Schumi testing the F2007 w/o TC next week!

[AzShadow]

So, everyone likes the shark fin cover. Wonder when Ferrari starts using it too...

[iceman1]

I hope Not lol

1. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-23 1:14.919 19
2. K. Räikkönen Ferrari F2008 1:15.948 +1.029 10 pit
3. N. Rosberg Williams FW30 1:16.330 +1.411 21 pit
4. F. Alonso Renault R28 1:16.418 +1.499 20 pit
5. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.08 1:16.448 +1.529 22 pit
6. T. Glock Toyota TF108 1:16.473 +1.554 15
7. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB4 1:16.530 +1.611 13
8. R. Barrichello Honda RA108 1:16.547 +1.628 18 pit
9. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR3 1:16.624 +1.705 18 pit
10. A. Sutil Force India VJM-01 1:17.654 +2.735 19 pit

[megasyxx]

great to see iceman back :cheezy:

Day 2 test times; Hockenheim - 09/07/2008

1 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 - 1:14.872 (+ 0.000 ) - 101 laps
2 . N. Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW30 - 1:15.257 (+ 0.385 ) - 117 laps
3 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F2008 - 1:15.296 (+ 0.424 ) - 90 laps
4 . D. Coulthard - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:15.767 (+ 0.895 ) - 42 laps
5 . A. Sutil - Force India Ferrari VJM01 - 1:15.945 (+ 1.073 ) - 97 laps
6 . S. Vettel - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR3 - 1:15.955 (+ 1.083 ) - 62 laps
7 . T. Glock - Toyota TF108 - 1:15.995 (+ 1.123 ) - 114 laps
8 . F. Alonso - Renault R28 - 1:16.141 (+ 1.269 ) - 106 laps
9 . R. Barrichello - Honda RA108 - 1:16.144 (+ 1.272 ) - 90 laps
10 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:16.217 (+ 1.345 ) - 70 laps
11 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.08 - 1:16.235 (+ 1.363 ) - 115 laps
12 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR3 - 1:16.550 (+ 1.678 ) - 36 laps

[iceman1]

Mclaren didnt have the "shark fin" today ,Only yesterday.

Here's a slightly better view of the BMW cockpit fins.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3295 ... 652ml8.jpg

Ferrari is testing a new bargeboard solution.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/778/ ... h12wn5.jpg

[AzShadow]

Q&A with Kimi Raikkonen
http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type ... 2&PO=43312

Q: McLaren tried a new shark fin engine cover here – aren't you curious to try it?

KR: I don’t want to try their parts! We do our own thing and we put effort into what we think are the key things.

We will see what we will do in the future, but like I said we are pretty happy with what we have done here trying different things.

I haven’t seen what McLaren are doing or even put any effort into that; we have our own things to look at and that’s much more important.

[Sanredrose]

BMW seems to be falling off the pace very fast. See their performance in the testing in German GP. I don't think they can come up with any drastic improvements in the next 2 weeks to challenge Mclaren or Ferrari .. I think they are now stuck in the midfield battle !!

[JoostLamers]

So, everyone likes the shark fin cover. Wonder when Ferrari starts using it too...

Hamilton just drove a few laps with the shark fin cover, he set his fastest time without it, so..
Pictures:
Testing day 1:
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/gallery.php?catID=3594
Testing day 2:
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/gallery.php?catID=3118

[iceman1]

Toyota is also testing the shark fin according to F1today

[Ali]

We are mid-way through the afternoon session of Hockenheim testing and Jenson Button is on top. The Honda RA108 looks like it has some new aerodynamic adjustments, some other things we have seen today is Toyota try the well followed shark fin. Times are as follows:

1. J. Button Honda RA108 1:15.081 78
2. F. Massa Ferrari F2008 1:15.090 +0.009 80 pit
3. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-23 1:15.289 +0.208 85
4. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB4 1:15.378 +0.297 72 pit
5. S. Vettel Toro Rosso STR3 1:15.556 +0.475 68
6. F. Alonso Renault R28 1:15.593 +0.512 100
7. K. Nakajima Williams FW30 1:15.824 +0.743 71
8. R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1.08 1:15.869 +0.788 66 pit
9. J. Trulli Toyota TF108 1:16.065 +0.984 82
10. G. Fisichella Force India VJM-01 1:16.113 +1.032 64 pit

[JoostLamers]

pictures of day 3:
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/gallery.php?catID=3119

[Ali]

Massa finishes Hockenheim test on top

Felipe Massa ended this week's test at Hockenheim with the fastest time on Thursday, although Jenson Button was the surprise of the day as he ended it second quickest overall.

Massa took over the testing duties from Kimi Raikkonen to finish Ferrari's testing programme as the team bid to move on from their British Grand Prix disappointment.

And the Brazilian was the only driver to get under the one minute 15 seconds barriers as he set a best time of 1:14.989 seconds.

"It was a good day's work," said Massa. "We did a lot of kilometres and I have to say the car felt well balanced. This can only mean that we should also be competitive at this track, which is also the case for our main rivals."

Button evaluated new aerodynamic updates on his Honda Racing RA108 to set the second fastest time, just 0.092 seconds behind Massa.

Heikki Kovalainen was third quickest for McLaren, ahead of Mark Webber in the Red Bull Racing car and Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.

Giancarlo Fisichella brought a red flag out with a crash in his Force India at the Sachskurve in the afternoon, while Kazuki Nakajima also forced a stoppage in the morning when he stopped on track with a mechanical problem.

"It was a bit frustrating we could not do more running," said Fisichella. "In the morning we had the technical problem and had to stop for some time, then in the afternoon I had an accident.

"The rear of the car went away and I just lost control through the stadium complex. The car went across the road and there's not much run off area there so I went into the wall. I'm fine, but the car was quite badly damaged.

"The guys did a good job to get it out again for the last 30 minutes. Overall we are making some small improvements and moving forward. We will have to see how they work next weekend."

The other red flag of the day was caused by Fernando Alonso, whose Renault stopped on track at 16:35.

As well as trying out their car developments and set-ups, the drivers were also able to practice starts during a special lunchtime extension.

Code: Select all

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time      Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:14.989  109
 2.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:15.081  121
 3.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:15.289  123
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:15.378  118
 5.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:15.556  115
 6.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:15.593  119
 7.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:15.759  118
 8.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber          (B)  1:15.869  107
 9.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:16.065  129
10.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:16.113   74

[AzShadow]

The warmer the weather the stronger Ferrari will be. Today was the only hot day during the tests and so Massa was the fastest.

[Ali]

I guess the situation last year, where Ferrari are superior in tracks having high/middle-speed corners and McLaren are superior in tracks having low-speed corners, is quite changed in this year. Ferrari and McLaren both developed their cars in order to suit the tracks where a year before they lack of speed.

But still I have some doubts about McLaren's pace such that we didn't really see a McLaren beating a Ferrari in a head-to-head fight on track. All Mclaren wins came when Ferrari made big mistakes (Australia, Monaco, Britain). When Ferrari don't make any mistake, they in fact win, except Canada but you know what actually happened there.

[Ali]

Jerez testing times at lunch

Code: Select all

1 VET STR 1:19.844 49
2 PAF  McLaren 1:20.179 41
3 HUL Williams 1:20.953 50
4 BUE Red Bull 1:20.997 69
5 BAD Ferrari 1:21.407 45
6 TRU Toyota 1:21.459 50
7 WUR  Honda 1:21.596 44
8 GRO Renault 1:22.102 40
9 KLI BMW N/A 3

BMW mechanic escapes KERS scare

Questions about the safety of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) in Formula One were raised again on Tuesday when a BMW Sauber mechanic suffered an electric shock after touching a car fitted with the device during testing at Jerez in Spain.

[AzShadow]

I wonder how useful this KERS will be anyway. All these safety concerns and it probably won't necessarily increase overtaking either when the drivers can use the extra power at the same time.