The teams were testing in Barcelona today to begin the first of three days testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. Beautiful weather greeted the teams this morning before heavy rain set in.
| DRIVER | TEAM | BEST | LAPS | 1 | BADOER | Ferrari | 1 :22.043 | 82 | 2 | KUBICA | BMW | 1 :22.682 | 69 | 3 | COULTHARD | Red Bull Racing | 1 :22.724 | 21 | 4 | BUEMI | Red Bull Racing | 1 :22.764 | 79 | 5 | PAFFETT | McLaren | 1 :22.938 | 36 | 6 | DAVIDSON | Honda | 1 :23.208 | 80 | 7 | HULKENBERG | Williams | 1 :23.619 | 112 | 8 | GROSJEAN | ING Renault F1 Team | 1 :23.899 | 60 | 9 | kOBAYASHI | Toyota | 1 :24.422 | 82 |
The ING Renault F1 Team completes its first day in Barcelona Romain Grosjean R28-04, 60 laps, 280 km, fastest lap 1:23.899 The young Frenchman was delighted at the chance to work with the team and to contribute towards the team’s development programme. With next week’s French Grand Prix in mind, the team began its aero programme, but the main priority today was to allow Romain to acclimatise himself with the R28, build his confidence and get comfortable with the team. Despite some problems with the car and a thunderstorm late in the day, Romain was happy with his day’s work, completing a total of 60 laps. For tomorrow Nelson Piquet takes over driving responsibilities as the team resumes its aggressive development programme. Romain Grosjean: “It was a great day and I’m grateful for this opportunity to test the R28 and work with the team. It was interesting to see the difference between a GP2 car and an F1 car which is quite incredible, especially the acceleration and the lateral grip. The team made me feel very welcome and everyone was helpful as they knew it was my first time in the car. It was a great experience for me.” Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “It was a difficult day in terms of the car as we had some irritating problems which slowed the programme down a bit. We completed some aero work, but the main priority today was to give Romain some mileage in the car and to get him used to the team. He had a good first day and settled in reasonably quickly, so we are happy with his performance today. Looking ahead we will have a heavy programme for the rest of the week with a lot of aero and chassis work to be done.”
Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Driver: Kamui Kobayashi
Track length: 4.655km
RAIN STOPS PLAY
Panasonic Toyota Racing began a three-day testing programme at Barcelona today, in preparation for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours on June 22. The first day of the test provided a chance for third driver Kamui Kobayashi to get back behind the wheel of the TF108, having last tested back in February. Kamui took full advantage of the opportunity and got to work on a full programme, which included aerodynamic and mechanical testing. He enjoyed a trouble-free day and gathered important information for the team's engineers ahead of the Magny-Cours race. However, his work came to a premature end when rain arrived an hour before the scheduled 6pm finishing time. Timo Glock, fresh from his best Formula 1 finish of fourth in the Canadian Grand Prix, takes over from Kamui for the remainder of the test.
Kamui Kobayashi
Best Lap Time: 1min 24.442s
Position: 9th
Total Laps: 82
"We had a busy plan and it was an interesting day. We did some brake work and also tried aerodynamic developments but we did not manage to complete that programme due to the rain. In GP2 we only have half an hour's practice and qualifying and I am still learning many tracks, so it was good to be able to do more laps on a circuit that I know. There were some variable grip levels but it is good for me to gain experience and to help the team with its test programme."
Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager
"We have a full programme planned from today through to Saturday, with Kamui doing the opening day and Timo taking over on Friday and Saturday. It was good for Kamui to get almost a full day before the rain interruption, significantly increasing his mileage in an F1 car. He did a good job and provided some good feedback to our test engineers."
Dickie Stanford, Test Team Manager:
“Nico Hulkenberg was driving for us today on day one at Barcelona. He concentrated on race set-ups in the morning and then moved on to a race distance this afternoon. We completed 112 laps with no problems before rain stopped play an hour before the end of the session. Nico Rosberg joins the test tomorrow and will focus on preparation work for Magny-Cours.”
Weather conditions: Sunny in the morning, overcast in the afternoon with rain from 17:00 hrs.
Temperatures: Air: 18 – 31 °C, Track: 23 – 43 °C
Number of drivers participating: 9 of 8 teams
Fastest lap overall: Luca Badoer (Ferrari) 1:22.043 min
Circuit length: 4.655 km
Robert Kubica
Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.08-06 / BMW P86/8
Test kilometres today: 322 km (69 laps)
Fastest lap: 1:22.682 min
Programme:
Robert Kubica today worked on the aerodynamical and mechanical setup of the BMW Sauber F1.08. He concentrated on evaluating different options for the upcoming French Grand Prix. Although the afternoon session was shortened by one hour due to rain the BMW Sauber F1 team could complete most of it’s scheduled test programme.
In the morning Kubica encountered a minor technical issue. After radio contact with his engineer he did a precautionary stop. After repairs his car ran faultlessly for the rest of the day.
What comes next:
The BMW Sauber F1 Team will continue testing in Barcelona for two more days. Tomorrow Robert Kubica will be on duty again continuing the work in preparation for the French Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld will take over on Saturday.
"Testing new Scuderia aerodynamic solutions at Barcelona"
Maranello, 12th June
Circuit: Catalunya Circuit - 4.655 km
Driver: Luca Badoer
Car: F2008
Weather: air temperature 24/31 °C, track temperature 33/41 °C. Sunny in the morning, then cloudy and finally, rain in the afternoon.
First day of testing this week for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, working today at the Catalunya Circuit, near Barcelona.
Luca Badoer got started on an intensive testing programme, centred on experimenting with various new aerodynamic solutions in preparation for the next few races of the season, as well as trying different set-ups on the F2008. The Scuderia's official test driver got through the planned programme without any technical problems: only the rain, which began to fall in the final hour of testing, left him standing in the garage.
The day in figures is as follows: 82 laps completed, the quickest in a time of 1.22.412.
Testing at the Catalunya Circuit continues tomorrow, again with Luca Badoer on track. |
Test driver Gary Paffett kicked off the three-day Barcelona test for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Gary spent the day evaluating a number of new aero and mechanical components intended for the next two races. He was delayed in the morning by a gearbox oil leak and by a minor front wing problem in the afternoon. |
