Ferrari dubbed the first day of running at the Sakhir circuit as 'positive' as they tested in the sunshine alongside BMW Sauber and Toyota. The first driver on the track was Felipe Massa. The Brazilian started the day with setup work on his car, to find the best possible settings for his start to dedicate himself later in the afternoon to some mileage tests with a series of quite long runs (with 15 laps each). At the end Massa had completed 98 laps or around 530 kilometres. Massa's fastest lap was 1.33.615, the second fastest time of the day. "I'd say that it was a positive start of this test session," Massa said. "We drove many kilometres, driving with continuity and we could quickly find a very good setup for the car." "I'm especially satisfied with the constant lap times in the afternoon, when we drove some pretty long stints," he continued. "But it's still far too early to understand where we are compared to our competitors. And there's still a lot of work to do to improve the car's behaviour. " The F60 used today was the same used during the tests at Mugello in January. The main goal of the day was to run under stable track conditions and similar temperatures the teams expect on race days. The team did not run its Kinetic Energy Recovery System today due to an 'electronic anomaly.' Massa remains on track on Wednesday before handing over to Kimi Raikkonen on Thursday. Sakhir - 10/02/2009 1 . T. Glock - Toyota TF109 - 1:33.501 (+ 0.000 ) - 82 laps 2 . F. Massa - Ferrari F60 - 1:33.615 (+ 0.114 ) - 98 laps 3 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:33.702 (+ 0.201 ) - 95 laps. E.A. © CAPSIS International
And it now appears that a sandstorm and early morning fog yesterday have hindered the teams testing. So much for escaping to the desert to avoid the bad European weather! Picture of the sandstorm (courtesy F1-Live): http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/imgactu/zoom09/kubica-test-z-wri-01_100209.jpg
Yeah I thought it was pretty insane. Not the best environment for a very expensive piece of technology like an F-1 car.
Sunny conditions greeted Ferrari briefly this morning before conditions deteriorated and resulted in the curtailing of further running. Today's programme was stopped early, less than two hours after the start, because of a sandstorm hitting the Sakhir circuit, which meant it was impossible for the medical helicopter to fly, in the event of an emergency. Up to that point, Felipe Massa had covered 17 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.33.639. "Obviously it's slightly frustrating that we could hardly drive today, due to the wind and the sand but there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to accept it," Massa began, "although I have to say I'm quite satisfied with the work done so far here at Sakhir." "Yesterday we drove many kilometres and the car was better than at Mugello, more stable and easier to drive, with constant lap times," the Brazilian continued. "The Team has been working very hard over the last weeks as far as the setup is concerned and we could already see the results. " "After a minor problem with the software yesterday, today, at least for the laps we did, we were able to use the KERS as we should. There's still a lot of work to do here and in other areas, but I think that we're heading in the right direction." Testing is scheduled to continue at this circuit tomorrow with Kimi Raikkonen taking the wheel of the F60. Sakhir - 11/02/2009 1 . F. Massa - Ferrari F60 - 1:33.639 (+ 0.000 ) - 17 laps 2 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:34.398 (+ 0.759 ) - 22 laps 3 . T. Glock - Toyota TF109 - 1:34.902 (+ 1.263 ) - 14 laps E.A. © CAPSIS International
There is an amazing picture on the front page of http://www.formula1.com that show Massa being almost consumed by the sand storm. I can't link to it due to the nature of the site.
After two days affected by poor visibility, finally the weather in Bahrain improved enough so that this day of testing could proceed as normal. Kimi Raikkonen, who was unable to do anything at all yesterday, managed to get his first run in the Ferrari F60 on a dry track, even if it was still sandy in the morning. Raikkonen concentrated mainly on finding the best set-up for the car and covered a total of 105 laps, setting a best time of 1:33.350s, fastest on the day. The only hiccough on the day was down to a hydraulic problem which occurred shortly after 3.00pm and was then fixed. Ferrari resumes testing at this circuit on Monday, again with Raikkonen on track. Sakhir - 13/02/2009 1 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 1:33.350 (+ 0.000 ) - 105 laps 2 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 1:33.429 (+ 0.079 ) - 127 laps 3 . C. Klien - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:33.666 (+ 0.316 ) - 125 laps. E.A. © CAPSIS International
Ferrari resumed its test programme this morning in Bahrain following on from last week's session at this circuit, once again running alongside BMW Sauber and Toyota. Kimi Raikkonen was back behind the wheel of the Ferrari F60, to continue with development of the car. Raikkonen focused mainly on assessing different set-up configurations, on a comparison of the different types of Bridgestone tyre available, including over long runs and on overall reliability. The day ended with a few practice starts from the grid. "It was a very intense day," said Raikkonen. "We tried to make up the time we lost last week, although in the morning we had some minor problems which slowed us down a bit." "I'm satisfied with how things went. The car reacts very well to our set ups and confirms to deliver a constant performance on the long run. Let's hope the weather remains like this so we can drive many more kilometres until the end of this session." Raikkonen was second fastest on the day and continues the test on Tuesday. Sakhir - 16/02/2009 1 . C. Klien - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:32.544 (+ 0.000 ) - 131 laps 2 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 1:32.804 (+ 0.260 ) - 116 laps 3 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 1:33.064 (+ 0.520 ) - 141 laps. E.A. © CAPSIS International
These time seem very encouraging considering how much less downforce they have from last year. This is about half second off from Massa's pole time last year. Day 2 Sakhir - 17/02/2009 1 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 1:32.102 (+ 0.000 ) - 107 laps 2 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 1:32.230 (+ 0.128 ) - 149 laps 3 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:32.585 (+ 0.483 ) - 104 laps
...so Far McLaren is the only one ranting about how good their KERS is, how easy it is to adjust, how great the car is, bla bla bla...so Im not sure if this time they´ve got that technology well sorted out due to the Mercedes-Benz electrical or hybrid energy program... or is just to make the rest nervous...BUT if it´s for this later one... well, is working...I´m afraid they might have it sorted and we dont... althought is a good thing the car is picking up the pace though...testing is going the right way if the car -at least- is the fastest on the venue...whether McLaren is in it or not. And remember Ferrari has been veeeeery fetchy about the final aero design...the engine cover and the final front wing will only be unveilled at Australia...so I guess the car has the speed from the basic set up and needs all the fine tunning from such an extensive redesign. cant wait for Australia
Kimi Raikkonen's final day of testing at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain did not go according to plan for the Ferrari team. The morning was initially trouble-free as Raikkonen completed several stints to check the different set ups. Just after 11:30am the car started to have a problem with the Kinetic Energy Recovery System cooling circuit and the Finnish driver was forced to pit. Repairs lasted three hours and Raikkonen returned to his testing duties. The team were keen to point out that systems put in place to deal with a KERS failure were followed in a 'rigorous and precise way' and in complete safety. Just after the F60 returned to the track another unexpected event occurred as two dogs decided to go for a walk on the circuit, forcing the session to be halted. The final part of the day was dedicated to race simulations with a series of quite long stints and pit stops with refuelling. Like yesterday the session again ended with start simulations from the grid. "Until today the car's development went well, although we were mainly concentrating on its behaviour and the tyres," Raikkonen said. "Today we had a problem with the cooling system of the KERS, but these things can happen during the tests. Anyway we drove many laps. The whole car improved during these tests, but it's still too early to say where we are compared to our competitors." "I think we have to wait until Melbourne for that. Today was the first time I could get close to a car in front of me; but I wasn't close enough to understand if the new aerodynamics really make overtaking easier," he concluded. E.A. © CAPSIS International
problems continues... Following the KERS cooling incident yesterday in testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, problems continued again today with Felipe Massa back behind the wheel of the F60 challenger. The Brazilian began the day working on general set-up solutions but on his fourth lap of the day was forced back to the pits with a gearbox issue. Massa was able to get back on track ahead of the lunch break and completed 31 laps. An electrical problem halted the F60 again later in the day, but despite these problems, Massa was able to complete 105 laps overall, with a best time of 1:32.917s. The Brazilian concludes the test programme on Thursday. Sakhir - 18/02/2009 1 . T. Glock - Toyota TF109 - 1:32.492 (+ 0.000 ) - 132 laps 2 . F. Massa - Ferrari F60 - 1:32.917 (+ 0.425 ) - 105 laps 3 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:32.993 (+ 0.501 ) - 82 laps. E.A. © CAPSIS International
Sunny and windy conditions greeted Felipe Massa and the Ferrari team for the final day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit. The Brazilian driver worked in great detail on various set-up options on the Ferrari F60, on experimenting with several aerodynamic solutions, as well as continuing with reliability work on both engine and gearbox. Apart from a few minor glitches, the most serious problem occurred at the start of the day when a faulty cable left Massa stranded at the side of the track. However, the bulk of the planned workload was completed. "Today was a good day, apart from some minor problems, which held us up a bit," said Massa. "We have to work on that to avoid that they come back. And the strong wind bothered us a bit. We drove many kilometres to improve the car and I think that we're heading in the right direction." "We've seen during these days that there's a great balance, not just between the three team on this track, but also with the others. We're at the start of the season and now we have to wait and see who will take the biggest step until the first race starts." "We'll know much more at Melbourne. It was a pity that we lost almost two entire days her last week because of the sandstorm. But I think that all in all we were able to make up the lost time. I'm convinced that the decision to come to Bahrain for this long test session was very good," he concluded. Massa completed 113 laps with a best time of 1:32.162s, just a fraction off Kimi Raikkonen's best time this week, a 1:32.102s, recorded on Tuesday. Sakhir - 19/02/2009 1 . F. Massa - Ferrari F60 - 1:32.162 (+ 0.000 ) - 113 laps 2 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:32.225 (+ 0.063 ) - 122 laps 3 . T. Glock - Toyota TF109 - 1:32.445 (+ 0.283 ) - 65 laps. E.A. © CAPSIS International
