Barcelona Tests
-
Testing times from Barcelona (Monday 30 April - Day 1):
1st. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari (1m21.194s)
2nd. Takuma Sato - Super Aguri (1m21.858s)
3rd. Pedro de la Rosa - McLaren (1m21.906s)
4th. Ralf Schumacher - Toyota (1m21.983s)
5th. Nick Heidfeld - BMW (1m22.114s)
6th. Rubens Barrichello - Honda (1m22.655s)
7th. Nelson Piquet - Renault (1m22.763s)
8th. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Toro Rosso (1m22.771s)
9th. David Coulthard - Red Bull (1m22.973s)
10th. Adrian Valles - Spyker (1m23.699s)
11th. Kazuki Nakajima - Williams (1m24.241s)
12th. Giedo van der Garde - Spyker (1m24.997s)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report: Raikkonen tops Barcelona day one (Monday 30 April 2007)
Kimi Raikkonen landed the first blow for Ferrari as a major three-day (now 4) test at Barcelona got underway on Monday, topping the timesheet by a convincing 0.7s margin.
The Finn, who shares the world championship lead with McLaren rivals Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, clocked a best lap of 1m21.194s.
His closest competition came from an unexpected quarter: Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri, who managed a 1m21.858s in qualifying trim.
The Japanese team was trying out a gearbox upgrade scheduled to be introduced at the forthcoming Spanish Grand Prix as well as (in common with many other teams) new aero parts.
Pedro de la Rosa was third quickest for McLaren, but more attention-grabbing than the SpaniardÂ’s lap times was a new-look front wing featuring an extra vane above the nose, mounted on the endplates at either side.
McLaren sampled the aero package during straightline testing in Menorca last week and if it is validated by this weekÂ’s test it is likely to appear on the MP4-22 at the Spanish GP.
Toyota has brought revised bodywork to Spain, helping Ralf Schumacher to finish Monday's session fourth quickest.
The timing screens in fact put Schumacher fastest of all but the team confirmed that he had short-cut the chicane on the lap in question.
Nick Heidfeld, still glowing about his laps around the Nurburgring Nordschleife last Saturday, was fifth quickest for BMW Sauber on this altogether more prosaic circuit.
Sixth place for Rubens Barrichello suggested that Honda has made some progress from its dismal performance level so far this year – although the Brazilian was still the best part of a second slower than Sato’s Super Aguri.
Renault test driver Nelson Piquet junior was seventh fastest and completed the second highest number of laps (125 to BarrichelloÂ’s 131).
“We did a lot of running today, from 0900 to 1800 non-stop,” reported Piquet.
“I covered a large number of laps and it’s almost two months since I last drove the car, so it wasn’t the most restful of days for me!”
There were two sizeable accidents, one involving Spyker test driver Adrian Valles and the other his Williams counterpart Kazuki Nakajima.
Valles, who took over Spyker's F8-VII from Giedo van der Garde in the afternoon, crashed heavily at turn three on his final run.
The Spaniard was unhurt but the car sustained heavy damage and the mechanics face a long nightÂ’s work to repair it for Adrian SutilÂ’s use on Tuesday.
Nakajima lost control at the fifth-gear Campsa corner and badly damaged the right-hand side of his FW29 against the tyre barrier, but he too escaped injury. -
Testing times from Barcelona (Tuesday 1 May – Day 2)
1st. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari (1m30.280s)
2nd. Mark Webber - Red Bull (1m31.752s)
3rd. Heikki Kovalainen - Renault (1m32.149s)
4th. Nick Heidfeld - BMW (1m32.175s)
5th. Nico Rosberg - Williams (1m32.580s)
6th. Rubens Barrichello - Honda (1m32.911s)
7th. Jarno Trulli - Toyota (1m32.943s)
8th. Takuma Sato - Super Aguri (1m33.238s)
9th. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Toro Rosso (1m33.323s)
10th. Adrian Sutil - Spyker (1m35.488s)
11th. Scott Speed - Toro Rosso (1m39.950s)
12th. Fernando Alonso - McLaren (2m04.818s)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kimi quick again as rain hits Spain (Tuesday, 01 May 2007)
Kimi Raikkonen remained quickest on the second day of testing in Spain - despite crashing in the heavy rain that marred the session.
With the track wet for most of the day, few drivers managed to complete any meaningful running, with Fernando Alonso only bothering with an installation lap before returning to the garage for the afternoon.
Raikkonen's afternoon was curtailed by a spin and minor impact with the barriers at Turn 3, but not before he had completed 54 laps and set the fastest time of the day by a full 1.5s.
Although today had been largely wasted, the Finn was more than happy with the test overall - declaring that he had made a major breakthrough with the Ferrari.
"Unfortunately the weather today was difficult but yesterday was a good day," Raikkonen told autosport.com.
"We found something which we like much more than before, so I am pretty happy with what we did yesterday.
"I am now much happier going into the race than the last couple of races, because we found something which was definitely much better for me.
"I think we can (now) use the full potential of the car."
Mark Webber was second quickest for Red Bull, ahead of Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, who made the best of the situation.
"Personally, I tried to use every lap to improve something: trying a new line, or pushing the braking points a bit further," said the Finn.
"The track was changing all the time, and we were able to run the wet and extreme wet tyres today.
"To be honest, I enjoy driving in the wet, it's different to normal and good fun for the drivers."
Williams repaired the car damaged by Kazuki Nakajima yesterday so that Nico Rosberg could go fifth fastest behind Nick Heidfeld, while Spyker also had to work hard to get back on track following Adrian Valles' shunt on Monday.
The team said that 225 man hours were put into repairing the chassis ready for Adrian Sutil to use, but the German ultimately only completed 11 laps before the dismal weather persuaded him to park the car to avoid further damage.
"The boys did a fantastic job working through the night to repair the car from yesterday's accident, so thanks to them, but due to a shortage of spare parts, we didn't want to risk too much," said technical director Mike Gascoyne.
The test has now been extended until Thursday to make up for today's poor weather. -
Testing times from Barcelona (Wednesday 2 May)
1. MASSA Ferrari 1m21.506s
2. WEBBER Red Bull 1m21.804s
3. TRULLI Toyota 1m22.309s
4. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m22.378s
5. ALONSO McLaren 1m22.579s
6. KUBICA BMW 1m22.653s
7. BUTTON HONDA 1m22.765s
8. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m23.027s
9. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m23.713s
10. ALBERS Spyker 1m24.870s
11. ROSBERG Williams no time
Felipe Massa continued Ferrari's domination of this week's Barcelona test by setting the fastest time on day three.
The Brazilian took over from team-mate Kimi Raikkonen - who had been quickest on Monday and Tuesday - this morning, and ultimately topped the timesheets with a 1m21.506s lap.
Although this was four-tenths shy of Raikkonen's Monday time, the circuit was less grippy today after the heavy rain that marred yesterday's session.
Dampness remained for some of the morning, and further drizzle fell briefly at lunchtime before the track dried completely in the afternoon.
Mark Webber replicated his wet weather performance in dry conditions to hold second place again for Red Bull, this time just 0.3s slower than the leading Ferrari.
Jarno Trulli was third for Toyota, ahead of Renault's Heikki Kovalainen and local hero Fernando Alonso, who disappointed the fans by only completing an installation lap in the rain, but managed 73 laps today as he worked on aerodynamics, cooling and systems reliability.
The test had got off to a dramatic start when Nico Rosberg had an enormous accident at turn seven on only his second lap of the day.
The German's Williams suffered severe front and right hand side damage, but after Rosberg was released uninjured after precautionary hospital checks.
The accident was Williams' second major shunt of the week after reserve driver Kazuki Nakajima's crash on Monday, and the team has now packed up and returned to England rather than staying on for tomorrow's additional test day.
Spyker also decided to skip the Thursday session as it was short of spares following Adrian Valles' sizeable accident on day one.
Christijan Albers drove for the team today and felt he had made progress with the handling, but a mechanical issue with the rear of the car ended his running prematurely. -
A new McLaren front wing:
-
The revised Toyota TF107:
-
Massa was fastest on Wednesday
Heidfeld gets back to work in testing at Catalunya
Raikkonen was quick again on a gloomy Tuesday in Spain
Teams had to put up with atrocious weather conditions on Tuesday
Raikkonen continued to dominate on day two...
-
...despite a brush with the barrier after sliding off in the rain
Kovalainen was the third fastest runner in the wet
Trulli took over the Toyota testing duties on the wet day two
Nico Rosberg tests out the FW29 in the wet
-
Even the weather couldn't spoil what Kimi reckons is a breakthrough test for him
Takuma Sato continued Super Aguri's Barcelona programme
-
Honda tests radical nose wing
Honda is the latest team to introduce a radical new aerodynamic device at this week's Barcelona test.
The struggling squad's RA107 chassis appeared with two new vertical, curving, wings protruding from its nose section this morning.
Test driver Christian Klien is in action for Honda today on the final day of running in Spain.
McLaren is also still using the unusual extra wing plane that it has been evaluating this week.
All the teams have pledged to introduce significant aerodynamic upgrades during the test as they take advantage of the rare four-week gap between the Bahrain and Spanish races - the largest opportunity for development during the season. -
I still see those irritating bubbles on the Honda's nosecone. I think they need to revise the suspension bits too to improve the airflow over the former.
-
Testing times from Barcelona (Thursday 3 May)
1. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m21.066s
2. DE LA ROSA McLaren 1m21.267s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m21.483s
4. FISICHELLA Renault 1m21.876s
5. KUBICA BMW 1m22.098s
6. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m22.359s
7. KLIEN HONDA 1m22.807s
David Coulthard set a surprise fastest time for Red Bull on the final day of this week's Barcelona test.
The Scot's 1m21.066s lap was a new record for the revised Catalunya track, beating the mark set by Kimi Raikkonen on Monday.
Ferrari had dominated the first three days of the test, but had a less successful time today, with Felipe Massa's car requiring a tow back to the pits after encountering hydraulic problems this morning.
Massa rejoined later in the session, but was only third quickest, behind McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa, who also stopped with mechanical issues early on.
Only seven teams stayed on for the additional test day, which had been added to the schedule as compensation for Tuesday's rain-hit session.
Ironically, the rain returned this afternoon, persuading the teams to end the test one hour early.
The biggest news of the day was the appearance of a pair of vertical, curving winglets on the top of the Honda's nose section.
Quickly nicknamed 'Dumbo ears' after the cartoon elephant, the devices did not produce a step forward and were removed later in the test.