F1 Winter Testing (2012)

[jcm]

Kamui Kobayashi sets the overall fastest time. Pastor Maldonado beats Bruno Senna by more then 3 seconds... Pastor is clearly a god

From F1.com

Unofficial Friday test times from Barcelona:
1. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 1:22.312, 145 Laps
2. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:22.561, 134 Laps
3. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:23.119, 101 Laps
4. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:23.200, 115 Laps
5. Felipe Masssa, Ferrari, 1:23.563, 103 Laps
6. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.774, 85 Laps
7. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:23.792, 92 Laps
8. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:23.843, 139 Laps
9. Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham, 1:26.968, 70 Laps

Unofficial aggregate test times from Barcelona:
1. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 1:22.312, 244 Laps
2. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:22.391, 240 Laps
3. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:22.608, 191 Laps
4. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:22.648, 151 Laps
5. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:22.891, 183 Laps
6. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:23.119, 184 Laps
7. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:23.180, 162 Laps
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:23.200, 229 Laps
9. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, 1:23.384, 178 Laps
10. Felipe Masssa, Ferrari, 1:23.563, 187 Laps
11. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:23.590, 234 Laps
12. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:23.618, 126 Laps
13. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.774, 182 Laps
14. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:23.792, 170 Laps
15. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:23.843, 221 Laps
16. Bruno Senna, Williams, 1:25.711, 97 Laps
17. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:25.738, 117 Laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham, 1:26.035, 101 Laps
19. Timo Glock, Marussia*, 1:26.173, 108 Laps
20. Vitaly Petrov, Caterham, 1:26.448, 178 Laps
21. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:26.809s, 7 Laps
22. Charles Pic, Marussia*, 1:27.343, 228 Laps
* 2011 car

 

[GTPorsche]

I'm not sure what to take from those test times since they rarely ever translate to actual season pace.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I'm not sure what to take from those test times since they rarely ever translate to actual season pace.

I would say don't make much out of them and just hope the days till Australia go by quickly. I hope that Williams are fast this year at least enough to keep up with Sauber, which is more than they could do most times last year.

 

[Sach]

I'm not sure what to take from those test times since they rarely ever translate to actual season pace.

I wouldn't take anything from them. It's testing after all.

 

[Ardius]

I'm not sure what to take from those test times since they rarely ever translate to actual season pace.

Considering the ultimate laptime is 2-3 seconds faster than what Kobayashi achieved - nothing at all. Its more a competition of who can be slowest in testing rather than an accurate display of who is fast.
The list of fastest times from each test day are completely useless information for us.

This is why there are so few comments in this thread overall - there is nothing to say as we can't really read anything from a random fast lap out of 100+ each day where teams can be testing anything from reliability to tyres to DRS, KERS...even if they were set on a real qualifying simulation - we still don't know if they have the optimum setup, whether they used the softest tyres, whether they were using DRS and KERS, etc etc.

 

[gorsad]

These new noses are starting to grow on me, still weird, but not that ugly.

 

[Blaze_409]

Adrian Newey reportedly fined 100 Euro at Barcelona International Airport for overweight luggage containing sandbags....

 

[jcm]

These new noses are starting to grow on me, still weird, but not that ugly.

Same, I honestly don't mind the look anymore.

 

[Prince.M5]

These new noses are starting to grow on me, still weird, but not that ugly.

Haha, the first day it kind of bothered me. By tomorrow, I got used to it. So no problem for me as I'm actually seeing it as a normal thing now. It certainly is not beautiful but not too ugly either. Much like how the narrow rear wing was at the start of 2009.

 

[dhandeh]

Give it a few races and the stepped noses will seem like we have always had them.

 

[Liquid]

Give it a few races and the stepped noses will seem like we have always had them.

I haven't liked the looks of the cars since the 2009 changes. The fronts looked like snowploughs.

Personally, 2001 was the last year I thought the cars looked good, shapewise. We've had good liveries since then though.

 

[gorsad]

I haven't liked the looks of the cars since the 2009 changes. The fronts looked like snowploughs.

Personally, 2001 was the last year I thought the cars looked good, shapewise. We've had good liveries since then though.

I liked the 2006-2008 cars the most. Wasn't a fan of F1 back then but I still think they looked completely awesome.

 

[Prince.M5]

I agree, 2008 was the only time where I thought all the cars looked fantastic. I don't mind if they wanted to make the front wing bigger but the smaller rear wing to me, is a no no at first. I'm used to the changes made anyway...

 

[gorsad]

As long as the races are exciting, the looks don't matter so much to me. But if today's crop of cars produced boring races, then I'd pitch a tent outside Bernie's house and protest.

 

[IceMan PJN]

I agree, 2008 was the only time where I thought all the cars looked fantastic.

MP4-23:

Very sexy car.

 

[PAWEL17]

I agree, 2008 was the only time where I thought all the cars looked fantastic. I don't mind if they wanted to make the front wing bigger but the smaller rear wing to me, is a no no at first. I'm used to the changes made anyway...

I liked how the pre-2009 cars had a smaller front wing, and a shorter rear wing, but i never liked all the amounts of aerodynamic parts on the side, and the horns on some of them which they started implementing, such as BMW, Honda, And Mclaren.

I did like how they got rid of all that, but also i don't like the taller rear wing, and wider front. But now the added step-nose, nah, too far.

Anyway, seeing as the top Barcelona test Times belong to the midfield pack, it shows that you can't say anything about the pace of the teams, until Melbourne.

And pretty bad of Lotus to miss out on valuable testing time. Force india may get the jump on them in Melbourne, that is, if Sutil was still racing. HRT again miss pre-season testing, but hopefully they are closer to the bottom 2 teams then last year, and swap last place with Marussia.

I also expect Caterham to catch the midfield pack by the end of the year, and go for points next year, because i doubt, unless they are lucky, they will get any this year.

 

[csmeteora9]

HRT again miss pre-season testing, but hopefully they are closer to the bottom 2 teams then last year, and swap last place with Marussia.

Marussia, known as Virgin Racing and Marussia Virgin Racing the past two seasons, was beaten in the constructors standings by HRT in both 2010 & 2011. Last season HRT were generally quicker than Virgin also.

 

[gorsad]

Force india may get the jump on them in Melbourne, that is, if Sutil was still racing.

I think that Hulkenberg and Di Resta will make a good pair. Sutil was definitely good, especially at the last few races, but I think his time has passed.

 

[PAWEL17]

Marussia, known as Virgin Racing and Marussia Virgin Racing the past two seasons, was beaten in the constructors standings by HRT in both 2010 & 2011. Last season HRT were generally quicker than Virgin also.

Eh, yes you are right, that i keep forgetting, as i usually see them qualify at the very end, but they have had better race results. That is my bad mistake, thanks for pointing that out.

I also agree, Di Resta and Hulkenberg are a great pair, but Sutil had a fantastic season last year, but i reckon he still had one more good year left in him.

 

[csmeteora9]

Eh, yes you are right, that i keep forgetting, as i usually see them qualify at the very end, but they have had better race results. That is my bad mistake, thanks for pointing that out.

I also agree, Di Resta and Hulkenberg are a great pair, but Sutil had a fantastic season last year, but i reckon he still had one more good year left in him.

Considering we are referring to HRT here this may sound bizarre, but they did a better job at developing their car last season than Virgin did. So it's not surprising that their race pace was marginally better.

Sutil? Only one more good year left in him? He has a lot more left in him than one season I'm sure; he's only 29 and he is no slouch.

 

[Peter.]

I think that Hulkenberg and Di Resta will make a good pair. Sutil was definitely good, especially at the last few races, but I think his time has passed.

Sutil is about Hamilton's age. He had a lot more years in him.

 

[Alex p.]

I haven't liked the looks of the cars since the 2009 changes. The fronts looked like snowploughs.

Personally, 2001 was the last year I thought the cars looked good, shapewise. We've had good liveries since then though.

I still think the Ferrari F1 2001 is the best looking F1 car, *Clarkson voice:...ever made.*

 

[peter_vod69]

I still think the Ferrari F1 2001 is the best looking F1 car, *Clarkson voice:...ever made.*

So you've never seen the Ferrari 412t?

 

[tribolik]

I still think the Ferrari F1 2001 is the best looking F1 car, *Clarkson voice:...ever made.*

You can argue about taste... But IMO this one looks better.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

On the looks of the cars, really hated the 2009 cars as the new wings made them looked like tapered wedges from the front. When the cars were made longer in 2010 though the wings suit the cars more... Actually prefer these wings, and looking at 00's sizes looks odd now.

I'm a big fan of the simpler looking cars with the low, pillar-less noses. So much simpler and cleaner! 1997 / 1998 McLaren for me were very sexy as well. Brain explodes at the thought of a MP4-4 in that silver though...

On the testing front, very happy with the pace and distance covered by McLaren... Expect them to be at the front and closer to Red Bull. Glad to see Ferrari struggle as well

 

[Roo]

Marussia forced to delay new Formula 1 car launch after failing final mandatory crash test

By Jonathan Noble Monday, February 27th 2012, 21:09 GMT

Marussia has been forced to scrap plans to run its new Formula 1 car at this week's Barcelona test after failing its final mandatory crash test.

The outfit had hoped to give the new MR01 its first track action from Thursday this week, but it cannot go ahead after its car did not pass the last of the 18 crash tests that are required in the regulations.

For the first time this year, F1 teams have had to pass the crash tests before they are allowed to run their cars at an official test. Previously, teams only had to pass the tests before the first race of the season.

In a statement issued by Marussia on Monday night, it said its efforts now would be focused on trying to pass the final crash test.

"All cars are required to pass 18 FIA-observed tests for homologation to be granted. Despite the fact that the MR01 has passed all 17 of the preceding tests, the regulations require the car to have completed all of the tests before running commences," said the statement.

"The team will now not take part in the final pre-season test in Barcelona later this week (1-4 March) and will instead focus its efforts on repeating the crash test at the end of the week."

Marussia is the last of the teams to complete its crash tests, with HRT having passed all its tests in the last few days, and hoping to get its new car ready in time for some running in Barcelona this week.

The news of the failed test for Marussia means the outfit is unlikely to be able to test its car properly prior to the first race of the season in Australia on March 18.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97710

 

[Pupik]

As long as the races are exciting, the looks don't matter so much to me. But if today's crop of cars produced boring races, then I'd pitch a tent outside Bernie's house and protest.

Please understand that Bernard Charles Ecclestone has nothing to do with the technical regulations, design, or any of the sporting regulations.

He just makes sure the races happen, the cameras are on, and the cars show up on time, becoming very rich and powerful in doing so.

 

[Ardius]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97710

As I said, people like to focus on HRT as the team that holds up the rear, but in my opinion its Virgn/Marussia.
Even so though, its not completely the end of the world failing the crash tests but not being able to test is pretty bad. Presumably they will still try to carry out a shakedown if possible.

A good car can still be designed even if the team are unable to test it properly before the season but HRT might gain the upper-hand if they do manage to test their car - in the first few races we can get some surprise results as people get used to the new cars, especially at Melbourne where everybody goes flat out as they don't know their true position.

 

[peter_vod69]

As I said, people like to focus on HRT as the team that holds up the rear, but in my opinion its Virgn/Marussia.
Even so though, its not completely the end of the world failing the crash tests but not being able to test is pretty bad. Presumably they will still try to carry out a shakedown if possible.

A good car can still be designed even if the team are unable to test it properly before the season but HRT might gain the upper-hand if they do manage to test their car - in the first few races we can get some surprise results as people get used to the new cars, especially at Melbourne where everybody goes flat out as they don't know their true position.

If Marussia (or HRT) design a good car I'll eat some of my pubic hair.

 

[Ardius]

I say "good car" relative to their direct competition - i.e. making a faster car than each other...not "championship winning good car". Not to mention that what I said still applies even to teams who can make championship-winning cars - Sauber routinely turn up to every test but their form can vary - simply being able to make all the tests is no guarantee of a good car, it simply means you can understand and improve your car faster.
Basically my point is that its not all over for Marussia just yet though it is a pretty big set back.