2010 F1 testing: February 2nd

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Nico Rosberg driving the Mercedes W01 at Valencia today

Lewis Hamilton joins F1 testing today and Kamui Kobayashi will get his first laps at the wheel of a BMW Sauber.

Join us as we follow the second F1 test day at Valencia.

Today’s testing times

DriverCarBest timeLaps
Felipe MassaFerrari F1071.722125
Kamui KobayashiBMW Sauber-Ferrari C2972.05696
Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-2572.256108
Robert KubicaRenault R3072.426119
Nico RosbergMercedes W0172.899119
Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth FW3273.377102
Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari STR573.823107

Testing notes

Most of the teams are sticking with the same drivers they used yesterday, apart from the two exceptions mentioned above.

Nico Rosberg will get a full day in the Mercedes W01, with Michael Schumacher set to take over from him on Wednesday. The younger of the two Mercedes drivers has asked for some changes to be made to his seat to make him more comfortable in the car.

Surprisingly for the first day of testing, yesterday saw few interruptions and generally good reliability. The major exceptions were Toro Rosso, who had a problem with their gearbox actuator which they were unable to repair fully before the end of the session and were planning to work on overnight.

As well as getting our first look at three new cars yesterday, several teams had new parts on their cars. You can see pictures of those cars in yesterday’s post.

Today’s testing line-up

McLaren MP4-25Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes W01Nico Rosberg
Ferrari F10Felipe Massa
Williams FW32Rubens Barrichello
BMW Sauber C29Kamui Kobayashi
Renault R30Robert Kubica
Toro Rosso STR5Sebastien Buemi

Timing and other resources

The following sites often have live timing information:

Motor 21
F1 Today
Live GP

Inocencio also suggested Spanish sites La Sexta and The F1 for live information from Valencia.

If you know of any others, please post details in the comments.

Several drivers, teams and journalists are providing updates from the track. If you’re on Twitter and would like to follow them you can find links to their accounts in the F1 Twitter directory.

The latest Tweets from people at the track today will appear below:


You can find details of future F1 tests in the F1 Fanatic Google Calendar.

Testing so far

Felipe Massa set the fastest time around Valencia yesterday with a 1’12.574. He also did the most laps, racking up over 100. (See yesterday’s post for a full list of times).

The charts below show how much testing each driver, car and engine had done before the start of today’s test.

The teams have a maximum testing limit of 15,000km. They’ll struggle to do that much in the 15 days’ testing they have between now and the start of the season, but the allocation also has to cover any extra testing they may need to do during the season if they choose to bring in a driver with no previous experience.

The data below also shows how many laps have been logged by each of the four different engine manufacturers in F1:

Drivers’ test mileages

Drivers' test mileages (click to enlarge)

Car test mileages

F1 car test mileages (click to enlarge)

Engine test mileages

Engine test mileages (click to enlarge)

The track

The teams remain at the Ricardo Tormo road course just outside Valencia in Spain (not the street track which is the venue for the European Grand Prix).

The weather is expected to remain much the same as yesterday – dry with temperatures peaking at around 14C.


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2010 F1 testing

Author information

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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368 comments on “2010 F1 testing: February 2nd”

  1. Prisoner Monkeys
    2nd February 2010, 0:47

    Now that everyone has been broken in a little, I’m xpecting to see more experimentation with heavy fuel loads like the Renaults.

    1. Which should be reasonably easy to spot – if a car is suddenly 3-4 seconds slower per lap around Valencia it could well be because it’s at maximum fuel capacity.

      What would be great is if we could collect as many different lap times for each car as possible and compile them to get an idea of what stint lengths they did and what their lap times were. Anyone fancy it?

      1. Im happy to have a crack at it Keith, if you can get your hands on the data!

        Maybe we can work out which car is faster once corrected for fuel loads before the season starts? or even have a go at working out which driver has acclimatised to their new car/team better?

        1. The times are quoted on some of the sites linked above and reported on Twitter. We just need to know who did what time and when.

      2. Prisoner Monkeys
        2nd February 2010, 1:18

        What would be great is if we could collect as many different lap times for each car as possible and compile them to get an idea of what stint lengths they did and what their lap times were. Anyone fancy it?

        And from that discern who is really doing the best?

        It’s an ambitious roject, but I can’t say as if I’m up for it. Even if I crash at midnight, testing still goes on for a few hours after that.

        1. I’ll have a go at collecting numbers tomorrow, assuming everyone does a noticably slow run which is at full fuel we can then compare people?

  2. Does anyone know what time is the test on feb2 Canadian eastern time?

    1. it’s either -5 or 6 hrs…. so around 5am? (i’m making a rough guess here)

    2. I’m on the west coast and it starts at 1am my time… so you should be 4 hours after… the easiest I’ve found is just google “Valencia Spain time” and then do the math… :)

      1. The test will start at 10 am (GMT+1), so for Montreal will be at 4 am (I believe).

  3. ferrari seem to be chewing thru their allotment of tyres…

    Only so many this year from what I hear.

  4. also I noticed brawn/merc haven’t rectified the illegal exhaust on the car yet…I am surprised they have done this considering there running under basically same rules as 09 in this area.

    I am laying cash on the fact they are wanting to distract other teams from something or other by a displaying such a obvious blatant fault.

  5. It will be interesting to see how Kamui Kobayashi compares with his team mate Pedro today.
    Also I have to say a warm welcome for the season to come alive & to see so many F1 fans in F1F excited about the new season,hope it continues today.

  6. Do engine allocations and tyre allocations count in pre-season testing? If someone blows up an engine, would it mean that they are down an engine for the 2010 season?

    1. Don’t think so… they are “Testing”. They can use components that are illegal

      1. Prisoner Monkeys
        2nd February 2010, 3:33

        Athough they technically can use illegal parts, it’s a bit pointless since the purpose of testing is to test. They want to make sure the parts they’ve developed for racing wrk the way they’re supposed to; since they obviously can’t use illegal parts in the races, to include them in testing would be a waste of time.

        1. Not necessarily a waste of time. Teams may occasionally find some value in, for example, running parts from last year that are no longer legal in 2010 on the basis that they are a known quantity and therefore reduce the number of unknown quantities inherent in a new car.

          Last year, McLaren ran a 2008-spec rear wing in testing to establish whether their problems with rear end grip were caused by the 2009-spec wing or something else.

          There might also be another purpose in running an illegal car in testing – to appeal to potential sponsors. In 2001, Jean Alesi set some stunning times in testing for the financially challenged Prost team – but never quite managed to repeat that form on race weekends…

    2. yes and yes.

      You get x amount of engines for ‘testing’ which is separate from the allocation2 of ‘race engines’. Same goes for tyres too.

      from red bull>
      “Due to the limit on tyres available to the teams,” he said. “There’s no point in burning up engine mileage and rubber on an RB5. We’d rather use the tyres for quality testing at the three tests that we have confirmed we’ll run at, starting with the first test in Jerez.”

      1. Cool.

        Another question. On race weekends Bridgestone specifies what tyre compounds will be used. Does the same apply with testing? Does Bridgestone say, “we will be supplying soft and super soft tyres for this test, and hard and medium tyres for the next test”? Or are the teams free to use whatever compound tyres they desire?

        1. Prisoner Monkeys
          2nd February 2010, 8:47

          I’m pretty sure the teams are free to use whatever tyres they wish. However, they’ll naturally have one or two compunds selected because they fit the condiitons of the circuit bst.

  7. Good morning guys…Looking forward to seeing Hamilton :-)

  8. JA gives a fair idea of the expected fuel loads:

    My understanding is that the front running teams will settle into a routine of running around 80 kilos of fuel, half full tanks, for their long runs to develop the car. Teams looking for sponsors or otherwise trying to catch the eye will be running around 40 kilos at times, a difference worth around 1.5 seconds per lap. This is something to watch out for over the four test sessions this month.

    So,it will be very obvious all round when a time has been set on low fuel and new tyres.

  9. I sure hope that start/finish webcam is working tonight… or tomorrow for most of you… that’ll be a nice addition to translating live timing..

    It’ll be interesting with a couple new drivers onboard.. be able to get some comparisons to a point… I hope everyone is over the first day “where going to win!!/omg we’re doomed!!” stage of testing… ya… who am I trying to kid… lol… let’s all relax and enjoy the show… :)

    1. What’s this about a start/finish webcam? Do you have the link?

  10. hey, nobody said anything about the renault r29 vs r30.. it was the r30 in the revealing, does that mean they really packaged very good and will that would give them an advantage???

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 5:46

      According to Bob Bell, the team was surprised at how good their figures from the wind tunnel tests were. What was a two-year plan to get back on top could be done in as little as twelve months if they play their cards right. I suspect they are running an R29 body with R30 parts to get feedback on how the individual parts perform. If they run a full R30 package, they’ll get data on everything at once. But because they know how the R29 behaves, they can account for the R29 parts and isolate the data on the R30 pieces. It will allow them to get a clearly understanding of how it all works, meaning they can get a head-start on developing aero upgrades. They’ll still need to run a full R30 to see how everything works together, but for now they can get ahead of the curve and start making new pieces of kit. I’ll be very interested to see what they run on the third day, since it will be the first time Vitaly Petrov drives a Formula 1 car.

      Aside from all of this, Renault has one major advantage over the comeptition this season: they’re Renault. And by that I mean they’re the Renault factory team. They don’t just make the Renault cars, but the Renault RS27 engine as well, which is being reported as the best engine on the grid in terms of fuel consumption. So because they make the cars and the engine, they can actually build their entire chassis around the RS27 unit. As the other works teams, Ferrari and Mercedes have that advantage, too, but as the RS27 is the most fuel-efficient, Renault can get away with having a smaller fuel tank.

      In order to save space, some of the teams have been experimenting with a ‘vertical’ fuel tank, a fuel tank that taller than it is wide or long. This creates its own problems because it means the heavier the car is, the higher its centre of gravity will be. Renault can avoid this problem because they are free to configure their engine and fuel tank however they want. They may have to go with a vertical design, but the effect of a raised centre of gravity won’t be as severe. They will almost certainly have the best lateral stability.

      Somehow, they’ve managed to do all of this in what appears to be an R29 body. I can’t say how their fuel tank is configured because only Renault has that information, but if they can package their car with a low centre of gravity, excellent lateral stability and a shorter wheelbase than the competition, the R30 is going to be exceptionally good on tight circuits. If I’m right, look for them to be strong at Monaco, Hungary, Singapore, Korea and possibly Valencia. They will also be very nimble through corners with a rapid change of direction, like the opening corners in Malaysia and China and the infield at Interlagos.

      1. thanks for that post PM, i have been wondering about that team/car and that certainly gave me some food for thought :)

      2. Mouse_Nightshirt
        2nd February 2010, 9:13

        Where do you get you info on the Renault being the most fuel efficient?

      3. i dont think they are running a r28 body because kubica said yesterday that he has never run that heavy in his life. so that means that the car they are using already has the big fuel tank… i dont think they are going to do two complete different cars in a one month period.

  11. eek! heavy fuel load test… will we be able to see sparks from the undertray this year? *silently excited* hoping for titanium skid plates return… :P

    i can’t wait to see Bruno Senna to trash MSC dearly!!! :D

  12. I still find it very strange, that all Renault team members talk about the new car (Kubica refers to understeer, the talk about this car being visually different etc.) while we are suspecting them of running a revised R29 for testing new parts!

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 6:57

      I believe the only part that may actually be from the R29 is the sidepods and the engine cowling. Everything else would be interchangeable.

  13. is there any limit to the ammount of laps they can do in one day?

    I need to hear that cosworth engine :( i hope it doesnt break down before somebody brings out a camera.

    1. No, just that total limit of 15,000km track testing between now and the end of the year (excluding the three young driver test days at the end of the year, and any straight-line aerodynamic tests).

    2. there are already videos on youtube so you can hear it. Williams tuned down Cosworth a bit for first outing though…

  14. Gary Paffet thinks that McLaren are in trouble. It appears that they’ve used that dreaded green flow-vis paint AGAIN!

    http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/8868/31976283.jpg

    Maybe they really are screwed. And I find it very strange when they cut open the sidepod opening when temperature hardly crossed 15C, heating problems?

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 7:40

      Just because they used it last year and were screwed does not mean they’re screwed again this year.

      1. They well might be if their diffusers are deemed illegal.

        1. Prisoner Monkeys
          2nd February 2010, 7:53

          You can bet they have a second, less-sophisticated design back at Woking. They pushed the limits, but they’re not stupid. They’ll have anticipated this.

    2. And I find it very strange when they cut open the sidepod opening when temperature hardly crossed 15C, heating problems?

      Or just investigating how much of an effect on temperature opening the vent has.

    3. the main opening is smaller than usual, so the extra slit will make up that difference.

    4. That’s why they go testing :)

  15. For those wondering the layout of Ricardo Tormo, here’s an on-board lap.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvNNQ2a7Qes

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 8:49

      Pretty boring – the only good bit is the uphill chicane – but you can see why the teams like it for testing: there’s a nice variety of corners in there. The pit exit looks a little dangerous if the racing line runs over it, though. Not that the cars will be doing that in testing.

      1. From what I can recall from playing this track in GTR Evolution, the pitlane exit is VERY dangerous indeed, cars practically need to invade it in order to get best line along turn 1, a fairly fast left-hander.

      1. Prisoner Monkeys
        2nd February 2010, 8:36

        That probably explains the talk of the legality of McLaren’s diffuser being questioned. Ferrari have seen it and realised “hey, they thought of something we didn’t” and are now trying to get it banned. It’s completely in keeping with te Scuderia’s behaviour.

        1. They tried it last year too but it didn’t work in the end…

          1. Prisoner Monkeys
            2nd February 2010, 8:42

            That’s not going to stop them from trying again, now, is it?

  16. there’s a small confirm from the Renault that they are testing groups of different parts, suspension, packages. They confir that the full R30 on the start of the season will be whole different and 150 mm longer than the R29.

  17. wow, 8.30am and already 42comments! these testing articles are doing well!

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 8:30

      Yeah, but if you look at the first comment in the thread, it was made at 12:50am. We’ve been going for eight hours. I doubt we’ll top yesterday’s discussion with 554 comments, though.

  18. Sure if there were any problems for mclaren, you can bet they will be rectified by at least the third gp though. Anyway come on Lewis, hopefully we will get some mclaren test photos later on!

  19. I’m sorry if this has already come up, but what in the hell is that black object on top of Ferrari’s car??? And what purpose does it serve?

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 8:42

      It’s a data-logger and antenna. It collects telemetry from the car and sends it back to the pts. Ferrari used one last year, too.

    2. Have you never seen an antenna?
      Every team has littered their car full with antenna’s to transfer up to date millisecond precize date from and to the car.
      Only Ferrari is the one who uses an oversized antenna to ensure to have a dataconnection all around the circuit.

      1. Other teams are known to use such antennas too. I think its size are restricted in actual races but here antennas of all sorts sprout up on all cars. Williams had similar t-shaped one in recent years if I recall correctly.

      2. Maybe that fat Ferrari antenna hacks into McLaren & Mercedes’ telemetry equipment & transmits data to the pit for real time comparison. Hacking into a communication systems isn’t too difficult these days.

        1. Anyway that thing looks like the sword of He-Man :)

    3. How many times are people going to ask that question? It was answered at least three times yesterday!

      1. Maybe you should write it into the article! Like you did with the explanation of the car comparisons photo ‘different zooms/lenses/focal lengths’ issue.

        1. Not a bad idea…

  20. HounslowBusGarage
    2nd February 2010, 8:48

    @ PM.
    When do you sleep, mate?

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 8:50

      At night. When else? It’s 8pm here. Haven’t you noticed how I disappear through the European day?

  21. The engines are running warm. 15 minutes ago they have been fired up. 10.00 am the lights will turn green and the track will be opened.

    1. wooohoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

  22. Kobayashi will line up for Sauber today, also McLaren traded Paffet in for Hamilton. I wonder what they both are able to show.

  23. hi. i have just been reading this(i dont no how to add quotes)

    “Which should be reasonably easy to spot – if a car is suddenly 3-4 seconds slower per lap around Valencia it could well be because it’s at maximum fuel capacity.
    What would be great is if we could collect as many different lap times for each car as possible and compile them to get an idea of what stint lengths they did and what their lap times were. Anyone fancy it?”

    just wanted to say you would also have to allow for the different air/track temperature and also if it happens to be raining or if just part of the track is wet. just didn’t no if you were accounting for that is all.

    also how much quicker is the car in cooler weather than normal?

    1. Well for your info, its quite cold now in Valencia. 3 degrees celcius is not much. But its still early in the morning. The track will heat up anyway and has now got a temperature of around 8 degrees celcius.

  24. And were off. Session has started. Many drivers are going for an installation lap.

    1. Anybody have adress to live video ?

  25. To help make following testing easier for those of you not on Twitter I’ve added live updates from some of the people at the track above.

    1. Keith why not add a chat session just like the races last season? that would be fun with update from various people from different sources.

      1. This was suggested yesterday – if we can get a lot of people to help out as moderators it’s something we could do. If you’d like to give it a try email me.

        1. Prisoner Monkeys
          2nd February 2010, 9:16

          Message sent.

        2. Great idea. Unfortunately I could not help out, need to do this stuff else at work. Im sure my boss would not appreciate it too much ;-)

    2. Nice one, cheers.

    3. Hmm the Twitter window doesn’t seem to be updating for me – might not be playing friendly with the caching on the page. Anyone else not seeing new updates?

      1. This is the last tweet I see.

        eddstrawF1 Pit-lane open. Sebastien Buemi first out in the Toro Rosso for the secod day running after missing most of yesterday with gearbox problems 27 minutes ago reply

        1. ditto

          1. Seems its fixed now.

      2. Definitely not updating properly. I’ll drop it for tomorrow and go back to the drawing board. Any suggestions for how we could do this?

  26. http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5911476,00.html

    hmmm – anyone see this? schumi medical concerns again

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 9:11

      I agree with the first comment: it’s precautionary. And PlanetF1 isn’t the msot reliable source in the world. If it were a genuine problem, other sources – like Keith and Autosport – would ahve run something by now.

    2. I’ll have to read it somewhere better than Planet F1 before I believe it.

      1. That twitter thing is cool keith, thanx!

      2. Exactly!
        I was trying to ask this same question to you on twitter – whether you ad any info on that?
        Hope Schumi’s neck allows him to race… Would be dissappointing beyond words, otherwise!

  27. PlanetF1 has to be compared with any British tabloid like the Sun. A lot of blabla and no reliable sources.

    But the story should be ofcourse valid. Schumacher hasnt driven at full speed in an F1 car for such a long time that he should indeed have pain. It would not be healthy if he would actually feel nothing, that means that he didnt push himself too much ;-)

  28. Massa and Kubica both using black helmets today. Wonder why?

    1. Any picture available yet?

      1. Black monster power! :D

    2. Could they be those ones that appear black until they get enough sunlight then they reveal the design…I think Heidfeld had one a couple of seasons back…

    3. Are they trying a new helmet (manufacturer, type, …)?
      I thought that was what adamcooper is referring to here: http://twitpic.com/10zyyp

    4. Massa and Kubica joined Darth Vader in the Dark Side of The Force
      :-P

    5. I hope Kubica keeps the helmet – I love it! The best shot of the day is him sitting in the car with the visor down.

  29. First times, Kubica 1:15.6 and Hamilton 1:16.6. Very early days at the moment.

    1. OK, now Massa is straight in with a 1:13.3, Buemi with a 1:16.1 and Rosberg with a 1:17.0.

      1. Massa on 1m12.393s now according to autosport

    2. Great stuff Andrew keep the times coming!

  30. Felipe Massa 1:12.727

    yeehaa

  31. Considering all the fuss about the McLaren diffuser yesterday I think they missed a trick by not having any sponsors on the back of the rear wing as they usually do, as everyone was trying to find pictures of the back of the McLaren.

  32. Hamilton at 1:13.161! =D

  33. any reason why the beeb don’t have more coverage of testing?

    1. Waste of money for them really

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 9:45

      No market. Only the die-hard would watch it, and there’s not a hell of a lot that goes on, anyway.

    1. Kubica has a couple of transparent splitters on the black helmet that didn’t appear to be on his yellow helmet yesterday. One is near the base of the visor, the other a spoiler at the top/back. One would imagine that since he is one of the tallest drivers (or THE tallest this year?) he is even more concerned with buffeting.

      1. Vitalij is taller…

  34. 1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:12.227 +-.— 9
    2 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:13.161 +-.— 8
    3 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.036 +-.— 7
    4 R.Kubica Renault 1:14.714 +-.— 7
    5 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:15.308 +-.— 11
    6 R.Barrichello Williams 1:17.238
    I think my timing keeps going mad though that may be my computer http://www.f1-direct.fr/live-essais-prives.php For anyone who wants it.

  35. Seems to be that there will be short runs this morning. Would be logic. Test all the systems and run diagnostics, maybe get the drivers in a rythem. So probably we will see more long runs by the end of this morning/afternoon.

  36. Now we have the first time for Kobayasi:

    1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:12.227 +-.— 13
    2 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:13.161 +-.— 11
    3 N.Rosberg Mercedes1:14.036 +-.— 11
    4 R.Kubica Renault 1:14.714 +-.— 13
    5 K.KobayashiSauber 1:14.853 +-.— 6
    6 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:15.308 +-.— 12
    7 R.Barrichello Williams 1:15.493 +-.— 12

    1. Not hanging about are they? Piling on the laps.

  37. When is alonso testing?

    1. Wednesday. As well as Schumacher. :0!

    2. tomorrow….3rd feb

  38. Prisoner Monkeys
    2nd February 2010, 9:54

    News just in: F1 Commission has apparently approved the following:
    a) modified version of new points rules (greater difference between first and second)
    b) all drivers in Q3 must start race on tyres they qualified on
    c) weekend allotment of tyred dropped from 14 sets to 11

    1. b) is dangerous. If Q3 is dry and race is wet, front 10 drivers will be rammed in by Q2 and Q1 drivers at the first corner

      1. No. If the race is wet the officials will either allow a choice of starting on wets or they will dictate that all have to use wets.

      2. Tango, dont overdo it. Ofcourse they can change before the start to raintyres when needed. Thats logic.

        1. I don’t trust them to be logic anymore :). Anything for a great spectacle huh?

      3. When the weather conditions change they will obviously change the rules.
        Just like with the rule that you had to use both compounds during the race.
        When it starts to rain this rule vanishes.

      4. Prisoner Monkeys
        2nd February 2010, 10:04

        They’ll obviously allow an expcetion to the rule, as they did with 2005.

    2. Point C will be an edgy one. Seems that teams need to think their strategies over already on fridays and every run they make.
      But still, the tyres should be more durable this year, so a rule change in this corner would have been logic.

    3. I really wish they wouldn’t make ridiculous rules like (b), I see no benefit in punishing the top 10. And again they’ve made it better to qualify 11th than 10th.

      1. Agree…

  39. That autosport site is awesome… no more translations!!
    lol… good to see Ferrari fast again today… :) and the F1Today site is working fine… :)

    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81197

    http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2010/02/02/circuit-de-la-comunitat-valenciana/

  40. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:13.486

    kamui picking up the pace.

  41. why can’t they just stop with the changes!! It’s really getting ridiculous…

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 10:06

      Why can’t they stop? Because they’re trying to promote better racing. The reliance on aerodynamic grip and the freedom allowed with diffusers means that there is a serious risk that the sport will be down on overtaking. The teams are clearly trying to remedy that, even if the changes artifically promote overtaking.

      1. As you, I and others have noted though, the simpleast way to promote overtaking would be to decrease the amount of aero grip, making the cars more reliant on mechanical grip. Why no one within the sport seems to pick up on this, I just don’t know…

        Here’s a controversial idea. Why not limit the wings to single plane, do away with diffusers (as they stand) and go back gto either a flat-bottomed car (no plank) or even introduce limited ground effect? When the cars last had ground effect the cars weren’t especially fast in a straight line but at least they could follow each other into the corners.

        Do Indycars still have limited G.E.?

  42. Twitter is blocked at work :'(

    1. Try one of the web clients for twitter – Brizzly for example.

  43. Everyone has a timed lap behind his name, and all have around 12 laps done.
    Summary for now:”
    1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:12.227 Laps: 13
    2 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:13.161 Laps: 11
    5 K.Kobayashi Sauber 1:13.486 Laps: 10
    3 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.036 Laps: 11
    4 R.Kubica Renault 1:14.714 Laps: 13
    6 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:15.308 Laps: 12
    7 R.Barrichello Williams 1:15.493 Laps: 12

  44. Hopefully the new point system will encourage even more overtaking.

    1. I agree with that aspect… but having to use your quali tyre to start the race is like handicapping the top ten!
      We were all excited about low fuel qualifying again now with this rule it will make teams rethink it.. silly…

      1. What i dont understand about this rule isL What is stop a team puttin in their fast lap at the start of the session then change their tryes and simply cruise round?

        1. I need to recheck the wording, but I believe they have to start on the same set of tyres with which they set their fastest lap.

          Otherwise as you say they’d all go hell-for-leather until right at the last minute, come in, change tyres to the ones they want to start the race on and cruise round to do an installation run.

        2. Good point – I guess they won’t be allowed to use more then one set of tires in Q3.It will also lead to every car sitting in the pit untill last moment when they will go out and try to post fastest time on minimal ammount of fuel.

        3. Unless they make them use only one set of tyres in Q3. So they start Q3 on their race tyres, and aren’t allowed to change them until the first pitstop of the race.

          1. They’ll probably have to nominate the tyre they’re going to qualify on before the session starts, like it used to be with the fuel loads.

        4. It would be difficult to set the fastest time at the beginning of the Q3 when there is less rubber down on the track.

          You may use both compounds to set your times by. You may find that you actually go faster on the hard tyre!

  45. And massa sets a 1:11.722 :)

  46. massa is going fast
    F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:11.722 18 Laps

  47. the new kid on the block isn’t no slow coach! Kobayashi just put in a 1:13.486

  48. In suprised by the lack of speed by Barrichello yesterday, and also today.
    Keith or Andrew, anyone got a word about Williams only driving on higher volumes of petrol?

    1. that seems to be the number they put out there… 3-4 seconds back means more fuel… :)

      1. Also Barrichello said they weren’t running the Cosworth on full revs yesterday.

        1. Barichello said yesterday that they didn’t run Cosworth to full power as it was its first run on the track. Williams also tested with higher fuel loads according to Sam Michael.

          1. “Rubens is only doing long runs today on heavy tanks for race simulation work so don’t expect any really fast times!”

            Came straight off the williams twitter. A bit worrying though if they feel that they need to point it out!

  49. does anyone know the lap record on this track? massa is hammering that car!

    1. I believe 1:09..

      1. ah ok… know where near then. thanks.

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 10:10

      The official lap record is a 1:23.489, but lap recors cn only be set under race conditions. Massa isn’t even close to Anthony Davidson’s unofficial lap record – a 1:08.540

    3. Im doubting if this is not just hide and seek. If the car is not a 40 kilo’s of its legal weight. Simply because this car is so much quicker than the rest, whilst they announced that the car would be so slow.

    4. According to this http://www.autosport.com/f1/testing/ The fastest time was set by Anthony Davidson in a Honda in 2006 at 1:08.540

  50. 1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:11.722 +-.— 18
    2 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:13.161 +-.— 11
    5 K.Kobayashi Sauber 1:13.486 +-.— 10
    3 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.036 +-.— 11
    4 R.Kubica Renault 1:14.714 +-.— 13
    6 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:14.928 +-.— 19
    7 R.Barrichello Williams 1:15.493 +-.— 12

  51. 1. F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:11.722 18 pit
    2. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP W01 1:12.899 +1.177 17 pit
    3. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-25 1:13.161 +1.439 11 pit
    4. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:13.486 +1.764 10 pit
    5. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:14.714 +2.992 13 pit
    6. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:14.928 +3.206 19 pit
    7. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:15.493 +3.771 12 pit

  52. Why Massa and Kubica are wearing black helmets today?

    1. i think they are trying new helmets. could be for better aero or safety.

      1. Probably they are the new 2010 helmets by Bell. Upgraded and better fit on the head of the driver. Maybe some tweeks and gadgets added as well.

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 10:12

      It has to do with testing a new design, I think. I’d say they’re still the property of Bell or Schubert or Arai or whoever is running them, and that’s why neither helmet has their usual colours and both have only minimal team branding on them.

    3. “A man in black is driving the F10! No worries, he is Felipe! The Brazilian driver is using a new concept of helmet, prepared by Schubert.”… lol

      1. I thought Kubica, also in black, drove with a Bell helmet?
        Would that mean that both Schuberth and Bell both have new concept helmets?

  53. Hey guys here is some footage from yesterday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcNYJ3fPZBI&feature=related
    seems like it’s only till lunch time as schumacher is not shown there. Anyway it’s good to hear the engine sounds the first time :P

    1. there’s a second vid showing shumi… :)

      1. look up yossidlr on youtube… he has all the testing vids.. :)

    1. Erm…why? It all sounds pretty standard stuff, nothing to worry about in there.

    2. thats a good thing! looks like mclaren could be going back to the front where they belong! cant wait to see hamilton and jenson in the first race!!! :-D

      1. Ehrm, news for you. Their season ended on a high. They had a race winning car, so back to the front is not true. They where there before.

        1. yeah i no that but i mean fully on top!

    3. Q. So no green paint tomorrow?

      GP: You never know.

      Makes me quite nervous tbvh. Massive understeer, Button would like it.

    4. I really can’t manage to read anything in there. Standard PR “not telling anything and yet managing to speak for half an hour” thing.

  54. Schumi_the_greatest
    2nd February 2010, 10:21

    I dont think anyone needs to worry about mclaren too much, this time last year they were only ahead of force india in the times, now theyre behind ferrari and mercedes, id expect hamitlon to go much quicker later once hes familiar with the car and get closer to massa’s time (who lets face it has had a whole days running to optimise set up etc) plus only having 1 day worht of testing per driver im sure mclaren will be making sure hamilton tries every fuel load etc to get used to it all.

    times are more irrelevant than ever this year because of the fuel loads. ferrari looked good this time last year too…..

  55. 1. F. Massa (Ferrari) 1:11.722 (25v)
    2. K. Kobayashi (BMW Sauber) 1:12.384 (20v)
    3. N. Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 1:12.899 (20v)
    4. L. Hamilton (McLaren) 1:13.161 (11v)
    5. R. Kubica (Renault) 1:14.714 (22v)
    6. S. Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:14.928 (23v)
    7. R. Barrichello (Williams) 1:15.493 (13v)

  56. Kobayashi goes second fastest,+0.662 behind Massa’s 1:11.722.

    Surely they are running low on gas.

    1. What with not having any sponsor logos to slap on the car, I’m sure they’ve saved a few kilos in paint weight.

      1. Good point!

  57. They are doing a lot of laps. Buemi has more than yesterday allready. Sauber appears to be going quick.

    times: (11h24) – Hamilton and Rosberg now on track

    1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:11.722 +-.— 25
    2 K.Kobayashi Sauber 1:12.384 +-.— 20
    3 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:12.899 +-.— 20
    4 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:12.930 +-.— 11
    5 R.Kubica Renault 1:14.714 +-.— 22
    6 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:14.928 +-.— 23
    7 R.Barrichello Williams 1:15.493 +-.— 13

  58. Don’t know how much of a difference it will make, but make yourself heard on http://www.lgf1racingfansurvey.com – pretty exhaustive survey!

    1. That is awesome… I did it yesterday… although the only one that will listen will be LG.. FOM will just change the rules.. let us get excited about them… then change them again to kill that excitement.. I mean why have the fans be happy??.. lol

      1. lol… true, but with LG controlling significant moneybags, we can hope :).

    2. I remember the last F1 Racing/ING survey of 160 countries and 70,000 fans. Lewis came well top as the most popular driver and McLaren were the most popular team, and ever since then, many people have strived to prove how meaningless this exhaustive survey was.

      I wonder if this current one will be deemed meaningless if another driver proves to be the most popular.

  59. Is it too early to assume that Williams are well off the pace this year?

    1. It’s too early to assume anything… lol.. there probably on high fuel loads…

    2. True, but there has to be a reason for it that they seem these 2 days off pace. Thats what I asked for ;-)

      1. I did read somewhere that they ran the Cosworth engine quite a bit less than 100% yesterday, could just be that…or the engine could be rubbish.

        1. Lol. Well Cosworth doesnt have the engines yet homologated for 2010 as I understood?
          Because they are a new manufacturer they where allowed to test this winter before sealing off the engine by the FIA for the upcoming years.

          But thats what I understood from a television show. Any word on that one?

    3. It is way too early. Besides, just remember BMW 2 winters ago – they were dead last in testing and then they were third team at the start of the season. Not to mention how the BAR fared after dominating the ”winter championship”.

      Number of laps without problem – that is the only data you can rely on in testing.

  60. i recommend http://www.f1-direct.fr/live-essais-prives.php
    for a good combination of text and timing and scoring, works very well in google translate

  61. testing times: 11:45
    1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:11.722 +-.— 26
    2 K.Kobayashi Sauber 1:12.056 +-.— 20
    3 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:12.614 +-.— 15
    4 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:12.899 +-.— 20
    5 R.Kubica Renault 1.13.659 +-.— 22
    6 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:14.862 +-.— 23
    7 R.Barrichello Williams 1:15.493 +-.— 13

    Williams is standing still for a long time now, does anybody have a clue why?

  62. the others are doing longer stints now (Massa 9 laps, Hamilton 12)

  63. I have a feeling that Ferrari are more interested in how their car compares with last seasons car, rather than with the other new cars out on track.

  64. If the FIA forced teams to publish how much fuel they had on board at the start of each session. It would certainly make the testing a lot more meanigful and could feasibly become much more of an event. Do you think it would work?

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 11:19

      Do you think it would work?

      No, because it wouldn’t be very difficult for teams to look at everyones’ data, get a calculator and work out how well they are doing compared to one another.

      Testing is not an event, and nor should it be. It is just that – testing. It is for the teams and drivers to get acquainted with their cars and to gather data on how they are performing. The fact that multiple teams do it in the one location does not turn it into an “event”. They are not racing each other. The event gets media coverge because it is the first time the cars are fired up for the season, but testing was never intended for spectators, so perish the thought that you could somehow make an event of this. Because if you do, if you force the teams to compete against one another like that, you’re just turning it into another race.

      1. What is so bad about that?

        1. Prisoner Monkeys
          2nd February 2010, 11:28

          Um, it forces the teams to race when they need to concntrate on more important things, like testing their cars!

          1. However, surely every team would benefit from definitive knowledge of their relative speeds. Even if the fuel data is not published until after so it doenst become a race (eventhough i still fail to see why this is bad thing) i think it would make this whole thing much easier to follow for the less hardcore fan. I have found it next to impossible to explain to a fair weathered fan why practise times are almost irrelevant.

          2. Also if we all knew the relative pace of the cars, then where’s the excitement going into the first race of who’s going to be where?

          3. American_F1_Fan
            2nd February 2010, 18:52

            But non-hardcore fans don’t really follow testing. It’s only us nutbags here. :D

      2. Good one..!!!

      3. Well explained..!!!

  65. Bertie ask Bernie

  66. guys by popular demand autosport is delivering a LIVE COVERAGE!!!!!

    http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/172

  67. Thanks a TON curecat!!:-)

  68. starring kubica as darth vader

    http://twitpic.com/1108n3

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      2nd February 2010, 11:29

      Who’s posting these photos? Seriously, “Kubica ponders Renault’s poor lap times”? We know the team is concentrating on running heavy fuel loads. Are these people real journalists or not?

      1. man chill out,can’t you see thats a joke

  69. When does today’s test end?

  70. From Autosport:

    Massa and Barrichello currently doing long runs – Barrichello in the 1m14s, Massa in the 1m16s.

    1. This comparison encourages me as a Williams fan ;-)

  71. 1. F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:11.722 45 pit
    2. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:12.056 +0.334 29 pit
    3. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-25 1:12.614 +0.892 30 pit
    4. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP W01 1:12.899 +1.177 27 pit
    5. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:13.377 +1.655 40 pit
    6. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:13.659 +1.937 40 pit
    7. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:14.862 +3.140 41 pit

  72. Which teams and drivers will test tomorrow?

    1. I would imagine the same teams as today…

      Schumi on the Merc
      Button on the McL
      Alonso on the Ferrari
      Petrov for Renault
      Hulkenberg for Williams
      not sure about the other two

  73. Claire Williams (Frank’s daughter)

    “We aren’t 4 seconds behind Ferrari, just 1.5. And you can’t tell what fuel loads people are running!”

  74. still the same… it’s not the result that matters now.
    Dont know whats ferrari priority for now but for e.g. renault is testing (was testing yesterday) how brakes behave under massive load and usage also the suspension is tested because they want to gain information how to properly tweak it to the high amount of fuel.

    1. Agreed, Very few teams will be out there ‘performance testing’. The times currently mean nothing.

    1. JoeE’s posted flickr shots clearly show that Kubica is using a different model of helmet from yesterday. Note the transparent aero and ventilation add-ons on the black one. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the pro version of the youth Bell helmet we just ordered for my son. Ventilation is exactly the same.

  75. Does anyone know if we can pull the SQL data from the live timing tables and add it to F1F?

  76. Have posted some pictures from the test here:

    Pictures from today’s test

    I haven’t added them on this page because it’s getting so much traffic, I don’t want to make it slow down for everyone.

  77. hi anyone know witch how many fule go cars ??
    and when the USF1, Lotus, Virgin will be testing the cars ??

  78. BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt at Valencia: “I return from my special mission at McLaren HQ with news on the ‘fluminescent’ paint daubed along the side of the car. First of all, the team say there is ‘no cause for concern’. They have been using the paint, known as flow-viz, for periods during both days of testing but say it is completely normal and does not flag up underlying aerodynamic problems. Lewis Hamilton has returned to team HQ to say he’s happy with the car this morning while test driver Gary Paffett reported back that there was a close correlation between the data coming from the simulator and the track during his running on Monday.”

  79. Good news about the flow-viz in BBC coverage:

    BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt at Valencia: “I return from my special mission at McLaren HQ with news on the ‘fluminescent’ paint daubed along the side of the car. First of all, the team say there is ‘no cause for concern’. They have been using the paint, known as flow-viz, for periods during both days of testing but say it is completely normal and does not flag up underlying aerodynamic problems.

  80. Something has been bugging me, and I’m sorry if we’ve dealt with it already but I don’t have enough time to read through 750 odd comments that were made over the last 2 days! :-)

    From the pictures I’ve been looking at on f1.com and here it looks like some of the cars are running on wets. Is the track damp? Or is it some sort of optical illusion? Or is it an installation technique that the teams use that I have never heard of?

    1. Some of the teams did use grooved tires yesterday morning (notably, Sauber). The track was not damp. It’s possible that since they have a limited number of slicks, they ran their installation and system check laps on intermediates simply to save slicks for later.

  81. Hamilton on a faster stint in the 1:12’s

  82. Interesting quote from james allen “I’m an out and out McLaren fan but I have to say that the Ferrari looked in a class of it’s own today. The car looks really beautiful and poised. Massa did a great job and there was a real feel good factor that he was back and delivering. I sat on turn two for a couple of hours in the afternoon and the Ferrari wad definately breaking later and getting back on the power much earlier than any other car.

    1. Where was the quote from if you don’t mind me asking?
      I hope he’s right. It’s testing and still early but if true it’s good that they get a positive start.

    2. That wasn’t James Allen making that statement, it was someone called “Spencer” on jamesallenonf1.

  83. @steph90 – I have been following testing on scuderia.net also and it was posted there

  84. Sorry – just found that out myself.
    Jenson button has just arrived at the track ahead of testing tomorrow

  85. Thanks kem and Adrian :)

  86. Hamilton just did a 26-lap stint, consistently lapping in the 1:12s and 1:13s. Good. :)

    Anyone know how long Massa’s stint was when he set that 1:11.7?

    1. I thought he did just a couple of laps 5 max.
      Little Video :http://ow.ly/12WpY

  87. Any English feedback?

    1. Latest

      1.F. Massa Ferrari 1:11.722
      2.K. Kobayashi Sauber 1:12.056
      3.L. Hamilton McLaren 1:12.368
      4.N. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:12.899
      5.R. Barrichello Williams 1:13.377
      6.R. Kubica Renault 1:13.659
      7.S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:14.862

  88. Coming up soon peeps, just in case you’ve missed his dulcit tones recently ;)

    Jamesallenonf1 #f1 Will be talking about Valencia testing on TalkSport radio, 1089 MW at 1-45pm today.

    http://www.talksport.net

  89. Aich… Steph’s happy already ;) good good:-)

  90. News of the test seems rather slow today compared with yesterday….

  91. Well…suppose the cosworth really is the best on power and the worst on efficiency compared to other engines…and if williams manage to get their aero right… then williams will be at par with other teams during the race….but during low fuel qualifying…. the extra power of the cosworths should propel them to the front of the grid…. shouldn’t it?…. maybe that would make it interesting during races….the other teams may well have to do everything to overtake williams during races….

  92. Live timings are also being shown here:
    http://directo.thef1.es/tests
    But It’s in Spanish I believe.

  93. Hamilton 1:12.256

  94. Keith – can you find out the source of these live timing services?

    Maybe we could pull something together on an English site

    1. It’s a shame that we don’t have any English feed.

  95. If I’m not mistaken, R30 is significantly faster on heavy fuel load than others, probably due to lower fuel consumption, thus having smaller tank and lower weight. If Renault can tune the aerodynamics so the car would performe well on the low fuel load (qualification!), then we can have R30 among the front-runners really fast.

    1. We know nothing of fuel consumption or tyre wear. Probably the two most important parameters going into this season.

  96. Exactly….the R30 is good in heavy loads…but imagine a low fuel qualy where all teams will be running on the same amount of fuel…that too very little of it….that’s where the supposedly more powerful cosworth or the mercs would show their might.

    1. True, however Red Bulls last year proved, that with Renault engine and great aero-pack you can be at the front. Of course I don’t expect Renault to best Neway, but still the top 3 might be achievable at the end of the season.

  97. Kubica 1:14.720

    1. Yesterday he did 1:15, and he said that “he had never driven such a heavy car”, so 1:15 with full tank is kind of impressive.

  98. guys for goodness sake I have read all th posts in this thread……
    FORGET THE LAP TIMES!!!!!
    1st test of the season time mean NOTHING…even the Mclaren was fast in the 1st tests lat year.

    Wait test 3 and 4 before you start over analyzing sandbagged times..
    Why is a car in the pits for a long time?
    because they may have to move the pedals, bolt on a different part, tight a bolt, re-map engine software, try different springs and dampers…anything. I mean the car was just built they have no idea how it’s going to be after 10laps or so.

    Look at NR seat height and thats from the WCC!!!

    Mclaren love the vispro green paint so they have to add and remove that…

    On top of all the what and who is fastest crap…you got to love some of the BS headlines.
    Ferrari all ready making ‘b’ spec car, Hamilton on top again, williams struggling, massa flying….
    ^&%$&(^%(^%$*^$*&)^*%#$&)(*)(&(^^&%^^ (*&(&*^&*&%
    Bring back the old days when no one cared about pre season PLEASE….!

    1. Giuliano Vilela
      2nd February 2010, 14:37

      We don’t care about much about times, we’re all diffuser engineers now!

      1. Indeed, we’re watching the diffuser porn, as i quote from the internet community for this new word-catch LOL

    2. I know where your coming from but still we like to keep track of whats going on.

      its been months with nothing so anything, even pre season testing is good for me.

      I am not reading to much into the times, am just annoyed that for 2 years now we have only had spanish sites giving imes.

      Its a real pain. I just need to know the source and an english site will come :)

      1. I am excited at least we are having some action.

      2. How about the autosport.com live ticker? ;)

        http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/172

    3. I was thinking if the Ferrari is carrying an extra appendix above the air intake doesnt it make its lap times nonsensical?

      1. Yeah I thought that too, surely it would affect it by as much as a tenth? It’s pretty tall and not too slim.

  99. Diagram of the mclaren diffuser here http://twitpic.com/110v1j

  100. AP, if you don’t like the pre-season why are you posting on its topic?

    Just don’t read 3 pages worth of comments if it bothers you so much… It kinda sounds like a petty argument from you, imho…

    I don’t think that pre-season usually tells much either, but at least it’s exciting to watch the developments. Either way, it says almost as much as the usual 1st free practice times, and people still watch and comment them.

    Either way, last year the pre-season was able to show us that the mclaren was as fast as a boat on wheels, and the brawn was a winner, so don’t be so acid. :)

    1. lol
      It well over the top this year….

      “Either way, last year the pre-season was able to show us that the mclaren was as fast as a boat on wheels, and the brawn was a winner, so don’t be so acid.”

      yep after test #2 for the mclaren and test #4 for brawn, get my point?
      ______

      “AP, if you don’t like the pre-season why are you posting on its topic?”

      ummm I do and have done for years…with out wetting myself when ever LH or MS enters the track and does a 3lap sprint and sets the fastest lap at the end of the day.

      quiet now ok! go debate a fence post instead :)

      Just joking mate…. :)

  101. fantasticplanet
    2nd February 2010, 14:41

    I think the drivers are going all out on the bolted on equipment; basically, I believe they’re working with what they have. I believe it’s different this year because of last years fiasco with the Brawn dominating in the early season most teams don’t want a repeat and are evaluating their cars. I realize they want to keep their ultimate start set ups secret but what advantage does it give to the competitors when they can’t be cognizant of their own abilities weighed against their competitors? If anyone innovates it’ll be copied by the 2nd or 3rd race. It doesn’t make sense to sandbag their times by too much, I think it makes more sense to run the cars to their limit with the equipped set ups and collect data for further development, otherwise- why not just spend the extra time in the wind tunnel.

    In summation, I think their top times are probably indicators of how fast they can be on certain set ups but you can’t conclude how fast they will be when that’s coupled with fuel consumption or reliability.

  102. For a bit of fun, I went to the Live GP site, used Google to translate the text, and then filtered it for all the Hamilton / McLaren lines, and put them in time order:

    09:10 Pilots will be on track today are: Ferrari: Felipe Massa, Mercedes: Nico Rosberg, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Williams Rubens Barrichello, Renault, Robert Kubica, Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi and BMW Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi
    09:25 There were some small changes yesterday. Indeed, McLaren, Gary Paffett has been replaced by the World Champion 2008, Lewis Hamiton. And the side of Sauber, Pedro de la Rosa will be replaced by Kobayashi.
    09:35 This is the first time today that Lewis Hamilton will rise in the McLaren MP4/25.
    09:53 There should be a nice battle between Hamilton and Massa on the track.
    10:00 Yesterday the best time was made by Felipe Massa in his Ferrari F10 in 1:12.574. Who can beat that time today? Hamilton, Rosberg, Kubica, … ?
    10:05 Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Buemi and Kobayashi are on track.
    10:10 Hamilton, Barrichello, Kubica, Buemi and Kobayashi returned to the pits.
    10:13 Lewis Hamilton leaves his car to give his first impressions of the new MP4/25.
    10:16 We hope that Lewis Hamilton does not fall victim again to racist insults from the fans who support the Spanish double world champion Fernando Alonso.
    10:16 We were unable to see past the diffuser McLaren. Indeed, yesterday we had announced that McLaren could be a broadcaster to see quatruple three floors. We will try to have the first pictures today.
    10:26 Hamilton comes into the runway.
    10:27 1:16.681 for Hamilton. It was his first lap aboard the new MP4/25.
    10:32 Lewis Hamilton has improved his time 1:13.874
    10:33 Hamilton improved his time 1:13.161
    10:42 Massa and Hamilton return to booth.
    11:10 Here is the link to see the broadcaster McLaren http://www.sutton-images.com/preview.asp?filename=dmk1001fe502.jpg
    11:23 Kobayashi returns to stand while Lewis Hamilton back on track in time attack Massa.
    11:27 Hamilton improved his time to 1:12.930
    11:38 Kobayashi and Hamilton out of the stands.
    11:43 Hamilton improved his time to 1:12.614
    11:45 Massa, Hamilton and Kobayashi are the only ones currently on the runway.
    11:54 Massa and Hamilton are on track.
    11:57 Hamilton also returned to the stand after 12 laps.
    12:30 Hamilton comes into the runway.
    12:32 Hamilton, Rosberg and Barrichello are on track.
    12:40 Hamilton comes into the runway.
    12:45 1:12.593 for Hamilton.
    12:46 Hamilton further improves his time in 1:12.508
    12:48 Kubica rolled in 1:14 while Hamilton turns in 1:12. His times are very regular.
    12:50 Hamilton is the only track as Kubica has just returned to the booth.
    12:54 Hamilton returns to the stand McLaren.
    12:56 Hamilton returned to the stand after 8 laps.
    13:28 Hamilton leaves the pits.
    13:31 Hamilton turns to 1:18 ET Kubica rolls 1:14
    13:33 Hamilton 1:13.470 achieved in its last lap.
    13:35 Hamilton 1:12.491 to improve his time of day.
    13:39 1:12.350 for Hamilton.
    13:40 Hamilton turns regular 1:12
    13:42 Hamilton is on a relay of 20 laps. He improves his time lap after lap.
    13:44 Hamilton has already done 10 laps 20.
    13:56 Hamilton will soon have completed his 20 laps. He turns in 1:13. The pace of the MP4/25 in the race is very encouraging.
    14:00 Hamilton has now done over 20 laps. He is still on track and it rolls in 1:12
    14:01 Hamilton and Barrichello are on track.
    14:03 Hamilton is back at the booth after 26 laps.
    14:10 Barrichello returns to the stand after 20 laps. Unlike Hamilton, which turned into 1:12, Barrichello turned into 1:17. However, we do not know the quantities of species embedded in the cars.
    14:18 At the press conference, McLaren and Ferrari have declared that they were rolling with about 100 kg of fuel while the other teams have embarked only 60 kg. Intox?
    14:35 Lewis Hamilton jumps on the track. It is followed by German Nico Rosberg.
    14:38 For his part, Hamilton turns in 1:12
    14:41 Hamilton improved his best time in 1:12.256
    14:43 Hamilton 2 tenths behind Kobayashi and 5 tenths on Massa.
    14:45 Hamilton in 1:13.115 for his final lap.
    14:48 Hamilton is still on track.
    14:48 Kobayashi came into the pits while Hamilton and Rosberg continued their testing
    14:50 Hamilton is on track for 18 laps.
    14:50 Rosberg has a similar program in Hamilton.
    14:54 1:13.262 for Hamilton.
    15:00 Hamilton, Rosberg and Buemi are still on track.
    15:02 Hamilton enters the pits after a long run of laps.
    15:10 Some parts have been changed on the McLaren MP4/25 Hamilton.

    PS I wrote some code to do some of this, so I can easily do another update later in the day if anyone is interested. I can also filter for other drivers / teams easily.
    PPS At time of writing, Hamilton has done 95 laps!

    1. I love dodgy translations:

      “McLaren could be a broadcaster to see quatruple three floors”

      Quadruple three floor? That sounds like quite a diffuser.

      “Rosberg has a similar program in Hamilton”

      Is that legal?!

      “Barrichello turned into 1:17. However, we do not know the quantities of species embedded in the cars.”

      Sounds like the new Williams might be a zoo on wheels…

      1. lol! its official, google translate is s**t

    2. I did laugh when I saw the 09:35 when it first appeared, the Mclaren surely cant be that good.

  103. Who here thinks that McLaren is screwed?

    1. Well…you. Obviously.

    2. yeah probs just you. its only the 2nd day…

    3. Not me. Why would you be worried? Oh, is it because of a little paint?

    4. Will you be looking for mercedes conspiracies if they are?

  104. dont panic man, look at the car, its quick. Im sure they’ll be challenging for the win in bahrain

  105. From f1-direct.fr – “In terms of speed of the McLaren MP4/25 is the fastest in all sectors. 201.5 km / h average of McLaren and 196.5 km / h for Ferrari”

    1. I guess they’re talking about fastest sector times for each car, not average sector times – I presume the “average” is the fastest average speed for the sectors.

      On a side note, it would be interesting to know the average lap times for the whole day. Probably more meaningful than the fastest lap time.

      1. I saw this on Live Gp site an Iam 99% sure it said average speed through the sectors.

  106. F1-direct are also reporting that mercedes are using the front wing and diffuser from last year which may account for them being slower

  107. Giuliano Vilela
    2nd February 2010, 15:21

    Anyone knows if the 8 engines rule takes into account these testings?

    1. No, not until the first Saturday at Bahrain.

      Do not forget that there are now 19 races this season!

  108. We know nothing of tyre wear or fuel consumption. Probably the two most important parameters going into this season.

  109. Alonso has been spotted in the Ferrari garage

  110. Just to complete the days running an overview of times and laps done today:
    1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:11.722 +-.— 102
    2 K.Kobayashi Sauber 1:12.056 +-.— 77
    3 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:12.256 +-.— 95
    4 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:12.899 +-.— 92
    5 R.Barrichello Williams 1:13.377 +-.— 77
    6 R.Kubica Renault 1.13.659 +-.— 102
    7 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:14.862 +-.— 81

  111. Most of them could have probably gone quicker. Hamilton did his best time on lap 2 or 3 of a 23 lap stint.

  112. BBC reports “Finally, Nico Rosberg noses ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher in the battle of the Mercedes. Rosberg sets a 1:12.899 lap, which sneaks him ahead of Schumacher’s 1:12.947 from Monday”

  113. It’s remarkable that the major component failure happened only to one car (Buemi) so far.

    1. I think this highlights how mature (within the current rules) the technology on the mechinal side is. And that the major area of devlopment is aero, which should have very little impact on reliability.

      1. Thanks for the enlightenment Bertie

        1. That said, the first engine failure on robert’s renault. On day 2

          1. Not sure but maybe just ran out of fuel? he was setting quick times and it was near the end of the session after all.

          2. Hope they weren’t running a race distance simulation…

  114. Quick times probably going to come now. Kubica improves to a 1m12.643 to go fourth quickest

  115. Kubica sets a 1.12.501.

  116. Kubica improves again to 1m12.426s – still fourth quickest

    1. OMG Ferrari’s in trouble!!!

      1. I am an idiot.

  117. 16.44 and Hamiltons car is absolutely covered in Flo-Vis paint again

    1. any pics as i cant find any at all.

      just the one showing a little of the paint running out of the DD

      1. I have just got home from todays tests, unfortunately I can’t be there tomorrow but I have got about 500 hi-res photos to take of my camera in the morning, Including some corking pictures of the flo-vis all over the car.

        I will post a link to the whereabouts of the best ones in the morning

    2. Could be for anything, not worried yet….!

    3. Check out a use for Helium apart from talking like a chipmunk

      http://www.theengineer.co.uk/news/go-with-the-flow/310055.article

      1. Fascinating, thanks for that. Lots of other good articles there too.

  118. what the….?

    “Latest technical new US F1 to fit radical gearbox to Type 1: F1 2010: American team to fit transverse gearbox to i… http://bit.ly/d9Sj1v

    1. Interesting, thanks for that.

      Lots of teams in the 90’s were using transverse gearbox solutions. One advantage is in allowing better weight distribution variation (you have more room to move ballast front-to-back now). It might also help with shortening the wheelbase.

  119. I like the way that flowviz takes shape along the air flow…its beautiful

  120. hm… problems for kubica at renault…

    ‘Kubica has stopped on the start-finish straight, right next to his team ‘

  121. The US F1 article says the full design will be revealed in the magazine on the 12th of feb…so the car is being launched before that….

    1. surely you can have a design but the car not ready yet?

  122. I would like to ask about the purpose of that flow-viz thing. Is it to detect aero problem or is it to solve the problem that seems they’re doesn’t got a clue exactly what it is?

    1. I actually like the idea of using a fluorescent liquid to see air flow pattern (air being… liquid!). If they have a guy who can make sense of it all, it’s a technic that ought to be used. Served them well last year. Hopefully, they don’t have the same mountain to climb this year around.

      1. I don’t mean air is a liquid, just that air or liquid, the important part here is both act as fluids :)

        1. yeah, they obviously got their inspiration from this: http://windvane.umd.edu/images/fa_gmwt-oil-flow.jpg

    2. Probably to compare airflow in an actual test with windtunnel and CFD results.

      1. I agree. Since they had it from the very first day, I’d think they just want to double-check. After using it so much last year, they might consider it to be “just another tool” now… even if some headless chickens out there start screaming that the sky is falling on McLaren.

      2. So it’s probably they are not quite sure if the CFD and wind tunnel calculation is accurate enough?? well that’a a blow

        1. Never mind my comment. it’s just their “radical design, push to the extreme limit” statement are giving the fans bit of expectation. suddenly now those statement is two edged sword. worried if the radical approach to the design could backfire

        2. I don’t think so.. I think like they said before, it is just another tool they can work with. It works last year to turn a dog of a car into a winner, so… why not to make a good car better?

        3. I’m not an expert, but I would imagine that you need to do constant calibrations to ensure that the results from the wind tunnel and CFD and real world match up. Once you get all the data to match up then your in business and away you go with your radical updates.

          I also assume (based only on guessing) that most teams will be concentrating on understanding tyres and fuel levels at this point. I’m assuming that they will want as many stable variables as they can so that they can understand fuel and tyres. That would mean very few aero changes through the test session, and possibly using some old parts that they understand (I heard a rumour that Mercedes are using 2009 wings). You’d also want the driver to be consistent and not really be going all out to improve their time.

          I’m not an expert so maybe they are so smart in formula 1 that these days they can change all the settings on the car and change the wing settings and still understand what’s going on with the tyres and fuel. I kind of doubt that though. If you read the driver and team member interviews after day 1 they were basically all saying that they could draw no conclusions from the times. I’m going to read the day 2 interviews and see if the story has changed for today. I’m assuming it won’t have though.

          :-)

    3. I would imagine there looking for turbelence in the airflow over the surface which will show itself as rippling, plus flow vis appearing where it shoudnt.

  123. Final standing from autosports

    Massa 1m11.722;
    Kobayashi 1m12.056;
    Hamilton 1m12.256;
    Kubica 1m12.426;
    Rosberg 1m12.899;
    Barrichello 1m13.377;
    Buemi 1m13.823

  124. Based on the times so far, the whole field is separated by only 2 secs right now, even taking in account the different fuelloads. That promises some tight racing!

    1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:11.722 +-.— 124
    2 K.Kobayashi Sauber 1:12.056 +-.— 96
    3 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:12.256 +-.— 108
    4 R.Kubica Renault 1:12.426 +-.— 119
    5 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:12.899 +-.— 119
    6 R.Barrichello Williams 1:13.377 +-.— 102
    7 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:13.823 +-.— 107

  125. You’re the reason CPR, Mclaren always use it to see the airflow, also have to remember that they are not run TEST to exit 1. If they are to test the car. And many Internet sites that are supporting SPANISH Alonso and Ferrari (as thef1.com) and come out saying that is bad and have problems that is entirely an error.

  126. Can we see the ideal lap for each driver??? you know… best sectors and stuff?

    1. Hopefully we’ll get some more info later, but here’s a quote from earlier in the day:

      “In terms of speed of the McLaren MP4/25 is the fastest in all sectors. 201.5 km / h average of McLaren and 196.5 km / h for Ferrari”

      Personally though, I think average lap times over the whole day might well be more revealing (particularly if we can remove the more anomalous ones).

      The BBC have a post with some ideal lap times for testing on day 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sarahholt/2010/02/schumacher_shows_his_class.html

  127. Is it possible, that Kubica just ran out of fuel at the end of his stint? He did his fastest lap just before that.

    1. Certainly possible, probable even.

    2. If that was his ‘low fuel’ speed… then renault have some catching up to do, seeing that the others were able to set times in that region w/o feeding the engine fumes

    3. I was wondering that too. It would be a total disaster to run out of fuel 2 laps before the end of the race, so I assume they’d want to test exactly how far they can go on their tank, and what happens to the car when it runs out of fuel.

  128. spanish senora
    2nd February 2010, 16:31

    We were lucky to be in Valencia today. Beautiful day.
    I can only say that the Ferrari looked and sounded ‘hot’. Not sure about the bar code on its fin.
    Lewis looked like he was happy to be back but he spent quite a bit of time in the garage?
    The Brawn Mercedes is ‘dull’. If the weather conditions are bad you wont see it. Awful livery. Also very farty on gear change deceleration but it wasn’t the only one.
    Kobyashi looked fast in the new Sauber.
    Kubica appeared to be pushing the Renault hard although his times weren’t great.
    Apologies for lack of technical detail but this is from a female point of view.

    1. HounslowBusGarage
      2nd February 2010, 19:11

      Lol
      “very farty on gear change deceleration ”
      that’s all the detail we need!
      Thanks for that, Spanish Senora.

    2. “Apologies for lack of technical detail but this is from a female point of view.”

      o.
      m.
      g.

      1. spanish senora
        2nd February 2010, 20:35

        Sorry you weren’t impressed guys!! I’m just a stupid female who is more concerned with the colour of a car than whats under the bonnet. But I am a F1 fan!!

        1. Hey, don’t call yourself stupid, because you’re not!

        2. we would love to have a girl who is a F1 fan.. we lacked glamour.

  129. Great picture of the McLaren diffusor with paint stains on it: http://www.thef1.com/galerias/test/2010-test-cheste-02-02?c_start=38

    1. wow. great picture. i’m not technical, but i would have imagined that the green lines would be quite straight as the air flys out quickly. its all wobbly at the top though. i wonder what that means?

      It’s also a cool picture because you can see their weird opening thing above the diffuser. i hadn’t realised that there is also a split in the car back there which is obviously doing something interesting.

      Another thing i noticed in the pics today that i hadn’t really seen before is that directly below the nose there is another bit splitting the airflow. …Interesting.

      …Of course i have no clue what it all does because for some reason they didn’t teach me advanced aerodynamics during GCSE science. …shame.

  130. For now, the biggest surprise is Sauber’s performance… if it continues that way, it’ll be the second year in a row in which a manufacturer had a terrible year, decided to withdraw, and then sold its remains to an independent team (in this case the former owner), just to see it perform much better than they did the year before!

    1. In this case it might have more to do with the sponsors they want to get on board, as Peter Sauber said after the presentation.

      1. Is it really that much of a surprise? The rate of progress BMW made last year after they ditched kers was substantial, as were their pre-2009 performance increases.

        I was half expecting them to produce a quick one this year until they decided to leave, looks like they still put a lot of effort into the 2010 car! I’m hopeful for a good season for Sauber this year!

  131. Can’t agree. Kubica made his best time 5 laps before the failure and he had fuel for another 5.

  132. better image of the green fluid on the mclaren diffuser http://twitpic.com/111fhy

  133. http://www.confidential-renault.fr/?id=464

    one of the Renualt’s fan-sites states it fuel-burning test, so Kubica ran out of gas deliberately. Still, 0,7s to Massa is not a bad time. Plenty of space for improvement though.

  134. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8493706.stm

    Quotes from Hamilton: It’s a different feeling compared to the first lap of the first test day of 2009. It’s a positive feeling. I’ve kept a close eye on the development of this car. I’ve seen it evolve and had input into it which is very exciting. I got out smiling. The problems I had [last year] I don’t have in this car. The encouraging thing [about the new car] is the reliability. We’ve not really had many problems so that’s a huge bonus for us.

    I also saw this quote from him on twitter (via adamcooperf1): It was a night and day different feeling compared to the first lap on the first test day in 2009

  135. fantasticplanet
    2nd February 2010, 19:57

    Haha, there’s a picture of Schumi on a bicycle, it’s a Colnago, I guess he still prefers Italian rides…

  136. I dont know if this is the same stuff, but if so, i didn’t know renault used the paint too.

    http://twitpic.com/111fda

    1. by same stuff i meant the flourescent paint thingy.

  137. Anyone noticed the ‘Hybrid Power’ logo on the Williams car? Flywheel anyone? Or something else explainable? ;)

  138. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31HVhvZyOJ4
    Photo from second day test F1 Valencia!

  139. I have to say it… come on Felipe baby…

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