2015 "start-up"

[J.Clark]

Red Bull unveil the 15 car the RB11 in camouflage livery, what they trying to hide .... or is it double bluff???   

Plenty of photos on the link:
http://www.infiniti-redbullracing.com/en_US

[cosworth151]

It looks like a graphics program threw up on it.   

[J.Clark]

At the end of the first day of testing for the 2015 season, Ferrari looks to have made huge progress!  Vettel ended the day at the top of the time sheet.

Rosberg put in enough laps to have run three Grands Prix at 156.  Reliability looks good for Mercedes.

Not much to remark on for the rest of the field.  FIF1 didn't and won't run in Jerez.  Alonso got only six laps in the new McLaren with the reason for not even coming out in the afternoon to post a time remaining unknown.

Results for the day:

1. Vettel      Ferrari   58 laps   1m 22.620s
2. Ericsson      Sauber-Ferrari   72 laps   1m 22.777s
3. Rosberg    Mercedes   156 laps   1m 23.106s
4. Ricciardo   Red Bull-Renault         35 laps   1m 23.338s
5. Bottas      Williams-Mercedes   72 laps   1m 23.906s
6. Sainz      Toro Rosso-Renault   46 laps   1m 25.327s
7. Alonso      McLaren-Honda   6 laps   1m 40.738s

I am fully aware of the age old saying, "Its only testing."  Having said that, I am excited with what happened today.

[John S]

To put the test times above a little into context the times were set on these tyres:-

Ferrari - Medium
Sauber - Soft
Merc- Medium
Red Bull - Medium
Williams - Winter Hard*
Torro Rosso - Winter Hard*
McLaren - Winter Hard*

*Winter Hard prototype tyre. It’s a hard but low working range compound which allows drivers to quickly get top performance in cold conditions. This is a prototype and will not be part of the P Zero range for the 2015 Grands Prix.

[J.Clark]

Thanks John.  I didn't know about the "winter hard" tire.

Now I have to ask - are they softer, or higher grip, than the soft and/or mediums run by the others?

[J.Clark]

Mid-day of Day 2 time sheet:

1. Vettel      Ferrari   31 laps   1m 20.984s
2. Hamilton   Mercedes   47 laps   1m 22.490s
3. Verstappen   Toro Rosso    30 laps   1m 24.167s
4. Nasr      Sauberi   33 laps   1m 24.338s
5. Bottas      Williams   18 laps   1m 24.923s
6. Maldonado   Lotus    6 lap   1m 35.613s
7. Button   McLaren   5 laps   1m 54.655
8. Kvyat   Red Bull   7 laps   No Time

Afternoon times:

1. Vettel      Ferrari   50 laps   1m 20.984s
2. Hamilton   Mercedes   91 laps   1m 22.490s
3. Bottas      Williams   42 laps   1m 23.049s
4. Nasr      Sauber   60 laps   1m 23.762s
5. Verstappen   Toro Rosso    58 laps   1m 24.167s
6. Maldonado   Lotus    25 laps   1m 26.069s
7. Button      McLaren   5 laps   1m 54.655
8. Kvyat      Red Bull   14 laps   No Time

Mostly more of  the same.
Ferrari are impressive with not only the time put down, but the number of trouble-free laps as well.

Merc is pretty much where one would expect and have run a vast number of laps.  Hamilton shut down short of the pit, but no comment yet on why.

Williams look to be just running through a program and not trying to break any records.  The way they are going, I don't anticipate seeing a show of speed until the final day, Wednesday.

Sauber looks fairly impressive at this stage with the relatively no problems encountered.

McLaren 
Very few laps completed.  I don't know how many one or two lap stints they may have run, checking things out, but at this point, I would think that if the car was able, I would be putting as many miles on it as I possibly could.

[F1fanaticBD]

Mclaren is really in big trouble, others we have to see because we don't know how much they are carrying the weight, what set up they are running.

But one thing for certain, Mercedes will be untouchable this season.

[John S]

Thanks John.  I didn't know about the "winter hard" tire.

Now I have to ask - are they softer, or higher grip, than the soft and/or mediums run by the others?

They are a hard compound tyre and the times would suggest that they have less grip than both Medium or Softs, they are a test only tyre supplied by Pirelli because of the very low temperatures that can be experienced in Jerez in February.

Pirelli started offering teams this special tyre at the 2014 test, here's how Tyrepress a specialist site for Tyre and Wheel professionals reported on Pirelli's Winter Hard in Jan 2014:- 


 “Last year, the teams lost some pre-season running due to excessively cold conditions in Spain: we even saw some ice on the track at one point. In order to combat this, we have developed a special ‘winter’ version of the hard compound. This will be used for the Jerez test only and it is designed to work effectively even in cold conditions.” The special one-off ‘winter’ compound is a hard compound that has been optimised by reducing the risk of graining (which is a common characteristic of cold weather running)," Pirelli said.

Tyrepress.com, Jan 2014.

[J.Clark]

Okay John, that was great info.
Do you also have what tires were used today?

[John S]

Unfortunately no one seems to be giving out that info today.  Maybe someone in Jerez is worried us plebs will know too much. 

 

[F1fanaticBD]

I was reading the reports of Jerez test of 2014, was astonished because of how strangely the season panned out. In the test Ferrari was second best, showing good lap times, good reliability, Red Bull was in the verge of disaster, Kevin Magnussen was the fastest in all those four days.

Fast forward 1 year, and Ferrari had their worst season among 20 years, Kevin Magnussen was dropped, Red Bull was the only other winner of 2014 beside Mercedes. 

Also as predicted by Pirelli, cars are exactly 3 second faster than last year.

[J.Clark]

That is interesting when you think about it.

On to today, with Ferrari still looking strong.
Mercedes continues to rack up solid laps, having fixed the water leak that cut Hamilton's time short yesterday.
Sauber continues to impress with both times and reliability.
Williams still lurks in the shadows putting up good reliability, as well.
McLaren looks to have perhaps sorted out some of their issues and appear to be having a much more productive day.

Times as of 1400:

1. Rosberg      Mercedes   98 laps   1m 22.810s
2. Nasr   Sauber   56 laps   1m 23.734s
3. Raikkonen   Ferrari   44 laps   1m 24.074s
4. Massa      Williams   38 laps   1m 24.896s
5. Sainz      Toro Rosso    74 laps   1m 25.101s
6. Maldonado   Lotus    35 laps   1m 25.561
7. Ricciardo   Red Bull   5 laps   1m 34.776s
8. Alonso      McLaren   32 laps   1m 35.553s

We will have to wait to see if someone goes for the top time of yesterday, some two seconds quicker than where they are at present.

[John S]

Final times from Jerez test Day 3, Sauber managed to hit the top with Ferrari close behind, however Nasr did it on soft tyres. 

All quicker times were set in the afternoon, the early running was mainly on inters which accounts for McLaren only recording a time on them, Alonso brought the car in with water pump problems before the track dried out fully.

Name          Team      Tyres    Laps    Time        Gap 
Nasr           Sauber      S       109   1:21.545   121.468 mph 
Raikkonen   Ferrari      M        94   1:21.750      0.205 
Rosberg     Mercedes    M      151   1:21.982     0.437 
Massa       Williams       S       71   1:22.276      0.731 
Maldonado   Lotus        S        96   1:22.713     1.168 
Sainz       Toro Rosso    S      137   1:23.187     1.642 
Ricciardo    Red Bull     M        49   1:23.901      2.356 
Alonso      McLaren     INT      32   1:35.553    14.008 

[J.Clark]

Morning time sheet:
1. Raikkonen        Ferrari    33 laps    1m 23.812s
2. Verstappen     Toro Rosso   40 laps    1m 24.705s
3. Massa        Williams   15 laps    1m 25.508s
4. Grosjean    Lotus    30 laps    1m 26.049s
5. Hamilton        Mercedes   44 laps    1m 26.111s
6. Ericsson        Sauber-Ferrari    21 laps    1m 26.184s
7. Button       McLaren    1 lap    1m 30.706s
8. Kvyat   Red Bull    8 laps    1m 37.195s

[J.Clark]

I should preface this with the comment, echoing Kimi's take, that the time sheets mean nothing (in these testing sessions).  That said however, with the performance of Ferrari and Sauber over the course of the testing in Jerez, there is a herd of prancing horses at the pointy end of the spear.

Indications, questionable or not, seem to suggest that Ferrari power has caught up to the Mercedes.

End of testing in Jerez times:
1. Raikkonen   Ferrari   1m 20.841s 200 laps
2. Vettel    Ferrari   1m 20.984s 149 laps
3. Nasr   Sauber   1m 21.545 197 laps
4. Rosberg     Mercedes   1m 21.982s 308 laps
5. Ericsson      Sauberi   1m 22.019s 185 laps
6. Hamilton   Mercedes   1m 22.172s 208 laps
7. Massa    Williams   1m 22.276s 144 laps
8. Bottas    Williams   1m 22.319s 134 laps
9. Verstappen   Toro Rosso    1m 22.553s 170 laps
10.Maldonado   Lotus    1m 22.716s 137 laps
11. Sainz      Toro Rosso   1m 23.187s 183 laps
12. Ricciardo   Red Bull   1m 23.338s 84 laps
13. Grosjean   Lotus 1m 23.802s 53 laps*
14. Kvyat      Red Bull   1m 23.975s 82 laps
15. Button      McLaren   1m 27.660s 41 laps
16. Alonso        McLaren   1m 35.553s 38 laps