Michael Schumacher topped the times on the second day of testing at Jerez.
Driving last year’s Mercedes W02, Schumacher set a best time of 1’18.561, more than a second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen’s fastest lap yesterday.
Raikkonen completed his second full day of testing for Lotus, he and Schumacher sharing a track for the first time since Schumacher first retired at the end of 2006.
He had a minor off in the morning, skidding into a gravel trap in the E20. But he continued his programme, running a longer stint in the afternoon and ending the day fourth having logged well over 100 laps.
Mark Webber also beat Raikkonen’s time with a 1’19.184 at the wheel of Red Bull’s RB8, which was quickest of the 2012 cars.
Daniel Ricciardo snuck inside Raikkonen’s best time from Tuesday, setting a 1’19.587 in the Toro Rosso STR7. Jean-Eric Vergne will have his first run in the car tomorrow.
The Ferrari F2012 completed almost 100 laps in Felipe Massa’s hands. He was seventh-fastest ahead of Jenson Button in the McLaren.
Among the new faces was Jules Bianchi, who had his first run at the wheel of the Force India in the morning, before handing it back to Paul di Resta.
Sergio Perez took over from Kamui Kobayashi at Sauber.
At Caterham, Heikki Kovalainen used KERS in the car for the first time, and racked up an impressive 139 laps. New reserve driver Giedo van der Garde will make his debut for the team tomorrow.
Tomorrow Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will be in action for their respective teams.
Jerez test times
Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | |
1 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes W02 | 1’18.561 | 132 | |
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault RB8 | 1’19.184 | 97 | 0.623 |
3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR7 | 1’19.587 | 100 | 1.026 |
4 | Jules Bianchi | Force India-Mercedes VJM05 | 1’20.221 | 46 | 1.660 |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault E20 | 1’20.239 | 117 | 1.678 |
6 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes VJM05 | 1’20.272 | 69 | 1.711 |
7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari F2012 | 1’20.454 | 95 | 1.893 |
8 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-27 | 1’20.688 | 85 | 2.127 |
9 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari C31 | 1’20.711 | 68 | 2.150 |
10 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault FW34 | 1’21.197 | 97 | 2.636 |
11 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault CT01 | 1’21.518 | 139 | 2.957 |
12 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth F111 | 1’22.128 | 64 | 3.567 |
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Image © Red Bull/Getty images
matt90 (@matt90)
8th February 2012, 16:12
I hope McLaren’s relatively low lap count isn’t indicative of anything other than a calm and thorough (in terms of analysis between runs) test.
McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm)
8th February 2012, 16:40
I wouldn’t worry, they normally do less laps than most other teams. You know how they are with their analysis, part of the reason why they have such a dour image with non fans. The first test especially is about gathering data rather than outright pace. Kimi (and Schuey to an extent) will have had a point to prove I suspect which might have attributed to their “glory runs”. No point in the others showing their hand just yet.
bag0 (@bag0)
8th February 2012, 16:53
Indeed.
If you look at the times, its hard to judge anyithing, especially at McLaren. Why would they wanna show their true potential till the first GP? But if they want to show it, then they would show it with Hamilton. Lewis is faster than Button in one lap. I think Jenson put some milage under the car, and tested different fuel loads, tried to understand the tyres (something like testing for race). Tomorrow Lewis will contuine the work, but I think he will test for “qualy”.
this may be a completly invalid point, but I think its better to have your consistent driver check the list for reliability, and your fast driver for performance.
Matt
8th February 2012, 19:46
Their opponents ware very consistent indeed incl FI, Red Bull, Lotus even Caterham and they could menage to be fast as well. I think Macs have a problem here it looks pretty similar to last years. I just hope they are not going to play catchup again :(
Aldoid
8th February 2012, 20:10
Yesterday, Jenson said that they weren’t doing any setup work just yet, & that they were focusing more on understanding the tires & getting mileage on the car. It doesn’t seem as if McLaren have been going for outright pace yet: that’s how they usually test anyway, so it really isn’t a surprise. Almost every year we get the “McLaren looks slow” or “they’ve built another dog” comments after the first test . & God forbid them bring out the flow-viz… the anti-McLaren crown will erupt with glee! LOL! But I think they’ll be fine… especially after hearing Button’s assessment yesterday. If it’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s not to read too much into test lap times, especially with McLaren.
The Edge (@the-edge)
8th February 2012, 22:38
agreed with Lotus show-boating but schuey’s in last years car doing tyre evaluation
no need to show boat…big need to do quali-sims
sato113 (@sato113)
8th February 2012, 16:45
mclaren’s 10 lap (approx.) stints were very consistent but very slow compared to the same length stints by ferrari and red bull.
Lemon (@lemon)
8th February 2012, 17:10
evidence?…from what i saw on the timing website their runs were very inconsistent..and not always very slow..but at times they were, im sure this all down to unknown quantities such as fuel load etc
Mike (@mike)
8th February 2012, 18:23
I wouldn’t worry either way, it’s the second day of the first test, I’m quite sure the times aren’t representative.
JoeE
8th February 2012, 22:20
Bring out the flo-vis baby.
Am relaxed at the moment but after the 1st GP we’ll see. People read to much in to test times every year.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th February 2012, 10:39
@mike I gave up last year trying to stress that point.
Mike (@mike)
9th February 2012, 21:33
@AndrewTanner
I suspect you made the right call…. Looking at people uppity about Ferrari’s pace or rather, lack of.
The Edge (@the-edge)
8th February 2012, 23:20
Lapchart: J. Button
Lap Time Difference
0 —-
7 1:20.727
8 1:21.468 +0.741
9 1:21.885 +0.417
10 —-
11 1:21.885
12 —-
13 1:21.885
14 1:23.615 +1.73
15 1:21.329 -2.286
16 1:21.378 +0.049
17 1:21.296 -0.082
18 —-
20 1:20.688
21 1:26.698 +6.01
22 1:21.364 -5.334
23 1:21.900 +0.536
24 —-
25 1:21.900
26 —-
27 1:24.059
28 1:23.105 -0.954
29 —-
30 1:23.105
31 1:20.798 -2.307
32 1:21.345 +0.547
33 1:21.756 +0.411
34 1:22.707 +0.951
35 —-
36
37 1:23.818 -36.182
38 —-
39 1:23.818
40 1:24.490 +0.672
41 1:24.116 -0.374
42 1:23.575 -0.541
43 1:23.606 +0.031
44 1:23.245 -0.361
45 1:23.993 +0.748
46 1:23.136 -0.857
48 1:24.268 +1.132
49 —-
50 1:24.268
51 1:23.676 -0.592
52 1:23.318 -0.358
53 1:23.574 +0.256
55 1:23.666 +0.092
56 1:23.821 +0.155
57 1:24.014 +0.193
58 1:23.463 -0.551
59 1:23.846 +0.383
60 1:23.994 +0.148
61 1:24.621 +0.627
62 1:25.293 +0.672
63 —-
64 1:25.293
65 1:25.002 -0.291
66 1:24.808 -0.194
67 1:24.513 -0.295
68 1:25.219 +0.706
69 1:25.458 +0.239
70 1:25.654 +0.196
71 1:27.988 +2.334
72 1:25.528 -2.46
73 1:26.015 +0.487
74 —-
75 1:26.015
78 1:24.752 -1.263
79 1:25.181 +0.429
80 1:25.198 +0.017
81 1:25.583 +0.385
82 1:25.191 -0.392
83 1:25.220 +0.029
84 1:25.297 +0.077
85 —-
from msfree.gr
Brolloks (@brolloks)
8th February 2012, 16:21
Due to the regulation changes, which would be quicker on the same day – the 2011 or 2012 car?
jonnyw360f1 (@jonnyw360f1)
8th February 2012, 16:25
At this point in time, the 2011 cars will be quicker because of the change in engine regs, I would think. But by the end of the season I daresay the teams will have developed other areas of the car to get that time back.
McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm)
8th February 2012, 16:27
As well as the loss of downforce from the banning of EBDs.
jonnyw360f1 (@jonnyw360f1)
8th February 2012, 17:50
That’s what I meant. ;)
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
8th February 2012, 16:26
surely the 2011 car. It has the blown diffuser and all, plus it’s a highly developed car, unlike all the others.
Harry Palmer
8th February 2012, 16:28
Well, with the absence of exhaust blown diffusers the 2011 cars should be faster, though by how much is the question!
If it only makes half a second of a difference to the Mercedes I’ll be very happy!
(This was meant as a reply to this post rather than a new comment!)
Snafu (@snafu)
8th February 2012, 16:37
2011 due to EBD and nose height
Brolloks (@brolloks)
8th February 2012, 16:39
That’s what I’m wondering. Mercedes are not running the exhaust blown diffuser. So how should we interpret Schumacher’s pace?
HewisLamilton
8th February 2012, 18:46
Mercedes is using last years car to determine exactly how the tire compounds have changed from last year to this year. Using last years car gives them the ability to compare.
BBT (@bbt)
8th February 2012, 20:46
Autosport, maybe falsely, claimed they were running the EBD so they could get a direct comparison to last years tyres without an unknown in car spec.
Either way until they run the new car it means even less than the others testing times.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th February 2012, 10:40
@brolloks Don’t bother. It means nothing.
Brolloks (@brolloks)
8th February 2012, 16:40
That’s what I’m wondering. Mercedes are not running the exhaust blown diffuser. So how should we interpret Schumacher’s pace?
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
8th February 2012, 17:06
I believe Mercedes are running the blown diffuser. The whole point of running the 2011 car this week is to get tyre data, so it would be pointless for them to modify the 2011 car significantly by changing the diffuser.
Mike (@mike)
8th February 2012, 18:28
I’m not sure you can take much from it.
In the same way that yesterday, people were taking stuff from Kimi’s time, and now that means very little, now people will take stuff from Michael’s time.
Solo (@solo)
8th February 2012, 23:10
There is nothing to take from Schumi’s time. The others ain’t behind him because they can’t go faster. Simply Schumi is driving a last year car so he doesn’t care if he pushes a little since they have nothing to hide with that car.
Actually they mind want to push a little just to see how the tyres behave.
Lukey
8th February 2012, 16:24
Am I being a bit dim this afternoon or is this sentence quite confusing?
topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
8th February 2012, 16:40
It’s not especially confusing; one could insert another comma thus
but it’s not really needed.
Lukey
8th February 2012, 17:27
Oh dear, really didn’t put 2 and 2 together (I didn’t realise the Merc was last years!).
If my first comment could be deleted it would be much appreciated.
Harry Palmer
8th February 2012, 16:25
Well, with the absence of exhaust blown diffusers the 2011 cars should be faster, though by how much is the question!
If it only makes half a second of a difference to the Mercedes I’ll be very happy!
Lemon (@lemon)
8th February 2012, 17:12
*slower
Lemon (@lemon)
8th February 2012, 18:09
oops thought u said 2012 cars
Cx9
8th February 2012, 16:32
I know this doesn’t count yet but got to say this the real Schumacher is in da houze :D. On serious note hope this season the real him is back
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th February 2012, 10:44
It would be great to see him back this season, really would. However, both him and Rosberg consistently topped the practise sheets last season so I wouldn’t look into it too much.
topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
8th February 2012, 16:43
Testing times are pointless: someone could be a second faster than everyone else in both the first two sectors and then lift off for the last section so their speed isn’t obvious.
But I think we can safely say that the RB8 is a damn good car. Again.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
8th February 2012, 17:05
I think you are a little contradictory there!
Lemon (@lemon)
8th February 2012, 17:14
completely contradictory…but im gonna contradict myself by saying he’s correct, and i’m not best pleased….
Andy G (@toothpickbandit)
8th February 2012, 17:17
Drawing conclusions from testing times is pointless.
Draws conclusion from testing times.
Klaas (@klaas)
8th February 2012, 19:20
Even if there was something indicative in the lap times one must keep in mind that the teams will show up with different cars in Barcelona and then with lots of updates in Australia.
Alex R
8th February 2012, 16:55
So I just put on a few pounds for schumacher + rosberg to win the WDC. 50/1 was worth a punt!
cx9
8th February 2012, 17:13
maybe it’s still too early : http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97419 but anything can happen in F1
cx9
8th February 2012, 17:16
Michael Schumacher keeping expectations in check over new Mercedes F1 car http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97419
Alex R
8th February 2012, 23:36
Doh! So all of this is in the 2011 spec car! Disappointed = me
Franton
8th February 2012, 16:56
Wasn’t the Williams the fastest car in pre-season testing last year? Look how well that faired for them.
Todfod (@todfod)
8th February 2012, 17:16
Completely agree.
This is just the 2nd day of testing, and if we were to judge championship favourites during pre season testing then Renault, Williams and Ferrari would have been fighting for the championship, and Mclaren would have been the worst of established teams in 2011.
The last test of the pre-season will give us a rough estimate of the pecking order
Franton
8th February 2012, 18:29
I wouldn’t even go that far. Practice 1 of first race maybe.
Mike (@mike)
8th February 2012, 18:30
Exactly, even then, the first time we will get a real indicator is qualifying at Melbourne.
Clay
8th February 2012, 22:22
We can look at the times on longer runs as well. I remember back to this time last year and even with Williams doing ultra lightweight fast laps it was noted by trackside observers that Red Bull were very quick over a longer stint of 10+ laps. Once we start getting that info filtered back we’ll be able to make calls on who is and is not fast.
But on the other hand if I ran a team I would like to see outright pace at some stage during testing – it is easier to work on reliability of a really fast car than it is to extract more speed from a slow but reliable car in order to be at the front. Look at Red Bull in 2009-2011. They started out with reliability issues but had a fast car to work with. Multiple wins and both championships back to back ensue, and they now have a reliable and very fast package. Sauber have always been reliable but fast???
rdpunk (@)
8th February 2012, 19:25
Most teams who are in need of money and sponsorship will run lower fuel, faster laps to try make there care look faster to the people with the money. A few years back Sauber were the fastest and they didn’t come anywhere near that pace during that season. As @Mike said, Qualifying in Melbourne is the first indication to how fast cars are. I’d even go as far to say maybe a few races into the season we will see how fast exactly these cars are as more and more improvements are made.
Franton
8th February 2012, 22:02
They know that. We know that. You can guarantee the sponsors know that! Sometimes you gotta wonder …
lebesset
8th February 2012, 16:59
schu certainly WAS running the blown diffuser , clearly audible
webber said he would have been 4+ seconds faster in a late 2011 car
W-K (@w-k)
8th February 2012, 17:06
As reported on the BBC the lap times mean nothing, and look who topped the first four days of testing last year,
Andy G (@toothpickbandit)
8th February 2012, 17:20
But then Andrew Benson from the BBC likes to disregard this completely, saying that the Red Bull’s times yesterday were ‘ominous’ for everyone else.
Jake (@jleigh)
8th February 2012, 22:27
@toothpickbandit if I was you I would completely ignore anything Andrew Benson says that isn’t based on absolute fact going by his latest article on the BBC. He began with the title “Webber fastest on day two of testing” … erm, really? He then goes on to say this :
This seems to me to attempt to imply that they were doing the same thing! Anyone involved in F1 should know how different programs can be and generally are. Is he suggesting RB are over 1.5 seconds quicker than Mclaren? If not, then he shouldn’t be making any comparison.
He also goes on to say Massa admitted Ferrari are stuggling to understand their car, followed by the quote, that says nothing of the sort.
Finally there is this:
Well, way to contradict yourself Andrew! Says drawing conclusions from testing times is useless, then draws conclusions. Also showing clear bias to RB, completely ignoring STR’s ability to easily put in 1.19s.
Toothpickbandit
9th February 2012, 0:28
yeah ive lost a lot of respect for him as an f1 journalist this preseason! i think his mandate was to try and get people excited aboit the tests and give them meaning, but hes gone completely the wrong way about it.
Fixy (@)
8th February 2012, 19:01
I remember when Ferrari were constantly the team with the most laps completed. I liked that approach but I hope this is a change of mentality that will bring a change in results.
Klaas (@klaas)
8th February 2012, 19:12
I think they’ll do much more laps with Alonso on the wheel.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
8th February 2012, 19:12
That’s good reliability from the Caterham, for their first adventures with KERS. Yesterday it looked like they might be suffering again from the random problems that interrupted their tests last year.
Would be great to see them pick up the pace, but doesn’t matter too much in testing.
rdpunk (@)
8th February 2012, 19:28
It’s good to see Caterham getting a good few laps in trying to get reliablity 100% sorted. I hope that there slow pace is just test pace however.
HK (@me4me)
8th February 2012, 21:34
Obviously we can’t read too much into these timings. There was one thing noticable though; both Redbull and Mclaren had good long-run pace while Ferrari didn’t. Redbull had two types of long-runs it seems. Once they did 1.22’s for serveral laps, and once they did 1.24’s for serveral laps. Mclaren was also into the 1.24’s, so that could mean they were both testing with full fueltanks. But than again, we have no clue.
Jake (@jleigh)
8th February 2012, 22:29
Let’s also not forget that Mclaren did a 15 lap run, mainly in the 1.22’s yesterday.
Anti-RBR (@matt2208)
9th February 2012, 0:02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G34alK08ro
.In Finn Tho Still Good.
F1_Dave
9th February 2012, 3:09
Purely from watching the cars from trackside.
Red Bull looks the best, planted in every corner, Stable under braking, Good mid-corner speed/stability, Earlier on the throttle than anyone else & opening DRS earlier than anyone else.
McLaren looks about next best although it seems a bit twitchey at times under braking & doesnt seem to have the turn in grip. Has the highest top speed again in speed traps with Force India not far behind.
Force India looks real good, car looks really stable & easy to drive.
Ferrari are hard to judge, Car didn’t look anything special but Massa never really seemed to be really pushing it. He threw it over the kurbs real hard a few times as if he was going for it but then quickly backed off to not set a representative lap time.
Lotus seems OK, Car seems good through the bends.
Caterham seems well balanced although Heikki was really having to wait to get back on the throttle & seemed hesitant to open DRS untill well onto the straght.
Sauber was all over the place in faster turns, looked a real handfull.
sumedh
9th February 2012, 3:47
Nice feedback! Thanks a lot
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th February 2012, 10:49
That’s the best stuff i’ve read in the past few days, thanks for sharing!
RB8 sounds just like its predecessors.
I thought Massa would have learnt his lesson about the kerbs!
Sulman
9th February 2012, 6:26
I think the clues you always get in pre-season testing are little to do with the lap times; it’s the driver and team quotes. When they talk about ‘learning’ or ‘understanding’ that can give a hint that the car isn’t immediately where they want it to be.
Usually, if the car’s good, they will (carefully) say as much.
Massa is a good example, although I suspect he’s technically heavily reliant on his engineer’s output, so expect more hair loss for Rob Smedley before melbourne.
Alonso will be the acid test at Jerez. He’s guarded at best, downright critical if he doesn’t think the car’s up to it.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
9th February 2012, 10:46
I really hope that KERS pays off for Caterham. I can’t wait until qualifying in Melbourne :D