Live from Barcelona

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The final F1 test of the season begins at Barcelona tomorrow. I’ll be at the track for the final two days of action on Saturday and Sunday before the teams ship their cars out to Bahrain for the first race of the season.

This will be the second time I’ve been to an F1 test as a media representative and I intend to do much the same as I did at Jerez two weeks ago – provide as much information as I can in real-time, keep an eye on cars’ stint times to see who’s quick and talk to as many drivers as I can.

Personal commitments keep me from being there on Thursday and Friday but we will have a photographer at the circuit for all four days of the test to supply exclusive pictures for F1 Fanatic.

As ever, if you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see from the test, please let me know in the comments. To pre-empt one of the most frequently asked questions, I’m afraid broadcasting restrictions prevent me from filming video at the test.

Thanks to Cristina and Jordi at the circuit for their help arranging accreditation, and thanks to everyone who suggested airlines and hotels on Twitter yesterday.

And special thanks to everyone who sent in donations to help meet the added cost of covering these tests. Your generosity is deeply appreciated.

F1 Fanatic Jerez test coverage

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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56 comments on “Live from Barcelona”

  1. Really looking forward to this, Keith!

    Great you will be there

  2. Nice,
    looking forward to the live coverage Keith

  3. Exclusive F1Fanatic photographs. Excellent news, congratultions, and I can’t wait for the weekend!

  4. Keith,

    Can we get some paddock pics this time round .. especially Ferrari and Red Bull

    1. What do you mean by paddock pictures? Not photos of the trucks I assume?

      1. I think he means pictures of activity in the paddock, pits… mechanics doin something when not working on the car… drivers hanging around when not on the track… perhaps… i would like that :)

        1. American_F1_Fan
          24th February 2010, 22:09

          Don’t the usually keep the door to the garage closed when they are working on the car during testing though?

          1. Work like a theif! Any oppurtunity you have, take it. Open garage doors, drivers walking back to pits from broken down cars, Snap! Snap! Snap!
            Get that camera out Keith and go snap! happy

      2. Can you highlight the teams current motor homes…
        RBR/Torro Rosso is the biggest you said, but lets see the current crop of demountable structures.

        1. I want a picture of Michael Schumacher going to the Ferrari motorhome to have his place of spaghetti.

  5. Many Thanks to you,Keith !
    You´re doing a great job. :)

  6. Enjoy the test and keep up the excellent work.

  7. I would be interested to know how many journalists there are at the test in all and how many from which country, which type of media, etc. I guess I’m interested to get an overall picture of the make up of the media who cover F1. Perhaps a short interview of someone from an “unusual media background”? (like if you meet someone from, say, Mongolian Motorsprts News)

    1. well the bbc have sent everybody over and are doing a video round up at the end of each day.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/02/f1_teams_ready_for_preseason_s.html

      1. Yeah… not in UK, so no BBC video for me… it really is almost heartbreaking to know that all this wonderful content is out there and I can’t get at it. Proxy servers don’t seem to work – maybe ’cause I’m on a mac. Bah hambug!

  8. Nice one! I hope you will enjoy it!

    Watch the tyres for graining expecily after fast times with those 5-9 runs! Those with damaged tyres will do good in q3 but during the race they probaly drop several places. How many right turns has Barcelona? more then left? watch the left rear tyre.

  9. Aleksandar Serbia
    24th February 2010, 10:27

    Keith, you need to make yourself important.
    Start forcing people to take you seriously and not just an UberNerd of F1fanatic!
    Try to interview somebody, like a mechanic or PR, on a mini camera, say you need just a little brake to get yourself started.
    Next time get someone from the blog to go with you and hold the camera, to look more professional!
    It would be a shame to have such a passion and dedication to write just a blog, be so close to the stars and get no interviews from mechanics and drivers.
    Boldly go where no nerd has gone before!
    Get yourself into the mainstream!

    1. I love the idea that I’d walk up to someone and say ‘I’m an F1 nerd, can I talk to you please…’ That’s not how I present myself!

      I spoke to a lot of drivers and PRs at the last test and intend to do more this time round. There’s going to be a lot more people covering the Barcelona test though with it being the last of the year.

    2. You know Aleksandar, you strike me as really having it in for “F1 nerds”, indeed you strike me as one of those nerds who kinda doesn’t know he’s a nerd, but deep inside something tells him he might be, so he spends his time calling other nerds nerds to make himself feel better.

      Anyhoo, I don’t know about you, but coming here every day, several times a day, makes me an F1 nerd – you?

      1. Nooo Maciek, to be a real nerd u have to come here with several names a day!

        1. Aargh – outclassed in my nerdness again!

  10. I’ll be there too. 4 days of testing…AWESOME!

  11. If you get a chance could you possibly ask Button how the engine in his McLaren feels – i.e. does it feel exactly the same as the Brawn or does it feel different? Or does he only “feel” the car as a whole?

    Although if you don’t see JB… never mind!

    1. Actually that would be really interesting. I guess the different gearbox might mean it’s difficult to compare…but still.

  12. Bit off topic….but not really

    Very serious storm approaching western Pyrenne and Galicia. Threatens all of Northern Spain and South West France. Expected to hit in next 48 hours.

    Just what this weeks test did not need.

    Hope the bloody forecasters are dead wrong

    1. Yeah, bloody forecasters! Always forecasting weather we don’t want, grrrrr!!!!1!

  13. Someone’s moving up in the world. :)

  14. every time we click an ad, does that help out?

    1. Not really. Only some of the ads are paid on a ‘per click’ basis. And encouraging people to click on ads they aren’t interested in just to generate income (‘click fraud’) is strictly banned and of course I don’t condone it. Their ad-tracking technology that looks out for patterns of fraudulent clicks.

      1. Does coming to this website 25 times a day help! Because that’s what I do!

        Thanks Kieth, keep up the great work.

  15. I doubt that will this will make any difference, but 2009 lap record in Barcelona is set by Barrichello in Brawn-Mercedes as 1:22.762.

    Have an nice time Keith, looking forward for your post.

  16. Yeah, i want to see that too..It would be interesting to see crew’s activity..

  17. Keith, just a thought. Could you ask the photographer to take some shots that you could then release as Wallpapers…?? You could brand them up with the F1F logo and everthing. Just thought it would be a nice little touch.

    1. That is a great idea. I’d definitely use one as a wallpaper!

  18. Ok, you asked for a suggestion and here goes one: Would be nice if you could get some data and for us look who is faster in which sector of the circuit.

    If McLaren have a fast car in the sector 1 (the complex of high speed corners),for example, it will show that they really have a good car in terms aerodynamics, and really fixed the main problems of last year.

  19. considering Red Bull have hired out the track for today to do some publicity work…do you think they will do a few laps of testing?

    I don’t think it would be wrong of them as lotus and Williams and some one else all had a private day of shake downs….PLUS they wouldn’t exceed any distance quote as they missed 1st test session.

    1. If I remember correctly when teams want to do PR they are given extremely hard tires such that almost no data can be gained from the testing. This however is only going to affect mechanical grip so I guess they can do areo testing. I think also the amount of PR shooting they can do is limited to keep teams from using it as areo testing days.

  20. Also Keith any chance you could get sockpit shots of cars…
    ie: wheels, seats, pedals, be awesome to see in inside of the tub.
    1 we don’t see that stuff
    2 help with my simulator build :)

    Go and ask Red Bull for permission and let them censor any pics they dont want to let out….
    Worth a try and would be an awesome coup!

    1. “Also Keith any chance you could get sockpit shots of cars…’

      sorry should read ….”some cockpit pics”

  21. Keith,
    On launch date the R30 had a straight rear wing. On the first day of testing (the next day) the R30 was equiped with a curved rear wing, like a whale tail.

    Can you request the fotographer to have some close ups of this rear wing. I think it is beautiful but am wondering why it did not show in the official launch pictures.

  22. s**t. looks like we may have more rain!

    1. Is Barcelona on a plain…??

  23. Ironic that the first race of the year is in BAH! Rain! after all of this wet testing!

    Thus concludes your corny joke for the day..

  24. Plink Plonk Plunk
    24th February 2010, 16:52

    Keith,

    Was it hard for you to get ‘Media Credentials’ from the FIA?

    Not asking because I want to – or implying you dont deserve. Simply wondering what process they use. Anyway, congrats on this being your 1st full season as a full time jurno. You’ve worked hard for the privilege [and earned it as well].

  25. I know this is way off topic, and is far from as glamorous as interviewing drivers and team officials, but I think many of us would like to know more about attending the race. This May I will be going to my first F1 race in Barcelona having been to a couple of other F1 races around the world I have noticed that the rules for each track vary greatly. Can you let us know what the rules and regulations are for what you can and can not bring to the event? Or Ask the organizers for their written guidelines and post them here? I have scoured the internet looking for the answer to this question and keep coming up empty.

  26. One thing I noticed from the Jerez Pictures is that there were not enough Bmw-Sauber pictures… From all the teams , they the least pictures posted on this site.

    1. *they have*

      1. must admit there does seem to be less photos of the sauber shame as i think it’s an awesome looking car.

  27. Photos I’ve seen from other testing have been great. I especially like shots of different cars in the same location — makes it much easier to see the subtle differences. If you can get more shots of that type, would be great.
    Another thing which occurred to me is trying to get low-angle pictures of the same car on different outings to see if it’s possible to see ride-height changes due to fuel load.

  28. Keith, could U ask L. Messi abt Barca’s performance in last matches? :-) According to F1, Renault announced a lot of upgrades in R30, plz find out what they really changed, which parts, how looks front wing, diffusor etc.

  29. Strange, isn’t it: The Stephan cars are supposed to be painted and ready to drive, but of a lack of tires. And yet, all we ever see is the same sorry photo of Stefan next to the Toyota from a couple of months ago.

    1. Notice how I cleverly used both spellings to cover my ass. And avoid the last name altogether!

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