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Fernando Alonso has tested a McLaren MP4-21 at the final session of the year today. In a suprise outing for the team, Alonso went out on track in plain white overalls and helmet in an unbranded McLaren Mercedes to acclimatise himself to Bridgestone tyres and get some running in the car before the new year.
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Pedro De La Rosa charged his McLaren to the top of the time sheets in the second day of testing for the team at Spain’s Jerez track today. The Spaniard who subbed for Juan Pablo Montoya last season lapped the circuit 0.3s quicker than Jarno Trulli’s Toyota, who was himself being chased down by the Honda of James Rossiter. McLaren completed a productive day with Lewis Hamilton finishing in fourth place, just 0.04s behind Honda’s new test driver. Continue Reading…

Winter testing has been dominating the news of late, and some smaller stories have been sidelined by Alonso’s testing ban and Raikkonen’s drinking habits. But I thought I would take five minutes just to quickly skim through the other items that have made the front pages of Formula One websites this week…

…McLaren’s request for Renault to allow Fernando Alonso to test was denied by team boss Flavio Briatore. In a statement made to the press, the fiery Italian chief told reporters that McLaren should have sent the proposal to the correct address (instead of doing it via the media) and told the listening journalists that the lack of testing for Alonso won’t make a difference because Renault will beat him (and McLaren) anyway. Tough words from Briatore, but it is no suprise that Renault have reacted this way - why would they help a rival who ’sto