Pastor Maldonado topped the timesheets on the third day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. The Venezuelan's lap of 1.22.391 was almost a second clear of his nearest rival in Barcelona. Michael Schumacher completed a race simulation in the afternoon, taking his lap total to 127 - encouraging for Mercedes after gearbox problems on Wednesday. A few red flags interrupted the day's running as Mark Webber, Felipe Massa and Kamui Kobayashi all stopped on track, while Paul di Resta lost an engine cover […]

Nico Hulkenberg was the pace setter on the second day of testing in Barcelona. The German's morning lap time of 1.22.608 wasn't bettered in the afternoon session as he finished 0.040s faster than Sauber's Sergio Perez. Several drivers passed the 100 lap barrier - Hulkenberg,  Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Pic, who was driving the 2011 car. A few teams ran race simulations in the afternoon, with Red Bull also practising several pit stops as they look to copy a device used […]

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg have unveiled the new Mercedes AMG F1 W03 in the pit-lane of the Circuit de Catalunya, ahead of the second pre-season test which gets underway today. The Mercedes becomes the 10th car to be launched, leaving Marussia and HRT the only remaining teams to launch their 2012 cars.

1982 world champion Keke Rosberg has tipped Caterham to take a "step forward" in 2012. But the Finn, whose son is the Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, also said Heikki Kovalainen's team could face a speed-bump in the form of its scheduled factory move. "That will be a big distraction," Rosberg, 63, told the MTV3 broadcaster. "It's not just moving a few machines but hundreds of people, not all of whom will want to move schools and children and the like. Let's see how they cope […]

HRT on Friday refused to guarantee Narain Karthikeyan will race the full season with the struggling Spanish team. Albeit with different team ownership and management, HRT began the 2011 season also with Indian Karthikeyan at the wheel, but he was replaced mid-season for the Red Bull-backed Daniel Ricciardo deal. Reportedly with millions in sponsor backing, 35-year-old Karthikeyan is back on track for this season -- but perhaps not guaranteed a place at all twenty races. "The idea as of now is to race him the […]

Mercedes have confirmed they will be launching their new Formula 1 car, the F1 W03, at the second test which takes place at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona next week. The car will be unveiled to the media in the pit-lane on 21st February, on the morning of the first day of the second test week. After racing their 2011 car at the first test in Jerez, and topping the timing sheets on two consecutive days, the team will be hoping their 2012 car […]

Giedo van der Garde is set to return to the track with Caterham during the forthcoming Barcelona tests, reigniting speculation about Jarno Trulli's future with the former Lotus team. After the sponsor-backed Dutch GP2 driver was signed on as 2012 reserve driver, he was also drafted into the Jerez test lineup at short notice, bumping Italian veteran Trulli from Thursday's running. And France's Auto Hebdo quotes the 26-year-old as revealing he expects to return to the wheel soon. "It was not easy for me to […]

Official testing action for the 2012 season burst into life in Jerez on Tuesday, with every team except Marussia - and nine all-new cars in action for the first time - kicking off their campaigns. Returning 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was fastest all day. "The lap times don't matter today," Lotus' Finn insisted. "I do have a good feeling, and that was not always the case in my career after the first day of testing," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. "But I […]

The first pre-season tests of the 2012 Formula 1 season will start in Jerez, Spain on February 7, but the recently rebranded Marussia F1 Team will not be there. Delays in the production of the new car make it impossible for the team to have their 2012 challenger ready until the final pre-season test in Barcelona on March 1. Marussia has already decided to skip the first test in Jerez and start their season with their 2011 car at the second pre-season testing session in […]