Teams to test in Barcelona instead of Bahrain

2011 F1 testing

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Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Barcelona, 2011

The F1 teams have arranged a replacement for the cancelled four-day test in Bahrain.

They will hold a second four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya from March 8-11th.

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said earlier today: “We have seen decent temperatures in Barcelona, obviously the Barcelona circuit is on the F1 calendar, so if we ave better weather, it could provide us with some very useful info."

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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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    40 comments on “Teams to test in Barcelona instead of Bahrain”

    1. Probably the easiest solution given the logistics of the cars being actually in Barcelona right now.

      1. No movement, no costs. But this worsens the idea that teams test too much at Barcelona for the GP to be entertaining.

      2. that’s not the case for HRT though, who has already sent their car to Bahrain

        1. Don’t think that’s correct. Kolles is quoted on Autosport today as saying that they’re still making it. I doubt they’ve sent anything other than support equipment like the other teams.

    2. Excellent move all round.

      1. They should bring the final test to Australia instead. Maybe somewhere like Phillp Island or Eastern Creek.

    3. At least this will give the teams more time to test the Pirelli tyres and improve reliability.

    4. Easy to move(actually you don’t have to move lol), Excellent aero characteristics, No Brainer.

    5. Teams to test in Barcelona instead of Bahrain

      To an audible sigh of relief from the tech staff at MTC. Bet they would rather spend another full test developing the car closer to home.

      1. Younger Hamilton
        21st February 2011, 21:29

        And the Fact that in Barcelona,Circuit de Catalunya is a Very High Downforce and Aerodynamic Track as well as obviously being a track featured on the Caledar,giving McLaren and Other Teams that capability of developing their cars to suit the track which can be extremely helpful when come to others tracks like Turkey,Singapore,Monaco and Malaysia.Personally,i always thought that Bahrain has been a common issue with McLaren alone!!

        1. That comment is nearly illegible due to the lack of punctuation. You really love capital letters, and loath full stops!

          1. loathe!

    6. The biggest question for me now is (apart from weather Bahrain will really be but in between Abu Dhabi and Brazil), will we actually see that bright new HRT F111, or is it going to be postponed just like the Figherplane of the same designation?

      Seeing them show a steering wheel yesterday only brought out memories of USF1 showing their infamous nose cone.

      1. Well, we have not just the steering wheel; we saw the backend, a bit, and the livery – they almost have the whole car!

        I agree, that steering wheel was suspicious.

    7. “so if we ave better weather”
      typo maybe, or is he northern? lol

      1. northern lol

        1. not northern at all! very south-eastern actually. lol

      2. Isnt it Southerners who talk like that?

        with their apples and pears? ;-)

        1. Woil bly-me! Oi ain’t nevva ‘eard no norverner tork loik that, Oi ‘assn’t!

          1. Weird. Google translate didn’t have a clue! It came up with a 408 error:

            ‘Error 408: aaah, oh bother’

      3. lol I thought exactly the same thing!

    8. Should throw up some interesting races in the warmer climates later in the season…

    9. so HRT F111 also been cancelled?

      lol…

      just kiddin

      1. lol, this wouldn’t surprise me

      2. lol. HRT are done with their preparations anyways. If it were upto them, there wouldn’t be any pre season testing. Gotta love HRT’s confidence.

        1. Prediction – HRT will unveil there new car in the next test and top the timing sheets. Then they will get every pole and every win for the whole season.

          What are the odds?

          1. Brawn did it.

            That said, they had Ross Brawn, Mercedes engines, and several hundred million pounds spent by Honda on the design of the chassis.

            But on the other side, they had no sponsors, so all in all, I think I nice £100 bet on HRT is the way to go! :P

      3. Technically, the test occurs the same time so the car should be ready. But HRT are full of surprises.

    10. This is a great decision. However it does mean the teams and drivers are going to be TWICE as familiar with Catalunya, making it doubly boring…

      1. Yep. If they have to test at circuits that are on the calendar, they should be required to run a different configuration of the circuit, so that the data isn’t 100% relevant to their race. Barcelona is gonna be even more of a snore fest than last year. Maybe they’ll open up the entire main straight for DRS this year. That could improve the race. Slightly.

        1. Unless the track temperatures warm up a bit more at the Catalunya track, it’s going to be nothing like what they’ll be faced with when the race eventually comes around.

          Many would have preferred to have gone to Abu Dhabi for the last test, Pirelli included.

    11. I was just wondering will there be another test after Barcelona?

      Thanks

      1. Gez
        Not allowed to 15 days of testing only Or 15,000km which ever is sooner.

        1. I hope that a dispensation can be given to allow another test session, because of the Bahrain cancellation.

    12. great news for Mclaren and Mercedes, bad new for Red bull! I bet they wanted to get the season started quickly!

      1. all Merc powered car are having some problem or the other, i guess next test will show that RB7 will be the car to beat.

    13. Tarquin Tardybrush
      22nd February 2011, 11:04

      I was hoping they would have another test at Jerez so I could go again. Greatest 3 days of my f1 life, Thanks Geoff and Simon. Nice to meet Keith too.

      1. Good to meet you too – you certainly saw plenty of the paddock, nice job! Good weather too :-)

    14. Keith, is there any word on whether the 8-11 march test will be open to the public – went to the test last saturday and really enjoyed it despite my torn calf muscle and crutches!

    15. I think the HRT squad could spring a few surprises under the stewardship of Geoff Willis. He has worked with good teams and the last time he was given full creative control over a design he produced the 2004 BAR that Jenson single handedly drove to 2nd in the CWC and 3rd in the DWC winning the unofficial non-Ferrari championship.

      He’s probably been pawing over the design of the new car since the moment he clapped eyes on the Dallara effort early last year so he may have just come up with a little cracker that can punch above its weight. It wouldn’t surprise me at all but they’ll have to make hey early in the season because they’ll probably struggle to spend money on development and could soon get left behind.

      I really wish them every success and I can’t wait to see what they can do. I expect them to match Lotus and be quicker than Virgin, initially at least.

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