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Barcelona: Day 1 team test notes
The first three rounds of the championship now over and done with, F1's attention returned to testing, with the first test of the 2008 season getting underway in Barcelona today. In just under a fortnight's time, this same track will host the Spanish Grand Prix, with all teams present looking to improve their laptimes. Fastest on the opening day was Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with the Brazilian going over 2.5 seconds quicker than his nearest opponent.
Ferrari
Massa spent his day evaluating the team's latest aerodynamic upgrade, which featured a radical front nose after many months of rumours about its existence. The Bahrain Grand Prix winner also worked on finding the best set-up for the F2008 on the Spanish Grand Prix track, along with testing the latest Bridgestone development slick tyres. On the 2008 grooved tyres, Massa's fastest lap was almost 1.5 seconds slower, but still comfortably quicker than any other driver.
Driver: Felipe Massa (1st, 1:18.339, 77 laps).
Honda
Alexander Wurz made good use of the slick tyres to elevate his team to second place. Honda's test driver spent the entire day evaluating the slick tyres, albeit with 2008 levels of downforce. Tomorrow sees Rubens Barrichello take over at the wheel.
Driver: Alexander Wurz (2nd, 1:21.059, 75 laps).
McLaren-Mercedes
Pedro de la Rosa was on hand to test the slick tyres, using 2009 levels of downforce to provide the team with a more accurate gauge of the tyres' potential. The Spaniard completed 113 laps, the most of any driver, and will hand over to Lewis Hamilton for tomorrow.
Driver: Pedro de la Rosa (3rd, 1:21.599, 113 laps).
BMW Sauber-BMW
BMW were one of the few teams not to test the slick tyres, with Nick Heidfeld instead opting to focus on aerodynamic and mechanical set-up of his F1.08. In preparation for the upcoming race here, Nick also tried out different engine mappings. His day, however, was disrupted when he did a precautionary stop on-track when an alarm light came on, causing one of the day's four red flag periods.
Driver: Nick Heidfeld (4th, 1:21.679, 105 laps).
Renault
Nelson Piquet was at the wheel for Renault, as the French teams tested several upgrades in their quest to climb further up the grid. The young Brazilian spent the day evaluating the changes to the car, as well as completing some general set-up work. Home favourite Fernando Alonso tests here tomorrow.
Nelson Piquet jr.: “It was another good day of work. The track conditions were good, so there were no problems there and we had a productive morning. Unfortunately I lost some time in the afternoon and so I did not do as many laps as I would have liked. We tried some new things but the more interesting work will come later in the week.”
Christian Silk (Chief Test Engineer): “The morning programme ran very well and so it was a solid day of work with the only delay coming at lunchtime. The car is working very well and the factory has made a huge effort to get the car ready for this week. We just need to carry on this good work for the rest of the week.”
Driver: Nelson Piquet jr. (5th, 1:21.913, 69 laps).
Red Bull-Renault
Scotland's David Coulthard was on hand at Red Bull, ending the day fifth quickest. Coulthard's morning was spent on general chassis and aerodynamic work, before evaluating the slicks during the afternoon session. He continues driving tomorrow.
Driver: David Coulthard (6th, 1:22.193, 59 laps).
Williams-Toyota
Kazuki Nakajima continued with the development of the FW30 at Williams today, albeit with the Japanese driver deviating from the usual programme to evaluate the slicks in the morning. Suspension development work kept him busy for the remainder of the day.
Sam Michael (Technical Director): “Today we started a four day test in Barcelona with Kazuki Nakajima driving the FW30. The morning was spent working on the 2009 tyre programme with Bridgestone, then the rest of the session was devoted to suspension work in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix next week.”
Driver: Kazuki Nakajima (7th, 1:22.431, 72 laps).
Toyota
Timo Glock tested Toyota's first major aerodynamic upgrade of the season, with the TF108 getting its first makeover ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, the start of the European season. Along with the aerodynamic work, Glock also looked at car set-up and other systems.
Timo Glock: “Today was a productive day and the team and mechanics did a good job. Everybody was focused on the new bits and pieces that we have brought and trying to find the right way forward. In the end that's what we did. I made one small mistake in the morning and spun off but it didn't cost us too much running time. In the afternoon we collected a lot of data to look at and now we just have to fine-tune that. Hopefully overnight we can find the right direction from all the information we have gathered today. The time sheets might not show it yet but I'm happy with our work so far.”
Gerd Pfeiffer (Test Team Manager): “Our main aim for the week is to prepare for the Spanish Grand Prix here in ten days' time. We will be concentrating on the revised aerodynamics package on the TF108 along with setting up the car for the race. Timo tested the new parts today and we collected some useful data, even if the afternoon was windy so that made it difficult to make detailed comparisons during his long runs. Overall we made it through a solid amount of work today so that was positive.”
Driver: Timo Glock (8th, 1:22.590, 92 laps).
Force India-Ferrari
Rounding out the timesheets on the opening day was Force India, who had Tonio Liuzzi at the wheel. The morning session was spent at 2008 downforce levels, as he worked on set-up, before moving to 2009 levels of downforce and slick tyres to conduct comparison runs in the afternoon. Tomorrow sees Grand Prix veteran Giancarlo Fisichella take to the wheel of the VJM01, with Adrian Sutil testing on Wednesday, Force India's final day on-track.
Vitantonio Liuzzi: “Today was a good day of testing with quite a few kilometres and no real mechanical issues. The car was good from start to finish and responded well to the changes we made. It has improved a lot from the last time I drove it in February, which shows the steps forward the team has made in the first three races. In the morning we tested the 2008 configuration and then the 2009 aero package in the afternoon. It was difficult to drive as there is much less downforce, but I think Bridgestone has done a good job with the tyres as they performed very strongly over one lap. On longer runs it was not quite as good, but there is still a lot of time to get it right. I was pretty happy with the work we have done for both 2008 and 2009. It looks promising.”
Mike Gascoyne (Chief Technical Officer): “Today was a useful opening day, with no real mechanical problems. In the morning we used the standard 2008 VJM01 with the 2008 grooved tyres to establish a baseline set-up, but in the afternoon we moved to the 2009 downforce level and tyres. We obtained some useful information on their respective performance, and after a basic warm-up, the tyres behaved better than we expected. On longer runs there is some drop off with the 2009 tyres and there is still some work to do. We will continue tomorrow with a similar programme with Giancarlo and hope to push on with the solid work we put in today.”
Driver: Vitantonio Liuzzi (9th, 1:22.846, 91 laps).
Testing continues here tomorrow for the second day of what will be a four-day test, for most teams.
Unofficial times from Barcelona (14/04/2008):
1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 1:18.339, 77 laps
2. Alexander Wurz (Honda) - 1:21.059, 75 laps
3. Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren-Mercedes) - 1:21.599, 113 laps
4. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber-BMW) - 1:21.679, 105 laps
5. Nelson Piquet jr. (Renault) - 1:21.913, 69 laps
6. David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault) - 1:22.193, 59 laps
7. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) - 1:22.431, 72 laps
8. Timo Glock (Toyota) - 1:22.590, 92 laps
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India-Ferrari) - 1:22.846, 91 laps
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