FORMULA 1 - 2012

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FORMULA 1 - WEEK 9: ON AND OFF TRACK:

Alex Wurz - mentor and crisis manager

Austrian Alexander Wurz has been appointed as driver mentor of the Williams team, a novelty, as mentors or coaches have so far been unknown in Formula One, while in other sports personal coaches are not uncommon. Wurz currently also runs his own coaching and consulting company, called Test & Training International.“This is a great initiative by Williams and highlights just how hard the team is pushing to optimise its performance,” 38-year old Wurz said. Wurz has plenty of expertise himself, he participated in 69 Grands Prix for Benetton and Williams, and was also McLaren’s test and reserve driver from 2011 to 2005. He also tested for Honda and Brawn GP and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1996 and 2009. Wurz is also involved in the FIA Road Safety campaigns.

“Throughout my career as a sportsman, which started at the age of 12 in BMX racing, includes over a decade in Formula One and is still ongoing, I am lucky to have gained so much experience,” Wurz commented. “I grew up in a family business of driver training and naturally I enjoy helping fellow athletes to operate at their best. I'm really looking forward to using my expertise to help Williams at this important stage in its history.”

Indeed, 2012 is an important year for Williams, as the once very successful Williams team has failed to score a win since Juan Pablo Montoya won the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2004, last year Sir Frank Williams’ team experienced its worst season ever and finished ninth in the Constructors’ Championship after scoring only five points.

Williams hired Pastor Maldonado again and the Venezuelan will race alongside Bruno Senna, who raced for Lotus Renault last year, but failed to impress. Both are relatively inexperienced, and many believe they were hired because of their personal sponsors, who bring many tens of millions of Euros to the Grove-based team.

But all those millions of Euros don’t necessarily mean the still young and inexperienced Maldonado and Senna will now deliver the so long sought after win for Sir Frank, and this is of course where Wurz comes into the equation, it will be his task to coach the drivers and lead them in the right direction, which is scoring points, and lots of it.

In this case Wurz’ role will be more like a crisis manager and not like a real mentor or coach. His knowledge will be very important agrees Mark Gillan, Williams’ Chief Engineer, who welcomed him back to the Williams team, “I am delighted to be working once more with Alex and look forward to his valuable input with the drivers as the whole team strives to continuously improve in all aspects of its operation.”

Wurz will of course attend all Grands Prix this season and he was already present in Barcelona last week. His task is to see to it that both South American drivers will deliver, Williams really cannot afford another disastrous season. Both drivers and the team have already hailed Wurz’ input during the latest Barcelona pre-season test days.

Alex is a great addition to the team," said Senna. "He has been around long enough to know things that we can benefit from. I'll try to use him as much as possible.” Maldonado was also impressed, “It is a positive thing because there is one more driver in the team looking from the outside.” And added, "It's not always easy to look at everything from inside the cockpit and Alex is so experienced that he can help us to improve our performance.”

Also Gillan was positive after the Barcelona test, “He's one of the drivers who I would feel comfortable with bringing in in this particular role. He has settled in very well and it has been an easy introduction. He is already bringing good insight and knowledge.” And there was every reason for Williams to be positive, Maldonado was fastest during the last day of testing last week, and stayed ahead of Schumacher, Kobayashi, Button and Webber.

Mandatory FIA crash tests tough to pass

The mandatory FIA crash tests have proved to be a tough nut to crack, and not just for the lesser gods, Ferrari initially failed one of the tests in December last year but passed the test a few weeks later at their second attempt, after the design team had enforced the chassis, now known as the Ferrari F2012.

One of the new 2012 rules is that all cars must pass the FIA crash tests first before they can participate in the pre-season test sessions in Jerez and Barcelona. HRT was another team who failed to pass the test, and Pedro de la Rosa was forced to drive the HRT F111 at Jerez, and after two days the team went home again.

Last week HRT did pass all FIA crash tests, but it is still uncertain whether the car will be ready for this week’s last pre-season test days at Barcelona. If they indeed would fail to get the F112 ready for Barcelona this week, it will be the third consecutive season HRT starts the first race of the season in an untested car.

Marussia will certainly not have their car ready for the last test days, as their 2012 contender also failed to pass the FIA crash test. “The team will not take part in the final pre-season test in Barcelona later this week and will instead focus its efforts on repeating the crash test at the end of the week,” Marussia said in a statement this week.

The statement further read, “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. "The team will now focus its efforts on repeating the crash test at the end of the week.”

The FIA conducts a number of safety tests, all cars must undergo impact testing, static load testing and also the roll structure of the chassis is tested. The chassis, or survival cell as the FIA describes it in the Technical Regulations, has to pass several impact tests, two frontal impact tests are conducted, executed with the fuel tanks filled with water and a 75 kg dummy driver in the cockpit.

There is also a side impact test, the four impact segments on the side of the survival cell must absorb 15 to 35 per cent of the total energy absorption, while the survival cell itself should not show any structural damage after the impact. The rear impact structure of the survival cell is also tested, after the impact the structural damage must be contained within the area behind the rear wheel axle. Also the steering column is tested, it must deform in a certain way to ensure the driver is not hurt in case of a collision.

The rollover structure, the structure that protects the driver when the car rolls or flips, is also tested and may not deform undergoing certain static loads. Finally there are also a number of static load tests, which determine what kind of forces a certain part of the survival cell can withstand without deforming or failing. Of course all these test only have just one objective: to provide optimum protection for the driver in case if a collision.

Robert Kubica gave an excellent demonstration of how safe Formula One cars have become over the years during his crash in Montreal, Canada in 2007. After hitting Jarno Trulli’s Renault at a speed of almost 300 km/h, Kubica hit a concrete wall head-on with a force of a whopping 75G, bounced off the wall again and barrel-rolled across the grass back onto the track, and hit the wall on the opposite side before he ended his frightening crash with his Sauber resting sideways on the escape road. The survival cell stayed in tact, Kubica only had a sprained ankle and a minor concussion, a decade earlier this would almost certainly have been a fatal crash.

And back to 2012 again, the stepped nose hasn’t changed the situation compared to last year, the nose of the car is still high off the ground -- this was actually pioneered by Red Bull designer Adrian Newey -- and it is not unthinkable a car will be launched high into the air like Mark Webber experienced during the 2010 European Grand Prix when he hit Heikki Kovalainen’s Team Lotus.

The side-impact protection system saved Sergio Perez’s life when he plunged into the barrier sideways when he crashed while exiting the tunnel in Monaco in 2011. The FIA crash tests are not only mandatory, but the crash tests are in fact the only way to continue to maintain Formula One’s excellent safety standards. Teams and the FIA spend millions on crash tests each year, but they are worth every penny.

2012 Hamilton’s last season for McLaren?

2011 was a nightmare season for Lewis Hamilton, after many incidents and crashes, many warnings and penalties from the FIA Stewards, and after dumping his father as his manager, and after being dumped by his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, the 2008 Champion landed fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship.

This year is going to be totally different Hamilton announced during the launch of the new McLaren MP4-27. “I want to win every race. I think I can. I think I've the ability to. If the car is where we hope there's no reason why we can't do that,” he said to the UK Sun. “The only thing that ever gets in your way is your own mind and your own insecurities or obstacles that you put in your way. The most important thing is to put those things aside and to overcome them, and I think I have. So I feel right. I feel stronger than I was a few months ago particularly, but even more so than I was at the start of last year,”

And to get those things out of his system, his management team XIX Entertainment has hired Didier Coton, who has managed the careers of many drivers, one of them being 1998 and 1999 Formula One World Champion Mika Hakkinen. Coton will be present at all races to guide Hamilton. “Last year I didn’t always have someone there. Didier has been a good friend of mine for many years and has got great experience, not only with my team but Formula One in general. I think it will be quite strong to have him there at Grands Prix; there when I need him.” said Hamilton.

It is no secret Hamilton’s contract expires after this season, and if he doesn’t perform this time, it could be his last season for McLaren many already have predicted. One of those people is Bernie Ecclestone, who is a fan as well as an outspoken critic of the Briton. To the UK Guardian the FOM CEO bluntly said, “I don't agree with the people he's got surrounding him and so-called managing him. He doesn't need that sort of management. He needs somebody with his feet on the ground. It's a people's job.”

And what if he doesn’t perform this year? “If he doesn't perform this year he'll be looking to move on. And the team, maybe, will also be looking to him to move on,” said Ecclestone who seriously doubts Hamilton will see out his career at McLaren. Many believe Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull will be his main opponent in 2012, but according to others, his main rival sits opposite of him in the McLaren garage: Jenson Button.

And they could be right, McLaren showed a strong pace during testing and the gap with Red Bull is not as big as it was at the start of the 2011 season. Button has showed he has matured after winning the 2009 title in the magic Brawn GP car, many believed he would be totally outclassed by Hamilton when he moved to McLaren in 2010, but Button has in fact revived his Formula One career by outpacing Hamilton many times, but more important, Button has shown he is patient enough to wait for the right moment. Button doesn’t make the mistakes Hamilton does make, Button retired from two races last year with technical problems, while Hamilton retired from three races due to his own mistakes.

And where could Hamilton go when he decides to move on? Ferrari has one seat available next year as Massa’s contract expires as well this season, Mercedes has a long term contract with Rosberg, but not with Schumacher, and finally, Webber’s Red Bull contract also expires at the end of the season. Ferrari doesn’t really want two champions in one team, Mercedes is thinking of retaining the services of Schumacher.

It could be interesting for Red Bull to have two World Champions in one team, and Webber, who always has rejected the idea of being a second driver, could get equal treatment at McLaren, so maybe if both gentleman would swap teams, who knows?

Join me again next week for another episode of “Formula One - On and Off Track”

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F1: Pirelli expects teams to test tyre strategies in final countdown to the season

With just over two weeks left before Pirelli's second season of Formula One gets underway in Australia, the teams are embarking on the final four-day pre-season test for the 2012 tyres, which takes place once more in Barcelona this week from March 1-4. As the last opportunity to finalise the car-tyre package before the first race, this is one of the most crucial tests of the season. One of the key points for the teams will be to understand exactly how the Pirelli tyres work with their new cars - at least in the short term. Long-term, the non-stop rate of development in Formula One means that the cars will change considerably as the season goes on. The car that is quickest in Australia may not be the team that is fastest by the end of the year, with most teams finding the equivalent of up to two seconds per lap over the course of the season. One of the challenges for Pirelli is to keep up with this pace of development.

Any new parts that are introduced - such as a new front wing, for example, will always have a profound effect on the tyre behaviour, because the forces acting on the car are shifted to different areas. This underlines the importance of tyre testing over a wide range of parameters before the season begins, which will once again be a key focus of the work carried out in Barcelona. With most teams only working with the first definitive specification of their 2012 cars now, it will be important to understand how the latest modifications interact with the tyres.

At the same time, none of the teams like to show their full potential during pre-season tests, particularly when it comes to tyre strategy, because this could hand a significant advantage to their rivals. With eight different drivers topping the time sheets during the eight days of testing that have been held so far in Jerez and Barcelona, this underlines how difficult it can be to draw concrete conclusions.

The teams have now completed more than 32,000 kilometres of testing to date with the new Pirelli compounds, which have all seen action apart from the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet.

The P Zero White medium tyre, which has been nominated for the first three races (together with the P Zero Yellow soft in Australia and China, and the P Zero Silver hard in Malaysia) is the most popular choice for the final test. Pirelli will bring 114 sets of the medium tyre to Barcelona, along with 94 sets of the soft tyre, 69 sets of the hard tyre and 38 sets of the P Zero Red supersoft. In case of wet weather, there will be 31 sets of the intermediate and 14 of the full wet.

This makes a theoretical total of 360 sets of tyres available for the final test, to add to the 181 sets that were used at the first test in Jerez and the 257 sets used in the second test at Barcelona a week ago. Each team is allowed 100 sets per car per year for testing purposes: in other words 1,200 sets for the whole grid per season. With two tests left to go - in Barcelona this week then at Mugello in May once the season has started - the teams have used a total of 438 sets between them, although not every new car has so far been able to test.

The teams are also able to carry over unused tyres that have been mounted at the previous test, so the real number of sets available this week will actually be higher, as teams finalise their preparations for the season. Most teams are carrying over wets and intermediates, with an average of three sets of wets and three sets of intermediates per team - an additional 36 sets of wets and 36 sets of intermediates in total.

Barcelona is one of the most effective places to try out new tyres, due to the wide variety of speeds and corners contained within the 4.655-kilometre lap, as well as the huge amount of data that has been accumulated from the Circuit de Catalunya in the past. The teams have previously placed the emphasis on aerodynamic development, but the focus is expected to be on race simulations and strategies this week, with the first grand prix just around the corner.

Pirelli's Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: "We're likely to see the teams test the tyres that they will use for the first three grands prix at Barcelona, with the accent switching to race preparation rather than new car development. Once again we have the full range of tyres available for the teams to test, which have been specially designed for the definitive specification of 2012 cars that we should see running at the Circuit de Catalunya. We've gathered plenty of data so far and had a very positive first impression from the drivers, so this week should allow us to validate our findings and continue accumulating data that will be vital for the season ahead."

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'Schumacher is a different driver now'

Former Williams driver Riccardo Patrese believes that there has been a small change in Michael Schumacher since his retirement and that is all that it takes for a drop in performance.

Having turned out in F1 from 1977 to 1993, Patrese certainly has seen a number of champions in his time, one of whom is Schumacher who entered the sport in 1991.

The German has gone on to win seven World titles but after returning to F1 in 2010 following a three-year absence has not been able to hit the same highs. It has been suggested that his struggles are the result of the fact that the standard of driving is higher now than it was in the past. Patrese refutes this, believing instead that the German is a fraction slower now.

"Michael raced against drivers like Senna, Mansell and myself and proved immediately that he could be competitive and better," the Italian wrote on his personal website.

"Now we have drivers like Hamilton and Vettel who look very good but I don't think they are better than Senna, Mansell or the drivers that were around when Michael started in F1, so I think Michael is a little below the level of performance compared to his very best.

"Michael proved himself against the best when he started in Formula One so if he can't match the best today perhaps it is because he does not have the best car, but in the past without the right car he was able to make the difference; now he can't make the difference. If he had the best car now he could still win races, but in the past, even without the best car, he could win.

"Today he is a good driver but he cannot make the same difference as he could in the past from what I have seen at the beginning of this year and last year. You know how much I respect Michael and his talent but from what I have seen this is not the same Michael as before his retirement. I have my doubts about whether this is because of the tyres or the new regulations. Maybe his motorcycle and neck injury has had an effect in some small way. The difference can be very, very small but there seems to be a difference."

With Jarno Trulli being replaced by Vitaly Petrov at Caterham, there will be no Italian drivers on the 2012 grid - the first time this has happened since the 1970s, something Patrese finds quite incredible.

Few would argue that Trulli was living on borrowed time, with his best days long behind him, but with a proud history in the sport and a large support base, it seems almost unthinkable that Italy is not represented on the grid.

Patrese believes that the time has come for Ferrari, the biggest Italian constructor, to make a more concerted effort to up the profile of Italian drivers.

"Why this has happened, I don't know," mused the 57-year-old.

"Jarno Trulli has had time at the top, but he has been racing at the back for a while and maybe it is better for him to stay at home rather than continue like this. I hope some young Italians can come into F1 in the future.

"We know how important the Ferrari team is. I remember Imola in 1983 when the fans cheered when I crashed because a Ferrari - not an Italian driver - was going to win.

"The best three drivers now are Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton, but maybe Ferrari - if they wanted - could have an Italian as the second driver in the team, particularly as Massa hasn't looked good in the last couple of seasons. They could take a small risk to take a young Italian driver, but this hasn't happened since the time of Michele Alboreto.

"Italian drivers don't get help from a team. Ferrari have their driver academy where the Italian F1 champion gets an F1 test but nothing seems to happen after that. I think there are good young Italian drivers but they need to be given the opportunity to prove their ability."

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Ugly nose regulation likely to change for 2013

The regulations surrounding the 'ugly' noses which have become common place up and down the grid, will most likely change in 2013, with appearance being taken into account.

The 2012 rules mandate a lower nose for safety reasons, but they stop short of forcing teams to reduce their chassis height, which has led to the majority of cars featuring a stepped nose.

The only car to not feature a stepped nose so far is that of McLaren's MP4-27. The reason behind this is because of the way in which McLaren designs its chassis to be much lower - a trait they ran with in 2011 and 2010.

Ross Brawn went some way in explaining why the FIA chose not to amend the regulations to include a lower chassis height: "There is no doubt that we should try to make the cars look attractive, racey and appealing," he told Autosport.

"The feature we've all ended up with for the nose is going the wrong way. It was a bit unfortunate. There was an identified need to lower the nose, and of course if you lower the nose you've got to join it to the chassis."

It's believed a handful of teams spoke to the FIA, requesting they don't lower the maximum chassis height because of the cost involved in developing an entirely new, lower chassis.

"A few teams sat there and said, 'We want to be able to carry our chassis over [to 2012]', which we know is nonsense," added the Mercedes team principal.

Concerns have been expressed both by fans and those inside the sport about the look of the cars and how this may impact on sponsorship and viewing figures, with less educated fans turning off as a result.

This is what will most likely lead to a re-writing of the regulations for next season.

Brawn suggests any regulation changes be measured against a checklist which assesses the benefits and drawbacks, including whether or not it is visually pleasing.

"You perhaps need to have a checklist for every new regulation. You could ask what the objective is, whether it has a racing benefit and whether it has an aesthetic benefit."

He added: "Some of the aesthetics you get used to... but some of them, like the nose, we have to fix. McLaren has done a car to that spec so we could follow their dimensions."

However, the FIA will need convincing that aesthetics are important, with Toro Rosso technical chief Giorgio Ascanelli revealing that the governing body's technical delegate Charlie Whiting shot down the idea of such a regulation.

"They are not nice," the Italian told Autosport. " Lotus [specifically technical director James Allison] wanted a rule to avoid them looking so ugly. But Charlie [Whiting] said it would be the first time we made a rule to avoid cars being ugly."

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Button believes it's McLaren's time to win

McLaren driver Jenson Button believes 2012 presents a great opportunity for his outfit to return to championship glory on the back of a better winter season.

The 32-year-old has taken five wins with McLaren since he joined at the start of 2010. His wins are often the result of his own strategic decisions, leading him to believe he is driving better than ever before.

"I'm able to get the most from the car on a more consistent basis and there's no doubt that I deal with pressure differently," he told the BBC. "I'm the happiest I've ever been; I'm in a great place at the moment."

Button is convinced the time for McLaren to win the championship is coming, but warned the team must start winning races from the off, if it's to beat the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari.

"We haven't quite won the world title in the last two years," he added. "But I have won quite a few races with this team and I feel our time is coming.

"F1 is so competitive at the moment that you cannot afford to give points to your rivals at any moment; we need to fight for wins from the outset."

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Pedro de la Rosa hopeful HRT can still run on Sunday

Pedro de la Rosa is hopeful that his HRT team can get its new car ready to run for the first time at Barcelona on Sunday.The Spanish outfit only passed its final crash test last weekend, and it is now facing a race against time to complete the F112 before this week's final pre-season test ends.

De la Rosa said the plan was still focused on trying to get the car ready for Sunday - although he suggested there could be an opportunity for a straight-line test or filming day on Monday if it was necessary.

"The fact is that the goal this day is to try and get to Sunday," de la Rosa said during the latest FOTA Fans' Forum in Barcelona on Wednesday night. "The crash test was passed last Sunday, and since then the team has been building the car.

"We are in the car build phase, and if we come to Sunday fine. If not, then we have the possibility to do a new test on Monday."

De la Rosa said that he was positive HRT would make good progress over the campaign – even though it was facing such a rush to get its car ready for the first race.

"We intend to grow: grow orderly and improve – and if we are able to improve race by race that will be good," he said. "Let's not forget the F1 championship is 19/20 races a year, and we will have room for improvement.

"But we need to take it step by step and lay down foundations. What I have seen so far has really impressed me, and the team management has been doing a good job."

De la Rosa also revealed that HRT would consider adding KERS to its car later this season.

"The car is designed to use KERS, but the team has decided to start without KERS. During the season, once we have more time to test and be in Europe, then we can make the decision to use it or not. But the main thing is the car is designed around KERS."

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McLaren downplays significance of engine mapping clampdown in F1

McLaren has played down the significance of the recent engine mapping clampdown by the FIA that has closed off a loophole in the regulations.As AUTOSPORT reported last week, the FIA had to act after it was alerted by Mercedes-Benz that there was a way in the regulations to get around throttle limits in the engine maps by inducing a misfire.

That move prompted talk that it could have an impact on the competitive order - even though FIA sources insisted that it was not aware of any team making use of the practice.

McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale told the FOTA Fans' Forum in Barcelona on Wednesday, however, that his team would not be affected by the changes.

"For us it has not been a big deal," he explained. "We understand the point that Charlie Whiting is making there, and what is happening is really a very fine technical point. But it is not a deal breaker for us.

"Certainly at McLaren Mercedes, it hasn't changed our plans, and it doesn't change our game programme for Australia. We had understood that to be the case anyway, so Charlie just confirmed that."

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug welcomed the move by the FIA – especially as it would prevent teams from trying to pursue development opportunities in this area.

"I think it was a good decision to stop the potential development in that direction at a very early stage," he said.

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BARCELONA TEST II DAY 1: LOTUS BOUNCE BACK:

The final pre season test got underway today in Barcelona. The test will last four days and its the last chance for teams to test new parts ahead of the first Grand Prix in Melbourne.Teams worked mainly on set up and in the afternoon many focussed on long runs when the track conditions were stable.

Lotus has bounced back from the shock of missing last week's test due to a chassis construction issue. Romain Grosjean set the fastest time of the day on a soft tyre run, ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button.

After a difficult first two tests, where they were assessing their new car, Ferrari are able now to start the normal development programme. The main area of interest for them is the exhausts. This is true of a number of teams with varying approaches of blowing on the bottom element of the rear wing or even onto winglets on top of the rear brake ducts.

There is no HRT or Marussia at the test, the former ran out of time after passing the FIA crash tests late and the latter still has to pass them, which it hopes to have done by tomorrow.

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg covered the most mileage with 596 km today, the equivalent of two Grand Prix distances at Barcelona.

BARCELONA FINAL TEST, Day 1

1. Grosjean Lotus 1m23.252s

2. Button McLaren 1m23.510s +0.258 64

3. Perez Sauber 1m23.820s +0.568 118

4. Webber Red Bull 1m23.830s +0.578 102

5. Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.992s +0.740 128

6. Vergne Toro Rosso 1m24.216s +0.964 113

7. Di Resta Force India 1m24.305s +1.053 98

8. Massa Ferrari 1m24.318s +1.066 105

9. Petrov Caterham 1m24.876s +1.624 123

10. Maldonado Williams 1m25.587s +2.335 58

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F1: Ferrari Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

This morning saw the start of the final test session for Scuderia Ferrari and the other Formula 1 teams prior to the start of the 2012 World Championship. As was the case last week, the setting was the Catalunya Circuit, near Barcelona. The wheel of the F2012 was in the hands of Felipe Massa today. The Brazilian worked on car set-up and, in the afternoon, on long distance runs. A total of 105 laps was completed, the quickest in a time of 1.24.318.

The Scuderia continues testing again tomorrow, 2 March, still at the Catalunya Circuit, this time with Fernando Alonso on track.

Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4.655 km

Driver: Felipe Massa

Car: Ferrari F2012

Weather: air temperature 9/21°C, track temperature 11/27 °C. Sunny.

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F1: Williams Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer:

We tested part of our first race update package today, and in particular the new front wing. We then tested a number of interesting exploratory mechanical set-ups to investigate potential development directions for the forthcoming races. During the day, we encountered a couple of issues which limited our running and which we are currently investigating.

Pastor Maldonado:

We didn’t complete as much running as we would have liked today, but we still gathered some good data. This morning we ran our new front wing so we will analyse the results from our aero runs this evening. We completed a few longer runs during the afternoon as we investigated a number of set-up directions.

The Williams F1 Team will be back on track tomorrow, Friday 2 March, with Pastor Maldonado driving in the morning session and Bruno Senna driving the afternoon session for the second day of the test.

Driver: Pastor Maldonado

Chassis / engine: FW34-02 / RS27-5281/1

Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona 4.655km

Objectives: Aero correlation tests and set-up work

Weather: Dry and sunny all day

Ambient & track temps: 23ºC / 27ºC

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F1: Red Bull Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

Red Bull Racing returned to Barcelona for the final test before the start of the 2012 season and, with Mark Webber at the wheel, the team enjoyed a faultless day and was able to get through the full planned programme.

Afterwards Mark admitted that there is still much work to be done. “We’re here at the last test now, it’s starting to build up for the first race and we’re pretty excited for that. However, we still have plenty to go through this week but so far so good. “We certainly have a few more boxes to tick,” he added. “We have some crucial data to gather this week and the next three days will be really important. We’re learning every run and we are making progress I think.

“There are so many things to consider when we have a condensed winter programme like this,” Mark concluded. “You need to get your priorities right and concentrate on those. That’s where experience comes in and we have plenty of that. It’s going well so far but there aren’t enough hours in the day at the moment, though I’m sure we’re not the only team feeling that.”

Mark’s Race Engineer, Ciaron Pilbeam added: “We had a good run, with no reliability issues at all, so overall a very successful day. We spent the morning working through short runs and in the afternoon we did some longer runs, doing performance work. When you get through the full programme without problems there’s not much to say beyond that it was a good day.”

Driver: Mark Webber

Car: RB8

Laps: 102 laps

Best time: 1:23.830

Circuit length: 4.655km

Fastest lap: R. Grosjean (1:23.252)

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F1: McLaren Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

Today was always about quality not quantity

First day of the final pre-season test and the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team continues preparations ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, running Jenson (Thur/Sat) and Lewis (Fri/Sun) at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

The team is planning on gradually introducing a suite of new components to the MP4-27 during this test. Focus for the opening two days will primarily be on pitstop practice with a full race crew and further race prove-outs including some more time-consuming set-up work. The back-end of the test will be spent focusing on analysing and learning about our race-one aerodynamic package.

Team manager David Redding said: "Having completed more than 2000km at Barcelona last week, today was always going to be more about quality than quantity. We wanted to drill a little deeper into our understanding of the car, and that meant undertaking some bigger set-up changes that wouldn't ordinarily be available to us during a grand prix weekend.

"We made good progress and we're satisfied with today's results."

Driver: Jenson Button

Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona

Track length: 4.655km

Weather: Warm and sunny. Maximum ambient temperature 19.4°C

Laps completed: 64

Kilometres covered: 298km

Best laptime: 1m23.510s at 11:16 am

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F1: Toro Rosso Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

Jean-Eric Vergne:

"It was a good day and I completed more laps than on any of my other times in the car so far. I am feeling more confident and comfortable and I think we are also making steady progress on car development.

The pit stops are also getting better and were an improvement on last week here."

After a five day break, winter testing resumed today where it left off last Friday, at the Catalunya circuit on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Once again, it was Jean-Eric Vergne in the cockpit of the STR7, driving the first two days of this final winter test, before everything gets shipped off to Melbourne.

The programme centred on car set-up work, in contrast to last week, when evaluating components had been the key element on the agenda.

The programme was split between short and long runs, with the car running trouble-free throughout. With the French driver being new to the routines of Formula 1, the team also carried out many pit stops.

Race simulation work is on tomorrow's programme, when Vergne will again be at the wheel.

Circuit: Catalunya, 4.655 kms

Driver: Jean-Eric Vergne

Car: STR7 - 03

Laps: 113

Best time: 1:24.216

[MIKA27]

F1: Sauber Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

It was another productive day of pre-season testing for the Sauber F1 Team at the Circuit de Catalunya. Sergio Pérez did 118 laps on the first day of the second Barcelona test. He was busy evaluating some new aero components and doing mechanical set-up work. In the morning he was on short runs before switching the rhythm to longer ones in the afternoon. Today the Mexican was only using medium and hard compound tyres.

Sergio Pérez

"I think this was a very good day for me. The car was performing well under varying conditions. We are working in the right direction, and I'm very much looking forward to getting into the car again for my final day of testing on Saturday."

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, (Head of Track Engineering):

"We are quite happy with how the day went. We ticked off everything that had been on today's job list without any noteworthy issues.

It was also good for Sergio to cover a good amount of mileage. Test conditions here in Barcelona have been ideal. Among the hard and medium compound tyres used today we had two sets of medium which were prototype tyres from Pirelli."

What comes next:

For tomorrow, Friday, Kamui Kobayashi will take over. On Saturday Sergio will be back in the car before Kamui is on duty again on Sunday.

Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya / 4.655 km

Driver: Sergio Pérez (MEX)

Weather: Sunny all day, air 9-22°C, track 11-27°C

Chassis / engine: C31.02 / Ferrari 056

Mileage today: 118 laps

Fastest lap: 1:23,820 min (before lunch, medium tyres)

[MIKA27]

F1: Mercedes Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

Nico Rosberg began the final pre-season test for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS today at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

- Nico completed 128 laps, equivalent to 596 km, over the course of a very productive first day of running

- The team focused on set-up evaluations with the F1 W03 this morning, with Nico covering 56 laps over 10 runs

- Nico's afternoon programme saw longer runs with further set-up work aimed at optimising race performance

Michael Schumacher will take over the car tomorrow, with Nico driving on Saturday, and Michael concluding the test on Sunday.

Nico Rosberg

"I'm very happy with the first day of our test programme today. We were able to complete a lot of laps and tried a few different things which worked out well.

Some of the evaluations were really interesting which makes the day good fun for me, and it's nice to find out what the car can do. We had no reliability problems which is good as it's important to get mileage on the car. We are making progress, but we don't know really where we are compared to the others. It will be interesting to find out at the first race." Date: Thursday 1 March 2012

Track: Circuit de Catalunya

Driver: Nico Rosberg

No of Laps: 128 laps

Best Lap Time: 1:23.992

Kms Covered: 596 km

Track Length: 4.655 km

F1 W03 Mileage: 3016 km

Weather: Sunny

[MIKA27]

F1: Force India Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

Sahara Force India was back in action today for the start of a second week of testing in Barcelona with Paul Di Resta behind the wheel of the VJM05.

Paul Di Resta:

"Another busy day and we managed to tick off all the objectives once again. The final test is all about adding new parts to the car, seeing how they perform, and getting our set-up sorted for Melbourne. I think we have a good idea of where we need to be based on the performance of the car today and Nico will continue with that work tomorrow.

As I said last week, we are definitely making progress in terms of performance and we're getting a good understanding for the new 2012 tyre constructions."

Jakob Andreasen, Chief Engineer

Day One Stats

"Our second week in Barcelona has got off to a good start with another reliable day of running. Paul covered just shy of 100 laps and worked through the programme without any significant issues.

The priority was to shakedown the second chassis, which we ran for the first time today, and that went smoothly with no issues to report. As the first race in Melbourne approaches, there are more developments arriving at the track and our task this week is to evaluate as much as we can. The first of those were on the car today, so we carried out some aero passes and had some encouraging feedback from Paul."

Chassis: VJM05-03

Laps: 98

Mileage: 456 km

Fastest lap: 1:24.305

Barcelona testing schedule

2 March - Nico Hulkenberg

3 March - Paul Di Resta

4 March - Nico Hulkenberg

[riazp]

Mika, Thanks for all you do brother. Love the fact that I can log onto my favorite website and read up on all the f1 news at the same time as reading up on the all the latest cigar stuff! Keep up the great work. Cheers

[MIKA27]

F1: Caterham Barcelona test II - Day 1 report

Vitaly Petrov:

"Today the car was working very well from the first installation lap and right up to the final lap this afternoon. We managed to work through the whole tyre program and put in solid lap times all day, as well as working through a number of other setup programs that are helping me find the right balance I can really push with.

My race seat will be in the car for Sunday so I think we can make more progress then, when I know I'll be fully comfortable in the car, so I hope we can build on what we have done today over the next couple of days and leave the test in very good shape for the first race."

Mike Gascoyne, Caterham Group Chief Technical Officer:

"That was an excellent day for us, despite the very late change of driver we had to make this morning. We ran 123 laps and completed the whole program and even though we will not have Vitaly's race seat ready until he is back in the car on Sunday, he was much more comfortable in the car and improved his times and his feedback throughout the day.

"This morning we were focusing on further tyre evaluation and setup work, and in the afternoon session we completed a number of long runs which has helped us take a step forward with the setup options for this car. Taking into account the number of laps we ran today, and the fact Vitaly is feeling ever more comfortable with the team and in the car I think we can say that this has been the perfect start to the test for the whole team."

Riad Asmat, Caterham Group Chief Executive Officer:

"A good day for us - the sort of day that gets us right back on track with preparations for the first flyaway races. Vitaly did a very good job for us, stepping in a the last moment to replace Heikki who has been suffering from food poisoning today, so thanks to him for putting in a faultless day in the cockpit. I also want to thank the team at the factory and here on track for the hard work they have all put in to fix the reliability issues that we had to deal with last week.

Quite a few of the team have been in Spain for over two weeks now, covering the first test in Barcelona, the aero test we ran earlier this week and now the final test, so to see the step up in performance and reliability is a good testament to the dedication and perseverance of everyone involved in our team, here in Spain and back in the UK."

Driver: Vitaly Petrov

Chassis: CT01-#3

Total laps: 123

Best lap: 1:24.876

[MIKA27]

Mika, Thanks for all you do brother. Love the fact that I can log onto my favorite website and read up on all the f1 news at the same time as reading up on the all the latest cigar stuff! Keep up the great work. Cheers

You are all more than welcome!

This way, you only need to come to the one website and read up on all the news rather than surfing the net for a dozen sites to be accross all the news. It's hard smoking a cigar in one hand, drinking in the other and typing to get to other websites, so this way, you can easily enjoy your cigars, drinks and F1 news!!

I hope you enjoy this Formula 1 season bud. Who you gunning for?

[MIKA27]

Brawn: We have to challenge for podiums

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn feels podium finishes should be a "certainty" for the Brackley squad this year.

After claiming three P3s through Nico Rosberg during the 2010 season, the team failed to make it onto the podium last year with the best result a fourth-place finish from Michael Schumacher in Canada.

The team, though, are confident that their 2012 challenger, the W03, will help them to take a big step forward this year.

Brawn admits their main aim will be to return to the top three while a race victory would be a bonus.

"A win would be the real icing on the cake, but podiums have got to be a certainty for us," he told the James Allen on F1 podcast.

"I say certainty not in an arrogant sense, but with what our objectives are for this year.

"When you getting on the podiums things can happen, either on merit or otherwise. You get a race with some difficult weather conditions and you made the right calls and suddenly it falls in place."

Despite the optimism in the camp, Brawn knows that they still have a long way to go before they can challenge pacesetters Red Bull.

"We are far from where we want to be, but the team is starting to feel more confident and the team has a positive buzz around," he said.

He added: "It will be too optimistic to think we will reach the level of Red Bull in a performance sense but can we run better races. Can our drivers have better races? I don't know.

"That dynamic could evolve during the year. If you had asked me if we have a faster car than Red Bull then no, but we are getting better. Does that mean we have a chance? I am always optimistic. I have a good feeling about what is developing."

[MIKA27]

FIA rejects lower pit lane speed limit

The FIA has rejected a proposal, which was backed by the majority of teams, to lower the pit lane speed limit during qualifying and the race.

Had the FIA agreed, the speed would have been reduced from 100km/h (62mph) to just 60km/h (37mph).

The idea was put forward by the teams in light of safety concerns following a sportscar accident in 2010 when a mechanic was killed when the car he was working on suffered a brake failure and couldn't stop in its pit box.

However, race director Charlie Whiting rejected the move, citing not a single accident having been caused by speed in the Formula 1 pit lane since the 100km/h regulation was introduced.

Whiting has the power to reduce the speed limit at any event he sees fit, if he believes it is of concern.

Currently Monaco is the only circuit to have a lower speed limit of 60km/h during qualifying and the race. All practice sessions at every circuit are also limited to 60km/h.

[MIKA27]

Mark Webber predicts 'very tight' battle for victory in the Australian Grand Prix

Mark Webber is predicting a tight battle for victory in the season opening Australian Grand Prix, with teams still unsure about how well their preparations are going in winter testing.While many view Red Bull Racing and McLaren as favourites for victory in Melbourne, Webber insisted on Thursday that his team was feeling good about its progress - but was taking nothing for granted.

"We are all anxious to get to Melbourne eventually and see where all of our work is, but I think the team have done a phenomenal job in terms of preparation and working as hard as we can – and we just have to see if that is going to be enough," he said, after ending the first day of the Barcelona test fourth fastest.

"There are some phenomenal teams out there pushing very, very hard, like McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus as well. We are pretty happy so far, but that can change very quickly as you know in F1."

When asked about his prediction on how close the fight was likely to be in Australia, Webber said: "I think it is going to be really tight. The racing will be between several teams for sure and it is difficult to understand who is doing what at the moment, because we have such a big variation in fuel and tyre conditions and all sorts of stuff.

"You can analyse it until you are blue in the face but ultimately – even when we have done the race in Melbourne we need to go to Sepang and we need to get a picture on how the championship is unfolding.

"One 90 minute race in Albert Park won't be deciding the championship, it will be whoever can pull things together for the first part of the championship and come back with some decent points."

Webber believes Red Bull Racing had made some steps forward in getting a better understanding of the RB8 since last week's test – but he feels there is room to be even better.

"We are making progress, and there are so many things to obviously consider when we have a pretty condensed winter programme like all the teams have," he said.

"You need to get your priorities right and work on those as best you can, and that is where the experience comes in with the team like we have here.

"So it is going well in terms of what we want to test, but there are not enough hours in the day at the moment and I am sure we are not the only team doing that."

He added: "We have more boxes to tick for sure. We have some more data to gather, more crucial information to gather and that is important before we go racing because obviously at a race weekend it is harder to capture that data.

"So we are still going through that at the moment and the next three days it will be important to do that. There are definitely some boxes still to tick - but some of those boxes we hope are exciting, some might not be so exciting, and that is the way testing is."

[MIKA27]

Pirelli open to the idea of making softer tyre more aggressive

Pirelli is open to the idea of making its softer tyre more aggressive later this year if the compound does not deliver the high levels of degradation it is hoping for.

After its experiences so far of testing the new-for-2012 compounds, Pirelli is happy with the performance differential between its compounds - which it estimates being between 0.4-0.5 seconds - but fears that its soft tyre may not degrade as much as it had hoped for.

Although data from testing can sometimes be misleading, and the true race situations in warmer conditions may provide a different picture, Pirelli is ready to look at different options.

When asked about the degradation levels of the tyres, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery, said: "I think we would probably like to see more on the softer compound, much more aggressive degradation, but ask me the same question after we have been in 50 degrees in Malaysia on a hot circuit.

"I think you have to be careful about drawing too many conclusions and I think it will be better when we have some race data."

Last year the softer tyre proved so consistent and quick that it became the default option at every race. That is why Pirelli wants it to degrade more because then it forces teams to be more risky with their strategy.

Hembery said a change in compounds would not happen until after the Monaco Grand Prix in May although testing of a revised tyre, if it proved necessary, would take place at Mugello earlier that month.

"I don't see anything happening for six races we always leave open the possibility to make changes, but equally you don't want to be pushing off in a direction where you create more problems than you solve," he said.

Looking at the way the various cars have been performing, Hembery believes the field is much closer now than it was 12 months ago.

"We have got this year a greater number of cars that have got performance closer together whereas last year there was one car in front and then a little group of two, then a couple on their own again and a group of four. It looks like performance is closing up between the top six/seven cars."

[riazp]

You are all more than welcome!

This way, you only need to come to the one website and read up on all the news rather than surfing the net for a dozen sites to be accross all the news. It's hard smoking a cigar in one hand, drinking in the other and typing to get to other websites, so this way, you can easily enjoy your cigars, drinks and F1 news!!

I hope you enjoy this Formula 1 season bud. Who you gunning for?

well no team in particular, I've always rooted for the british and canadian drivers. so this year i'm a mclaren guy since they have two brits on the team.

[MIKA27]

Eric Boullier says FOTA still important for Formula 1

FOTA is proving it still has an important role to play in improving Formula 1, even though some big-name teams left the organisation at the end of last year.That is the view of FOTA's vice-chairman Eric Boullier, who believes the fact that teams like Ferrari are still involved in discussions about cost cuts, testing - plus played an official part in this week's FOTA Fans' Forum – is important.

"I think the key thing is that even if some teams left officially the organisation, they are still committing on the main subjects – which are the RRA, and the testing agreements," Boullier told AUTOSPORT.

"Teams are still actively working together, and FOTA also is now about thinking of changing the way we want to operate, and the way we see it perceived in the paddock.

"If all the teams are not together, it is a different position in the paddock. But there is still some interest for me for all the teams to sit down together and to participate in F1 development – and this kind of [fans'] forum is a good example."

FOTA non-members Ferrari and HRT both sent representatives to speak on the panel at this week's Fans' Forum in Barcelona – something Boullier thinks bodes well for the future.

"It means the basis of FOTA is still remaining," he said. "It has changed, it will change again, but I think the F1 teams should at least, for the fans, be together."

Boullier also believes it important that FOTA continues with the Fans' Forum, after another successful event in Barcelona was attended by more than 200 people.

"For me it is good to have fans which actually can ask you direct questions, and it is good to be in contact directly with the fans," he said. "I think we should do this.

"I am clearly in favour of this contact with the fans of F1 and it is good to see them happy, to meet different people – and we are happy to be available for them to answer their questions."