Comments on: Barcelona Test Day One: Badoer Leads For Ferrari

By: George

George — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:27:22 +0000

I imagine that McLaren are working on the basis that he is a known quantity – that what they want from their test programme is to focus on technical development rather than evaluating driver talent. Paffett is well known and liked by the test team and his feedback is trusted. It’s probably as simple as that. That is why de la Rosa still has the test seat, rather than being moved aside. McLaren have always gone for long-term relationships with skilled development drivers – Panis and Wurz being the other two obvious mentions.

By: Steven Roy

Steven Roy — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:17:04 +0000

This is the first time in a while I have seen Gary Paffett testing the McLaren. I often wonder why they don’t drop him for a younger driver as they clearly have no intention of every giving him a race contract and he is second choice test driver to Pedro. It would seem more sensible to get a promising young driver who may turn into a racer.

By: George

George — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:36:34 +0000

Hard to tell whether that is an impressive performance from Buemi or not – we have no info on relative fuel loads or tyre compounds. I’d wager that Coulthard would have gone quicker still with the same number of laps. It’s a shame that there are no direct comparisons in the same car for Hulkenberg and Grosjean, though on the face of it they have posted pretty respectable times. I think it is fairly logical that Honda would call up Davidson over Sato, given their experience with him and their high esteem of his ability as a test driver. Of course, Rubens needs to keep a close eye on that situation. Hopefully it won’t be too long before Anthony is back where he belongs in a race seat.