Posts tagged Ferrari
Spa Francorchamps – My favourite
Aug 26th
It’s been a long time between posts. Too long infact. I have not been regularly updating this blog due to a lot of other commitments in my life. The free time I do have is dedicated to other tasks. I mentioned in a previous post that I don’t plan on reporting post race, every race and reporting on quali, etc etc, instead I feel the need to just treat this blog as an outlet to share my love and passion for Formula1 with you. It is fitting then that I start the new era of this blog on the leadup to my favourite Grand Prix of the year…Spa!
After a long mid-season break we finally return to racing this Sunday in Belgium.
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has what is arguably the most famous corner in Formula1…Eau Rouge. I love sitting down with a good glass of wine, watching the modern F1 cars completely flat through this corner as it then rises into valley and launches them into the Kemmel straight.
So what should we expect this weekend from the top teams? RedBull still clearly have an edge over their rivals. The F-Duct however will prove to be important here. McLaren clearly have a top straight line speed advantage over the RB6 and that should play out well for them at Spa. However, there are a lot of corners of medium and medium-fast speed that will very much suit the superior handling and grip of the RB6.
Ferrari are very strong again. The revised front wing has paid for them and in the last race we saw a very strong finish for Fernando and Massa (2nd & 4th place). Ferrari should also be on pace and could very easily outpace either RedBull or McLaren.
Personally I think RedBull have the edge, but Mark Webber has got a very difficult task ahead of him with drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso nipping at his heels. Webber’s lead over Hamilton in the championship is only 4 points and his car is not streaks ahead of them in performance.
Mark has traditionally enjoyed Spa and has had decent results here in the past, but i’m sure he knows his toughest rival is his team mate. IQualifying (as always) will be very important for the RedBull drivers as passing each other on track will be near impossible (unless it is played out through pit strategy). So there for the first RedBull driver through turn1 will (barring any collisions or breakdowns) remain the leading RedBull driver.
Some of the most memorable overtaking moves have happened at Spa. Who could forget the scarp Hakkinen and Schumacher had at Spa in 2000! Here is the video for those who forgot:
This season is one of the most exciting seasons I can remember in recent times. We have had many changes in the championship leader (granted this is in part due to the points chanegs) and we also have a full grid with new teams and a bunch of new drivers. We have multiple world champions and there is no clear leader, like the “senna” ere followed by the “schumi” era. This is the era of multiple champions, maybe similar to the days of Hill, Moss, Clarke, Brabham, etc. We may be seeing a return to the old days of Formula1 where anyone could be a winner!
Friday Practice also co-incides with my Birthday this year. I plan on being glued to practice and have butterflies hanging out for Quali. With such a long break all the drivers are itching to go racing again and with Spa being a favourite circuit amoungst the majority of them, it’s sure to be a cracking weekend!
For those of you on twitter, try following @f1livetweets. If you step away from the tele or can’t catch the race, you can follow the action lap-by-lap.
Three on the Trot for Webber in Turkey
May 29th
Mark Webber has bagged a qualifying hatrick by claiming pole postion for the Turkish Grand Prix.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing this weekend for the Aussie. On Friday an engine failure in practice was played down by the team but it did mean less time on track for Mark. The during 3rd practice on Saturday Mark had a issue with the throttle system on the RedBull which saw him crawl back to the pits under idle and not record a time.
Vettel was a step ahead of Mark, recording better times during Q1 and Q2 however Sebastian locked a front wheel in the dying stages of Q3 and lost time, as a result he lost time and only narrowly finished in p3 splitting both the Mclarens. Mark had an excellent final run in Q3, lighting up the middle sector purple. He managed to beat Lewis hamilton to pole by more then .1 of a second.
Fernando Alonso had a dreadful day, making a mistake in Q2 and unable to recover he was knocked out and will start tomorrows race from 12th position. It continues a string of bad luck for Fernando who was forced to start from pitlane in Monaco due to a heavy crash in practice. Filepe Massa however was able to get his Ferrari into the top ten and will start from 8th place for the race.
Hamitlon was 2nd and Button 4th, making it an all RedBUll and Mclaren front two rows. Lewis Hamitlon said he believes they are in a good position tomorrow, claiming he felt the McLaren had very good race pace. Lewis noted it was a boot for the team and that he expects their pace to improve further when more ‘bits’ arrive for the car in the coming races. With Lewis Hamilton notoriously quick off the line it will be a made dash to turn1 with the Briton now doubt expecting he can beat Webber through the first turn.
Sebastian Vettel was upset about the front left wheel of his car. He said he locked the front wheel briefly under brakes, which usually wouldn’t be much of an issue, however the wheel for some reason stayed locked up and as a result he ran wide. Vettel spent some time inspecting the car as it was parked in parc’ ferme and was clearly not happy with his Q3 performance. He was quicker then Mark in the earlier session and no doubt was expecting to claim pole in Turkey, let alone be starting from the 2nd row.
The Big shock of the day was Michael Schumacher who bottom out int he high speed left hander and as a result lost control of his Mercedes. Schumacher had to park the car and is now left with enormous flatspots on his tyres. Michael will have to start the race on his damaged tyres, but since he recorded a time earlier in Q3 before his spin, he will start the race from 5th place just ahead of his team mate Nico.
The complete time sheet from all the sessions is below:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:27.500 1:26.818 1:26.295 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.667 1:27.013 1:26.433 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:27.067 1:26.729 1:26.760 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.555 1:27.277 1:26.781 5. Schumacher Mercedes 1:27.756 1:27.438 1:26.857 6. Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.649 1:27.141 1:26.952 7. Kubica Renault 1:27.766 1:27.426 1:27.039 8. Massa Ferrari 1:27.993 1:27.200 1:27.082 9. Petrov Renault 1:27.620 1:27.387 1:27.430 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.158 1:27.434 1:28.122 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:27.951 1:27.525 12. Alonso Ferrari 1:27.857 1:27.612 13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.147 1:27.879 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.534 1:28.273 15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.336 1:28.392 16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.460 1:28.540 17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:28.227 1:28.841 18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:28.958 19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.237 20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.519 21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.744 22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:31.266 23. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:31.989 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:32.060
Alonso top of both Thursday practice sessions
May 14th
Alonso in Monaco - Image © 2010 ZumaPress All rights reserved.
Fernando Alonso was in perfect for in Monaco and kept his Ferrari at the top of the time sheet through both practice sessions on Thursday.
The Ferrari looked great around the iconic streets circuit and seemed to have the edge over the RedBulls on the tight slow corners. RedBull may have been struggling with the super softs a little bit, granted not as much as they did last year on slow circuits, however the edge the team had in Spain last weekend doesn’t appear to be there on a street circuit like Monaco.
After finishing Practice1 out of the top 10 and spending a large amount of the practice time out of the car due to repair on a suspension issue, Nico Rosberg went out in Practice2 and put in some incredible laps, quickly smashing Michael’s time and pipping Sebestian Vettel to claim the second fastest time in the session.
Sebastian Vettel clearly had the pace on Thursday, finishing 2nd in Practice1 and 3rd in Practice2, there is every chacne Vettel could find more Pace on Saturday and is obviously a favourite along side Alonso to take Pole. Mark however did not have the same kind of pace his team mate had. Mark looked good in Practice one finishing the session in 4th place, Robert Kubica just splitting the two RedBulls. However in the second practice session he finished 10th just behind Buttons Mclaren.
The McLarens looked pretty low key and also seemed to lack a bit of pace around Monaco. Hamilton and Button came P7 and P8 in practice1 and continued their casual form in the 2nd practice session to record the 7th and 9th fastest times.
Friday is a rest day in Monaco and the circuit will be open again to public traffic.
There is rain predicted for Quali on Saturday and for the race. It appears to be a Vettel-Alonso fight for pole, however we will know more ofter the Final practice session on Saturday just ahead of quali.
below are the times for both Thursday sessions:
Practice1:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1:15.927 31 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:16.000 + 0.073 26 3. Kubica Renault 1:16.016 + 0.089 28 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.382 + 0.455 24 5. Massa Ferrari 1:16.517 + 0.590 29 6. Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.589 + 0.662 21 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.647 + 0.720 32 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.692 + 0.765 29 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.805 + 0.878 23 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.857 + 0.930 30 11. Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.149 + 1.222 14 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.331 + 1.404 28 13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:17.704 + 1.777 26 14. Petrov Renault 1:17.718 + 1.791 38 15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.991 + 2.064 36 16. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:18.397 + 2.470 39 17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.434 + 2.507 37 18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.547 + 2.620 32 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.527 + 3.600 23 20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.606 + 3.679 31 21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.902 + 3.975 30 22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:20.566 + 4.639 18 23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:21.688 + 5.761 27 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:21.853 + 5.926 6
Practice 2:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1:14.904 36 2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.013 + 0.109 39 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:15.099 + 0.195 47 4. Massa Ferrari 1:15.120 + 0.216 44 5. Schumacher Mercedes 1:15.143 + 0.239 38 6. Kubica Renault 1:15.192 + 0.288 38 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.249 + 0.345 32 8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:15.460 + 0.556 42 9. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.619 + 0.715 37 10. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:15.620 + 0.716 28 11. Petrov Renault 1:15.746 + 0.842 44 12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.276 + 1.372 46 13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:16.348 + 1.444 48 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:16.522 + 1.618 37 15. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:16.528 + 1.624 42 16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.599 + 1.695 36 17. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.818 + 1.914 45 18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.023 + 2.119 28 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.184 + 3.280 47 20. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.478 + 3.574 38 21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.667 + 3.763 13 22. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.721 + 3.817 41 23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:20.313 + 5.409 35 24. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:22.148 + 7.244 11 All Timing Unofficial
Vettel wins in Malaysia while RedBull dominate with a 1-2 Finish
Apr 4th
Sebastian Vettel leading Mark Webber for the RedBull on-Two - Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel lead from turn 1 at Sepang and never looked back to claim his first win of the season and gave RedBull the 1-2 finish that they so desperately wanted and expected to get earlier then round 3 this year.
Mark Webber was on pole for the race, however he had wheel spin off the line and didn’t fight too hard to cover his line as Vettel passed him into the braking area. Mark had a beter run into turn 2 and fought back a little bit but in the end Vetel had the drive and maintained his lead. From then on it was pretty much a processional race with Vettel, Webber and Rosberg leading the pack for the rest of the afternoon.
“I had a good start and got the tow from Mark, I took the chance I had in Turn 1, said Vettel … We had a magnificent car and the key was to pace yourself. It’s a good result after two races where we didn’t finish where we want to be.”
The rain that was predicted for this race never eventuated. It was the first dry afternoon all weekend and it meant that the conditions for the drivers were extreemely difficult and hot. It also meant there were no safety car periods and teams such as McLaren and Ferrari who were hoping for changeable weather to make their way up the grid weren’t able to make the gains they possibly would have hoped had the rain fallen.
Nico Rosberg had a trouble free race and just had to follow the RedBull procession from start to finish. P3 for Rosberg never really seemed to be under any threat and all he had to do was to steer the car home to claim the final place on the podium.
Hamilton and Mass did a great job climbing up form the back of the grid to finish 6th and 7th and claim some needed points for the team. However it was both their team-mates who provided entertainment in the dying stages of the race.
Button was caught by Alonso at the end and there was a fierce battle for position. Alonso looked to take Button several times but in the end wasn’t able to make up the pace out of the corners due to a problem with the car on the downshift which set Alonso up badly for a quick exit. The final couple of laps however proved disaterous for Alonso as the Ferrari’s engine gave up and blew, forcing Alonso to retire from the race.
Jaime Alguersuari put in a superstar drive and scored points for finishing in ninth place. He had some great on-track battles with Hulkenberg and Petrov. Jamie showed that he has loads of potential and is able to perform very well under pressure.
Lotus are happy with one of their cars finishing the race. Jarno Trulli finished the race in last place for Lotus, but it was a good result for the team to finish the race in front of a home crowd. The result however was upstaged by Hispania Racing (HRT) who managed to get both their cars to the finish to claim 15th and 16th place just ahead of the Lotus.
Massa’s lead in the championship after round3 is just 2 points clear of Sebastian Vettel who is in equal 2nd place int he championship with Alonso, both drivers are on 37 points.
The final race classifications as well as championship standings are below:
Pos Driver Team Gap
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 4.8s
3. Rosberg Mercedes + 13.5s
4. Kubica Renault + 18.5s
5. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 21.0s
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 23.4s
7. Massa Ferrari + 27.0s
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 37.9s
9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m10.6s
10. Hulkenberg Williams + 1m13.3s
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m18.9s
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
13. Alonso Ferrari + 2 laps
14. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
15. Chandhok Hispania-Cosworth + 3 laps
16. Senna Hispania-Cosworth + 4 laps
17. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 5 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 46 laps
Petrov Renault 32 laps
Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 12 laps
Schumacher Mercedes 9 laps
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 8 laps
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2 laps
De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 0 laps
World Championship standings, round 3:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Massa 39 1. Ferrari 76
2. Vettel 37 2. McLaren-Mercedes 66
3. Alonso 37 3. Red Bull-Renault 61
4. Button 35 4. Mercedes 44
5. Rosberg 35 5. Renault 20
6. Hamilton 31 6. Force India-Mercedes 18
7. Kubica 30 7. Williams-Cosworth 6
8. Webber 24 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2
9. Sutil 10
10. Schumacher 9
11. Liuzzi 8
12. Barrichello 5
13. Alguersuari 2
14. Hulkenberg 1
Alonso leads a Ferrari 1-2 for season opener
Mar 15th
Fernando Alonso finished his first ever race at Scuderi Ferrari in first place with team mate Filipe Massa finishing in P2. The duo gave Ferrari a fairy tale start to the 2010 season after a dismal 2009 for the team.
Sebastian Vettel was the only man who could rain on Ferrari’s parade. After qualifying on pole position for the race, Vettel stormed to the front and recored fastest lap after fastest lap. However in the late half of the race, Vettel suffered an exhaust failure and as a reault lost power. He spent the rest of the race nursing his car home, unable to hold off the Ferrari’s or the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, Vettel finished just off the podium in P4.
The exhaust failure for Vettel may be related to the team deciding to run the exhausts underneath the car this year rather then on-top. The possibility of the exhaust being damaged on the extremely bumpy Bahrain circuit should not be ruled out.
An elated Alonso said “There is no better way to start my relationship with the best tea in the world” he went on to say “we have only one the first race..” but clearly a on-two is a great start for the team.
Massa said the race was great for him and “The car was just perfect”
In the final 25 laps of the race, both Ferrari drivers were told to short shift and conserve fuel and look after the engines when it became clear they were running away with the victory.
Mark Webber had issues with oil surge through the first few corners and after a bad start, lost further time. Mark spent the rest of the race following Button in the McLaren without any chance of passing. Mark finished in a disapointing 8th position.
The race was not as exciting as fans had hoped, it became a bit of a procession, especially after Vettel’s problems it became a familiar sight with two Ferrari running away with the lead.
The full race results will be posted shortly
Vettel holds off Ferrari to take Pole.
Mar 14th
Sebastian Vettel has continued RedBull’s sucess from last season and proved the critics of the RB6 wrong by holding off Fernando Alonso and Filipe Massa in the Ferrari’s to take Pole Position at Bahrian. Vettel in claiming poe for the season opener has put himself in good stead to claim the first race win of the season, however with two Ferrari’s behind him, it won’t be easy andthe race-pace of the RedBull and the teams race strategy will be vital on Sunday.
During the post race press conference, Vettel was asked if he was suprised that he was able to take pole for Bahrain. He said: “A big surprise. I mean in winter testing no-one really knew where we were. Of course it was clear that there were four teams pretty strong, but close to each other. To be honest yesterday it was a very tough day for us and we had not as much running as we were hoping for. Another long night especially for the mechanics, not a lot of sleep, some tired faces, but everyone was still keen this morning to push. I knew we had a great car but first of all you have to get it together. I have to say practice this morning and qualifying went pretty smoothly. Obviously I am very, very happy to be on pole, so thanks to the team. As I said the boys didn’t get much sleep in the last month with a lot of testing in a short amount of time. To come here first time everyone really shows how strong they are and to be on top is definitely a very, very nice feeling.”
The critics have sighted that during testing, the RedBull had the pace, however not in lone race stint and race style simulations, that title seemed to belong to the Ferrari’s and the McLarens. RedBull have always been critisised for reliablity and in-particular a weak Renaul engine which is down on Power compared to the Ferrari and Mercedes engines. This point proved itself in Bahrain when Button’s McLaren was 9km/h quicker then Vettel through the speed trap.
Alonso appeared to have pace early on and looked set to take P2, however in the dying seconds of quali, team-mate Filipe Massa, on his first Quali since returning to the sport, pipped him off by less then .2 of a second.
Rosberg should be happy with his effort in beating 7-time world champion team mate Michael in order to take 5th spot on the grid, just ahead of the other RedBull of Webber in P6.
As expecting the two HRT’s of Senna and Chandhook finished 2nd last and last palce respectively. Chandhook was more then 10 seconds slower the Vettels pole time, no doubt there will be chaos during the race, with such a massive time difference just over a single lap in quali, it won’t be long befroe the HRT’s start to become lapped.
BAHRAIN GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:55.029 1:53.883 1:54.101
2. Massa Ferrari 1:55.313 1:54.331 1:54.242
3. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.612 1:54.172 1:54.608
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.341 1:54.707 1:55.217
5. Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.463 1:54.682 1:55.241
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:55.298 1:54.318 1:55.284
7. Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.593 1:55.105 1:55.524
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.715 1:55.168 1:55.672
9. Kubica Renault 1:55.511 1:54.963 1:55.885
10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.213 1:54.996 1:56.309
11. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:55.969 1:55.330
12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.628 1:55.653
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.375 1:55.857
14. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.428 1:56.237
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.189 1:56.265
16. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.541 1:56.270
17. Petrov Renault 1:56.167 1:56.619
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.071
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.728
20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.852
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.313
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:00.587
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:03.240
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 2:04.904
Barcelona wraps up with McLaren, Ferrari & Red Bull all contenders
Mar 1st
Another dry day in Barcelona on Sunday marked the final day official pre-season testing in Barcelona and it was a day full of the top teams all trading top times whilst drivers worked on final setup of the cars.
All the times were very close, with the top 8 times all being within less then 1 second of each other. Massa, Hamilton and Webber traded top time throu-out the day, with the fastest man in the end being Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren with a 1:20.472. Hamilton spent a lot of time behind the wheel, notching up over 130 laps. Mark Webber was second fastest and did less then half the laps of Hamilton. He showed that RedBull has a very fast car this year when he recored a 1:20.496.
Massa was 3rd quickest just infront of Force India’s Adrian Suttil. Red Bull were the only team who had both their drivers for this year in the top 5. Sebastian Vettel was 5th quickest with a 1:20.667. Sebastian managed to do around 10 more laps in the car then Mark Webber managed. Sebastian’s fellow countryman and seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher recorded 1:20.745 in the MercedesGP car to claim the 6th fastest time of the day.
Most teams were doing race distance simulations through the day and spending a lot of time measuring tyre wear.
RedBull allowed webber and Vettel to share the drives during the day due to both drivers having less time behind the wheel throughout testing, so they didn’t complete the same race distance simulations some othe teams did. None the less both of their drivers were on the pace placing in the top five.
With McLaren, RedBull, Ferrari and Mercedes all within a second of each other and holding out the top 5 spots on the timesheets. It appears the predictions that the title race this year could be a tight 4-way battle between said teams could prove to be true.
Massa emerged posative and said “We wanted a competitive car and I think we’ve achieved our goal. It’s difficult to say who worked best. Today the time sheet says Hamilton, but we’re all very close together, it’s just tenths of a second.” He did however mention that whilst they were very strong, he felt at this point they weren’t the strongest and needed to improve, but was very happy to be in the group of front runners.
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher said “The four testing days here in Barcelona have helped us to make significant progress with the MGP W01 and I am feeling quite confident for the start of the season. It is always difficult to read too much into testing but knowing our programme, it is fair to say that the times did not always reflect the true picture. We have worked through many set-up and development evaluations this week and gained valuable information to study before Bahrain. We are heading the first race with a good feeling and we know that we will have our upgrades there. But most of all we know that our prospects for even the first races are looking very reasonable now.”
So at the end of the day, what do the times really mean? Well it is hard to judge, but the pace of the Ferrari’s, the McLarens, the RedBull’s and even Mercedes has been consitent thorugh-out the pre-season testing.
Massas is less then confident that his team will be the team to beat going into this season, however they have done more race-distance simulation and varying fuel load runs and varying tyre choice stints then other teams and they are still at the pointy end of the timesheets. Their car has also been very strong without many technical problems. They seem to have the pace and it appears that Ferrari are going to be one of the fastest teams in 2010, that cobined with obvioius reliability means the team should be a very strong title contender.
RedBull have had the apce, but not the ditance, meaning they have spent the least amount of time on the track compared to the otehr front runners. Engine reliability is also an issue for the team. They have the apce but could be let down by reliability.
McLaren were quickest over testing and have two very strong drivers. That combined with the reliability they have shown could mean that they are the team to rain on Ferrari’s parade and could also snatch the title this year.
Mercedes are also up their rounding out the top 4 teams. They have shown good strong pace at times, then also shown their pace can be a bit inconsitent. The team won last years championship and may not have done enough development on their 2010 package to fight with McLaren and Ferrari.
Time will tell however, with just 11 days left now till the first Friday practice in Bahrain, the teams have no more time for on-track testing. Will the practice sheets in Bahrain be reflective of Barcelona? most likely, yes.
A summary of the quickest laps from the final day in Barcelona are as follows:
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 1:20.472 134
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:20.496 61
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:20.539 114
4. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:20.611 100
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:20.667 76
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:20.745 123
7. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:20.870 84
8. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber 1:20.911 67
9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:22.135 88
10. Robert Kubica Renault 1:23.175 107
11. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1:25.251 65
12. Lucas Di Grassi Virgin Racing 1:26.160 49
Valencia: Day1 Testing Wrap-up
Feb 2nd
It was a busy day on Monday in Valencia with many 2010 cars breaking cover for the first time and the drivers stepping into their 2010 title contenders for the first time.
It was the first time the world got to have a look at the 2010 Toro Rosso, Williams and Mercedes W01.
RedBull and Force India were not present, instead opting to further develop their cars, also none of the ‘new’ teams on the grid this year were present.
Michael Schumacher finally stepped into the W01 after much anticipating. He was on the pace and very quickly bettered his team mate, Nico Roseberg’s, times. Schumacher was lapping in the mid 1:13.5′s before breaking into the low 1:13′s and even a very high 1:12.
The nose on the Mercedes W01 is a radical slopped nose similar to last years RedBull’s nose and the new Torro Rosso STR5 is and even more radical looking variation of the design.
Mercedes were the only team on the day run both their drivers on the day.
When asked about how he enjoyed his first day at the wheel of the W01, Schumacher responded: “It was a perfect roll-out for the new car today,” Schumacher commented. “I felt totally comfortable and really had a feeling that everything was very natural. It felt just like at the very beginning of my career in 1991 – when on the first lap, I thought, ‘Wow, that was really fast!’ and then on the second lap I was just extremely excited!
Schumacher “I feel like a young boy again and really enjoyed myself out there. We did a good job today, just making a few control checks, and the most important thing was that the car ran reliably. With Nico and I covering 79 laps between us, it was a superb job by the team.”
The big news of the day however was Filipe Massa’s successful return to Formula1 at the wheel of the new F10. He was on the pace from start to finish on the day. Ferrari’s F10 is already to be proving a far better package then lasts years car. Massa topped the morning sessions in the mid 1:13.5′s but then bettered his morning times to record a 1:12.574 which was not beaten. Massa however did record more laps then any other driver.
It was a dream start to the new season for Ferrari who’s reputation took a battering last year due to a very poor performance during the season and the loss of Filipe due to injury and lack of good reserve driver talent.
When massa stepped out of his car after his dream run, he said he felt “zero fear” he went on to say he was “happy to be back after such a long time watching the race on television and sometimes on the track,” he also said he felt very physically fit and could have easily done many more laps then he did.
A surprise pace-setter of the day was Pedro De la Rosa who managed to set the second fastest time of the day int he BMW-Sauber. He edged out both Rosberg and Schumacher in the Mercedes and Paffet in the McLaren to finish just two-tenths of a second of Massa’s fastest lap of the day.
Without getting too carried away, it is very hard to judge teams true pace this year during the pre-season testing, due to the large fuel tanks. The discrepency that is now possible between fuel loads means some cars could be running extremely heavy to do long distance runs and other teams could be cheating by only putting a small number of laps worth of fuel in their cars to impress the time sheets.
Williams seemed to struggle a little bit, with Rubins bringing out the red flag for a short time while his car was stopped out on track, however he managed to do over 70 laps in the car and set respectable pace ahead of the Torro Rosso and Renault team.
Renault were the slowest team of the day with Robert Kubica only managed a best time of 1:15 flat, however they managed to put in some decent track time with 69 laps.
On Tuesday we will see Hamilton step into the McLaren for the first time, with Jensen button taking over on the final day.
The times at the end of day 1 are as follows:
1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:12.574, 102 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:12.784, 74 Laps
3. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:12.947, 40 Laps
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:13.543, 39 Laps
5. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:13.846, 86 Laps
6. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:14.449, 75 Laps
7. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:14.762, 18 Laps
8. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:15.000, 69 Laps
Ferrari vow to return to the top with the F10
Jan 28th
Ferrari unveiled their 2010 challenger to the world today. The Maranello based outfit were the first of all the teams to launch their car for the 2010 Formula1 season.
After a dismal 2009 season Ferrari are keen to re-invent their image to their previous Glory. The new Ferrari F10 is the product of many months of development due to Ferrari’s decision to focus most of their energy developing the F10 only part way into the 2009 season due to their lack of success with the F60 (their 2009 contender).
A noticable difference between the F10 and last years F60 is that the 2010 car has a much longer wheel base, this is of course to accomodate the larger fuel tank. The F10 also has a narrower nose and the sidepods are also smaller on the F10 compared to last years car. The F10 is also sporting the new 2010 specification Bridgestone tyres which are narrower then last years. Ferrari have used a very similar nose on the F10 to RedBull’s 2009 contender that came close to winning last years championship.
The previously red front and rear wings that we have been used to seeing for many years now as part of Ferrari’s livery have been painted white with the red Santander logo popping out of the white background.
Ferrari have completely re-invented their image with a new driver line-up, new sponsors and a new outlook on Formula1. The team clearly wants to succeed this year and they are determined to restore their image as being ‘the’ team to beat in Formula1. Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo described Ferrari as a ‘renewed team’ with new members comming in to re-invigorate the team. “This championship will be very important for us,” he stated. “The last championship, for different reasons, was not very positive, that is why we are dealing with this one looking to be competitive – and this is what Ferrari deserves to have.”
Luca went on to state that the team was in a way having “two new drivers”; ”We have two new drivers, why two new drivers? Fernando Alonso, is a twice World Champion and we will say after the second one he will have a third one. He already appears among the big champions in F1, it is the right moment for him, for us, he wants to be successful and we want to repeat what the team concept is in our group…Felipe; we are talking of a new version of Felipe, but after such a dramatic Championship like last year with the accident in Hungary and such a fantastic season, Felipe has all the assets to prove that he is a very successful one, he can prove that he wants to restart his pathway that destiny interrupted it in Hungary. Good luck to both of them.”
Felipe Massa will drive the F10 at the Fiorano test track for a very brief shakedown late today which in reality will be more of a photo opportunity then a test.
The real test of the F10 will be next week when the car is sent to Spain for the first of the official 2010 pre-season tests at Valencia.
Massa will be the first man to drive the F10 at Valencia, after which he will hand the car over to Fernando Alonso for the following two days of tests.
Ferrari have also revealed the Technical specs’ of the F10, which are as follows:
Here is a recorded video stream of the launch ceremony:
2010 Ferrari Livery leaked
Jan 21st
Photos of what is reportedly the 2010 Ferrari have been leaked by Spanish publication Marca. Marca claim the shots to be real.
The noticeable change is the white front and rear wings with Santander’s logo appearing in red. Whilst Santander normally reverse their logo in white out of the read, they may have chosen the white wings so that their logo stands out more and is not lost in the rest of the cars red livery.
The livery seems genuine and is still very much in keeping with their “red car, white squares/panels” theme as well.
Of course, the livery also matches the official photos Ferrari released of the Alonso and Massa posing for a PR photo shoot in their 2010 race suits. Once again, the Santander logo appears as red on white on their race suits.
You be the judge! I say the leaked photo is real.
Official PR shot of Alonso and Massa's 2010 Race overalls
