his unprofessional behaviour sometimes during his first Formula 1 life. And in matter of fact I never have been a fan of him. But now, Im glad that he is back.

    1. Addition: And ofcourse de la Rosa is great. But are the raw speeds of the Sauber and Ferrari accurate? Arent they maybe on light setups, because I havent seen them doing long runs at all.
      The comparison between Rosberg and Schumacher is ofcourse much more interesting, because they drive the same car. So for today, thats the nicest battle to watch.

    2. Remember this is just the first day of testing…

    3. I know what you mean. I can’t wait to (hopefully) see Hamilton beating him…

    4. I think your getting too excited.

      -you don’t know what the fuel loads are (there is going to be a HUGE variation in lap time based on fuel load this year).

      -you don’t know what tyres are being used and the amount of laps they have done.

      -you don’t know what they are doing in their testing program.

      -you don’t know how the track temp and wind has changed. it was windy to begin with. i saw that in some video on youtube.

      -It’s natural that through the day you improve your setup.

      I’m expecting Schumacher to beat Rosberg and to be on good form this year, but it’s all to soon to say that he has destroyed Rosberg or anything like that.

      :-)

      1. yeah. what nick says is true. Someone like Paffet might be actually runnig 50-60 laps worth of fuel & Schumi 5-10 laps.

        Its just too difficult to gauge. But I think McLaren have done their homework likewise some of the other teams.

        Schumi might actually be running ultra light. Its all speculation.

      2. And the track is getting ‘rubbered’ in.

      3. All true, but of course none of us believed Brawn’s pace right off the bat last year…

        1. I believed it after they were fastest or close to fastest at every test.

          I think you need to treat it like political polling or economic data. a single opinion pole can be off by say 10%, but if you average all the polls done over a 3 month period then you get some solid results.

          I’m going to wait till more laps have been done and both team cars are on the track at the same time before i come to any conclusions.

          1. I would say that that’s a very reasonable approach.

  176. must admit. that renault does look good out on track..!
    bring on hamilton :)

  177. I think the rumors of Ferrari being offpace might be true. I had expected Massa to decimate the likes of De La Rosa and Paffet. And Massa will have definitely gone for a few low-fuel runs on the first day back after several months for the qualifying expert.

    As a Ferrari fan, things look grim :-|

    1. But you can’t read too much into these times you know..

      1. And usually drivers don’t set in their ultra low fuel lap until the late evenings, when the track would have rubbered down completely.

        You shouldn’t bee too concerned just by look at the lap times. Still plenty of time.

        1. Agree with CounterStrike. We can’t know anything for certain (that is becoming my ‘for sure’ ) yet.

          1. top of the sheet on the first day… which of course means nothing… but already things look grim??… lol… I would be worried if they were at the back… but not overly… :)

  178. So, Kubica with upwards of 50 laps and yet he still can’t beat his very sad 1:15 lap time? I hope they fix this and quick!

  179. Worrying for STR, only 10 laps completed so far. Next lowest is BMW & Merc with 62 laps so far. With testing so limited every day will count.

  180. Pedro 1.12.784,
    Massa 1.12.832,
    Schumacher 1.13.449,
    Roseberg 1.13.543,
    Paffett 1.13.846,
    Barrichello 1.14.449,
    Kubica 1.15,
    Buemi 1.19.279

  181. I remember when Jacques first tested the Renault in 2004 and popped up to 2nd or 3rd overall and everyone was exclaiming “JV’s back..and hasn’t lost it at all!”.

    Hopefully that says it all about testing.

    1. But Schumi is not JV, he is undisputedly the greatest driver ever to have tested on 2/1/2010.

  182. Hi,

    Whats with the huge thing on top of the Ferrari’s air intake?? For some weird reason i quite like the look of it.

    1. fantasticplanet
      1st February 2010, 16:08

      Testing air speed; looks to me they’re assessing the feasibility of a shark fin engine cover.

      Regarding the lap times and pessimism from the ferrari fan. In principle, what you’re saying is that Massa should murder Paffett and De La Rosa since they’re simply test drivers and have had less experience. In that sense, Barrichello should be the fastest as he was in the wdc race up until brazil.

      They’re just setting up the cars and testing various set ups, I think massa is acquainting himself with his new friend the f10, it’s not long ago that we were questioning whether or not he’d race again and, personally, I’m quite glad he’s back in the seat.

  183. It’s a periscope !

    “fire Tubes 1 and 2 !!!!”

  184. Is there a picture of Renaults diffuser anywhere? I wonder what is causing the car to go so slow. If I were Renault, I’d pull Kubica back into the pits and make try some new aero parts, that is if they have any.

    1. I think it’s too soon to be worrying about that.

      1. Yeah I geuss but if you look at it, STR is the only car slower than them, and they had gearbox problems!

        1. Not anymore…
          Buemi – 1:14.762.

        2. It’s the first day of testing – Renault may not be going for out and out speed. With a new car it’s more important to make sure all the systems are working correctly and that there aren’t any serious problems with cooling or exhaust gas temperatures.

          I’d be surprised if any of the teams are trying to set ultra-quick lap times at this stage. A systems check and getting a baseline setup are the most you can probably hope for.

  185. Check out this Ferrari diffuser, its extreme for sure.

    http://i48.tinypic.com/2m2w00z.jpg

    1. it finds your lack of faith disturbing.

    2. Use the downforce Luca…

  186. SEE!!!!! This is so frustrating! Why can’t Kubica just find a good team?

    1. Hey! Chill out man. Its just the first day. Surely they’ll find some more pace as they progress.

      1. Yes i know….

  187. Ftropm twiotter @JRobertsF1 F1 Racing has heard from a number of sources today that Campos has been sold. Just trying to verify it now

    1. *from twitter. Sorry got a bit excited :P

  188. Ok looks like everyone’s doing a low fuel run now..

  189. Pos — LTime — + — Laps — Driver — Team
    1 — 1:12.650 — 0.000 — 89 laps — F. Massa ———– Ferrari
    2 — 1:12.784 — 0.134 — 62 laps — PM de la Rosa — BMW Sauber
    3 — 1:13.273 — 0.623 — 23 laps — M. Schumacher — GP Mercedes
    4 — 1:13.543 — 0.893 — 39 laps — N. Rosberg ——— GP Mercedes
    5 — 1:13.846 — 1.196 — 77 laps — G. Paffett ———– McLaren
    6 — 1:14.449 — 1.799 — 75 laps — R. Barrichello —— Williams
    7 — 1:15.000 — 2.350 — 69 laps — R. Kubica ———– Renault
    8 — 1:16.333 — 3.683 — 11 laps — S. Buemi ————- Toro Rosso

    *Laps Approx.

  190. Wait did it just end?

  191. 1.F. Massa 1:12.574
    2.P. de la Rosa 1:12.784
    3.M. Schumacher 1:13.321
    4.N. Rosberg 1:13.543
    5.G. Paffett 1:13.846
    6.R. Barrichello1:14.449
    7.R. Kubica 1:15.298
    8.S. Buemi 1:16.333

  192. Schumi: 1:12:947

    1. who’s right? you or joeE?

  193. So it’s over now? And any info on Schumi’s alleged short-cut run which was disallowed?

    1. don’t worry, the FIA helped him out. ;)

  194. Im not paying any attention to laps times today, unless you work for a team there is no way of knowing who is showing their true colours. I wouldnt be suprised if no one puts up a competitive time that you can read into.

    1. Wish eveyrone over here understand what you are saying.

  195. Haha schumacher took a shortcut and did a 1:08 something and his time was disallowed …..already practicing his tricks

    1. He missed a chicane… can happen to anyone, I suppose. He was probably pushing hard.

    2. lol. Its the only way he is going to show his competitiveness this season. He will be the only driver that will be allowed to use Bernie’s shortcuts in f1.

    1. Wow mclaren has a complex diffuser! It seems that Ferrari amd Renault have the simpelest.

      1. sauber looks even more extreme

    2. why is it so bad quality?

  196. @Vikas
    Schumi hasn’t lost any of it :)

  197. Thanks counterstrike :)

  198. Pos — Driver — Lap Time — + — Team
    1 — F. Massa — 1:12.574 — 0.000 — Ferrari
    2 — PM de la Rosa — 1:12.784 — 0.210 — BMW Sauber
    3 — M. Schumacher — 1:12.947 — 0.373 — GP Mercedes
    4 — N. Rosberg — 1:13.543 — 0.969 — GP Mercedes
    5 — G. Paffett — 1:13.846 — 1.272 — McLaren
    6 — R. Barrichello — 1:14.449 — 1.875 — Williams
    7 — R. Kubica — 1:14.762 — 2.188 — Renault
    8 — S. Buemi — 1:16.333 — 3.759 — Toro Rosso

    Thats how I make it but could be wrong, interesting last 10 min.

  199. SCHUMI’S BEST TIME: 1:12:947

  200. Shumacher got nervous wacthing his previous team mate in front of him!
    From my foint of view the 2 powered Ferrari teams have the best times and Cosworth, well, a wrong choice.
    This is not even a race or qualifying and the motor just implodes, let´s see their solution for this!
    Anyone knows about any details of the new McLaren difuser, any images?

  201. fantasticplanet
    1st February 2010, 16:24

    So, what design features of the cars does everyone prefer aesthetically?

    1. Macca’s exhausts, i think they look beautiful…. my god i need to get out more!

    2. liveries. for sure.

  202. Here’s what the translator throws up

    Felipe Massa (Ferrari): 1:12.574 (102 returns)
    **Of the Rose (BMW Sauber): 1:12.784 (74 returns) Schumacher (Mercedes GP): 1:12.947 (40 returns)
    Rosberg (Mercedes GP): 1:13.543 (39 returns)
    Paffett (McLaren): 1:13.846 (86 returns)
    Barrichello (Williams): 1:14.449 (75 returns)
    Buemi (Toro Rosso): 1:14.762 (18 returns)
    Kubica (Renault): 1:15.00 (69 returns)

    ** funny indeed

  203. Thanks, CounterStrike!
    This difuser seens a little exagerated, does anyone agree with me?

    1. I am pretty much sure this is a decoy diffuser. The final one is very different.

  204. Giuliano Vilela
    1st February 2010, 16:29

    Felipe baby is back on shape! What a year for F1

    1. I’m well chuffed for him, welcome back Felipe!

      1. It’ll be good for his confidence but we don’t know where the cars are. All the times could be artificial, it isn’t like qualifying and until he’s in the Ferrari in qualifying and race up against Alonso then we won’t know for certain where he is.
        I am glad his name is at the top though. It’s been a long and frankly dreadful wait for his return.

        1. Exactly as you say, but today would have been a (perhaps much needed) good confidence boost for him so it’s all good for now.
          As for determining where all the teams are at the moment, it’s a pretty useless exercise without knowing the details (fuel, tyres, set up etc etc) so I’ll personally leave it at that and look forward to the next couple of days. Just 40days until Bahrain! :)

        2. Giuliano Vilela
          1st February 2010, 16:53

          Yeah, I agree 100%. Don’t care much about the times, just that he can give his best once again at the tracks.

  205. A thermal image of Mclaren diffuser

    http://i.imgur.com/gv3Tb.png

    1. I’d like to know the reflectivity (sorry, is that the right english word?) of the materials. If all of this is carbon fiber and “glue”, thermal images don’t mean much(especially if you compare carbon fiber and metal with a IR camera as I believe the pic comes from etc…)

      1. Great image though :)

  206. These lap times means nothing, or almost nothing. I remember last year Ferrari and BMW looked fast during pre season session, and we all know how it got finished…
    Anyway it is “spicy” that Schumi is 6 tenths faster than his team mate…

    1. Don’t forget that Nico has driven the car in the morning with the initial shakedown and the track still at it’s worst.

      Still think that michael will have the upper hand in the team.

  207. There’s nothing to suggest there’s anything wrong with that Ferrari, quite the opposite in fact it’s been up around the top of the time sheets all day. However if you’re a Toro Rosso fan, things don’t look too promising. But it’s early days yet, but you get the impression that Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes are all there or there abouts. No one car has blitzed any of the others like when Brawn turned up for their first test at Barcelona last year, so that’s promising for a close exciting season! But we haven’t seen what Red Bull have yet…

  208. These times don´t mean nothing, unless Shumacher was with much less fuel in the car to impress today!

    1. What makes you think that he had to have far less fuel in the car to keep up with the others?

      1. I’m guessing he means to be 6 tenths quicker than nico

  209. JRobertsF1: Official: Ferrari test driver Giancarlo Fisichella will race in the Le Mans Series this year

    1. That’s too bad, but at least he was/is able to finish his F1 career at Ferrari. Best of luck to him in LM.

  210. Yes, all teams will have a new aero package for the first race!

  211. It would have been great if RBR had turned up for today’s test!!

  212. does anyone know the driver line up for tomorrow?

  213. Ferrari – Massa
    Mercedes – Shumacher

    1. oh are they the only teams running tomorrow?

      thank you speedy :)

  214. Rosberg answering a question today:
    “Q: What was your fuel load on Monday morning?
    NR: I honestly cannot make any comment on that. What I can say is that it was a significant fuel load. I was not running on low fuel if that answers your question.”

  215. The cars look aproximately a billion times better without those horrid revolving wheel discs that was used last year.

  216. Is it me, or does that Renault have a lovely curved underside to it’s rear wing that the others don’t?

    Will that have any (significant) effect?

    Sorry if this has already been discussed!

  217. i think the shape of the car is much better! its that thin rear wing that still taking some getting used to! does anyone know when lewis and button are testing? it’ll be nice to see the times.

    1. Lewis tomorrow, Button on Wednesday.

  218. Mclaren may be sandbagging..

    1. Giuliano Vilela
      1st February 2010, 16:57

      Omg. It’s 2009 again.

    2. Bit early to talk about McLaren’s fortunes just yet. We’ll know they’re in trouble when Joe Saward keeps insisting: “Don’t worry, they’re sandbagging….”

  219. 1st February Gary

    2nd February Lewis

    3rd February Jenson

    i dont think anyone will be sand bagging on the first day and also dont forget Gary is the only test driver there today so he’s not going to be as fast as lewis or jenson.

  220. Damn… rosberg is miffed about something

    1. thats what i thought. very short answers in his interview.

  221. Wow, there’s been more than 450 comments on testing today. Is that a new record for one of your articles Keith?

    It’s just hit me how much I’m missing proper F1. The winter break has been bearable so far but now I just can’t wait for Bahrain!

  222. Mainly, because in 6 laps we beat times of the majority of all drivers!
    Don´t forget that teams have to know how the car behaves with less fuel in the car as well!
    Let´s give some time and see here he his in the timesheets!

  223. Some video from turn one featuring all of the cars except, I think, the Mercedes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4z2Vx6hniw

    1. great video!

    2. So what’s that on top of the Ferrari then?

  224. Id love a live blog tomorrow Keith. I can expect this to be busier tomorrow because of hamilton on track.

  225. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bJ0I-5Ea-Q

    Only 2010 car video i can find. Not very good but yeah lol.

  226. Thanks Keith, you´re a star!
    I am looking forward to see Hamilton tomorrow to see where the McLaren stands compared with the others!

  227. QUESTION: Because of cars weight etc at start of the race. When they come down to like half the fuel. are they allowed to put on a different front wing for less down force so they can go even faster without fuel? or do they have to stick with the same front wing they started of with?

    1. There wouldn’t be much point – the front wing can be adjusted at pitstops to take account of the fuel load becoming lighter.

    2. That’s a pretty good question, actually. You would think there would be clear regulations on that but, but to quote Murray Walker, in Formula anything can happen and….

      1. I guess the question is can you change a front wing that isn’t damaged (or any piece of the car for that matter)?

        I reckon you can but I haven’t checked the rules.

        1. I was just about to reply stating that due to parc ferme I would imagine that teams cannot change an undamaged wing (or parts after qualifying), but having given a bit more thought I have no idea! Very good question Marc. Anyone know?

  228. The majority of the cars seem creatures of Adrian Newey

  229. Apparnatly there was a moment where Massa and Schumi were on track together and waving to each other. Wish could have seen that

  230. Bruce Wayne F1
    1st February 2010, 18:08

    Not too sure why everyone is making a big deal about Schumacher being ‘on the pace’ (a term i use as loosely as possible)after three years out of the cockpit, when a guy (Pedro) who’s last full F1 season was 7 years ago is ‘faster’ (again, loose term as these times really don’t mean anything)…

    1. Uh oh now you’ve done it, I can hear the horde coming, you’re on your own mate.

      1. Jarred Walmsley
        1st February 2010, 23:13

        Yes, but Pedro has consistently tested where as Schumacher has not

  231. Nico Rosberg: “Generally everything felt good although I was sitting too low in the car and couldn’t see the track very well which we will improve for tomorrow”

    They tried sitting him on a Valencia Phone Book but it was too thin so they’ve sent for one from Madrid :-) :-)

  232. Look at the overhead pic of the Renault being backed into the garage. Are those chrome steel suspension members on the rear?

  233. Any news on Renault specs – in particular: car length compared to R29, and how that compares to the other cars…? That whole discussion yesterday didn’t really come up with anything clear. Is the Renault significantly shorter than the others? The Mercedes doesn’t seem too long either.

  234. Is just me or people are getting mad about these lap times?
    Just saying ._.

  235. Are the front wheel nuts/axles sticking out on the Ferrari, Williams and STR?

  236. Great stuff. Roll on Bahrain. Why does F1.com not have the timings for this. It really boggles the mind…

  237. Hey guys,
    thanks for bringing us the high-res pics, seems there is no other good apart your site! Any chance that you post some Sauber pics, love that car ;)

    thanks

  238. Loved Rubens this quote:-

    Rubens Barrichello was asked if he had any advice to give Rosberg up against Schumi: “Yeah. Get out of there!”

    Thx to Jon Noble for that one. My nom for quote of the day!

  239. Ferrari are worried about fuel consumption apparently. Which is probably why Massa was out there racking up the laps.

    1. Are Sauber and Toro Rosso worried as well, with the same engine?

  240. HounslowBusGarage
    1st February 2010, 20:26

    Thank goodness it’s over – the waiting, that is.
    Now at least we can see some kind of future, some kind of pattern to the season ahead. But at least we’re out of the “What was your favourite livery?”, “What did you have for lunch?” type of thread, and we’ve got cars moving again. The real season start is still a few weeks away, but we’ve got testing, car launches, more testing, plus intrigue and politics to keep us going in the meantime.
    Spring is nearly here.

    1. Sir – you are a poet. ;)

      1. I whole-heartedly agree with you, oh what a relief! For the reasons you’ve stated I’m weirdly glad the forum’s been dead the last few days. Tho of course I welcome it’s return now that we have something to talk about. :P

  241. It’s fantastic to see Schumacher run 0.4s faster than Rosberg with equal machinery after running almost the same number of laps.

    I’ll never forget Hakkinen’s test, three or four years after his retirement, when he was completely off pace…

    Well, I know Schumacher was much closer to racing during his “retirement” than Hakkinen was, but anyway it’s an impressive acheivement for the seven-times world champion.

    That was the best way to start again for Michael, and all his opponents must be really worried by now…

    1. I think “achievement” might be either an overstatement or a hasty analysis or, probably, both.

      1. Probably you are right, but, just to speak clearly, I never was a Schumacher fan, or probably only from 1996 to 2000, when everyone expected him to give Ferrari its first title in more than 20 years…

        I know it’s only the first test, but I would be worried if I were Rosberg.

        I’d like to know when Schumacher made his fastest lap, if it was later or earlier than Rosberg… anyway I was very impressed…

        1. It was after Rosberg

  242. so the car that renault revelaed waas the r30 !!

  243. Ferrari should be disqualified for using lord vaders mask as a diffuser! HAHAHA

    http://i48.tinypic.com/2m2w00z.jpg

  244. His opponents are not worried at all! As Peter Sauber refused to accept MSC is a WDC material.

  245. Has anybody seen any rear end shots anywhere of any of the cars’ diffusers ?

    1. look earlier in this thread

  246. Hi guys. 2 things: Thanks Keith for doing all this, I find this site by far the best I´ve seen about f1. The other thing: there is another site with live timing: http://www.thef1.com I´ve been following that today, it´s in spanish though. They also have live timings on http://www.lasextadeportes.com/formula1/inicio, which is web from the TV channel that broadcasts F1 in Spain. Greetings all

    1. Thanks Inocencio I’ll make sure those links are included tomorrow.

  247. Hi again guys, someone asked for the diffusers, here is an interesting link:

    http://www.thef1.com/galerias/miscelanea/difusores-2010/

    1. Excellent link, thanks!

    1. dunno why this ended up here, was meant to be @Salty on page 5…

  248. What is that hideous monstrosity that only Ferrari seem to have mounted on the T-cam?

    1. I was wondering that, maybe some already said in the comments but I can’t be bothered to read them all, I bet it’s a sensor of some kind.

      1. Someone.

        Actually thinking about it I’m sure I’ve that kind of thing before. Maybe last season.

    2. It’s a pitot tube used for measuring airspeed and other forces. It’s not a fixed part of the car design. McLaren were using one too.

  249. Man Keith the blog seems like it’s been going crazy today, both in the high volume of posts and also within the comments themselves. So much speculation, prejudgements, transference(!)… It’s great to see the sport still evokes such excitement and enthusiasm, I hope the season gives as much to the fans as they put into it and I hope the FIA and teams don’t take us for granted like they often seems to. Here’s to a great season whoever wins!

  250. Prisoner Monkeys
    1st February 2010, 23:09

    Wow, 500-odd posts.

    Anyway, I’m disappointed by the Renault’s lack of pace. However, Robert Kubica is apparently very happy with the car, and he does have a reputation for being difficult to please (or for being a bit of a whiner, depending on who you talk to). If he’s that happy with a car and setting lap times two and a half seconds off the pace, my bet is that Renault have been taking a completely different tack to their program than everyone else. The top teams like to see how fast they can go compared to one another (and then sandbag a little to try and draw the other guy out), but I’m pretty sure Renault have been testing the car under full fuel conditions at the very least. I’ve heard they’ve aso been testing the car under brakes, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Kubica were braking a little harder and for a little longer than he usually would.

    It’ll be interesting to see how Petrov does on Wednesday. The Circuit Ricardo Tormo was the place where he took his first win in GP2, so he knows the circuit pretty well. It’s a good chance to impress.

    1. Part of Renault’s problem is that neither of their 2010 drivers have been in the R29, making comparisons between the two tricky.

      Petrov is the first of many rookies and I think the best way he can impress is not so much by going quickly but staying out of the gravel traps and giving the team good, detailed feedback.

      1. Prisoner Monkeys
        2nd February 2010, 0:29

        I wasn’t thinking that Petrov could simply go out and set blinding lap times, moreso that he could impress by being on form from the outset. He wouldn’t need to learn the circuit because he already knows it, so he can get acquiatined with the car faster and start getting useful data sooner. It may be more of a problem for the two tests in Jerez since he hasn’t raced there before, but by the time Catalunya – another circuit he knows – comes around, he should be familiar with the car and confident enough that he can show his true form.

  251. Know someone said something about the thing on Massa’s car thats sticking out, looks like a small camera to me, but i could be wrong. Anyone know what it is?

    1. It’s a device used to transmit telemetry to the garage

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      1st February 2010, 23:27

      It’s a data-logger.

  252. Robert Kubica better get accustomed to the rear end of the time sheets at this rate. Then again, he should already know this..since he’s driving last season’s car with an “updated” nose cone..hahaha.

    What can we say about Schumi? Third fastest, faster than his team mate. This is just a test, but I think its a sign of things to come.

    I wonder if Mika Hakinnen can be coaxed into a F1 come back after all this.

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 1:26

      Robert Kubica better get accustomed to the rear end of the time sheets at this rate. Then again, he should already know this..since he’s driving last season’s car with an “updated” nose cone..hahaha.

      Renault are known to have spent their first day testing fuel efficiency, especially with a heavier car. Last year the fuel tank was 60kg, so if someone was running 30kg and setting competitive lap times while you were running full fuel, it wasn’t so bad. But this year, the fuel tanks are holding 150kg, so if someone is setting fast lap times with 30kg in the tank and you’re fully-fuelled, you can expect to be four seconds a lap off the pace.

      I also suspect that Renault are deliberately mixing and matching R30 parts with an R29 chassis. If they ran a full R30, they’d be testing the data as a whole. But since they already know how the R29 behaves, if they stick R30 parts like front wing, rear wing and diffuser on it, they can get individual data for them. It only gives them half the picture – they still need to run a full R30 – but it means they’ll have more data to develop future upgrades. Not because the the R30 is a bad car, but because all of the teams will upgrade their cars at some point or another. Renault are just trying to get ahead of the curve; they were surprised that the numbers they got from wind tunnel tests of the R30 were as good as they were, and Bob Bell reckons that what they set out to achieve in two years could actually be done in one if they play their hand the right way. Gathering early data in individual pieces is no doubt a part of that strategy.

      1. The optimist in me wants really, really hard to believe that that’s what’s happening…

  253. What a wonderful day,I hope this excitement continues today.

  254. just saw a video on youtube,, the sauber is visible faster in that corner

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