The Mclaren's fastest time seemed to be competative and only just slower than the red bull but Jenson Button has said that there isnt much improvement and also there are a few reliability issues with the exhaust system that is wasting even more milage. But there are more upgrades to come for the other 3 days
Lotus on track already this morning with Jarno Trulli at the wheel. I thought it seemed really early until I remember Spain is on European time!
Got some pictures of the F150 on the track. The car is running the new exhaust, new floor, new rear wing but old front wing. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Vettel posted a 1:22.726 from a 3 lap run, which I'm guessing must approximate to a qualifying run. Pole last year at Barcelona was Webber with a 1:21.412, so we're over a second slower based on that. Fastest race lap last time round was 1:24.357 from Hamilton, about 3 seconds off quali time. Looking at the laps so far today, Massa is second so far with a 1:24.878. If thats on race fuel, you'd have to say the Ferrari is faster, but if that is meant to be any kind of quali time, Red Bull are going to run away with it this year. Although obviously, we don't know enough about the fuel in either car to be certain-but speculating is fun!
1. Vettel Red Bull Racing RB7 1:21.865 58 laps 2. Petrov Lotus Renault GP R31 1:22.670 + 0.805 42 laps 3. Massa Ferrari F150th 1:23.324 + 1.459 53 laps 4. Buemi Toro Rosso STR6 1:23.838 + 1.973 77 laps 5. di Resta Force India VJM-04 1:24.334 + 2.469 47 aps 6. Kobayashi Sauber C30 1:25.485 + 3.620 67 laps 7. Rosberg Mercedes GP W02 1:26.120 + 4.255 55 laps 8. Hamilton McLaren MP4-26 1:28.946 + 7.081 39 laps 9. D'Ambrosio Virgin Racing MVR-02 1:28.982 + 7.117 42 laps 10. Trulli Lotus F1 T128 1:29.286 + 7.421 39 Laps 11. Maldonado Williams FW33 5 Laps Interesting, HRT have delayed their new car till friday now
Final times: 1 Vettel Red Bull 1m21.865s 2 Buemi Toro Rosso 1m22.396s +0.531 3 Petrov Renault 1m22.670s +0.805 4 Hamilton McLaren 1m22.888s +1.023 5 Massa Ferrari 1m23.324s +1.459 6 Di Resta Force India 1m24.334s +2.469 7 Kobayashi Sauber 1m24.436s +2.571 8 Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.807s +3.942 9 Trulli Lotus 1m26.090s +4.225 10 Maldonado Williams 1m26.989s +5.124 11 D'Ambrosio Virgin 1m28.982s +7.117
Has anyone heard anything about who's KERs devices are working well and who are having problems with it?
Ferrari's best time was set on what looked like a quali run. Either Massa buggered it up and they didn't try again, they were carrying some fuel for some reason, or the update's have made the car slower/they don't understand how to set them up yet. The McLaren had some issues today and their fastest time was just faster than yesterday. Red Bulls time was much faster than yesterday and is potentially near their ultimate 1 lap speed.
Lewis has already started banging on in todays interview of the team "pushing", always a bad sign. He winds me up sometimes. This year is increasing looking like a RB lock out. I'm even half hoping Ferrari and Massa can put up a challenge just to ease the expected tedium and the RB love in from DC. God I feel poorly even thinking about him commentating this season.
Webber's pole time here last year was 1:19.995. Vettel was 1.9s off of that, if you take four tenths off (he did a five lap stint) he's just a second and a half behind. Everyone was saying it would be about 2s so that's a quick lap, even if they were holding nothing back. I think Ferrari will be very close, if not slightly ahead, come Australia though. I think the top three will be the same as last year, Vettel, Alonso and Webber (in that order as well). The rest is anyone's guess though.
Morning all, heavy rain forcasted for Saturday. Potentially some proper wet testing for the teams testing that day, get to see what the Pirelli full wet rubber is like. Alguersuari the early leader this morning on 1:26.046 mid way through a 8 lap run.
9:15 update Perez is now fasted on a 1:26.012 performed on a 5 lap run. It has been reported that today is the best day so far weather and track wise so we should see some improved times later on today.
Can teams switch to test on Saturday instead of tomorrow? I think they'd all like to get some wet running under their belts otherwise they'll be really up against it come the first wet race.
Impressive stints from both teams. The modest drop offs would suggest they're on the soft rather than supersoft and both had an extra four laps of fuel after the quick lap. I really think it's touch and go between Ferrari and Red Bull. I can't wait to find out, why did Bahrain have to be cancelled, this is killing me.
I think they only have the softs and hards available to them at this test. Its the two compounds they will have for the first few races anyway. Track temperature is up to 30 degrees now, so results should be more insightful.
11:15am update 1 Perez Sauber 1m22.042s 2 Webber Red Bull 1m22.466s +0.424 3 Massa Ferrari 1m22.840s +0.798 4 Petrov Renault 1m24.233s +2.191 5 Sutil Force India 1m24.334s +2.292 6 Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1m24.779s +2.737 7 Barrichello Williams 1m24.919s +2.877 8 Schumacher Mercedes 1m25.779s +3.737 9 D'Ambrosio Virgin 1m29.410s +7.368 10 Trulli Lotus 1m34.485s +12.443 Perez's run looks to be on minimum fuel. Webber and Massa seem to be matching each other on the longer runs.
Perez, damn. I'd love it if their pace was genuine, it would be great to see them grabbing podiums (I think victories will be beyond them) and Kobayashi mixing it with the front runners. I bet the last thing any of the title contenders would want is to be qualifying alongside Kobayashi.
Is anyone worried about Lotus? I was hoping they'd join the midfield but the car looks as if it lack pace and reliability, they're obviously going to be nowhere near Sauber or STR and I don't think they'll be up to Force India either. It could be very boring at the back again. I can't see a "new" team picking up a point.
