Where's Carol - pitlane has been open three minutes already ! As an aside there seem to be stories this morning about Schumacher having a full medical team on hand for his neck
Massa is already down to lap time of 1:12.227, quicker than yesterday when he was quickest overall with a 1:12.574 So who's fastest so far? Massa is top of the testers again with 1:12.227, followed by Hamilton (1:13.161) and Rosberg (1:14.036) I think that nowadays you can read something from testing. I'm really pleased that the Ferrari seems quick as there had been many negative rumours flying around. I think the overall speed we see from the next couple of weeks testing will be reflected in the first couple of races of the season. If McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari all start the season well you can also pretty much guarantee that they'll keep that advantage over he season as they have the resources to keep on developing the car. One of the things that made last year so fascinating was that the 'underdog' teams (Brawn & Red Bull) started well and the usual suspects made great strides to catch up.
Top 3 times after the first hour of testing: Massa 1m11.722s (17), Hamilton 1m13.161s (11), Rosberg 1m13.296s (14)
The ferrari looks fast : F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:11.722 way in front of everyone else....for the momment.
Good morning, I just got up it's only 4:45 am for me! Going to be a short time on here today as I work recovery at the dog/cat neuter spay clinic this am. I'll take my iPhone and check in as I can....this morning F1 takes a back seat to the lives of the people's critters. Thanks for thinking of me, it's greatly appreciated!!! Now...onto racing for a little while. Carol I didn't read anything in the new rules voted upon today regarding the new teams being able to "Miss" three races this year. It's rather idiotic, either you are ready to run the season or you aren't.....it diminishes the sport to a lesser degree. great most teams are at lunch!
Carol, Thank you for all the links. I see we share another addiction as I volunteer at the animal shelter whenever I have free time (and often when I don't..). Nice to see Phillip is looking well behind the wheel and I notice Koby has stuck his nose into the proceedings. Whoever said Sauber might be this year's Brawn might be on to something. Green Green Green!!!
1 Massa 11.722; 2 Kobayashi 12.056; 3 Hamilton 12.614; 4 Rosberg 12.899; 5 Kubica 13.659; 6 Barrichello 14.800; 7 Buemi 14.862 Will we see a sub 1.10 lap this week?
Isobel, you're welcome. Small world isn't it ! ! too bad you live such a distance away!! catch up later. Carol
Thanks for the link, Anthony. Carol, your aggregation of all of that info is MUCH appreciated (as always.) It's fantastic to be able to come here and get all of the information I'm craving in one place.
Final standings: Massa 1m11.722; Kobayashi 1m12.056; Hamilton 1m12.256; Kubica 1m12.426; Rosberg 1m12.899; Barrichello 1m13.377; Buemi 1m13.823
Great showing so far. Very interesting about Sauber; teams focused on long runs in the afternoon. Sam Michael said that most races will be one stop, maybe two. But 3 stops are done. (The track record is still 1:08 in 2008 by Ant Davidson) tomorrow should be interesting; the Kaiser vs the Unibrow. Plus Button in place of Hamilton. Next week Red Bull will be added to the mix....(no pun intended) Btw - another stupid FIA rule; only allowing the teams to bring one car to test.... Kevin (finally glad for on track action)
This may seem a simpleton question to ask but are BMW still affiliated with the Sauber team in any way? Looking at the youtube clips can see the technicians are still in BMW Sauber apparel and the tyre warmers still have the BMW Sauber emblem on them.
The Sauber situation is odd. Their still called BMW-Sauber, but they have Ferrari engines. Not sure why myself. Btw - Virgin will debut their car tomorrow....
Very good portends for Ferrari. Almost a second faster than Mercedes. Kobi really flying considering his limited experience. Perhaps finally a real Japanese contender.
I'll try to find the breakdown, but interesting to note that McLaren holds the fastest time in all 3 sectors. (different laps); combined they are 10kmh faster than anyone else....
They're not, but the team isn't allowed to change the name until next year per FIA or Bernie regulations. It's BMW Sauber powered by Ferrari
This would be very significant if the car was set up basically the same for these laps. Perhaps they changed set up between these sector times. If minimal changes were done.. watch out.
Keke just shared his impressions of the first two days of testing. He said that Ferrari seems now the car to beat because he does not think they are testing with particularly light fuel loads. He estimates that the teams are now testing with loads of 30-120 kilos and reckons that 30 kilos equals a second per lap. Therefore it is still too early to draw definite conclusions between teams.
