2010 F1 testing: February 1st
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
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps |
| Felipe Massa | Ferrari F10 | 72.574 | 102 |
| Pedro de la Rosa | BMW Sauber-Ferrari C29 | 72.784 | 74 |
| Michael Schumacher | Mercedes W01 | 72.947 | 40 |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes W01 | 73.543 | 39 |
| Gary Paffett | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 | 73.846 | 86 |
| Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth FW32 | 74.449 | 75 |
| Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR5 | 74.762 | 18 |
| Robert Kubica | Renault R30 | 75.000 | 69 |
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:
- Mercedes W01 debuts (Pictures)
- Toro Rosso STR5 breaks cover (Pictures)
- Williams FW32 has test debut (Pictures)
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 F10 – Felipe Massa
Williams-Cosworth FW32 – Rubens Barrichello
BMW Sauber C29 – Pedro de la Rosa
Renault R30 – Robert 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:
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:
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:
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W10
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W01
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa in the Ferrari F10
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- Felipe Massa and Aldo Costa
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- Felipe Massa and Rob Smedley
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- Pedro de la Rosa in the BMW Sauber C29
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- Pedro de la Rosa in the BMW Sauber C29
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- Pedro de la Rosa in the BMW Sauber C29
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- Pedro de la Rosa in the BMW Sauber C29
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- Rubens Barrichello in the Williams FW32
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- Rubens Barrichello in the Williams FW32
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- Rubens Barrichello in the Williams FW32
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- Rubens Barrichello in the Williams FW32
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- Rubens Barrichello in the Williams FW32
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- Robert Kubica in the Renault R30
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- Robert Kubica in the Renault R30
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- Robert Kubica in the Renault R30
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- Robert Kubica in the Renault R30
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- Robert Kubica in the Renault R30
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- Robert Kubica in the Renault R30
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- Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso STR5
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- Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso STR5
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- Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso STR5
Video from today’s test
Images (C) Red Bull/Getty images, Williams/LAT, Ferrari spa, Renault/LAT
Oh man!!…. the wait is getting longer all of a sudden
Live stream:
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/webcam/valencia-terra-i-mar-cheste-cheste-0
Credits to Goofy
And its working,just saw a white wagon go by.
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
Keith, January 1st? Or you actually mean February 1st?
Its my birthday today so it must be February 1st.
Happy Birthday
It will be February 1st,Happy Birthday Kutigz.
& Yeah the wait is finally over all those beautiful music is back on track.
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!!
And we’re off to a good start…
Fixed the date, thanks guys!
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…
Yeah I agree. The shape and livery work perfectly together.
Specially the bull on the vertical stabilizer or whatever the name is.
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!
Happy birthday Kutigz
What time does it start anyway?
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.
Thanks man
Can hardly contain my excitement .. have waited for this for quite sometime now
me 2…pun intended
Is anyone aware of any websites streaming the testing?
Doubt anyone would bother, there’s only a small audience for this – die hard F1 fans.
A steady webcam at the pit exit or along the main straight wouldn’t be too diffictult, would it?
Like the one at the Nurburgring…
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!
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.
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… 
Here is live streaming sute
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motor21.com%2Fnoticia.asp%3Fdt%3D315%26nt%3D79118&sl=es&tl=en
another website
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.f1today.nl%2Flive-update%2F2010%2F02%2F01%2Fcircuit-de-la-comunitat-valenciana%2F&sl=nl&tl=en
Be with F1F,if anybody have the time please post it as soon as you get it.
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
Three new cars running? This stands a decent chance of being the most exciting day at Valencia all year!
Mercedes have rolled out their new F1 car: Mercedes W01 debuts (Pictures)
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
http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2010/02/01/circuit-de-la-comunitat-valenciana/
Hi thanks for that !
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.f1today.nl%2Flive-update%2F2010%2F02%2F01%2Fcircuit-de-la-comunitat-valenciana%2F&sl=nl&tl=en
The translation is funny but it still works
Yeah, it says “The Sauber of Massa…” and has translated his name from F.Massa to F.Bulk!!!
use yahoo babelfish or google translator..it helps
Keith is this right?
“Michael Schumacher will get his first test of the first Mercedes F1 car since 1955. “
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
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.
*his with *the
And now the new Toro Rosso has appeared: Toro Rosso STR5 breaks cover (Pictures)
You are ON FIRE Keith
Love your work.
Is the testing going to be shown on TV ? tnx
The new Williams should be the next new car due then with the first outing of the Cosworth engine.