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The three day pre-British Grand Prix test got underway today at Silverstone with Felipe Massa setting the benchmark lap time for the others. Completing 71 laps of the Northamptonshire circuit, Massa ended his day 0.3s clear of Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren. The only non-full time drivers present were Kamui Kobayashi for Toyota and Vitantonio Liuzzi for Force India, the Italian touring the track 108 times and racking up the mileage for the team. Continue Reading…

Renault pilot Nelson Piquet Jr has topped the timing sheet on the final day of testing which was completed on Saturday at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The Brazilian toured the Montmelo track 112 times, the most of all the drivers present and in the two days of his running, has racked up 141 laps. Piquet’s fastest lap was 0.4s faster than local driver Pedro De La Rosa in the McLaren, who edged out Luca Badoer in the Ferrari, Badoer having driven the F2008 for the whole three-day test. Continue Reading…

Luca Badoer has gone fastest again on the second day of testing in Spain today. Driving the F2008 and touring the Circuit de Catalunya Badoer managed a time of 1m21.013, approximately 1.4s better than the fastest lap from Thursday. Taking over from Gary Paffett in the McLaren was Pedro De La Rosa, the Spanish star making it into second and ahead of Timo Glock in the Toyota. Nico Rosberg took over the helm at Williams after Nico Hulkenberg showed his hand yesterday. Continue Reading…

The Formula One circus has descended on Circuit de Catalunya today for the start of a three day test at the Barcelona track. With the next seven grands prix being held in Europe it is a good time for the squads to ramp up the car development for a mid-season push. The only team not present in Spain today were Force India, and most outfits chose to run test drivers for today’s running as opposed to the regular pilots. And it was one such test driver who ended up setting the fastest time - Luca Badoer of Ferrari. Continue Reading…

Rain showers interrupted the final day of testing at the Paul Ricard test in France today, but the poor weather did allow Toyota’s Jarno Trulli to gain some limelight at the top of the tables. With the teams running on the slightly faster Montreal configuration, everybody got a short chance to try out some set ups for the Canadian Grand Prix in three weeks time. The previous two days had been devoted to the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix, but requiring less downforce, Paul Ricard configuration had been adjusted slightly for today. Continue Reading…

Day two of testing at French circuit Paul Ricard has seen a change in leader as Kimi Raikkonen powered his Ferrari to the top spot, just ahead of Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren. BMW rounded out the usual top three, with Robert Kubica going marginally quicker than he did yesterday. David Coulthard, Jenson Button and Sebastien Bourdais all ran well during the day, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth quickest respectively. Continue Reading…

Lewis Hamilton has topped the tables on the first day of the Paul Ricard test in France. The McLaren driver lapped a comfortable 0.489s faster than Ferrari pilot Kimi Raikkonen. The teams were running on the shorter, twistier layout, allowing the squads to prepare their cars for the Monaco Grand Prix in a weeks time. Lots of new aerodynamic pieces were found on the bodies of the cars and Williams even ran a fin on Nico Rosberg’s Williams FW30 in the morning. Continue Reading…

Rain washed out the final day of testing at Circuit de Catalunya today, with only eight drivers setting laps and Force India deciding to head home early and save their mileage. Mark Webber ventured out on track early in between showers and was able to set a time that would stand for the rest of the day. Heikki Kovalainen was sent out in the McLaren MP4-23 and was the fastest of the drivers setting laps on the totally soaked tarmac, running 1.5s down on Webber and less than 0.1s up on Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari. The gap to fourth placed driver Robert Kubica was 1.1s, the remaining positions taken up by Jenson Button, Kazuki Nakajima, Nelson Piquet Jr and Jarno Trulli in eighth. Continue Reading…

Day three at Barcelona saw Renault improve to lead the teams as Fernando Alonso set the fastest lap of the day. His time was set while on slick tyres and was 0.9s faster than Ferrari’s head F1 car developer and former champion Michael Schumacher. Adrian Sutil placed his Ferrari-powered Force India in an impressive third, although like the two drivers ahead of him, he was also on slick tyres and also running the faster 2008 aero. setup. Continue Reading…

Three races into the season and Scuderia Toro Rosso have finally received their new machine, the STR3. Designed by parent team Red Bull Racing and bearing a strong resemblance to the RB4 currently driven by Mark Webber and David Coulthard, it is hoped the new motor will help the team in getting further into the midfield. Sebastien Bourdais was the second driver to run it around a circuit, turning up this morning at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya to take part in the test session with other teams. The car has already been shaken down by New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley at Vairano a couple of weeks ago. Continue Reading…