2010 F1 testing: February 2nd
Nico Rosberg driving the Mercedes W01 at Valencia today
Lewis Hamilton joins F1 testing today and Kamui Kobayashi will get his first laps at the wheel of a BMW Sauber.
Join us as we follow the second F1 test day at Valencia.
Today’s testing times
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps |
| Felipe Massa | Ferrari F10 | 71.722 | 125 |
| Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari C29 | 72.056 | 96 |
| Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 | 72.256 | 108 |
| Robert Kubica | Renault R30 | 72.426 | 119 |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes W01 | 72.899 | 119 |
| Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth FW32 | 73.377 | 102 |
| Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR5 | 73.823 | 107 |
Testing notes
Most of the teams are sticking with the same drivers they used yesterday, apart from the two exceptions mentioned above.
Nico Rosberg will get a full day in the Mercedes W01, with Michael Schumacher set to take over from him on Wednesday. The younger of the two Mercedes drivers has asked for some changes to be made to his seat to make him more comfortable in the car.
Surprisingly for the first day of testing, yesterday saw few interruptions and generally good reliability. The major exceptions were Toro Rosso, who had a problem with their gearbox actuator which they were unable to repair fully before the end of the session and were planning to work on overnight.
As well as getting our first look at three new cars yesterday, several teams had new parts on their cars. You can see pictures of those cars in yesterday’s post.
Today’s testing line-up
McLaren MP4-25 – Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes W01 – Nico Rosberg
Ferrari F10 – Felipe Massa
Williams FW32 – Rubens Barrichello
BMW Sauber C29 – Kamui Kobayashi
Renault R30 – Robert Kubica
Toro Rosso STR5 – Sebastien Buemi
Timing and other resources
The following sites often have live timing information:
Inocencio also suggested Spanish sites La Sexta and The F1 for live information from Valencia.
If you know of any others, please post details in the comments.
Several drivers, teams and journalists are providing updates from the track. If you’re on Twitter and would like to follow them you can find links to their accounts in the F1 Twitter directory.
The latest Tweets from people at the track today will appear below:
You can find details of future F1 tests in the F1 Fanatic Google Calendar.
Testing so far
Felipe Massa set the fastest time around Valencia yesterday with a 1’12.574. He also did the most laps, racking up over 100. (See yesterday’s post for a full list of times).
The charts below show how much testing each driver, car and engine had done before the start of today’s test.
The teams have a maximum testing limit of 15,000km. They’ll struggle to do that much in the 15 days’ testing they have between now and the start of the season, but the allocation also has to cover any extra testing they may need to do during the season if they choose to bring in a driver with no previous experience.
The data below also shows how many laps have been logged by each of the four different engine manufacturers in F1:
Drivers’ test mileages
Drivers' test mileages (click to enlarge)
Car test mileages
F1 car test mileages (click to enlarge)
Engine test mileages
Engine test mileages (click to enlarge)
The track
The teams remain at the Ricardo Tormo road course just outside Valencia in Spain (not the street track which is the venue for the European Grand Prix).
The weather is expected to remain much the same as yesterday – dry with temperatures peaking at around 14C.
2010 F1 testing
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 0:47
Now that everyone has been broken in a little, I’m xpecting to see more experimentation with heavy fuel loads like the Renaults.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 2nd February 2010, 0:53
Which should be reasonably easy to spot – if a car is suddenly 3-4 seconds slower per lap around Valencia it could well be because it’s at maximum fuel capacity.
What would be great is if we could collect as many different lap times for each car as possible and compile them to get an idea of what stint lengths they did and what their lap times were. Anyone fancy it?
Tomcat173 said on 2nd February 2010, 1:09
Im happy to have a crack at it Keith, if you can get your hands on the data!
Maybe we can work out which car is faster once corrected for fuel loads before the season starts? or even have a go at working out which driver has acclimatised to their new car/team better?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 2nd February 2010, 9:23
The times are quoted on some of the sites linked above and reported on Twitter. We just need to know who did what time and when.
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 1:18
And from that discern who is really doing the best?
It’s an ambitious roject, but I can’t say as if I’m up for it. Even if I crash at midnight, testing still goes on for a few hours after that.
epi said on 2nd February 2010, 1:41
I’ll have a go at collecting numbers tomorrow, assuming everyone does a noticably slow run which is at full fuel we can then compare people?
Rugel said on 2nd February 2010, 1:22
Does anyone know what time is the test on feb2 Canadian eastern time?
Victor said on 2nd February 2010, 1:32
it’s either -5 or 6 hrs…. so around 5am? (i’m making a rough guess here)
bwells said on 2nd February 2010, 3:47
I’m on the west coast and it starts at 1am my time… so you should be 4 hours after… the easiest I’ve found is just google “Valencia Spain time” and then do the math… :)
IDR said on 2nd February 2010, 5:29
The test will start at 10 am (GMT+1), so for Montreal will be at 4 am (I believe).
ap said on 2nd February 2010, 1:56
ferrari seem to be chewing thru their allotment of tyres…
Only so many this year from what I hear.
ap said on 2nd February 2010, 2:02
also I noticed brawn/merc haven’t rectified the illegal exhaust on the car yet…I am surprised they have done this considering there running under basically same rules as 09 in this area.
I am laying cash on the fact they are wanting to distract other teams from something or other by a displaying such a obvious blatant fault.
wasiF1 said on 2nd February 2010, 2:10
It will be interesting to see how Kamui Kobayashi compares with his team mate Pedro today.
Also I have to say a warm welcome for the season to come alive & to see so many F1 fans in F1F excited about the new season,hope it continues today.
Pinball said on 2nd February 2010, 3:07
Do engine allocations and tyre allocations count in pre-season testing? If someone blows up an engine, would it mean that they are down an engine for the 2010 season?
luigismen said on 2nd February 2010, 3:30
Don’t think so… they are “Testing”. They can use components that are illegal
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 3:33
Athough they technically can use illegal parts, it’s a bit pointless since the purpose of testing is to test. They want to make sure the parts they’ve developed for racing wrk the way they’re supposed to; since they obviously can’t use illegal parts in the races, to include them in testing would be a waste of time.
Tim said on 2nd February 2010, 8:34
Not necessarily a waste of time. Teams may occasionally find some value in, for example, running parts from last year that are no longer legal in 2010 on the basis that they are a known quantity and therefore reduce the number of unknown quantities inherent in a new car.
Last year, McLaren ran a 2008-spec rear wing in testing to establish whether their problems with rear end grip were caused by the 2009-spec wing or something else.
There might also be another purpose in running an illegal car in testing – to appeal to potential sponsors. In 2001, Jean Alesi set some stunning times in testing for the financially challenged Prost team – but never quite managed to repeat that form on race weekends…
ap said on 2nd February 2010, 5:51
yes and yes.
You get x amount of engines for ‘testing’ which is separate from the allocation2 of ‘race engines’. Same goes for tyres too.
from red bull>
“Due to the limit on tyres available to the teams,” he said. “There’s no point in burning up engine mileage and rubber on an RB5. We’d rather use the tyres for quality testing at the three tests that we have confirmed we’ll run at, starting with the first test in Jerez.”
Pinball said on 2nd February 2010, 6:05
Cool.
Another question. On race weekends Bridgestone specifies what tyre compounds will be used. Does the same apply with testing? Does Bridgestone say, “we will be supplying soft and super soft tyres for this test, and hard and medium tyres for the next test”? Or are the teams free to use whatever compound tyres they desire?
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 8:47
I’m pretty sure the teams are free to use whatever tyres they wish. However, they’ll naturally have one or two compunds selected because they fit the condiitons of the circuit bst.
Vikas said on 2nd February 2010, 4:05
Good morning guys…Looking forward to seeing Hamilton :-)
CounterStrike said on 2nd February 2010, 4:06
JA gives a fair idea of the expected fuel loads:
So,it will be very obvious all round when a time has been set on low fuel and new tyres.
bwells said on 2nd February 2010, 4:11
I sure hope that start/finish webcam is working tonight… or tomorrow for most of you… that’ll be a nice addition to translating live timing..
It’ll be interesting with a couple new drivers onboard.. be able to get some comparisons to a point… I hope everyone is over the first day “where going to win!!/omg we’re doomed!!” stage of testing… ya… who am I trying to kid… lol… let’s all relax and enjoy the show… :)
GeeMac said on 2nd February 2010, 7:01
What’s this about a start/finish webcam? Do you have the link?
CounterStrike said on 2nd February 2010, 7:28
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/webcam/valencia-terra-i-mar-cheste-cheste-0
GeeMac said on 2nd February 2010, 7:34
Thanks.
jose arellano said on 2nd February 2010, 4:49
hey, nobody said anything about the renault r29 vs r30.. it was the r30 in the revealing, does that mean they really packaged very good and will that would give them an advantage???
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 5:46
According to Bob Bell, the team was surprised at how good their figures from the wind tunnel tests were. What was a two-year plan to get back on top could be done in as little as twelve months if they play their cards right. I suspect they are running an R29 body with R30 parts to get feedback on how the individual parts perform. If they run a full R30 package, they’ll get data on everything at once. But because they know how the R29 behaves, they can account for the R29 parts and isolate the data on the R30 pieces. It will allow them to get a clearly understanding of how it all works, meaning they can get a head-start on developing aero upgrades. They’ll still need to run a full R30 to see how everything works together, but for now they can get ahead of the curve and start making new pieces of kit. I’ll be very interested to see what they run on the third day, since it will be the first time Vitaly Petrov drives a Formula 1 car.
Aside from all of this, Renault has one major advantage over the comeptition this season: they’re Renault. And by that I mean they’re the Renault factory team. They don’t just make the Renault cars, but the Renault RS27 engine as well, which is being reported as the best engine on the grid in terms of fuel consumption. So because they make the cars and the engine, they can actually build their entire chassis around the RS27 unit. As the other works teams, Ferrari and Mercedes have that advantage, too, but as the RS27 is the most fuel-efficient, Renault can get away with having a smaller fuel tank.
In order to save space, some of the teams have been experimenting with a ‘vertical’ fuel tank, a fuel tank that taller than it is wide or long. This creates its own problems because it means the heavier the car is, the higher its centre of gravity will be. Renault can avoid this problem because they are free to configure their engine and fuel tank however they want. They may have to go with a vertical design, but the effect of a raised centre of gravity won’t be as severe. They will almost certainly have the best lateral stability.
Somehow, they’ve managed to do all of this in what appears to be an R29 body. I can’t say how their fuel tank is configured because only Renault has that information, but if they can package their car with a low centre of gravity, excellent lateral stability and a shorter wheelbase than the competition, the R30 is going to be exceptionally good on tight circuits. If I’m right, look for them to be strong at Monaco, Hungary, Singapore, Korea and possibly Valencia. They will also be very nimble through corners with a rapid change of direction, like the opening corners in Malaysia and China and the infield at Interlagos.
HG said on 2nd February 2010, 5:54
thanks for that post PM, i have been wondering about that team/car and that certainly gave me some food for thought :)
Mouse_Nightshirt said on 2nd February 2010, 9:13
Where do you get you info on the Renault being the most fuel efficient?
jose arellano said on 2nd February 2010, 17:21
i dont think they are running a r28 body because kubica said yesterday that he has never run that heavy in his life. so that means that the car they are using already has the big fuel tank… i dont think they are going to do two complete different cars in a one month period.
Dingle Dell said on 2nd February 2010, 6:33
eek! heavy fuel load test… will we be able to see sparks from the undertray this year? *silently excited* hoping for titanium skid plates return… :P
i can’t wait to see Bruno Senna to trash MSC dearly!!! :D
BasCB said on 2nd February 2010, 6:39
I still find it very strange, that all Renault team members talk about the new car (Kubica refers to understeer, the talk about this car being visually different etc.) while we are suspecting them of running a revised R29 for testing new parts!
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 6:57
I believe the only part that may actually be from the R29 is the sidepods and the engine cowling. Everything else would be interchangeable.
Marc Connell said on 2nd February 2010, 7:30
is there any limit to the ammount of laps they can do in one day?
I need to hear that cosworth engine :( i hope it doesnt break down before somebody brings out a camera.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 2nd February 2010, 8:06
No, just that total limit of 15,000km track testing between now and the end of the year (excluding the three young driver test days at the end of the year, and any straight-line aerodynamic tests).
gabal said on 2nd February 2010, 8:38
there are already videos on youtube so you can hear it. Williams tuned down Cosworth a bit for first outing though…
CounterStrike said on 2nd February 2010, 7:34
Gary Paffet thinks that McLaren are in trouble. It appears that they’ve used that dreaded green flow-vis paint AGAIN!
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/8868/31976283.jpg
Maybe they really are screwed. And I find it very strange when they cut open the sidepod opening when temperature hardly crossed 15C, heating problems?
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 7:40
Just because they used it last year and were screwed does not mean they’re screwed again this year.
CounterStrike said on 2nd February 2010, 7:45
They well might be if their diffusers are deemed illegal.
Prisoner Monkeys said on 2nd February 2010, 7:53
You can bet they have a second, less-sophisticated design back at Woking. They pushed the limits, but they’re not stupid. They’ll have anticipated this.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 2nd February 2010, 8:14
Or just investigating how much of an effect on temperature opening the vent has.
sato113 said on 2nd February 2010, 8:32
the main opening is smaller than usual, so the extra slit will make up that difference.
Pat said on 2nd February 2010, 15:56
That’s why they go testing :)
Pat said on 2nd February 2010, 7:51
here’s the Macca’s rear end
http://images.gpupdate.net/newsnew/144607.jpg