3rd Pre-Season Test @ Barcelona (18th, 19th, 20th, 21st February)

[DazzlaF1]

Good stuff from Williams today, looks like they're finally getting some consistency in their lap times, both Rubinho and Maldonado both up amonget the fastest so far, I think they could be in for a great year.

Plus I think now we can safely say that we can give Lotus a big "Welcome to the Midfield" terrific lap time from Trulli today. (15th overall out of 26 over the 3 days)

[Roamy]

It will probably be the SOS this season but who is the darkhorse. everyyear a team may come up that ladder. I pick Toro Rosso

[N4D13]

If there's a dark horse, maybe it will be Merc. It wouldn't really be a surprise if they had a great car in Oz.

[Zico]

Mark Webber and Felipe Massa both did full race simulations yesterday. In fact they are the only two to complete the full race distance uninterrupted.

Their respective times relative to one another..

Webber ------- Massa
01:29.774 ---- 01:31.409
01:29.875 ---- 01:31.021
01:30.196 ---- 01:31.654
01:31.404 ---- 01:31.407
01:32.058 ---- 01:31.550
01:32.025 ---- 01:32.125
01:32.473 ---- 01:32.141
01:33.268 ---- 01:31.583
00:00.000 ---- 01:37.390
00:00.000 ---- 01:32.492
01:27.457 ---- 01:32.521
01:27.993 ---- 01:32.624
01:28.969 ---- 01:32.800
01:29.834 ---- 01:32.990
01:30.212 ---- 01:33.893
01:30.879 ---- 01:33.967
01:31.176 ---- 01:34.406
01:31.369 ---- 00:00.000
01:31.957 ---- 00:00.000
01:32.406 ---- 01:29.289
01:32.636 ---- 01:28.639
01:33.251 ---- 01:33.876
01:33.639 ---- 01:29.749
00:00.000 ---- 01:30.024
00:00.000 ---- 01:30.092
01:29.941 ---- 01:30.018
01:29.678 ---- 01:29.991
01:29.853 ---- 01:30.178
01:30.345 ---- 01:30.287
01:30.818 ---- 01:30.345
01:30.246 ---- 01:30.758
01:30.864 ---- 01:31.459
01:30.431 ---- 01:31.874
01:30.600 ---- 01:32.471
01:30.770 ---- 00:00.000
01:30.613 ---- 00:00.000
01:32.648 ---- 01:28.227
01:31.842 ---- 01:36.578
01:31.337 ---- 01:27.835
01:31.140 ---- 01:28.118
01:32.396 ---- 01:28.302
01:32.545 ---- 01:28.702
01:32.364 ---- 01:29.071
01:33.610 ---- 01:28.947
01:33.249 ---- 01:28.981
00:00.000 ---- 01:29.302
00:00.000 ---- 01:29.288
01:24.995 ---- 01:29.495
01:28.324 ---- 01:29.966
01:29.115 ---- 01:30.148
01:28.402 ---- 00:00.000
01:28.341 ---- 00:00.000
01:28.375 ---- 01:31.551
01:29.036 ---- 01:26.508
01:28.564 ---- 01:26.990
01:29.046 ---- 01:31.452
01:29.465 ---- 01:27.358
01:28.664 ---- 01:27.465
01:29.138 ---- 01:27.665
01:32.022 ---- 01:28.348
01:29.261 ---- 01:28.473
01:30.155 ---- 01:28.962
01:29.862 ---- 01:32.195
01:30.341 ---- 01:28.080
01:30.752 ---- 01:28.140
00:00.000 ---- 00:00.000

1:29:01.999 vs 1:29:01.170



If there is any significant pointers to be taken from testing, the full race simulation times are probably the most likely.. Any thoughts?

[Dave B]

Lotus are posting some decent times but they are still suffering: Trulli's relatively minor crash earlier has ended their programme due to lack of spares.

[N4D13]

If there is any significant pointers to be taken from testing, the full race simulation times are probably the most likely.. Any thoughts?

I don't think that this is really significant. Even when doing a race simulation, their programmes were different. Given that the RBR is believed to be kind on its tyres, I don't believe that they would choose a three-stopper in the Barcelona race, as they have done. If anything, this might be an indicator of that the Red Bull is a bit faster than the Ferrari, but, then again, we can't be sure about how much fuel they had or if the drivers were pushing at all.

[Dave B]

Here endeth the Barcelona test:

1 Massa Ferrari 1m22.625s
2 Webber Red Bull 1m23.442s +0.817
3 Buemi Toro Rosso 1m23.550s +0.925
4 Heidfeld Renault 1m23.657s +1.032
5 Hamilton McLaren 1m24.003s +1.378
6 Maldonado Williams 1m24.057s +1.432
7 Sutil Force India 1m24.177s +1.552
8 Perez Sauber 1m24.515s +1.890
9 D'Ambrosio Virgin 1m26.501s +3.876
10 Schumacher Mercedes 1m27.079s +4.454
11 Trulli Lotus 1m29.992s +7.367


And so the teams pack up and head off to, erm...

[N4D13]

Here endeth the Barcelona test:

1 Massa Ferrari 1m22.625s
2 Webber Red Bull 1m23.442s +0.817
3 Buemi Toro Rosso 1m23.550s +0.925
4 Heidfeld Renault 1m23.657s +1.032
5 Hamilton McLaren 1m24.003s +1.378
6 Maldonado Williams 1m24.057s +1.432
7 Sutil Force India 1m24.177s +1.552
8 Perez Sauber 1m24.515s +1.890
9 D'Ambrosio Virgin 1m26.501s +3.876
10 Schumacher Mercedes 1m27.079s +4.454
11 Trulli Lotus 1m29.992s +7.367


And so the teams pack up and head off to, erm...

Staying in Barcelona seems a rather sensible decision to me, as they're now supposed to do two more tests. For instance, Barcelona (or Algarve) and Paul Ricard would be a fine decision, don't you think?

[Dave B]

Spain seems the most logical solution, the only drawback being the lack of high-temperature running before the season starts. Abu Dhabi would perhaps be better from a technical perspective, but I suspect it'll prove too difficult to organise.

[Dave B]

Test confirmed for Barcelona, 8th - 11th March.