Jerez testing Feb 10,11,12,13

Alonso out on supersofts set fast time for the day thus far, although still not quicker than Schu yesterday. Mclaren has been in the pits much of the day so far.

1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 20.493s
2. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 21.054s
3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m 21.242s
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 21.574s
5. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 21.790s
6. Nick Heidfeld Lotus Renault GP-Renault 1m 21.849s
7. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 22.057s
8. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus-Renault 1m 22.793s
9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m 22.945s
10. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m 23.063s
11. Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m 25.471s

 

Webber commenting on James Allen stating MB was still lagging behind RB on longer stints:


Surprisingly Webber has just commented on that situation. He basically says that it was down to the tyres, and that one minute he was on Schumacher's gearbox and the next he couldn't keep up; all due to how the tyres drop off in performance.

So all of this has very little to do with the Mercedes or the Red Bull...

 

Heidfeld goes 2nd quickest setting a 1:20.942. He really wants that seat!

 

And Heidfeld lights up the track setting quickest time! 1:20.361

 

He seems to not have the braking issue control which Petrov was stating he is having with the car in general. Good stuff.

 

end of the day results:

1 Heidfeld Renault 1m20.361s
2 Alonso Ferrari 1m20.493s +0.132
3 Schumacher Mercedes 1m21.054s +0.693
4 Hamilton McLaren 1m21.099s +0.738
5 Kobayashi Sauber 1m21.242s +0.881
6 Vettel Red Bull 1m21.574s +1.213
7 Buemi Toro Rosso 1m21.681s +1.320
8 Kovalainen Lotus 1m21.711s +1.350
9 Barrichello Williams 1m22.227s +1.866
10 Di Resta Force India 1m22.945s +2.584
11 D'Ambrosio Virgin 1m25.471s +5.110


Heidfeld and Alonso both set their quick runs on supersofts and at least 8 laps of fuel (Heidfeld 8, Alonso did 9 or 10 in short 2-3 lap bursts).

Red Bull looking great this afternoon with Vettel posting 1m22.8s on lap four of a stint and 1m23.4s 11 laps later, losing just over a second.

 

I know right! The suspense of it all.

Mclaren did some short bursts but I am not sure how serious to take their efforts as they have barely run the car. They will surely have speed if they can control the tires. Red Bull is clearly the quickest out there and appear to only be running medium or larger fuel loads for longer runs, but W02 showed signs of improved consistency today, staying within 1.3s of Schumacher's best lap for 13 laps before slipping by around 0.5s per lap over the next five. Ferrari's long runs are equally impressive. 5-way fight this year anyone?

 

I wish we knew what these cutouts on the sidepods are all about. KERS cooling??
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BBC article from Schu not sounding too good.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9395888.stm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

It's not clear if this was prior to him driving the car in Jerez. Some things point to points of view prior to testing and others showing results after testing.

 

I really don't know. The car is certainly a huge game changer for MB, but a game changer to the rest of the field? Maybe, but not as much as they need. Schu has set the quickest lap of the week and we know other teams have been testing supersofts quite a bit as well, but that does not mean a whole lot. The MB is very pedestrian in terms of huge innovation which is not what will dethrone the current might of Red Bull. The long run tests are looking a solid .5 off-pace from Red Bull on certain tires (don't know which) but looking really good with other tires (don't know which either!).

This could be a year of clever tire strategy where not necessarily the quickest car wins the races, but the team with the wherewithal to deduce a dominating tire strategy. It's certainly going to be different. Webber clearly stated that he was able to follow Schu's gearbox no problem one moment, and then the next moment not be able to get near him due to Webber's tires. It's possibly going to be a bigger X factor than I imagined.

What's odd is Schu is saying they are very pleased with progress one moment, and then the next saying something is not right. It certainly seems misleading.

 

Barichello bringing some heat, and Ferrari is proving some serious reliability running upwards of 1500km on this engine.

1. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m 19.832s
2. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m 20.601s
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 21.074s
4. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 21.213s
5. Bruno Senna Lotus Renault GP-Renault 1m 21.990s
6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 22.222s
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 22.278s
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 22.773s
9. Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m 22.985s
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m 23.444s
11. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus-Renault 1m 24.023s

 

Nico is just not jiving with this car for some reason.

 

Barichello's scorcher lap was set on his first lap with supersofts on an 8 lap run. Times elevated a couple seconds post the first lap of course.