2010 F1 testing live: 26th February
Lewis Hamilton in action today
It’s day two at Barcelona and Fernando Alonso is among the drivers finishing off their planned test programmes ahead of the first race of 2010.
Join us and follow testing as it happens below.
Times from today’s test
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference |
| Nico Hülkenberg | Williams-Cosworth FW32 | 80.614 | 99 | 0 |
| Fernando Alonso | Ferrari F10 | 80.637 | 134 | 0.023 |
| Pedro de la Rosa | BMW Sauber-Ferrari C29 | 80.973 | 114 | 0.359 |
| Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes VJM03 | 81.056 | 90 | 0.442 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault RB6 | 81.258 | 125 | 0.644 |
| Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR5 | 81.571 | 104 | 0.957 |
| Michael Schumacher | Mercedes W01 | 81.689 | 85 | 1.075 |
| Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 | 82.152 | 93 | 1.538 |
| Robert Kubica | Renault R30 | 84.912 | 53 | 4.298 |
| Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth T127 | 85.524 | 70 | 4.91 |
| Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth VR-01 | 85.942 | 52 | 5.328 |
Testing notes
Mark Webber was fastest of all yesterday but expect the times to get faster over today, tomorrow and Sunday as more rubber goes down on the track.
McLaren ran a set of sensors on the rear of Jenson Button’s car early in the session but the team suffered a blow when the car came to a stop late in the session.
But they were far from the only team to suffer problems. Fernando Alonso lost a lot of running after an electrical problem (he also tried a shark fin wing on the Ferrari F10) and Virgin’s test efforts suffered another setback after Lucas di Grassi crashed.
Several drivers are expected to make their last appearances in testing today before the Bahrain Grand Prix, including Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, Pedro de la Rosa, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Jaime Alguersuari.
Today’s testing line-up
McLaren MP4-25 – Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes W01 – Michael Schumacher
Red Bull RB6 – Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari F10 – Fernando Alonso
Williams FW32 – Nico Hülkenberg
BMW Sauber C29 – Pedro de la Rosa
Renault R30 – Robert Kubica
Force India VJM03 – Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro Rosso STR5 – Jaime Alguersuari
Virgin VR-01 – Timo Glock
Lotus T127 – Jarno Trulli
The track: Circuit de Catalunya
The final test of 2010 is being held at the Circuit de Catalunya, where the teams will return later this year for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Rubens Barrichello set the fastest time during last year’s Spanish Grand Prix race weekend with a 1’19.954 in Q2. The fastest lap of the race itself was also set by Barrichello, a 1’22.762,
For further comparison, Valentino Rossi lapped the track in a 2008-specification Ferrari on GP2 slick tyres in a time of 1’21.900 earlier this year.
Live Tweets and times
Check out MSFree.gr for live times from the track during the test.
Here’s the 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
- F1 testing pictures: 25th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 25th February
- Jerez test 2 statistics
- F1 testing pictures: 20th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 20th February
- F1 testing pictures: 19th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 19th February
- F1 testing pictures: 18th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 18th February
- F1 testing in pictures: 17th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 17th February
- Who’s fast and who’s not? A closer look at the lap times from Jerez testing
- Jerez test 1 statistics
- F1 testing pictures: 13th February
- F1 testing live: 13th February
- F1 testing pictures: 12th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 12th February
- F1 testing pictures: 11th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 11th February
- F1 testing pictures: 10th February
- 2010 F1 testing live: 10th February
- F1 testing review: Valencia (Pictures)
- F1 testing pictures: February 3rd
- 2010 F1 testing: February 3rd
- F1 testing pictures: February 2nd
- 2010 F1 testing: February 2nd
- 2010 F1 testing: February 1st
jonni said on 26th February 2010, 13:49
Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Kubica and Glock are still to emerge after the break. Big lunches maybe (autosport) lol
David B said on 26th February 2010, 14:18
Another red flag.
I think that during this official test the teams could agree to use the safety car, so that run simulation are not interrupted, and the simulation is complete.
This could be a training session for SF driver also, and would avoid wasting time for the teams.
Derek said on 26th February 2010, 14:32
What up with McLaren they’ve only done 49 laps!!!!
Lets se Hammy do a quick lap!
ebby said on 26th February 2010, 14:34
hi all.. can anyone share what is the latest time per lap
Chris said on 26th February 2010, 14:52
Just take a look at the Live section of autosport.com
http://live.autosport.com/
KMal said on 26th February 2010, 14:38
P Pilotes Equipes Temps Ecarts Trs
1 F.Alonso Ferrari 1.20.637 +-.— 78
2 P.De La Rosa Sauber 1.20.973 +-.— 60
3 V.Liuzzi Force India 1.21.056 +-.— 70
4 N.Hulkenberg Williams 1.21.199 +-.— 85
5 S.Vettel Red Bull 1.21.258 +-.— 88
6 J.Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1.21.571 +-.— 70
7 M.Schumacher Mercedes 1.21.689 +-.— 61
8 L.Hamilton McLaren 1.22.152 +-.— 49
9 R.Kubica Renault 1.24.912 +-.— 47
10 J.Trulli Lotus 1.25.524 +-.— 62
11 T.Glock Virgin 1.26.425 +-.— 32
Chris said on 26th February 2010, 14:42
GO HULKBERG, GO!!! FASTEST with 1m20.614s!!
bwells said on 26th February 2010, 14:49
on a 2 lap run… cheater.. lol
KMal said on 26th February 2010, 15:03
P Pilotes Equipes Temps Ecarts Trs
1 N.Hulkenberg Williams 1.20.614 +-.— 92
2 F.Alonso Ferrari 1.20.637 +-.— 83
3 P.De La Rosa Sauber 1.20.973 +-.— 65
4 V.Liuzzi Force India 1.21.056 +-.— 74
5 S.Vettel Red Bull 1.21.258 +-.— 88
6 J.Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1.21.571 +-.— 72
7 M.Schumacher Mercedes 1.21.689 +-.— 61
8 L.Hamilton McLaren 1.22.152 +-.— 49
9 R.Kubica Renault 1.24.912 +-.— 47
10 J.Trulli Lotus 1.25.524 +-.— 63
11 T.Glock Virgin 1.25.942 +-.— 35
In fairness, Williams have been showing really good pace for the past few test days, they are looking good one would have to say.
Bertie said on 26th February 2010, 15:25
It is about time they were at the sharp end of the grid. It is has been far too long.
bwells said on 26th February 2010, 15:14
I agree… this testing season has been great because just about all the teams have had a quick day.. so I think we’ll have to wait until Bahrain to see the real order.. man I can’t wait!! 16 days… 3 hours… 45 minutes and 35 seconds!!
bwells said on 26th February 2010, 15:17
Looks like Fernando’s on a race sim and he’s lapping consistently in the 24′s… 38 laps so far.. :)
KP said on 26th February 2010, 15:48
with McLaren on 33 laps in high 27′s. don’t think Vettel or Alonso are going to lose much sleep !!
Peter said on 26th February 2010, 15:49
I sure hope Lotus can upgrade the reliability of the car over the next two days considerably.
Patrickl said on 26th February 2010, 16:03
I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by the laptimes so far.
The teams were talking about major improvements of their cars over the winter. They also claimed several seconds improvement of their cars during the 2009 season.
Yet they cannot even reach the times the cars set in the final test before the 2009 season.
They should be several seconds faster than they were in last years test, but so far they are well over a second slower.
Barrichello set a 1:18.926 at the end of last year’s Barcelona test en Heidfeld set a 1:20.339 on the first day.
maciek said on 26th February 2010, 16:50
One word: fuel.
VXR said on 26th February 2010, 18:19
It’s the only word!
Patrickl said on 26th February 2010, 22:09
Seriously, fuel? In a 3 or 4 lap stint?
If anything, the phrase would be “higher minimum weight” or whatever, but certainly not “fuel”.
Adrian said on 26th February 2010, 16:59
Yes, but this year’s cars are heavier – even without the extra fuel they’ll carry when the tanks are brimmed…
…also perhaps they underestimated how much time the narrower front tyres would cost them…
…and perhaps the track conditions aren’t as optimal as they were last year…
Patrickl said on 26th February 2010, 18:23
The teams all said that their new car is faster than last years car. Alonso even claimed this was the best car he ever driven.
How am I supposed to take that as “Yeah it is faster, but only when we take the fuel tank and the extra weight out”?
I guess I should wait till the end of the test to see if they can set a time under 1:18, but for now I really don’t see the 4 to 5 seconds improvement they claimed. Extra fuel or not.
Besides the fastest laps are the ones set on lower fuel loads so they wouldn’t be that far apart from the fuel loads they were using in 2009 with the then almost completely undeveloped “2009 areo” cars.
alex said on 26th February 2010, 19:57
yes but
1. the cars have a longer wheel base making it harder in the corners
2. no matter how much fuel there is in the tanks if there bigger they’ll still weigh more.
3. the test isnt even over yet so maybe we will see better results over the weekend
:)
Patrickl said on 26th February 2010, 22:07
You can think of a million excuses why the cars are in fact slower. The point is, many teams literally said that their car was faster than end of last year. Let alone faster than pre season testing last year.
Of course it doesn’t matter really, but I’m just wondering why the bla bla if they aren’t faster at all. Who are they trying to kid?
On the other hand, maybe they are doing their 3 lap stints with 150kg fuel on board …
VXR said on 26th February 2010, 19:11
Would it be such a bad thing if this seasons cars were slower?
Ultimate pace isn’t important now. It’s not going to do you any good to qualify on pole at every race if your long run pace is crap.
alex said on 26th February 2010, 19:36
maybe not but most drivers out there like schumacher, hamilton & massa are good at long run pace so qualifying will still be important.
and still its fun to watch so qualifying is still a good thing.
:)
VXR said on 26th February 2010, 20:11
It’s the car that has to be good at long run pace, not the driver. ;)
And it’s probably drivers like Button that can get make a set of tyres last a bit longer or go longer on the softer tyre compound. But ultimately it’s how the car uses the tyres that matters most.
Aleksandar Serbia said on 26th February 2010, 19:58
They are going to be slower and then faster and faster!
When they dump all that fuel on the end of the race, they will produce fast times!
What bothers me the most, that they cannot see through the obvious, you cannot expect a show with these racing rules, high downforce and low grip is just the opposite what f1 needs!
When they change these settings, racing will be as it once was!
VXR said on 26th February 2010, 20:59
“When they dump all that fuel on the end of the race, they will produce fast times!”
Probably around 5 seconds faster than at the start of the race.
Will they be quicker than in 09? Well, they will have a much higher ride height at the end of the race, unless the teams have found a way of adjusting that during a tyre stop. The tyres will also be very worn by the end of the race, unless some manage to qualify and race on the harder tyre for the majority of the race and then pit and change the ride height and use the softer tyre for the last third or so of the race.
It’s definitely going to be more interesting than before, because you will not know how the race is going to pan out, even in the latter stages.
Aleksandar Serbia said on 26th February 2010, 22:31
I agree, but we are still with the same management issues as before!
Everything is going to be strategy!
We need more bravado and dogfight scenario, nut chess like thinking from Ross Brawn and company!
It is really boring for the average spectator, to see one advance only through pit stop or better tire strategy!
I know most of F1fanatic nerds would disagree, since they like to calculate time strategy.
Considering the large picture, we are heading to a another epic boring season, where only thing that saves it is a better line up than the rest of the past ones.
Overtaking scenario is not dependent on skilled drivers as much, but on the aero package drivers get!
Champcar is a clear testament to what low aero and high grip can make in adding to a show, but you guys are just into geek kind of stuff.Spoiler here,fin there,diffuser here,fuel tank there bla bla bla…
First question
How large is a front wing on a Williams F1 car:
1 1.60m
2 1.45m
3 1.85m
…
…
…
And the correct answer is: who gives a sh**
VXR said on 26th February 2010, 19:34
Word is that Mercedes have weight distribution issues and that it is having difficulty getting heat into its tyres (sound familiar?). Also that the Red Bull is a bit unkind to its tyres.
VXR said on 26th February 2010, 19:35
hmmmm….that’s familiar too! :)
mac v2 said on 26th February 2010, 19:41
Sauber’s times are really consistent… wouldn’t be surprised if got second or third row in Bahrain
Yeamon said on 26th February 2010, 19:45
I’ve had Sauber as my surprise team since the launch of their car. That Radical front wing is really working for them I think. I’m not sure about a second row, but I say they’ll definitely be fighting for points.