Valencia testing day 1 in pictures

2011 F1 testing

February 1, 2011 at 9:55 am by
119 comments

The first test session of 2011 has begun in Valencia.

Here are the first pictures of the newly-launched 2011 F1 cars in action including the Ferrari F150, Red Bull RB7 and Mercedes W02.

More pictures will be added here throughout the day.

See here for pictures of Renault’s radical front exit exhausts.

Find pictures from the new car launches here:

2011 F1 testing

Browse all 2011 F1 testing articles

Images © Julien Leroy / firstlap.be, Force India F1 Team, Mercedes GP, Williams/LAT

Read more: 2011 F1 season | 2011 F1 testing | F1 Pictures

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119 comments on Valencia testing day 1 in pictures

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  1. Avatar Image

    RIISE (@riise) said on 1st February 2011, 9:57

    Cool new hat Schumi!!

    Reply
  2. Avatar Image

    Icthyes (@icthyes) said on 1st February 2011, 9:57

    IT’S FINALLY ARRIVED!

    Reply
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    Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 1st February 2011, 9:58

    I’d love to see a picture of the R31 and the W02 alongside one another.

    Keith, can you make Schumacher and Petrov hold formation long enough to get some action shots going?

    Reply
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    Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 1st February 2011, 10:00

    Great to get this news so fast and to see them on the track. Thankyou Keith!

    Reply

  5. Dave M said on 1st February 2011, 10:03

    Any idea if a website is running live timing from the test?

    Reply

  6. Carl said on 1st February 2011, 10:10

    Looks like a New Front and Rear wing on that McLaren. I think they might be testing more new parts than they made everybody beleive they would

    Reply
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      FanatikosF1 (@fanatikosf1) said on 1st February 2011, 10:21

      I don’t think they do! Actually they are trying to collect data from Pirelli tyres as everybody else i suspect! And they are doing so by using the last years car on which they have lots of data! This way they will be able to compare the data to the ones they have from Bridgestone!
      Ferrari, as well, are using last years front wing for the same reason plus to their intention to hide what ever they have designed for this year!

      Reply

      • Carl said on 1st February 2011, 10:29

        It makes sense to test the tyres with last years car as you explained but why are only they doing it this way?

        Reply
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          FanatikosF1 (@fanatikosf1) said on 1st February 2011, 10:37

          Well Carl that’s a really good question…I guess will wait and find out why McLaren approached the first days of testing this way!
          Perhaps, as you said, they are using new parts that aren’t obvious. What ever the case is though that looks the same car (outside) McLaren finished the season in Abu Dhabi.

          Reply

          • bosyber said on 1st February 2011, 10:41

            Yes, I also thought it looks exactly the same as for the Abu Dhabi tyre test – I suppose that could be exactly the point. Also, this was just the first half of the first day of testing – might well change in the next few days after they did a ‘baseline’ with the car in this configuration.

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          Todfod (@todfod) said on 1st February 2011, 10:45

          I guess you get an accurate comparison between the tyres if you run an identical setup & car as you did on the bridgestones. So they would probably have all the data from the last time they were testing in Valencia on bridgestones, and they could compare t with the exact same data they gather on Pirellis. Its just a guess… I could be wrong.

          Reply
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      Todfod (@todfod) said on 1st February 2011, 10:21

      Not really. It could just be the team’s Valencia package from last year. I think this is a pure tyre test for them

      Reply

      • Wificats said on 1st February 2011, 11:52

        It’s unlikely to be their Valencia package (unless they’re running really old kit from testing last time around), as this isn’t the Valencia street circuit, they’re testing at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, near Valencia, which is a MotoGP circuit.

        Most likely it’s similar to what they had on for the tyre test at the end of last season in Abu Dhabi, for direct comparison purposes, to observe changes in the tyres made by Pirelli, and to gather data.

        Reply

    • Lee said on 1st February 2011, 11:49

      I was under the impression that they have modified the wings to give a reasonable representation of the downforce associated with the current regulations while still using the rest of the old car to compare tyre data.

      Reply
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        McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm) said on 1st February 2011, 12:12

        Looking at pictures the wings are identical to the ones that were reun in Abu Dhabi. For an “interim” car it sure looks a lot like it did at the end of 2010 :/

        Reply

        • bosyber said on 1st February 2011, 12:45

          Yes, by the looks of it, the full DDD is still on there too, so by now way 2011 aero – I would think it is then better to keep it all close to 2010 spec.

          Reply
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          BasCB (@bascb) said on 1st February 2011, 13:27

          The only thing interim might well be they stuffed the F-duct hole!

          Reply
  7. Avatar Image

    Scribe (@scribe) said on 1st February 2011, 10:52

    TBH, an I don’t like being this honnest, car I’m most impressed by is still the Ferrari, this is not a feeling I treasure. Hope against hope now that McLaren have pulled it out of the bag.

    Redbull could well be hiding something, as could the other, I really hope McLaren have nice go faster tricks but bleedin bejeezus I hope this seasons competative.

    Reply
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      BasCB (@bascb) said on 1st February 2011, 13:31

      They might fancy having a look at those front blowing exhaust exits to see if they can get some of those before friday :-D

      I do expect them to try something new of their own, and they might get strategy call and developmentst right to work the tyres this year. Just think of Hamilton blitzing past some cars on the straights, getting others in the corners and come out battling Button (who ended up there by passing twice only but at the right moment and finally getting temperature in those tyres for Q3) for the win in the last laps!
      I am looking forward

      Reply
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    Cyclops_PL (@cyclops_pl) said on 1st February 2011, 10:56

    Why do you bother showing last year’s McLaren? IMO Waste of space on the website, a lot of new cars deserving a picture or two.

    Reply
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    BrawnGP (@brawngp) said on 1st February 2011, 11:07

    Chill out cyclops there are 2 pictures… big waste of space, there may not be other cars out yet.

    Reply

  10. Joe Szpara said on 1st February 2011, 11:13

    Hey guys. Live timing working now

    http://www.attwilliams.com/test-timings

    Reply

  11. Avril F1 said on 1st February 2011, 11:30

    Now I will have some new wallpapers :)

    Reply
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    Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn) said on 1st February 2011, 11:33

    The Mercedes just looks…right.

    Reply
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    Todfod (@todfod) said on 1st February 2011, 11:34

    Anyone putting money on Karthikeyan doing something ridiculously stupid today?

    Reply

  14. owain bright said on 1st February 2011, 11:55

    i think i’m not alone in saying that the mercedes is the nicest looking of the cars revealed so far.

    looked decent last year, the additional use of the petronas blue/green on the side panels etc just completes it. lovely looking car!

    red bull and ferrari largely look like last years, i think the mclaren will look very similar to 2010 also.

    the silver (and green) arrow is awesome.

    Reply

    • John H said on 1st February 2011, 22:30

      I think I like the Renault the best judging from these pics.

      It’s hard to choose though, they are all very much similar. Hope McLaren surprise us again.

      Reply
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    Todfod (@todfod) said on 1st February 2011, 12:10

    Looks like the usual suspects are putting in fast times already. Fernando and Vettel are 1 sec quicker than anyone else out on track

    Reply

    • BadAss said on 1st February 2011, 12:17

      last year there were doing 1:11 high, so there is pleanty to go

      Reply
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      Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 1st February 2011, 13:03

      It’s well-known that testing doesn’t mean anything. This time last year, Sauber were blindingly quick, and people were beginning to wonder if they were the dark horses of 2010. Then the racing began, and Sauber were at the back of the midfield.

      If Alonso and Vettel are at the front of the pack by a full second, it’s most likely because they are doing testing programs that involve short runs and low fuel. We won’t know the true pace of everyone until the Bahrain Grand Prix.

      Reply

      • BBT said on 1st February 2011, 13:48

        It’s well-known that testing doesn’t mean anything.

        I agree to a degree, esp the 1st two tests……..
        ….but last year tests did correctly predict the top 6 (with the exception of Sauber running on vapours for the 1st few tests)

        Reply
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