Felipe Massa quickest on first day at Jerez

2011 F1 testing

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Ferrari were fastest for the second time in testing this year as Felipe Massa went quickest in Jerez.

Sergio Perez brought out the red flags early in the session. But he was quickly able to rejoin the session after it restarted and ended up second fastest.

Under bright skies the track quickly warmed up to over 30C.

Felipe Massa positioned himself at the top of the times sheet in the Ferrari early on and stayed there for most of the day.

Toro Rosso reserve driver Danial Ricciardo only drove in the morning before handing over to Jaime Alguersuari.

Pastor Maldonado did very little running due to a rear wing problem on his Williams.

Three drivers were at the wheel of new cars: Lewis Hamilton, Timo Glock and Adrian Sutil. Hamilton ended up fifth in the new McLaren.

The session was stopped two further times in the afternoon.

Nico Rosberg brought the red flags out again with just over an hour and a half to go. His Mercedes slowed significantly after a long run and he was unable to get the car back to the pits.

Then Vitaly Petrov spun into the gravel at the first corner, causing a further delay.

Pirelli brought all four of its 2011 dry-weather compounds to the test. The company described the difference between them as follows:

“The super-soft compound slick tyre offers optimum performance but over a limited period of time. The soft version provides similar performance but is slighter longer lasting.

“The medium compound provides a balance between endurance and performance, while the hard version is for longer distance running.”

DriverCarBest timeLapsDifference
1Felipe MassaFerrari F150th Italia1’20.709101
2Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari C301’21.483940.774
3Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault RB71’21.522940.813
4Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari STR61’21.755311.046
5Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-261’21.914581.205
6Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari STR61’22.689421.980
7Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes VJM041’23.472282.763
8Vitaly PetrovRenault R311’23.504572.795
9Nico RosbergMercedes W021’23.963673.254
10Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault T1281’24.458543.749
11Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth MVR-021’25.086424.377
12Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth FW331’34.9681414.259

2011 F1 testing

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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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    71 comments on “Felipe Massa quickest on first day at Jerez”

    1. Yeah Day1 ended and we still have not seen the exit of the MP4-26’s exhaust pipe :(

      AFAIK, no picture is conclusive yet.

    2. Why is Maldonado so slow? Was he just doing high fuel runs?

      1. He better have been…

      2. My guess is they have a 3-race-fueltank this year…

        1. He only did 14 laps…probably had some kind of problem…Never expected him to be fast right away, but that’s too slow for someone without any problems

    3. Pastor Maldonado did very little running due to a rear wing problem on his Williams.

      1. is this perhaps a result of them having a hydraulic activated wing rather than one operated with an electric motor?

      2. actually do we know if any other teams have gone with hydraulic solution to the rear wing aside from Williams?

      3. Something withe the innovative suspension in connection with the adjustable part jamming?

    4. Oh God, day 1 and we are only 5th and 2 seconds off the pace!

      No, wait it’s only testing. ;)

      I laughed when I saw F150th Italia written in full. I guess it’s just a formality now.

      1. I laughed when I saw F150th Italia written in full. I guess it’s just a formality now.

        All teams use numbers and/or abbreviations, that name of the car is longer than Sauber-Ferrari C30.

        1. C30 will have to change though when Volvo get their way :P

          1. Good point! Is volvo owned by ford?

            1. I believe it is!

            2. Ford sold Volvo to Geely of China last year.

            3. Volvo is owned by Chinese company named `Geely`.

    5. Good, two Ferrari engines in the first two places!
      Ricciardo was significantly faster than Alguersuari, if both run low on fuel.

      1. yes, a good day for Ferrari engines with Ricciardo up there as well!

    6. I know its only the 1st day of Test #2 but is anyone else lookng at the Merc and feeling a little worried for them? I know and yes, i know that we dont know the fuelloads (true of any team). And its breaking down a bit. Is it a worrying sign? That said, it could be the worlds biggest bluff to hide their true speed.

      Massa did 101 laps !!! And no fire this time! Good for him.

      1. Yes, the reliability of the new Ferrari is looking good. Massa went fastest today and although it is hard to judge anything from testing times that can only be a good sign. Have we heard anything from the drivers yet Keith? Does Massa like these new tires better. It will be a much better season if he and Schumi perform better on the new tires.

        1. I’d be interested to hear both Massa and Schumacher’s thoughts on the new tires as well.

          So far it’s looking just like last winter where Ferrari logged far and away the most mileage of anyone in testing.

      2. Magilla Gorilla
        12th February 2011, 3:12

        It’s funny you were worried about it after seeing day two of testing.

    7. Why have the Mercedes been so slow all through testing so far?

      1. Silly question, no-one knows but Ross Brawn and the two germans with the helmets

        1. Was less a question, more a talking point but thanks for your input. It was invaluable.

        2. I hope Mercedes is just focusing on heavy fuel and worn tires. It would be a shame if they’ve been taking stabs at qualifying laps and have been way off the pace. I wouldn’t be surprised through becuase this team is made up of the same personnel that produced jenson buttons epic honda flop in 2007/2008.

          Testing kills me, no matter how much we analyse the data, we’ll really never know.

          1. bleeps_and_tweaks
            10th February 2011, 17:15

            I know what you mean @danielbts and @Merk, testing is a bit of grief, I wish they would publish the fuel loads or something, but I imagine that would ruin the suspense!! As for Mercedes GP, I too am a bit worried about their pace and reliability. Obviously all the normal variables of testing apply, but for some reason I just don’t think it looks all that fast, and there are still quite a few elements on the car that look like the Brawn GP car, and a lot has changed since then. As Vettel said in Valencia, it’s only testing, but it’s better to be at the top than the bottom.

            1. I think they are sandbagging. Over the next couple of days we should get a more accurate picture of the times they can put it. Rosberg seems to be having issues with the car though.

            2. Todd,who would you like to see replace Kubica?
              Apparently on ESPN it is saying that the Mercedes problem is now all sorted ready for Michael’s stint tomorrow..

            3. I think most of you must realize that even knowing the fuel loads would not solve the puzzle at all.
              First this cars have many developments absent that they will have in the first race but more importantly you have to stop assuming that the drivers always make a lap at full speed when testing because they do not.
              They might push for half a lap and lift off in the other half and things like that or just go at mediocre pace for many laps. You just don’t know.

            4. It would be great to see Heidfeld have a last shot at F1 in a reasonably competitive drive. But is Bruno can show some serious pace, I would be fine with him as well. Who are you rooting for?

            5. Heidfield Todfod,same as you.I have a feeling he will clinch this,best man in my opinion.

      2. Sometimes the Engineers just want the drivers to put in consistent laps to get good and consistent data from all the sensors and make sure everything matches with what the simulators are showing. Some teams may be full of fuel all day while others may put in a few low fuel runs, some teams may be using super softs while others may be using hard compounds. Testing is called testing for a reason which is why it is such a folly to compare cars at this stage.

    8. Mercedes seems to be struggling for pure pace. And you can bang on at me oall you like about the fuel loads and such, yet they were average in valenica and there average now. Time will tell……

      1. Nico did 65 laps,and said the Kers was working well.Michael Schumacher takes over Friday & Sat (I think) so perhaps he will be better than Nico.Doubtless the team are working round any problems,after all these tests are just that tests.
        Fingers crossed that the car goes well for Michael tomorrow.

        1. I got the impression they are still having some issues with the KERS and possilby also with tuning the wing.
          On the other hand it is not really encouraging and last year at the same point in time we were making up the same sort of exuses for them.

          1. No,no excuses Bascb,don’t worry,I think we are forgetting that Michael is far more settled in this car.

            I know Rosberg has done well but against Schumachers experience of over 20 years, it is perfectly obvious who has the knowledge and foresight to overcome obstacles this year.With Brawn and Schumacher — just as they were at Ferrari,they are together, a powerful force to be reckoned with.

            This is why Michael let Rosberg go first LOL :)

            1. I hope your are right, but i am still worrried about Mercedes.

    9. We cant vouch for tactics but the Mclaren looks a little slow too. I would of thought Lewis would of given it one lap in anger if only to give button a target tomorrow.

      1. Its the first time they’ve driven the car from the box. Remember that other teams have had 3 days of testing at Valencia in their ’11 challengers and know the setups and cars a lot better then the Woking boys. Dont read into this too much.

        1. Actually it’s not – it was shaken down by Gary Paffett between the launch and today.

          1. i stand corrected ;)

          2. But I suppose there was still a lot of new things for them to try out on track. Get KERS functionality confirmed, test the rear wing flap and off course find their own exhausts!

            1. Oh yeah definitely, I’m not disagreeing with your point.

      2. To be fair, a lot of the others, particularly Felipe Massa who came out on top today, is much more used to his car. he’s done a ton of laps already, whereas this is Lewis’ first go. So if his fastest lap was done in anger, it’s not that bad in my eyes.

      3. Remember last year Williams were one of the fastest in testing……

        There is very little for the casual observer to tell from testing as we have no idea what the teams are testing. In order to get consistent data it is important for drivers to put in consistent laps and that means not going all out.

        1. …and Sauber.

    10. Nah this is their first day with the new car. I would not look in to anything just yet.

      The Mercedes however, I am slightly concerned with.

      Pace, you can sandbag. Technical problems however… Well, I suppose we shouldn’t rule out the idea of ‘planned problems’, knowing Formula One!

    11. This year, it’s even more difficult to judge from testing because we don’t know who used more rear wing adjustments.

    12. I really don’t hope for Hamilton and McLaren’s sake that they are once again 1 second off pace.. That would be a disaster..

    13. I recall Massa being fastest last year too. It’s better to be at the top but by no means definitive.

      1. Yep. I clearly remember Fernando and Massa dominating the time sheets in the first two tests, and I think Lewis put up the fastest time in the 3rd. No one thought Red Bull would dominate from the 1st race onwards.

        I have a feeling Mercedes is kind of sandbagging as well…

        1. To be fair, quit a lot of people had the impression Red Bull were not showing their hand, actually they showed it only in Q3 in Bahrain.

          But surely Ferrari being fastest does not mean they are the car to beat this year, only means they have reliability stable, just like last season.

          1. Everyone thought Ferrari were the car to beat after testing last year, and to a degree even after Bahrain, where Webber didn’t qualify well, but Vettel did. Maybe Webber hadn’t gotten the memo to stop sandbagging yet at that point.

            1. Hahahahahaha..

    14. I know testing times are unreliable but the new teams look like they haven’t progressed much since last year.

    15. Oh man, I really hope Mercedes is testing other things then the rest.

      Since the Brawn 2009 was fast from the first tests onward, we can only hope Brawn changed his approach to testing. That could be the case, because the car did suffer on worn tyres last year.

      But maybe Brawn is not so good with limited resources?

      1. Well Brawn Gp needed to be fast from the very beginning, due to their lack of sponsors.

    16. i think mclaren are just playing around and fixing things that will likely break in a full race before showing the cars real pace. how many mechanical problems did they have last year? (Excluding driver error and tyre blow outs due to crap on the track)

    17. Good to know Petrov is up to his old tricks! I bet he got out and just scratched his head.

      1. LOL. What else could he have done?

      2. I understood Renault sent a whole bus of technics to the scene to do whatever they did before anyone towed it off.

        Might have been KERS risks, or the exhausts overheating or whatever, but as Todfod writes, what else should Petrov have done to get out of the gravel trap.

    18. i realy hope Mercedes hasnt produced one big flopper. Last year during testing they had a similar performance, meaning nowhere near the top times during test sessions. The result was a long and painfull season for Schumi fan. Ive got a bad bad feeling. Urrggh.

      1. COOL HEADS NEEDED!!ALL MERCEDES FANS!!

        Michael will get the best out of the car over the next 2 days – he was a different driver in the last quarter of 2010,he still has plenty of time,with Ross, to overcome niggling problems.
        OK,Ferrari and RB have been flying,but as the Maestro said once,a lot can happen in a short time in F1.
        Michael will be up there with the best.Have faith :)

    19. 1 Felipe Massa Ferrari F150th Italia 1’20.709 101

      Is it correst? At the start of the test the car was still called F150. Ah no, it was always called F150th Italia, it was just abbreviated.

    20. It amuses me how Pirelly just found out about Direct Proportionality.

      And Mercedes, it worries me. I know it’s not conclusive at all, but it does.

      1. I was just thinking the same about Pirelli. Yeah, thanks Pirelli for that info on compounds… :)

      2. OMG, i must stop writing “Pirelly”. It’s at least the 3rd time i make this mistake here.
        And i’m Italian =/

    21. I can’t believe no one has picked up that Red Bull might have been running forward facing exhausts yesterday. Have a look at some of the high-res pictures that Keith has uploaded of the Red Bull and you will clearly see that there are no exhaust openings at the back any more (as there were in the launch photos). The side on shot of the Red Bull, when viewed close up in high-res, you can see the slightest little puff of flames or sparks or something coming from ‘in front’ of the sidepods. When have you ever seen sparks in that part of the car before? What do you guys think?

    22. Good start for Massa as he run was limited by that fire in Valencia. The most worrying is to me is Mercedes they have two major problem in back to back testing,forget about the pace of the car,reliability is the main thing now the team have to fight.

    23. I was hoping the new teams, particularly Team Lotus, would closer to the front runners, but, at least at this point, it doesn’t appear so.

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