Sunday marks the final day of F1 pre-season testing in 2010. In a two weeks time the cars will be lining up for the first race of the year, so today offers the very last opportunity for teams and drivers to get some testing milage in.
Yesterday's action was punctuated by red flags and rain showers, it's hard to get a decent long run in with 11 teams on track, some of whom have been more reliable than others. Here's hoping for reliable cars, fine weather and plenty of Sunday running.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.655km
Corners: 16
Lap record: 1:21.670 (Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)
You'll find Circuit de Catalunya located in the North East corner of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
The third day in Barcelona gets underway and Williams will be coming off the back of good headlines yesterday, thanks to Hülkenberg. Rain is expected to mix up proceedings at the circuit, when teams desperately need a clear day of running on this penultimate pre-season test of 2010.
Up and down the pitlane, plenty of race simulation work was covered yesterday, and that's likely to continue into the weekend. Will anyone run some light and fast qualifying simulations?
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.655km
Corners: 16
Lap record: 1:21.670 (Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)
You'll find Circuit de Catalunya located in the North East corner of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
It's day two in Barcelona as F1 teams make the most of some decent weather and get down to work. Only a few drivers carry over their work today as Schumacher, Hamilton and Vettel all grab the hot seats.
Lucas di Grassi managed to complete just 31 laps on Thursday before throwing his Virgin car into the barriers on Thursday, but it was Mark Webber who grabbed the headlines as the RB6 managed to stretch it's legs in the Spanish sunshine. Look out for more from them today.
Of note, Ross Brawn has stated that Mercedes' definitive diffuser won't be fitted to the car until Bahrain, which means they're running around Barcelona learning about tyres and not a lot else.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.655km
Corners: 16
Lap record: 1:21.670 (Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)
You'll find Circuit de Catalunya located in the North East corner of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
Today, F1 teams will finally get to test their 2010 cars on a modern Formula 1 circuit, as the pre-season testing calendar draws to a close. This is the week that matters the most, and this is the track that will sort the men from the boys.
Circuit de Catalunya will host the fifth race of the season, and weather permitting, it will also offer teams and drivers their best chance at preparing for the opening round in Bahrain. 11 teams are scheduled to attend these final four days in Spain, many are behind schedule, all have plenty of work to do.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.655km
Corners: 16
Lap record: 1:21.670 (Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)
You'll find Circuit de Catalunya located in the North East corner of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
New guest writer Brawn2bwild was at the Jerez test yesterday, and on her way home, noticed our call for your stories of F1 events. In this excellent post, she shares her experience of the brand new 2010 cars, close up and first hand.
The hills are alive with the sound of music – or in this case F1 testing – which is music to my ears at least! Although I've been a stalwart fan for more than half my life time, I'm finding this year's off-season harder than usual. For me, 2009 was quite simply fantastic. Having supported the Brackley based team since their inception in '97, as well as JB since his Williams days, I feel that last season was my reward for the years of derision and torment I experienced through the dark (and boring) days of the Ferrari/Schumacher era. Now though the '09 season is sadly over and although Bahrain is in only 21 days it still seems far too far away.
Fortunately I live in the south of Spain at the moment. I chose to live in Seville, not for it’s wonderful culture, great night life or beautiful architecture (though it certainly has all of these) but for it’s proximity to Jerez Circuito de Velocidad.
As I approach the turn off from the motorway I can already see that there is a stream of cars going into the car parks and the police are out directing traffic. I'm beginning to hear snatches of engine noise over my taxi driver’s radio and the sun is (finally) shining - I've definitely made the right choice in coming down here today. As I walk up to the entrance gate with a legion of others, the noise of the cars bounces off the hills and the crowd cheers – Alonso must be on track.
Credit: Brawn2bwild
Based on the angle of his helmet, I reckon he's looking at the crowds in this one.
The Spanish have a reputation for being somewhat laidback and prone to procrastination, especially here in Andalucía. They are not known for their punctuality or customer service either, but if there’s one thing the Spanish do, it’s motorsport! Despite the high volume of Tifosi and other fans, the traffic is flowing, there are no long queues at the ticket booth or gates and gaining entry is a piece of cake. I am a little surprised by how many people are here today as historically Spanish petrol-heads have tended to be of the 2-wheeled variety more than the 4. This is not surprising when, as is the case in Italy, mopeds, scooters and bikes are the preferred mode of transport. But unlike their Latin cousins they don’t have Ferrari.
Now though, on this sunny Saturday afternoon, the car parks are full and there are people everywhere. Even though this is only a test session there is a good atmosphere with packed stands and men, women and children of all ages standing up to wave and cheer for their hero in his brand new shiny red (and sadly white) beast. As I walk up to the nearest fence for a view of the track Alonso obligingly slows down to avoid the Ayrton Senna chicane and instead takes the Alex Criville corner and drives sedately past one of the packed stands, much to the appreciation of the crowd. Standing here I am struck by how varied the crowd is, unlike my previous experiences of motor racing it seems to be roughly 50/50 men and women with all ages and walks of life represented. Next to me some young boys press their faces to the fence for a closer look and a young child is lifted onto his father’s shoulders to enable him to see over the tyre wall.
Credit: Brawn2bwild
The back half of the car doesn't look so bumpy from the side.
I can see now why I've been told that Jerez is a great circuit, from my initial stand point alone, I can see that it has some significant changes in elevation, although it doesn’t look to be as much as Spa. The track itself nestles amongst some small but steep hills, giving many possible view points to the adventurous spectator. Right now there is evidence everywhere of the uncharacteristically wet weather we’ve been having lately, with pools of water and a fair amount of mud lying around. In places the concrete paths connecting different stands have been completely covered over by deep mud slides. But this does not put off the intrepid Alonso fan in his pursuit of the perfect vantage point. Everywhere I look I can see people scrambling over steep muddy embankments in an effort to get to the other side of the track. There are old men with walking sticks and even a guy on crutches battling through the mud.
I also decide to go for a walk about in an attempt to find some interesting camera angles, I realise I don’t even mind messing up my favourite trainers to do so either. I start to climb up and around the track in an anti-clockwise direction and soon wish I had better stamina or was in some way related to Sir Edmund Hillary! It takes a while but I manage to clamber over near to the "Dry Sack Curva" without twisting my ankle or dropping my camera, and find a nice big rock to sit on. It’s pretty hot now the sun is baking down as it should be for this part of the world and my rock is nice and warm. It gives me a great elevated view down onto the turn but over the fence and heads of those in front of me. Unfortunately though there’s not much going on at the moment - only Trulli's Lotus out on track - so I decide to take advantage of the quiet spell and change location again, this time finding a half empty stand quite low down and close to the track at the Angel Nieto and Peluqui corners. I spend quite a bit of time here playing with the settings on my camera and end up taking what I think will turn out to be my favourite photograph of the day. It’s of Jenson going round the corner all slightly out of focus except his front left suspension. I take a lot of photos from here and get to see all of today’s drivers and cars except Glock's Virgin which has not been seen since just after I arrived around midday.
Credit: Brawn2bwild
The Renault is amazingly bright to the naked eye, it's hard to explain just how strange it looks based on photos alone.
The only downside to being here and not in front of a computer screen is that despite the size of the crowd, there are no screens or timing boards up and without an internet capable phone, I've no idea of the times the drivers are getting. I do notice that Lotus and Sauber seem to be putting a lot of laps in while, sadly for the crowds, Alonso’s Ferrari hasn’t been seen much at all since I first got here. Happily for me though, I get some good shots of the Red Bull, Williams and McLaren. I'm excited to see JB putting a lot of laps in but manage to restrain myself from cheering him – I stand out enough here as it is. It turns out he’s been top of the time sheets for much of the day.
Eventually I summon up the energy to return across the wet, sticky mud of the landslide back towards the entrance. I've managed to walk approximately half of the circuit and I've taken photos from 7 different places along the way. I've also met some cool and interesting characters too. There are a few Brits dotted about here and there and the odd German too, I saw a cute little girl in a McLaren race suit and an incredibly old man in a wheelchair halfway up a hill with his Ferrari hat on, a big flag attached to his chair and a huge grin on his face.
Right now though the clouds are starting to come back over and I fear it might rain again (more than likely as I've not brought my umbrella) so it may be time for me to think about how I'm going to get home. I can get a train from Jerez station, only problem is the track is out in the countryside and there’s no bus route out here or taxi rank. I could call a taxi but it’s gonna cost me an arm and a leg as I’d be paying for both directions. What I really need is to hitch a lift. (This is where being a blonde woman in Spain finally pays off) So I head out to the car parks, where there is still a steady stream of people coming and going from the track, and I strike up a conversation with a friendly looking guy walking out with a couple of kids. I'm in luck as he’s going my way and it turns out the children go to a school that I used to teach at. It works out well; his kids get 20 minutes of private English practice while he takes a short detour into the town of Jerez and drops me near the station – result!
As I write this now from the comfort of the train I realise how exhausted I am as with any race track spectators cover a lot of distance to get about. My feet hurt and my shoulders ache from carrying my camera bag but I've done a helluva lot of walking/hiking today! All in all though I'm very happy. I saw some beautiful cars and some eye-watering ones (boy is that Renault bright!). I met some nice people and watched some of my favourite drivers. In some ways it’s helped with my F1 withdrawal problems but I'm also more excited than ever now for the 2010 season. Bahrain can’t come soon enough!
Today teams will head into their last day of testing at the Jerez track, before everyone decamps and heads for a final four day test in Barcelona next week. Time is rapidly running out for all concerned.
Friday seemed to be red flag day in Jerez, with a total of six stoppages throughout the test causing all manner of delays. Kamui Kobayashi appeared to suffer more than most though, only managing 28 laps, Timo Glock faired little better with just 34. Notably Jarno Trulli will finally see some testing action as he settles into his green and yellow Lotus office.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.428km
Corners: 13
Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)
You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
Heikki Kovalainen managed to make a bit of mess of Team Lotus' testing plans yesterday. He's scheduled for more car time today, but if I were Mike Gascoyne I'd be calling on Jarno Trulli to hop in that (slightly damaged) seat a day early.
Elsewhere in the pitlane it's all change again, as Button takes over from Hamilton, Webber's in for Vettel and Alonso will keep Massa's seat warm. Notably Kamui Kobayashi will be manhandling the Sauber C29 around what likely be a wet Jerez track, while Ferrari's man on the ground bemoans, well, everything.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.428km
Corners: 13
Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)
You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
Lotus F1 Racing had a fantastic first day of testing, completing 76 trouble free laps before the end of the day. Seemingly the only issue the team faced was the enforced lack of power steering, something the drivers will no doubt be keen to see resolved quickly.
Vettel in the RB6 headed the pack with a time of 1:22.5 after covering 99 laps, while at the other end of the scale Timo Glock managed just 10 laps for Virgin. They'll be hoping for much, much more today.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.428km
Corners: 13
Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)
You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
Today in Jerez all eyes will likely be on Lotus F1 Racing, who make their testing debut at the Spanish circuit. That is assuming they get any track time at all, because for the second week running, the Met Office are predicting heavy rain showers during the day, and worse to come tomorrow.
Elsewhere in the pitlane Paul di Resta gets to share the Force India with Liuzzi while Virgin Racing will be desperate to make some laps, especially with fellow newcomers Lotus on hand for some direct comparison.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel gives the kerbs a wide berth in the RB6 at Jerez.
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.428km
Corners: 13
Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)
You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
Driver
Team
Chassis
Michael Schumacher
Mercedes Grand Prix
W01
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull Racing
RB6
Lewis Hamilton
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
MP4-25
Felipe Massa
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
F10
Pedro de la Rosa
BMW Sauber
C29
Rubens Barrichello
AT&T Williams
FW32
Vitaly Petrov
Renault F1 Team
R30
Paul di Resta
Force India
VJM03
Adrian Sutil
Force India
VJM03
Sébastien Buemi
Scuderia Toro Rosso
STR5
Timo Glock
Virgin Racing
VR-01
Fairuz Fauzy
Lotus F1 Racing
T127
Credit: Force India
Paul di Resta exits the pits in Jerez for a run in the VJM03.
F1 testing continued to disappoint yesterday, as the Spanish weather interfered with running again. Toro Rosso finished the day on top while Virgin Racing turned only 8 laps before the close of play.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.428km
Corners: 13
Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)
You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
