More pictures will be added here.

F1 pictures

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Toro Rosso STR7 - first pictures and video of Toro Rosso's 2012 F1 car
• Red Bull RB8 launch - first pictures and video of Red Bull's 2012 F1 car
• Sauber C31 launch - first pictures and video of Sauber's 2012 F1 car
• Ferrari F2012 launch - first pictures and video of Ferrari's 2012 F1 car
• McLaren MP4-27 launch - first pictures of McLaren's 2012 F1 car
• Kimi Raikkonen continues his F1 familiarisation in Valencia

View more F1 pictures

Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Williams/LAT, Getty Images/Red Bull, Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Lotus F1 Team, Motioncompany

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, Jerez, 2012

Mercedes remained on top of the time for a second day in Jerez with their 2011 car.

This time it was Nico Rosberg’s turn to lap the Spanish circuit quickest, setting a time of 1’17.613, almost a second quicker than Michael Schumacher’s best effort in the W02 yesterday.

That concluded Mercedes’ involvement in the test as they will not be present for the final day’s running. The team will launch its W03 before the next test in Barcelona.

It was a largely wasted day for Force India after Jules Bianchi crashed and damaged the team’s car on his third lap of the day. The team’s reserve driver damaged the right-rear of the car

That forced the team to abandon plans to give Nico Hulkenberg his first run in the new car. The F1 returnee will instead get to drive the VJM05 for the first time tomorrow.

“I made a small mistake on my second run,” explained Bianchi. “The tyres were a bit cold and I spun into the gravel and touched the wall with the right rear wheel.

“It was not a very big impact, but it caused some damage. I’m very sorry because my mistake has cost the team a lot of time and effort.”

Another reserve driver who hit trouble during the test was Giedo van der Garde. The Caterham driver spun and stopped with just over an hour remaining in the test.

Romain Grosjean was fastest earlier on in the day, setting a 1’18.419 as he drove the Lotus E20 for the first time. Like Rosberg, Grosjean registered well over 100 laps of the circuit. The Lotus driver stopped on the track with five minutes remaining in the session, bringing out the red flag for the third and final time.

Sebastian Vettel was third-fastest on his first day in the new Red Bull RB8. Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz was in attendance to see the world champion trying out his latest car for the first time.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso also made their first appearances for McLaren and Ferrari respectively – the latter greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in his home country.

At Williams Bruno Senna had a productive day in the FW34, completing more laps than Pastor Maldonado had managed in the previous two days combined.

Jerez test times

2012 F1 season

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day three – Jerez
• Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day two – Jerez
• Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day one - Jerez

Image © Daimler

Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, Jerez, 2012

Join us to follow the third day of testing from Jerez on F1 Fanatic Live.

It’s all change on day three as several of the teams swap their drivers today. Lewis Hamilton will have his first run in the MP4/27, Sebastian Vettel will get acquainted with the RB8, and Fernando Alonso will check out the F2012.

Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg, Giedo van der Garde and Jean-Eric Vergne will also be among those driving today.

The test is due to start at 9am local time, which is 8am UK time. You can follow test on F1 Fanatic Live via the link below.

Please be aware there is no live video feed from the test and there is no official live timing service.

F1 Fanatic Live combines updates from the teams and drivers in real-time via Twitter with comments from F1 Fanatic readers and more.

Launch F1 Fanatic Live

Here’s a quick visual guide to F1 Fanatic Live (click to enlarge):

F1 Fanatic Live Guide

More information on the 2012 F1 season.

2012 F1 season

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day three – Jerez
• Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day two – Jerez
• Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day one - Jerez

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 2012

In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton gets a new manager but may still be called as a witness in Adrian Sutil’s ongoing legal action.

Links

Hamilton gets hired help from his management company (Daily Mirror)

“Didier Coton has been appointed by his management company, London-based XIX Entertainment. Coton had worked closely with ex-driver Keke Rosberg’s driver management company and guided the career of double McLaren world champion Mika Hakkinen and now runs his own operation, Aces Management.”

‘Pig ugly’ F1 cars are snout of order (The Sun)

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery: “I have to agree with the general sentiment that the cars are damn ugly.”

Motor racing-Ferrari have lots to do, says Massa (Reuters)

“‘Actually there is a lot of work,’ he told reporters with muted body language that suggested he was far from thrilled with what he had experienced so far. ‘It is a brand new car and it is not a [type of] car that we had in the last years; even to start with. So it is a car that needs a lot more work, a car that you need a lot more things to try as well.’”

Adrian Sutil and prosecution appeal against sentence in Munich trial

“As with the first case, it is understood that Hamilton will attend any retrial, but again providing it does not clash with his commitments.”

Schumacher: Title-winning car unlikely

“I don’t think we can realistically achieve a championship car immediately from where we started last year, we have to build our way there.”

HRT F1 Team establishes its permanent headquarters in the Caja Magica (HRT)

“After months of evaluations and negotiations in which diverse options have been assessed, Spanish team HRT has finally opted for the facilities of the Complejo Deportivo Madrid Caja Magica to locate its permanent headquarters.”

Exclusive Kobayashi Q&A: I want so much more from 2012 (F1)

“[On Tuesday] I ran the ‘standard model’ and Friday will be a first development step for us. Of course we don’t know now if it works, but we all hope it will. If it works as we hope it should improve our lap times. And it’s always about lap times!”

Barrichello ponders move to Indycar (ESPN)

“Rubens Barrichello is set to decide next week whether he will switch from Formula One to the IndyCar series for 2012 following the decision by Williams not to retain him for the current season.”

Hard graft paying off for Di Resta (The Times, subscription required)

“Di Resta has brought in Gerry Convy, former soldier and trainer for David Coulthard, to handle his training regime this year and the effects are already paying off after a few weeks of hard work.”

Heikki Kovalainen via Twitter

“Good day today, ran KERS for the first time and no issues, also set-up work done so good catch up after yesterday…”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

“F1 is not about seeing which driver is the best” – a though-provoking opinion from Palle, albeit one I suspect many people may disagree with:

To be a proper F1 Fanatic I think You need to understand that F1 is a fascinating sport, where the competition comprises of:

Finance – how to attract more sponsor money and get more prize money
Design – how to design the best racecar within the written letter of the rules
Production – how to produce the best racecar, to last a race distance
Tuning – how to tune the cars setup etc. to suit the driver
Tyres – Understand the tyres and adjust the car and driving style
Strategy – how to plan development over the season
Tactics – how to manage the resources in races to get the edge
Pit crew – how to perform perfect pit-stops in cooperation with drivers
Motivation – how to motivate the whole team to perform, perform
Drivers – how to attract and keep the best drivers
Future – how to develop the business, recruiting talents etc…

I have probably forgotten something important.

To me F1 is not about seeing which driver is the best, so rules have to leave room for designing new innovative solutions, and make it possible for a team to get a reward for being more innovative than the rest, i.e. not change the rules during a season as soon as someone have got an advantage.
Palle

From the forum

• Will Hamilton ever leave McLaren?

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

A pair of cars were revealed for the first time on this day last year:

• Force India VJM04 – first pictures
• HRT F111 launch – first pictures

Michael Schumacher was fastest at Jerez on Wednesday

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

2012 F1 season

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day three – Jerez
• Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day two – Jerez
• Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day one - Jerez

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

F1 pictures

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Toro Rosso STR7 - first pictures and video of Toro Rosso's 2012 F1 car
• Red Bull RB8 launch - first pictures and video of Red Bull's 2012 F1 car
• Sauber C31 launch - first pictures and video of Sauber's 2012 F1 car
• Ferrari F2012 launch - first pictures and video of Ferrari's 2012 F1 car
• McLaren MP4-27 launch - first pictures of McLaren's 2012 F1 car
• Kimi Raikkonen continues his F1 familiarisation in Valencia

View more F1 pictures

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Lotus F1 Team, Williams/LAT, McLaren, Getty Images/Red Bull, Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Caterham, Motioncompany, Pirelli

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Jerez, 2012

Join us to follow the second day of testing from Jerez on F1 Fanatic Live.

The test is due to start at 9am local time, 8am UK time. You can follow test on F1 Fanatic Live via the link below.

Please be aware there is no live video feed from the test and there is no official live timing service.

F1 Fanatic Live combines updates from the teams and drivers in real-time via Twitter with comments from F1 Fanatic readers and more.

Launch F1 Fanatic Live

Here’s a quick visual guide to F1 Fanatic Live (click to enlarge):

F1 Fanatic Live Guide

More information on the 2012 F1 season.

2012 F1 season

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day three – Jerez
• Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day two – Jerez
• Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day one - Jerez

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Adrian Newey, Red Bull, Suzuka, 2011

In the round-up: Adrian Newey scotches talk of him eventually moving to Ferrari, saying he’d prefer to stay where he is.

Links

Newey staying at Red Bull (The Telegraph)

“To be perfectly honest I can’t see myself going anywhere else. I’ve been very centrally involved with the team from very early on and proud we’ve been able to get from where we were, and the ashes of Jaguar, to where we are today.”

Motor racing-Button gives new McLaren an early thumbs-up (Reuters)

“There are no niggly areas with the car, which is nice. Quite different to last year. So I’m happy. I’m very happy in the car. I’m in a good position. I’m really low, which I always like, trying to get as low as possible, with the way that the car is.”

Teams fear exhaust saga not over yet (Autosport)

Adrian Newey: “The FIA has been reasonably specific in what they will and won’t allow exhaust wise. They don’t want to see what have been capture ducts scooping the exhaust flow out of a fully enclosed duct, and then using that scoop to duct it somewhere else on the car. Plus, we have the various exclusion zones where you can’t have bodywork.”

Marussia plan Pic stay after 2012 campaign (Daily Mail)

Andy Webb: “I think there is some long-term potential for him. I’m looking really to see if he can go forward for more than one year.”

Tombazis: “The first day is always a special feeling” (Ferrari)

“This car represents a clear break with the one that preceded it and it features concepts that are very different for us and that require much more fine tuning. That’s why today we absolutely did not have an eye on the stopwatch, preferring to concentrate on gathering as much data as possible in order to get as good an understanding as possible of the behaviour of the car.”

And the winner is… Don’t tell us! (The Guardian)

“One BBC viewer (and listener) took their complaint all the way to the BBC Trust after the results of the Australian Grand Prix qualifying round were read out on a Radio 4 news bulletin. They said the corporation should take greater care when reading out results and certainly only do so in a sports – rather than general news – bulletin.”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

The 2012 F1 cars may look dreadful, but at least they sound better, points out damonsmedley:

The one thing I’m absolutely loving so far is the videos coming out from Jerez. Not because the bump in the nose less noticeable at speed; but because we’re finally hearing the V8s in all of their glory, unspoiled by the awful racket we had to put up with last year thanks to exhaust-blown diffusers. The sound is back to how it should be, and I’m thrilled!
damonsmedley

From the forum

• The longest forum thread is back – it’s F1 Fanatic Rolling Trivia Quiz“>the rolling quiz

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Straightline and Sandlefish!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Virgin launched their second – and, as it turned out, last – F1 car at BBC Television Centre on this day last year:

• Virgin MVR-02 launch – first pictures

Kimi Raikkonen was quickest on his return to F1

Kimi Raikkonen got his F1 comeback off to a positive start as he set the quickest time in testing at Jerez.

Raikkonen ran a series of rapid laps in the morning culminating in a 1’19.670 which put the Lotus E20 at the top of the times.

Paul di Resta came closed to deposing him with a best effort just a tenth of a second slower in the new Force India.

As always, the headlines times should not be taken as a simple reflection of who’s quickest and who’s slowest. For example, HRT (running last year’s car) were only 5% slower than the fastest time, well below the 7-8% range typically seen in last year’s races.

With nine new cars in action on the first day of the test some teams had comparatively quiet days.

Mark Webber got the year off to a slow start for defending champions Red Bull. He was unable to run during the first few hours of the session as fog at the track delayed the arrival of parts for the new RB8.

Heikki Kovalainen logged 28 laps in the new Caterham CT01 but his day’s running came to an end when the car’s starter developed a fault.

Another driver whose test ended early was Daniel Ricciardo. A drop in oil pressure on his Toro Rosso STR7 caused him to pull over with just over half hour remaining, causing the first red flag of the day.

“We had a very productive morning, doing over 40 laps and we made good progress with our programme,” said Ricciardo.

“Then in the afternoon, we did a couple of longer runs, but had to cut it short, although we only lost an hour. I was using the medium tyre on that last run, having used hard tyres for the rest of the day.”

Meanwhile Kamui Kobayashi, who had shaken down the Sauber C31 yesterday, did over 100 laps in the new car today. But he hit trouble with less than half an hour left in the session, bringing the red flags out a second time.

A brief restart gave Pedro de la Rosa time to post the final improvement of the day in last year’s HRT, before the chequered flag brought the first official test day of 2012 to an end.

Jerez test times

2012 F1 season

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day three – Jerez
• Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day two – Jerez
• Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day one - Jerez

Image © Force India F1 Team

F1 pictures

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Toro Rosso STR7 - first pictures and video of Toro Rosso's 2012 F1 car
• Red Bull RB8 launch - first pictures and video of Red Bull's 2012 F1 car
• Sauber C31 launch - first pictures and video of Sauber's 2012 F1 car
• Ferrari F2012 launch - first pictures and video of Ferrari's 2012 F1 car
• McLaren MP4-27 launch - first pictures of McLaren's 2012 F1 car
• Kimi Raikkonen continues his F1 familiarisation in Valencia

View more F1 pictures

Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Renault/LATLotus F1 Team, Williams/LAT, Getty Images/Red Bull, Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Caterham, Motioncompany