Kubica quickest for Renault in Valencia test

2011 F1 testing

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Robert Kubica set the fastest time of the Valencia test as the three days of running came to an end.

Driving the Renault R31 for the second day, the Polish driver topped the times with a best of 1’13.144.

The red flag came out within the first hour of the session as Felipe Massa hit trouble.

The Ferrari driver spun off the circuit, then a fire at the rear of the car caused extensive damage to the F150 as well as disrupting Ferrari’s test plans.

From then on the teams had the track to use as they pleased. A third day of clear, dry conditions allowed more than half the drivers present to complete over 100 laps each.

Leading the way was Jenson Button, amassing 117 laps as he sampled Pirelli tyres for the first time in last year’s McLaren.

He ended the session with the third-fastest time, behind Adrian Sutil in the Force India.

The next fastest driver in a 2011 car was Mark Webber in the Red Bull RB7.

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Testing times: Valencia day three

DriverCarBest timeLapsDifference
1Robert KubicaRenault R311’13.14495
2Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes VJM031’13.2011170.057
3Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-251’13.5531050.409
4Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault RB71’13.9361050.792
5Felipe MassaFerrari F1501’14.017800.873
6Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth VR-011’14.2071141.063
7Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth FW331’14.2991011.155
8Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari C301’14.4581041.325
9Michael SchumacherMercedes W021’14.5371101.393
10Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari STR61’14.801731.657
11Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth F1101’16.535633.391
12Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault T12838

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    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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    16 comments on “Kubica quickest for Renault in Valencia test”

    1. Some interesting comments on James Allen about the Williams which I dont’ think have been picked up here.

      Apparently there’s quite a bit of innovation with the rear suspension/wing arrangement which some of the other teams have been desperately trying to get a look at. And their gearbox is supposed to be quite a step forward in packaging.

      1. Yeah, That was quite interesting to read,


        Here is a great picture of the Williams rear

        I find it quite interesting that it’s Williams to come up with this, I see no reason why it shouldn’t do anything but help their performance.

        1. It’s incredible how much lower the diff is to the ground in comparison to the mclaren that was released today.

          1. that is almost a dd difusor, look at that slot above the main body of the diffuser. also look at the aero flick ups around the wheels and suspension. we are almost getting back to the stage we were at in 2008, with all sorts of fins, wings and flicks appearing all over the car., especially around the gearbox and under the nose cone.

    2. Did Ferrari really manage 105 laps today with that failure? On their website it says they managed 80 laps? Or was that just the afternoon session?

      1. Autosport says Massa did 80 laps and Glock did 114!

    3. Wow…the Virgin is right in the thick of things…now that’s interesting.

      1. There’s just not enough information on how the non-2011 models were set up (McLaren, Force India, Virgin, and to a much lesser extent HRT). McLaren did allude to a “low down force” set-up. Plus, I think the stronger teams are still playing their cards very close to their respective vests – and they’ll be upgrading every step of the way to Bahrain.

    4. Something I haven’t heard anyone talk about, and which may or may not be of any relevance given fuel loads could be larger than the number of laps run, but in the case of the headline times of Vettel, Alonso and Kubica, how long a stint did they run? Is anyone in the know if these were 3 lap flyers or longer stints?

      Also, nice to see lots of teams getting over 100 laps on the new cars.

    5. wait till the last test for quali simulations. you ca compare team mates till then. usually same programmes

    6. I know times mean nothing at this point..

      But still, that was the same for last year’s Valencia test and yet this years’ times are 2 seconds slower!

      Is this because teams were simply not pushing as they did last year? Maybe because of the need to test the tyres more?

      1. It because the cars are just much slower due to the reg changes, heavier, no DDD, change in tyres, no moveable front wing etc.

        Its why FI and HRT are up there using last years cars. Although HRT are still 3sec + off the pace.

        1. I don’t think the movable front wing is a factor, as it was bearly used last year and never really mentioned by any of the teams as a significant feature.

          Let’s summarize.
          The changes that slow the 2011 cars down:
          – Increased minimal weight
          – No double diffuser
          – No f-duckt
          – Pirelli tyres

          What makes this years cars faster:
          – Movable rear wing
          – KERS

          (Did I miss anything important?)
          This does indeed look like the cars are suppose to be those 2 seconds slower: increased weight, no DD and poorer tyres should result in a big loss of cornering speeds, which makes all the difference. The top speeds don’t seem to be hurt, at least not much, by the new regs though.

          1. true… the front wing was only really used to trim the balance as the fuel came down

            1. We should also note that the times are from the beginning of the season, before f-ducts (except McLaren) and aggressive development during the season

              Renault said that their R30 was 2 seconds faster at the end of the season than at the beginning.

              But the difference is more than 4 seconds because we need to consider the development time between Valencia testing 2010 and Bahrain 2010.

              So.. the 11 season cars are at least 4 seconds – probably 5 – slower than 10 season cars.

            2. @DANK
              times at the end of the season are always few seconds better than at the first race, but it doesn’t mean that the time of one lap in 2020 will be less than 1 minute…

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