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Bottas Fastest For Williams on Final Day of Barcelona Test

Valtteri Bottas closed off Williams’ pre-season testing campaign by finishing fastest on the final day of the Barcelona test on the super soft compound in the morning session.

Bottas’ time of 1:23.063 was 0.406s faster than Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari who finished 2nd fastest. In fact, Williams felt very confident of their testing performance and ended their testing early with 89 laps on the board for the day.

“It was a really good day and a great way to finish the test,” commented Bottas. “One of the main points we have learnt is that the FW37 is very reliable. The car we are taking to Melbourne is very competitive and should make for an interesting start to the season.”

Most of the teams, after completing qualifying simulations moved over to long runs in preparation for the first race of the Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne in two weeks time.

Felipe Nasr with 159 laps for the day finished 3rd fastest with rookie Max Verstappen in the Toro Rosso finishing 4th fastest. Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull suffered and ERS problem in the morning session which meant he was out for the bulk of the morning session. He was back out in the afternoon and managed to complete 72 laps.

Sergio Perez got his first taste of the VJM08 on Sunday. He completed 130 laps and finished 6th fastest. ““My first day in the car has been a good one, with a very high number of laps and a good atmosphere in the team,” said Perez. “It’s no secret that we have some catch-up to do but I am optimistic: the team has a clear direction to work towards and we have been able to collect a large amount of data in such a short time, which will help all those working back at base.”

Nico Rosberg closed off a very successful testing campaign for Mercedes with the 7th fastest time of the day. Although he was not up there in terms of pace for the day, Rosberg holds the honor for the fastest lap of the Barcelona test of 1:22.792. Mercedes have also completed the most laps across all three tests.

“Today was a good day and, overall, that was a very interesting test here in Barcelona,” commented Rosberg. ” After this test, though, we can be happy,. The team did a fantastic job.”

Rosberg seemed confident of Mercedes’ pace and feel that they will pick up right where they left off in 2014.

McLaren had another difficult day with Jenson Button at the wheel. Their test campaign has been hit by reliability issues from the first day of testing. The team, however, are optimistic that they can improve, although conceding that the fly away races will be an uphill battle.

Eric Boullier, McLaren’s Racing Director had this to say about their testing campaign: “Looking back at the last four weeks, our winter test programme has been difficult. However, that wasn’t entirely unexpected: this time last year, we saw many teams in a similar situation when they introduced new power units for the first time. This year, we also had the added complexity that very tight packaging brings.

“In overview, the lack of mileage means we won’t be as ready as we’d have liked, but we can take away the positive that all the running and data gathering we’ve done have confirmed that we’re achieving the targets we set ourselves.

“Even if it’s likely to be a difficult start to the season, we know we can develop hard and fast, and that we’ll surely unlock the huge potential that lies within the McLaren-Honda MP4-30.”

Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado closed off the time sheet with the 9th fastest time of the day. He brought out the red flags when he crashed into the barriers at Turn 4. Lotus say that the crash was caused by a “systems issue compromised Maldonado’s braking”. The team were unable to repair the damage to Maldonado’s car and had to call things to an early end at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Below is the unofficial times for day 4 of the final pre-season test in Barcelona

March 2, 2015
Hamilton Fastest For Mercedes on Penultimate Day of Barcelona Test

Lewis Hamilton made it two for two for Mercedes on the penultimate day of the Barcelona pre-season test.

Hamilton set his fastest time of 1:23.022 for the day on Pirelli’s yellow soft compound tyre in the afternoon session after spending most of the afternoon in the garage. Felipe Massa in the Williams was second fastest on the day with a 1:23.262, 0.240s slower than Hamilton. Massa completed his lap on the super softs compared to Hamilton on the soft. This is quite an incredible show of pace from Mercedes although we are not sure if Massa was pushing to the absolute limit.

Long runs and a race simulation was the order of the day at Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen finished the day 3rd fastest 0.254s slower than Hamilton. Raikkonen completed his fastest lap on the super softs in what looks like a qualifying type simulation.

Carlos Sainz Jr. and Romain Grosjean finished 4th and 5th fastest respectively both with lap counts over 100 laps. Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber ended his day 6th fastest with 123 laps to his name.

Nico Hulkenberg completed a solid day for Force India. This was the first full day of running after launching the VJM08 yesterday afternoon. Hulkenberg finished 7th fastest but completed a 158 laps on the day. “It was a very positive day in terms of reliability and getting a lot of mileage under our belts,” commented Hulkenberg. “It was our first full day of testing so our main focus remained on getting to know the car, the way we set it up and its characteristics.”

After a good day of running yesterday, it seemed to go the other way for McLaren on Saturday. Kevin Magnussen, filling in for Fernando Alonso, only completed 39 laps for the day and was forced to end the day almost three hours early due to on oil leak.

Daniel Ricciardo completed his day 9th fastest with 128 laps on the board. Red Bull focused on long run pace and race simulations after fitting new parts on the car. Daniel Ricciardo was happy with the updates and he feels the team have addressed their weaknesses from last year.

“It looks more promising,” he said. “I don’t think we have shown our true pace on low fuel yet. “High fuel stuff seems like we are a bit happier than where we feel like we should be.”

“We will see in Melbourne when everyone is on the right fuel loads but I think we do look more competitive on high fuel for now.”

Below is the unofficial time sheet for Day 3 of the final pre-season test

February 28, 2015
Rosberg Sets Fastest Time of Testing on Day 2 of Final Test as Force India Debut

Nico Rosberg threw down the gauntlet in testing today after setting the fastest time of the day and the pre-season test in Barcelona for Mercedes.

Elsewhere on the track, Force India debuted their 2015 car the VJM08 after skipping the first test and taking part in the second test with their 2014 car. The other good news was that the McLaren team got their first day of solid running.

The day however belonged to Robserg in the Mercedes who set a 1:22.792 on a set of Pirelli’s soft compound tyres. Rosberg’s time was 1.203s faster than Valtteri Bottas in the Williams who finished the day second fastest. Interestingly enough, Rosberg’s time today is about 0.7s quicker than Felipe Massa’s fastest time on day 1 on the same tyre.

Felipe Nasr in the Sauber finished third for the day while Sebastian Vettel took the spot for 4th fastest completing 143 laps on the day, the highest lap count for the day. His time of 1:25.339 was 2.547s slower than Rosberg’s time. It should be noted that Ferrari concentrated on long runs for most of the day.

Jenson Button in the McLaren had the best day for McLaren since testing began clocking up 101 laps under his belt. “We’ve got a lot of work still do to, but we had a good day today,” commented Button. “It’s never easy when you’ve missed out on so much testing, but we’re making good progress, and we got lots of really useful information today.”

“We know we’re not the quickest guys out there, but you’ll certainly see a lot of improvement by the time we get to Australia.”

Button’s day was brought to an end after an unspecified electrical problem which caused him to stop out on track. But not before completing his tally of 101 laps.

Lotus had Pastor Maldonado at the wheel of the E23 who completed 140 laps and finished 6th fastest. Max Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat finished 7th and 8th respectively for Toro Rosso and Red Bull.

Force India rolled out the VJM08 today with Nico Hulkenberg at the wheel. On its debut the car clocked up 77 laps for the day finishing slowest on the day. The team are not too concerned with the time at this stage as they are focusing on reliability as they’ve missed out on a big chunk of testing time.

Below is the unofficial time sheet for day 2 of the final pre-season test in Barcelona

Photo credits: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, Sahara Force India Formula One Team

February 27, 2015
Manor F1 Team Closer to Formula 1 Return

The former Marussia F1 Team, now known as Manor Racing F1 are a step closer to returning to the sport after the team name reflected on the updated FIA entry list for the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship

The team was included in the provisional last last year subject to confirmation. Since then the bosses of Manor F1 have been negotiating behind the scenes with the FIA. They had to secure the necessary finances before they could race in 2015.

Manor will race with their 2014 car which will be heavily modified in order to adhere to the 2015 rules. They are however, building their 2015 contender and hope to have it ready midway through the season.

Earlier in the week the team made its intentions clear that they want to race in 2015 and have signed British driver Will Stevens to the team. There is no word yet on who the second driver will be.

February 27, 2015
Alonso Thanks Fans for Their Support

Fernando Alonso, today thanked his fans for their continued support following his crash at the first Barcelona test.

February 27, 2015
Carmen Jorda Joins Lotus as Development Driver

GP3 driver Carmen Jorda was announced by the Lotus F1 Team this afternoon as their development driver for the 2015 season.

Jorda will attend races and tests with the team and will embark on an intensive simulator program with the team with her sights set firmly to drive the E23 Hybrid during the course of the year.

Jorda has been racing since 2001 and has raced around Europe and in America.

“It feels like a dream come true to join Lotus F1 Team,” said the Spanish driver. “I’ve been racing since I was ten years old so it was my dream to drive a Formula 1 car since I was very young.

“Joining Lotus F1 Team is a big step towards my goal. I will be working to improve myself as a driver as well as helping the team to develop the car by testing new developments in the simulator; it’s such a fantastic opportunity”

” I know this is just the beginning and the biggest challenge is yet to come but already being part of a team with such a history is a real honour. This is a great achievement, but an even greater opportunity which will lead to bigger and better things.”

Lotus F1 Team CEO, Matthew Carter, added: “We are happy to announce Carmen Jordá as a Development Driver for Lotus F1 Team and we are looking forward to working with her over the course of the season and ultimately seeing her behind the wheel of the car.

“Carmen will bring a fresh perspective to the team,” continued Matthew, reflecting on Carmen’s racing background which covers Formula 3 and Indy Lights, as well as the GP3 Series. “We have a strong programme for her attending Grands Prix as well as extensive time in our sophisticated simulation facility at Enstone. She is a unique addition to the team and we are looking forward to helping her progress her goals as well as receiving the benefit of her insights and contributions to the development of the E23 Hybrid.”

February 26, 2015
Massa Fastest for Williams on Day 1 of Final Test

Felipe Massa set the fastest time on the first day of the final pre-season test in Barcelona on the soft tyre completing a qualifying simulation.

Massa’s time of 1:23.500 is the fastest time seen so far in Barcelona. His time was 0.776s faster than second fastest of the day, Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber who achieved a 1:24.276 on Pirelli’s red supersoft compound tyre. Ericssson also completed the most laps of the day clocking up 122 laps.

Third fastest for the day was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton set the pace in the morning session on a set of white medium tyres and kept the top spots until the afternoon. His day, however, came to an early end after an MGU-K failure on the Mercedes. The team could not fix the problem before the end of the day. Hamilton is hoping to complete 122 laps tomorrow.

Daniil Kvyat for Red Bull and Romain Grosjean for Lotus finished 4th and 5th fastest respectively. Both completing 75 laps on the day while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen ended the day in 6th place. Ferrari are expecting new parts on the car on Friday which they hope should improve their pace.

Carlos Sainz Jr. finished the day 7th fastest for Toro Rosso sporting a new nose design. He completed 86 laps on the day.

McLaren endured another difficult day. Jenson Button managed to complete just 7 laps for the day and was almost 8 seconds off Massa’s pace. “After just seven laps, Jenson noted a vibration and brought the car back to the pits, where we discovered a hydraulic leak that required a full power-unit change,” said the team spokesperson. “The time required to complete the change unfortunately meant that our running for the day was over before lunchtime.”

Force India plan to run the VJM08 for the first time this season tomorrow with Nico Hulkenberg at the wheel. They’re expected to be wheels rolling by the afternoon.

Below are the unofficial times for the first day of the final test:

February 26, 2015
McLaren Blame “Unpredictable Gusty Winds” for Alonso Crash

A day after Fernando Alonso was airlifted to hospital following his crash on the final day of the second pre-season test, the McLaren F1 team have revealed that it was the very windy conditions that caused the Spaniards crash.

Alonso suffered from a concussion and earlier today it was announced that he was in the intensive care unit while further tests were being conducted. A while later Alonso’s agent Luis Garcia Abad tweeted a picture of a smiling Alonso sitting up in his hospital bed giving the thumbs up.

McLaren released a statement saying that the crash was caused because of the strong winds. This story was corroborated by Carlos Sainz Jr who also ran wide and crashed into the barrier at T3/T4.

“His car ran wide at the entry to Turn Three – which is a fast uphill right-hander – allowing it to run onto the Astroturf that lines the outside of the track,” read the statement

“A consequent loss of traction caused a degree of instability, spitting it back towards the inside of the circuit, where it regained traction and struck the wall side-on.”

“Our findings indicate that the accident was caused by the unpredictably gusty winds at that part of the circuit at that time, and which had affected other drivers similarly”

“We can categorically state that there is no evidence that indicates that Fernando’s car suffered mechanical failure of any kind.”

“We can also confirm that absolutely no loss of aerodynamic pressure was recorded, which fact indicates that the car did not suffer any aerodynamic loss, despite the fact that it was subjected to a significant level of g-force.”

McLaren have been quiet about the cause of the crash which lead to many theories as to why Alonso may have crashed. The statement from Vettel did not help much when he said that the car veered to the right all of a sudden, further fueling speculation. One of the rumors doing the rounds was that Alonso suffered an electrical shock before crashing. Another one stated that he was overcome by the fumes from the batteries.

The statement from McLaren debunks these rumors.

“We can also disclose that no electrical discharge or irregularity of any kind occurred in the car’s ERS system, either before, during or after the incident,” it added.

“That last point refutes the erroneous rumours that have spread recently to the effect that Fernando was rendered unconscious by an electrical fault. That is simply not true.

“Our data clearly shows that he was downshifting while applying full brake pressure right up to the moment of the first impact – something that clearly would not have been possible had he been unconscious at the time.

“Our data also confirms that Fernando’s car struck the inside concrete wall, first with its front-right wheel and then with its rear-right. It was a significant lateral impact, resulting in damage to the front upright and axle.

“After the initial impact, the car slid down the wall for about 15 seconds before coming to a halt. All four wheels remained attached to the car, but no damage was sustained by the bodywork or crash structure between the front and rear wheels.”

It is still unclear if Alonso will drive for the team for the final test at the Catalunya Circuit as he is still being kept at the hospital.

February 23, 2015
Veteran F1 designer Rory Byrne back at Ferrari

The legendary F1 designer Rory Byrne, who is one of the major figureheads in Ferrari’s Formula One dominance during the early 2000s has returned to the Scuderia to work closely with, and as a mentor to, Ferrari’s chief designer Simone Resta.

Byrne worked as the design chief for Ferrari at the start of the 2000s and, together with Ross Brawn, Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt, helped the Scuderia win six constructors’ and five drivers’ titles in only six years.

2014 was the Ferrari’s first winless season since 1993 and triggered a massive uphill climb along with loads of changes and shuffling around within the team and its management.

The team faced no less than three team principal changes during the course of the year as well as the departures of high-profile staff members like Nick Fry, and then president Luca di Montezemolo.

In November 2014, Maurizio Arrivabene took over from Marco Mattiacci as team principal and confirmed during the second Barcelona test that the semi-retired Byrne is back at the team.

“I have to tell you something funny,” Arrivavene told the media at the test in Barcelona. “I spoke with Rory, I’ve known him for a long time. I asked him ‘are you keen to work together with us, with your success, in the future to be a bit more involved?’ Without taking anything away from Simone Resta, who is our chief designer.

“And you know, I saw in Rory a kind of light. It’s unbelievable, a guy like this of his age, and he’s still enthusiastic like a baby. I was really surprised. One night near to Christmas I went to a restaurant and I found Rory, who was eating very, very quickly, and I said ‘Rory, calm down, where do you have to run!?’ He had to run immediately back to the factory for a meeting with Resta.”

Arrivabene explained that Byrne will be working with Simone Resta as a mentor due to his extensive experience and will be working on some tricky details of the new car. He went on to explain that Byrne’s experience of winning was something invaluable to Ferrari, who have not won a title since 2008.

“Rory is working with Simone, he’s giving to Simone as a mentor because of his experience and he’s working on some detail of the car. Most people might think Rory is part of history, I don’t think so. We are talking about the chief designer guru all the time but Rory isn’t one of the guys who didn’t win, he’s one of the guys who won a lot.

“Having a father or mentor for Simone is not a bad thing especially not when his enthusiasm is going up to the sky. I was talking to James [Allison] about it and he said ‘why not?’. Rory has my utmost respect, especially for that night I saw him eating with the light inside his eyes.”

February 23, 2015
Alonso “Concussed” During Accident, Stays Overnight in Hospital

Following his crash during the final day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, McLaren have confirmed that their driver Fernando Alonso will remain in hospital overnight for observation as a precautionary measure.

The crash happened just before lunch time. Alonso was rounding the bend at T3 when he lost control of his car which resulted him hitting the inside barrier of T3. He was taken to the circuits medical centre after which he was airlifted to hospital.

According to the McLaren F1 Team’s twitter page, Alonso was “conscious and speaking”. A few hours later a McLaren spokesperson confirmed that after CT scans Alonso was uninjured and fine.

“Fernando’s accident was just one of those things that happens in testing,” said McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier. “Fortunately, he’s fine, but was concussed during the accident, which therefore required an overnight stay in hospital as a precaution. That’s normal practice after a concussion.”

“Inevitably, some media reports have sought to exaggerate the severity of the incident – it was just a normal testing accident,” he added.

February 23, 2015