Webber tops F1 testing session

[TheStig]

Red Bull’s Mark Webber had the fastest lap at a Formula One test session Thursday, ending Torro Rosso’s two-day reign. The Australian completed a best lap of 1 minute, 19.176 seconds around the 4.423-kilometer (2.75-mile) Jerez circuit. “We’ve had a pretty good two days here.

   
                                                                                             
The car ran pretty reliably and we’ve clocked up some good mileage,” said Webber, who was using the penultimate day of testing to prepare for next week’s Hungarian Grand prix. Nelson Piquet Jr. was next fastest with a time of 1:19.334 in his Renault, one-tenth of a second quicker than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari has put serious emphasis on this week’s four-day session in southern Spain following a disappointing weekend that saw it lose momentum to McLaren in Formula One’s championship race.

 
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=148485&bolum=5

Stig..................Good for you  Rom.............

[romephius]

It sure is Stig, now let's hope Mark can start scoring more points on the track...

 

Rom

[johnbull]

Is Red Bull the most improved F1 car this year?

I'd say probably so.

[romephius]

As much as I am a Red Bull and Mark Webber fan, I'd have to say that the Toyotas are giving Red Bull a challenge for most improved...

Rom

[Alianora La Canta]

Surely Force India are the most improved team - they've caught up 2 seconds between last year and this. I know that only got them in front of Super Aguri, but at least they're not in the middle of nowhere any more.

[johnbull]

I agree both Ali and Rom have a point.

I was looking at it more from the point of view of who has made it furthest to the front of the grid. Webber was second on the grid at Silverstone, and Coulthard has had a podium, and they have been consistentely UP THERE.

But yes, both Toyota and Force India have improved considerably too.

So who's gone furthest backwards? That should be interesting.

[Alianora La Canta]

Apart from Super Aguri (existence to non-existence), the least improvement appears to have come from Williams. They seem to have gone backwards within the season, never mind between 2007 and 2008. A pity.

[Steven Roy]

I am tempted to say Honda have gone furthest backwards althought they had a low start position.  Given their resources it is ridiculous that they have made two consecutive awful cars.  Makes you wonder if they really have resolved the problems they had.

[Scott]

No question Honda was a mess, but Brawn came in too late to make much difference to this year's car.  Hopeufully he has made the necessary changes to bring a much better car to the grid for next year though.  I doubt it will be a podium challenger, but perhaps it will be comfortably in the midfield next year (which makes the idea of Alonzo driving it that much sillier - why hire a whiner for a fortune only to have him complain the entire time about the car not having a chance.  Wait until it is capable of winning a race or two.).

I think Red Bull has quietly spent a lot of time improving their car, and nobody is really paying attention.  I wonder if they will take over the Ferrari engines next year from TR.  Or maybe they can even convince Merc to sell their engines.  Although at the moment, RB is likely making Renault a bit nervous since they are ahead of their engine manufacturer in constructor points and consistency.

[cosworth151]

I'd have to say that BMW-Sauber is the most improved team. Even though they were third (pre-Max) last season, they were over 100 points behind Ferrari and McLaren.

Williams is sinking fast. Honda was already in the bin. I'm still waiting to see if Ross Brawn can actually make a difference there.

[John S]

Honda was already in the bin. I'm still waiting to see if Ross Brawn can actually make a difference there.

Red Bull have taken a long while for the Newy effect to be apparrent, more than 2 seasons by my count, so I think Ross is allowed at least one season to bed in before we expect to see better performance.

For me BMW has certainly turned up the wick this season on a very consistant basis where as RB have made a leap forward but still show inconsistency. The sister team at Torro Rosso seem to be shading the 1st eleven in the last couple of races, but then again they are running the tub and probably a lot of other bits from Newy's pen so it's not suprising.

The big losers must be Ferrari, just what is going on there? Williams also seems to be suffering a drop off from the potential shoen earlier this year.

[Scott]

The big losers must be Ferrari, just what is going on there? Williams also seems to be suffering a drop off from the potential shoen earlier this year.

Ferrari only had a two race blip - I wouldn't count them out anytime soon.  I still hope Williams will bounce back.