2010 F1 testing live: 17th February

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Fairuz Fauzy will drive the Lotus at Jerez today

The F1 teams reach the halfway point in their preparations for the 2010 season today – it’s the eighth day of their 15-day testing allocation.

We now have 11 teams working at Jerez as Lotus has joined in with its newly-launched T127. Join us to follow testing as-it-happens below.

Times from today’s test

DriverCarBest timeLapsDifference
Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault RB682.593990
Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-2583.017720.424
Felipe MassaFerrari F1083.204720.611
Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari STR583.322790.729
Pedro de la RosaBMW Sauber-Ferrari C2983.367760.774
Michael SchumacherMercedes W0183.8031111.21
Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes VJM0384.272281.679
Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes VJM0385.088742.495
Vitaly PetrovRenault R3086.237553.644
Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth FW3287.321094.727
Fairuz FauzyLotus-Cosworth T12791.848769.255
Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth VR-0192.417109.824

Testing notes

The weather in Jerez last week wasn’t great with two of the four days’ running disrupted by rain. Unfortunately it’s set to be just as bad if not worse over the next four days.

Due to the agreements the teams have with the circuits, they’ll only be able to move to a different venue if they look like getting zero chance of dry running. At the moment it looks like they willl get a dry day on Friday, but heavy rain is forecast for today and tomorrow.

Today Lotus becomes the second of the new teams to join testing – we’ll see if they an get their car on-track more quickly and with fewer problems than Virgin did last week.

Another new addition to this week’s test is Paul di Resta, who will get half a day’ running in the Force India.

Today’s testing line-up

McLaren MP4-25Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes W01Michael Schumacher
Red Bull RB6Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari F10Felipe Massa
Williams FW32Rubens Barrichello
BMW Sauber C29Pedro de la Rosa
Renault R30 – Vitaly Petrov
Force India VJM03Adrian Sutil/Paul di Resta
Toro Rosso STR5Sebastien Buemi
Virgin VR-01Timo Glock
Lotus T127 – Fairuz Fauzy

The track: Circuito de Jerez

The teams are testing at the Circuito de Jerez, formerly the home of the Spanish (1986-1990) and European Grands Prix (1994 and 1997):


View Larger Map

Eight of this year’s pre-season test days will take place at this circuit. Last week Lewis Hamilton set a best time of 1’19.583 at the track.

Tweets from the test

Here’s the ten latest Tweets from people at the track (plus me):

If you would like to suggest a Twitter feed to add to the list, please name them in the comments. The list only updates when this page is refreshed.

2010 F1 testing

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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129 comments on “2010 F1 testing live: 17th February”

  1. good to see lotus hit the track, looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

    keith, have you taken out recidency in spain yet? seems youve been there ages you lucky… :)

  2. Read somewhere, that current R30 is only 60% of this which we will see at Bahrain. . .

      1. Maciek, guess U r my countryman… Well, this information comes from polish f1 sites, but main source can be different. Anyway, beside possible 215 million dolars budget of Renault, it was the biggest news.

        1. It was here, amongst other places: http://sport.onet.pl/f1/f1-zmiana-decyzji-renault-dobre-wiesci-dla-roberta,1,3177958,wiadomosc.html

          Brief summary in English:
          “According to French media reports, Renault are preparing a vastly improved chassis for the Bahrain GP (In previous statements Ranault said a new car would only be ready for the Canadian GP.). The new and/or modified parts should alter the car we have seen Renault testing so far by as much as 40%. The biggest changes concern the front wing, sidepods and the diffuser.”

          ———–
          Perhaps I should consider changing my nickname for sth more Polish-sounding?
          Still, a Pole called Damon (which is kinda the equivalent for my real name) is less confusing than a Czech guy called Pedro. ;]

          1. less confusing than a Czech guy called Pedro

            ha

          2. So Damon, what is your real name? Damonski?! Pedro said his name is actually Petr, which is fine with me because they’re all just variations on Peter to me!

            It is a bit misleading, but loads of people on this site (including me) don’t use their real name. Plus I think it’s great that we have contributors from Eastern Europe, it seems as though F1 is really growing over there.

    1. so it’s going to lap about 30 seconds faster than it currently is? Kubica, you genius!

    2. If thats true then maybe it is an r29b and Renault are hiding some insane developments up their sleeve. Doubt it though.

      1. Yer its something that a lot of people have suspected since the ‘R30’ was unveiled. I think they’re running still running the R30 with mostly R29 aero and will have massive new update for Bahrain.

  3. Tell me something more about R30. I want to see those Renault’s great days back.

  4. Is Twitter working, there doesn’t seem to be any Tweets coming out of the test… nothing for over half an hour… which is unusual.

    1. You need to refresh the page to get new feed.
      Thats probably why it looks like it isnt working.

      1. Cheers Max, but I’m referring to F1 Testing Tweets generally… I get them direct to my phone with the Twitter app sitting open refreshing automatically every 5mins.

        They are coming through from Keith, so I guess all is working okay, just nothing from anyone else e.g. ClaireVWilliams, VirginRacing, McLarens TheFifthDriver, JamesAllen etc etc… it’s possible they just haven’t tweeted anything due to being busy or whatever.

        Its just not like the first Jerez test last week, which was a Twitter frenzy… guess can’t always be like that.

        1. I think Claire said she wasn’t doing anything at this teat. James Allen wasn’t at the test last week and I don’t think he is this week either. Fifthdriver has been pretty quiet from testing generally. There’s a fair bit coming from Lotus though.

          1. Thanks Keith, I’m following Tony & Mike now, thanks for the info.

            Impressed with the Lotus so far, Mike Gascoyne never fails to impress me.

  5. Red flag already caused by Hamilton… not a good start. Looking forward to some video footage of the Lotus

    1. I think Hamilton did a fuel out run. They probably won’t admit it like Ferrari, which was hilarious btw, but it seems everyones doing it.

      1. Ferrari laughed to soon, as “the session is stopped, while Massa’s car is retrieved”

        Did he run out of fuel too?

        1. http://twitter.com/InsideFerrari/status/9231625208

          “Another usual problem for Felipe, who stopped in the track…”

          They’re doing it deliberately. Not sure why though.

          1. There should be some penalties for causing red flags (testing time for respective team should be trimmed by 1h or so).

          2. The same should be about causing flags at Q1,2,3.

          3. theyre doing it because competative advantage is going to be firmly with the team that can run the least fuel.

            So essentially there seing how low they can go. There also seeing how much they can stretch out an under fueled cars ,,… fuel by running lean.

          4. If it was deliberate, why call it a problem?

  6. Prob. off topic, but I have my doubts

    How come BMW Sauber is still retaining the same name? Shouldn’t it be Sauber-Ferrari?

    Surprised to see BMW’s not worrying too much about branding…

    1. If they change the name they lose the residual funding from last years participation as BMW Sauber. Peter Sauber needs every penny of income he can lay his hands on at the moment. So his team will probably remain with the existing title for some time yet, or at least until other income is secured.

      1. But actually its more damage to BMW than Peter Sauber.

        If FIA’s naming regulations means money for a name change, it would be wise for BMW to fund Sauber to get its name off the team as I dont see it otherwise impossible since Brawn has changed its name.
        Its ironic to see a BMW run on a ferrari.

        And wonder why the team’s name isn’t listed at formula1.com yet.

        1. If Sauber don’t score any points this year, you can bet the name will be changed quickly. Express approval was given to Brawn last year, because everyone thought they were poor. :-)

    2. I believe the reason is because teams are only allowed to change their name once every couple of years or so. There is some sort of limitation (going off something I read, maybe someone else can elborate). Sauber is waiting for a big sponsor before changing its name.

    3. The team can change its name but there is a process to go through which requires the consent of all the other teams. It’s just not a big enough priority for Sauber at the moment.

      1. Exactly Tim !

        If the car was called Marmite-
        Spam-Feugtvengler Peter Sauber would
        stick with it till other vital things
        fall into place for him. How he managed
        to get the show on the road after last
        years BMW-exit debacle I’ll never know,
        but you can bet the details are still
        pretty messy.

        The thing that impresses me most is how superbly that Ferrari engine/gearbox oufit
        seems to be perforing in a chassis designed
        for a completely different mechanical set-up.
        me most

        1. sorry guys screwed up that last para whilst actually doing some work to make a living!

        2. Everyone knew that BMW where leaving for quite some time. Sauber would have had more time than say Brawn to adjust his chassis to another engine.

          Certainly not the hatchet job they where forced to do on the Brawn.

          1. Do you know how much I now want to set up a Formula 1 team called Marmite-Spam-Feugtvengler? :-D

            Obviously we’ll put a “Racing” on the end, else it doesn’t make any sense!

  7. Second Red Flag of the day already

  8. Live timing with live lap by lap timing for every driver (click on the name):
    http://www.msfree.gr/ms.php?id=10691

    Greek language commendatory

    1. cool!
      Now we need to keep the rain away for as many hours as possible.

    2. That’s a cracking find costas thank you very much.

  9. Keith, any chance of putting everyone who’s at the track in a Twitter list? Theoretically it would make it easy for tweeps like me to then get live updates on what’s happening.

    Hope the rain stops!

  10. Whats happening at Virgin?

    1. Guess they chickened out.

      Oh I’m going to love all the un-funny virgin “jokes”

  11. Must say, hats off to Lotus. They are already done more than virgin’s first day. I suspect by the end of the day they will have done more milage. Considering they built it all in 4 months their future looks promising.

    1. I know a few of the top guys at Lotus, such as Mark Tatham. Top pros with loads of F1 experience.

  12. Daft question – why’s the Lotus in the pic above wearing grooved tyres?

    1. Staffan Hansson
      17th February 2010, 10:05

      its from the release last week, non testing pic.

  13. Why is Hamilton bottom of the sheet? No running this morning?

    1. He did run but apparently caused the first red flag of the day, his car stopped and had to catch a ride back to the pits.

  14. Wondering what’s happening with McLaren.. It seems like they are trying to keep quiet about the problems they’re facing

    1. Yeah right! Widely considered to be looking like the team to beat along with Ferrari. Keep dreaming!

  15. Virgin and Renault without time?

  16. It seems McLaren is testing a different car altogether ….. Just have a look at those pips, they look normal …. or are my eyes deceiving me again :(

  17. Michael really is the number one. His testing days are the ones with the less chance of rain…

    no superstitions about ‘odd-numbered’-days, I suppose

  18. Are Virgin at this test?

  19. hi all, can you please tell me where can i see the times? or could some one post them?
    Thank you

  20. Looks like Virgin have replaced di Grassi with Glock for today’s test. The VR-01 has just gone out on track.

  21. Keith,
    Do you know if Williams is still using the same engine or they have switched engines? Barrichello is doing a huge amoutn of laps again and I was just wondering about engine wear.

    1. Do you mean “switch” as to a new supplier or “change” as to a new aggregate for Rubens?

      Well, I can only give a part-answer to that. The Williams is still being powered by Cosworth. As to whether Rubens has changed engine, well I dont think even Keith can answer that or could he?

      1. Duh, I know they switched to Cosworth. Because Williams are running huge amount of laps this is also probably to test the engine. If Keith does not know, he is in a better position to ask then I am.

  22. About these red flags, I know some of them are a result of unforseen technical hitches, but its not unusual to see some teams deliberately run their cars till they are empty.

    Given the disruptive nature of such an excercise to the other teams, is it not best if all of these burn out test are run within a certain time slot, so teams can then concentrate on conducting proper tests.

    1. I think the top teams do it to intentionally disrupt each other ;) . Massa is on a long run getting useful tyre data and, oh, would you look at that, Hamilton’s ran out of fuel and caused a red flag. How convenient haha.

  23. Any chance of seeing that twitter feed turned into a List on twitter so we can get it in real time?

    1. Yuri Mikhailovich
      17th February 2010, 14:18

      Enable JavaScript for that to happen.

  24. great find by costas. Lewis vs Felipe going on.

  25. Well Hamilton is fastest in the high 1.24’s I think he’s on his 11 lap an still lapping in the 25’s

    1. An Felipe responds with a 1.23!

      We could see sub 20’s by the end of the day.

      Felipe vs Lewis. That is nostalgic.

      Hamilton on nearly his 20th lap improves his time but still a second of Felipe.

      1. Yeh but wasnt Felipe on his 6/7th Lap and then stopped and Ham did a 21 lap stint

        This time watching is just so pointless!! Why do we do it!

        1. It’s exciting, it’s fun, simple as.

          It means nothing, all opinions on pace is baseless conjecture but why let that stop you?

          No reason at all. Also, do you not get the feeling that if Hamilton had been on an 8 lap stint he would have been rather faster.

        2. Yuri Mikhailovich
          17th February 2010, 13:38

          Most of you guys are crazy. I say that because you people have some serious issues.

          FACT:Hamilton sets the fastest time of anyone

          You people say: McLaren is a dog!?

          FACT: Jenson Button does only 80 odd laps in comparison to Alonso’s 130.

          You people say: McLaren’s not reliable enough.

          You guys are all crazy.

      2. Yuri Mikhailovich
        17th February 2010, 13:41

        Felipe vs Lewis is not nostalgic. Bassa is nowhere as good as Hamilton. You must know that. All he’ll be doing this year is to play second fiddle to Alonso.

        1. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nostalgia

          Do you remember 2008. I seem to remember it being Lewis Vs Felipe. Hence Nostalgic

          Also at what point have i called the McLaren a dog, as a fan it would be especially odd.
          There are a few partisan, ignorant doubters but the concensus is McLaren have a fine car. What your saying just isn’t true.

          1. Yuri Mikhailovich
            17th February 2010, 14:03

            I intended that as a reply to all McLaren bashers, not you in particular.

            2008 is hardly nostalgic. Maybe 1988 was. You know what happened then.

          2. If anything i was saying McLarren have the faster car.

  26. anyone know where Virgin is gone, only 4 laps so far.

    1. i think they will only try to run in dry, they don’t have much spares so prolly not running in wets…

  27. you can do it Fauzy!
    Go Lotus!

  28. Virgin=1997 master card Lola? :mad:

    1. The Mastercard Lola was hastily cobbled together from the parts bin after Mastercard demanded that the team join the F1 grid a year ahead of its plan. The car never saw the inside of a windtunnel, let alone a pre-season test.

      Virgin will certainly encounter problems getting up to speed (so will Lotus, Campos, USF1, et al), but any brand new organisation manufacturing a highly sophisticated product for the first time will encounter those to some extent – especially compared to a field of well funded, experienced competitors who have been in the business for many years.

      Virgin could get F1 horribly wrong – even a team like McLaren, with all its resources and expertise, manages to do that from time to time. But the component parts of the Virgin team are strong and to lump them in with Mastercard Lola does the team an extreme disservice.

      1. Not so. New team Walter Wolf produced a F1 car, designed by Harvey Postlethwaith, and Jody Schekter took it to victory in its first race. They had cosworth engine. I am not sure but was it also the 100th victory for Costworth in F1?
        However, Wolf’s team was new. Won straight from the box. Why shouldn’t Virgin or Lotus F1 do that.
        Well for Virgin that seems to slow. Lotus seems pretty good. Maybe we can compare better with Heikki or Jarno at the wheel because I do not know how to compare Fauzy yet.

        1. But Wolf was a new team only in the same way that Brawn was a new team. Walter Wolf was an investor in Frank Williams’ first F1 effort and, after buying Williams out, renamed the team after himself. Frank left shortly afterwards, wanting to work for himself and not simply be someone’s employee. He set up Williams Grand Prix Engineering with Patrick Head, which is the Williams we see today.

          Wolf made a big impression in their first year as “Wolf”, but the late 1970s were an era when the regulations allowed much more innovation and the genuis of a single designer like Harvey Poslethwaite could make an enormous difference – especially given that most teams used the same Cosworth DFV engine and Hewland gearbox.

          F1 is so much more complicated now, with much less scope for big leaps forward. There is now much more emphasis on refining the technology to perfection, making it more difficult to jump in and be competitive. Virgin or Lotus are therefore unlikely to do a Wolf…

      2. A designer who has worked on a recent car, will have a general idea of what direction to take during the design process, while still leaving open the potential for future development, even without a wind tunnel.

        To some extent that is what Wirth has done. He just had a look at recent F1 cars and copied some recent trends, all he needed his CFD to tell him is that, he will get so so level of downforce and so so level of drag.

        Where CFD might not give the desired results are when they are experiencing performance drops as a result of the interaction between different aerodynamic devices on the car.

        With a Wind tunnel you can easily visualise the turbulence created, but with CFD the turbulence is Simulated. And most simulations are approximation, not often exact solutions. Because lets face it, wind can generally blow in any direction it choses. :-)

        1. Even with testing banned teams should be allowed to do more straight line. To cheapen this a tow or track facility could be built. Stick your car on top and see how it reacts at different spped.

          You could even build corners into your track.

  29. Looks like Vetle could end the day fastest. It’s started raining again. There was a definate dry line on the track, so hopefully the rain is but drizzle and stops soon so we can keep getting fast times.

  30. Tony Fernandes says:

    RT @tonyfernandes: 50 laps done. Without power steering FAUZY has done an awesome job.

    Is power steering an optional extra? Is the Lotus 127 stripped-out like an Elise? They’ll be at a disadvantage in the long hot races if they’re without that.

    1. Ah my question’s just answered itself. A “supplier issue” according to Mike Gascoyne.

      1. Fauzy’s arms are gonna be pumped! Good thing he’s not driving tomorrow poor chap.

  31. Shouldn’t the Virgin and Lotus really be a bit faster than 10 seconds off the pace? Come on, this isn’t Giovanni Lavaggi in a Pacific.

    1. Yuri Mikhailovich
      17th February 2010, 14:09

      Anyone remember the 1997 Lola?

      1. Losers are not remembered.

        1. Yuri Mikhailovich
          17th February 2010, 14:20

          I think losers are best remembered.

    2. Wait till Trulli gets in it, in qualifying.

      1. It’s hard to tell what’s going on speedwise but Virgin have only done laps or something, and presumably when it was wet.

        I think the large spread is due to them not being on track when it’s dry, as opposed to them just being dog slow.

        That’s my hope, anyways.

        1. only done 5 laps, i meant to say.

        2. Obviously there’s the fuel question to put into the equation, but the Lotus is now lapping faster than the Williams in the wet conditions…

        3. Lucas di Grassi was only 3.3 seconds off the pace at Jerez last Saturday – probably a better indication.

      2. Hey…have we still got the Trulli Train in prospect for the season then lads ?

        1. Trulli train is only possible when Trulli is not last. So it seems very possible.

          1. Could be a long wait before we get a Virgin train.

  32. Germany’s motorsport total site claims that USF1 and Campos will “merge.” More specifically, Chad Hurley is supposedly tired of USF1 lack of progress, so he will provide the funds to get Campos out of hock with Dallara.

    Still speculation at this point.
    http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2010/02/Campos_und_US_F1_Aus_zwei_mach_eins_10021611.html

  33. I wish they’d send that Virgin out to lap more. I’m starting to belive it’s going to be Branson wearing the hostest unifrom.

    Surley they could have put up, just a little bit more money to test the car in a wind tunnel for but one day. Why they would miss that I don’t know.

    1. It’s part of their whole approach – they’re pushing the idea that simulation technology has made wind tunnels obsolete. So it’s not something they’re missing out on (in their view).

      1. I know what they think there doing I’m just wondering since this is the first time the technology has been used in this way. Why they don’t just rent a wind tunnel for a day. Just to check the data.

        1. Because then they’d be like every other team.

          Maybe they’re doing virtual testing as well and maybe when they get to Bahrain they’ll do a virtual race in which they virtually win!

        2. Like CFD, a windtunnel is just another tool for simulating what will happen on the racetrack – it might be right, it might be wrong. A poorly calibrated windtunnel is worse than useless. The other teams use windtunnel data to verify and validate what CFD is telling them, and vice versa.

          There’s no substitute for actual track time.

          1. Even if poorly caliberated, a wind will still give consistent information, and this can be normalised and referenced with another wind tunnel.

  34. did anyone see massa’s Ferari, the rear wing has with what looks like a black bag around it.

    1. An aerodynamic decvice quite spectacularly lo tech prehaps.

      Or maybe that bag was fall of wires staraws an lazers.

    2. It looks like the car is being towed away.

      1. The tow rope prehaps being what tiped you off?

  35. Hamilton appears to be going for it in the dying moments.
    Vettle’s time looks safe bar pointless last lap heroics. Which I would love to see.

    Hamilton needs to improve by 0.424 seconds.

    1. In a dump track, he was the fastest man on the final stage of the test…

      1. Er, what is a dump track? I presume you mean damp, if you do it makes sense since LEWIS was always strong in the wet.

        1. Of coursen he means damp

          1. Of course you’re RIGHT, Ned. Thanks and sorry for my inability with English!

      2. It’s just a typo, we all do them from time to time.

  36. Wow… Virgin and Lotus are miles of the pace! It’s early days, I know, but it doesn’t bode well. If they are doing that badly, then how slow might USF1 and Campos be?? It’s a good thing that the 107% rule in Qualifying is gone

    1. Didn’t help that Lotus had a rookie out there.

  37. Is there anything in the fact that the bottom three cars are ALL using the Cosworth engine?

    1. Don’t think so. The main reason being is that it’s testing which means that the times are almost in npossible to work out and they don’t mean that much.
      I don’t think Cosworth really will make much on an impact next year. I think it’s more chassis and that none of the Cosworth powered cars are likely to topple Merc, RBR, Ferrari or Mclaren because of design etc. So far I haven’t read any compaints about Cossie’s power but reliability problems may be expected as they have are just returning.

  38. Test times in Excel spreadsheet

      1. great work, chears! :)

  39. This is testing only. We should cheer for reliability not just fast time. :-)

    1. the only actual pointer we have is consitency. Which must be a good thing. Unless you are of course consitentaly 3 tenths slower than the car in front. In which case, hopefully the car in front drops off.

      I think McLaren have gone for the be the fastest an then limit drop off route. While Ferrari have gone for not being fastest on outright pace but being the most consistent, an not far off the pace. Ideally meaning they can complete a race distance in fastest time. May leave them having to do a lot of overtaking in closing laps. May also let them stay out longer an lead to overtaking from cars taking the other route on fresh tyres.

      1. This is quite right. Nice thinking.

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