BlogF1

Adrian Newey, the much celebrated areodynamicist currently employed by Red Bull Racing, has been feverishly busy with the rear of the RB5 ever since it was announced that the controversial ‘double diffuser’ was legal. Those who strictly followed the rules and their apparent spirit obviously chose not to design and install a ‘double diffuser’, and are now racing against time to get the part ready. Ferrari arrived in Barcelona this weekend with the first iteration of their diffuser, but Red Bull are struggling and may not even have the part in time for Monaco. Continue Reading

Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of updates; I’ve come down with the only thing that is worse than Swine Flu – Man Flu. Oh okay, it’s just a cold, but I’m allowed to exaggerate! But in order to start feeling better, I need to convince myself I am feeling better, so on with the show. There hasn’t been much news over the weekend, a bank holiday in the UK, but today BMW announced that neither of their drivers would be using KERS in Barcelona this weekend. Continue Reading

The final two days of testing at Jerez only saw McLaren and Williams participate, the other teams deciding they had done all they could in preparation for the season opener in Melbourne. Both teams were represented by the same driver each day; Heikki Kovalainen and Kazuki Nakajima sharing the circuit in Spain. The times set were initially off the pace from previous days, but by Thursday afternoon both drivers found speed and got the times down to a respectable 77s. Continue Reading

The third day of testing completed yesterday; the lateness of this post being put down to wanting a day off. But the news isn’t new – Jenson Button once again showed promise in the new Brawn BGP 001 by putting at the top of the timing sheet. Button completed 114 laps en route to the top and outclassed Nico Rosberg in the Williams by 0.2s. The Brawn was the only car yesterday (and of the test so far) to dip into the sub-77s lap times. Continue Reading

The second of the final test of the pre-season wrapped up earlier, and this time Fernando Alonso managed to set the fastest lap in the Renault R29. Alonso posted a time in the 78 second frame and was 0.055s faster than the chasing Rubens Barrichello. Alonso lost a lot of time during yesterday’s session after an accident meant he had to wait in the garage for most of the afternoon. Today though, the Spaniard was enjoying a more productive time, completing 103 laps to become the second busiest driver of the day. Continue Reading

So this is it, the final test session before the 2009 Formula One championship kicks off in Melbourne at the end of the month. Not all teams are present in Jerez, some deciding that they have done enough running beforehand. However, Williams, Renault and Brawn were in Spain, and Rubens Barrichello once again put his car at the top of the timing sheet, just ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Renault. Barrichello was also the busiest man of the day, completing 107 laps. Continue Reading

Last year I wrote a post comparing the pre-season testing times from 2008 to the final testing times set at the other end of the year. The post was meant to demonstrate the change in pace between the beginning and end of the year, although admittedly with the teams running very different cars prior to the end of the year, the times were hard compare. However, with all the cars now done at Barcelona this week, I thought I would do another comparison. Continue Reading

Brawn GP have once again topped the testing timing sheet, this time with Rubens Barrichello steering the new BGP 001. The Brazilian driver set an astonishing lap time that like Jenson’s the day previous, was well clear of the others. This is the last day of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, and some teams have indicated they may squeeze in another run before sending the cars to Australia. Continue Reading

The third day of testing wrapped up earlier with Jenson Button topping the timing sheet in the new Brawn GP car, the Briton lapping Circuit de Catalunya a full second faster than nearest rival Felipe Massa in the Ferrari. It wasn’t all smiles in Spain though as Lewis Hamilton ended the day at the bottom of the list, his McLaren having to be recovered from the wall after an off at Turn 2. The front of the MP4-24 suffered damage as the left side of the wing hit the barrier. Continue Reading

The second day of the Barcelona test wrapped up earlier this afternoon and Kimi Raikkonen returned his Ferrari to the top of the timing sheet, ahead of a very fast Kazuki Nakajima and an impressive run from Rubens Barrichello in the new Brawn BGP 001. McLaren continued to worry with Heikki Kovalainen only managing ninth, the MP4-24 possibly struggling and 1.6s shy of Raikkonen’s dominating pace. Not all may be as it seems though. Continue Reading