Formula 1 wallpapers, stories, news

Next Race

Spanish Grand Prix

Circuit de Catalunya

11, 12, 13 May 2012
Length of lap: 4.655 km
Total number of race laps: 65
Race length: 307.104 km
Most wins (constructors): Ferrari (11)
Fastest lap 2011: Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:26.727

Last Race

Bahrain Grand Prix

Bahrain International Circuit

1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
3 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus
Fastest Lap
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:36.379
Pole Position
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:32.422

Flash image

spain-f1-photo-2010-2_resize.jpg

2011 Cars Wallpapers

Spanish GP, Catalunya Circuit - Race. F1 wallpaper 2011 (HD PHOTO)
Michael Schumacher, Mercedes MGP W02
Spanish GP, Catalunya Circuit
Formula 1 wallpaper 2011 (Photo 1920x1280)
Turkish GP, Istanbul Park Circuit - Race. F1 wallpaper 2011 (HD PHOTO 1920x1280)
Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-25
Turkish GP, Istanbul Park Circuit
Formula 1 wallpaper 2011 (Photo 1920x1280)
Chinese GP, Shanghai International Circuit - Race. F1 wallpaper 2011 (HD PHOTO 1920x1280)
Fernando Alonso. Ferrari 150° Italia
Chinese GP, Shanghai International Circuit - Race.
Formula 1 wallpaper 2011 (Photo 1920x1280)

Barcelona day one - Hamilton pips Ferrari duo in Spain

User Rating: / 0
Best 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Ferrari and McLaren resumed their pre-season testing battle on Monday as the final multi-team session got underway at Barcelonas Circuit de Catalunya. McLaren had the edge, with Lewis Hamilton clocking the best time, a 1m 22.276s, to move ahead of the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher.


Despite a damp start to the days running, Hamilton covered 78 laps in the MP4-23. He was joined by team mate Heikki Kovalainen who finished in fifth and completed 71 laps. The duo carried out final evaluations of several new components and continued to fine tune set-ups for the start of the season.

Second-placed Raikkonen was joined on track by former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, third. Raikkonen, who missed last weeks test at the track, covered 82 laps. Retired Schumacher, meanwhile, completed 83. Both ran in the F2008, complete with the Italian teams latest aerodynamic updates.

Williams continued to impress, with Kazuki Nakajima taking fourth slot and Nico Rosberg finishing in sixth. The duo covered over 150 laps as they continued to carry out set-up work and engine system checks.

Nick Heidfeld led the BMW Sauber line-up in eighth, with team tester Christian Klien 14th. It was the first time Klien had driven the squads F1.08 in dry conditions and he covered 42 laps as he carried out system checks and basic set-up work. Heidfeld, who completed 75 laps, will be joined by team mate Robert Kubica on Tuesday.

Renaults Fernando Alonso just missed out on making it under the 1m 23s mark and ended the session seventh. Team mate Nelson Piquet Jr, meanwhile, took up 15th spot. The French team ran through a race simulation in the morning before switching to pit-stop practice in the afternoon.

“It was important to do this to get everybody ready for the first race in Australia," explained Alonso. "The track was wet in the morning, just like last week, but it did not affect what we were working on and we are happy with the work we completed.”

Force Indias new VJM01 enjoyed a successful track debut with Adrian Sutil finishing in ninth and Vitantonio Liuzzi 12th. Mark Webber was the fastest driver for Red Bull in 10th, while team mate David Coulthard finished down in 19th. Both drivers followed a similar programme, focusing on mechanical set-up, brake development work and general pre-race preparation.

The 11th-fastest driver was Sebastian Vettel for Red Bulls sister team, Toro Rosso. With the second race car busy being prepared back at the Italian teams Faenza factory, Vettel was their only driver. He covered 95 laps as he carried out long runs. In the afternoon the German attempted a race simulation, but was forced to abandon it after his STR2 suffered a mechanical problem.

The fastest Toyota driver was 13th-placed Timo Glock, while team tester Kamui Kobayashi finished in 16th. Glock completed 70 laps as he worked on the TF108s mechanical set-up but Kobayashis mileage was restricted to preserve mileage and tyres.

“Today again started in conditions that are very difficult for testing because the track was constantly changing through the morning and its very difficult to do comparisons,” said Pascal Vasselon, Toyota's senior general chassis manager. “So we waited until the beginning of the afternoon to start work on mechanical set-up, which we tried to refine on both cars in preparation for aerodynamics testing tomorrow.”

Completing Mondays line-up were Hondas Rubens Barrichello, 17th, and Alexander Wurz, 18th. Barrichello and Wurz both completed a qualifying programme in the morning before carrying out a full race simulation in the afternoon. The pair covered over 200 laps in the RA108.

Better weather conditions are expected on Tuesday, when testing continues at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Unofficial Monday times from Barcelona:
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:22.276
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:22.319
3. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1:22.428
4. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 1:22.724
5. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 1:22.852
6. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:22.974
7. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:23.021
8. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:23.075
9. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:23.091
10. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.115
11. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:23.188
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:23.239
13. Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:23.270
14. Christian Klien, BMW Sauber, 1:23.442
15. Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault, 1:23.609
16. Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota, 1:23.880
17. Rubens Barrichello, Honda, 1:24.660
18. Alexander Wurz, Honda, 1:24.667
19. David Coulthard, Red Bull, 1:24.826

Add comment


2012 F1 Calendar

01 Australian GP, Melbourne  16 - 18 Mar
02 Malaysian GP, Kuala Lumpur 23 - 25 Mar
03 Chinese GP, Shanghai 13 - 15 Apr
04 Bahrain GP, Sakhir 20 - 22 Apr
05 Spanish GP, Catalunya 11 - 13 May
06 Monaco GP, Monte Carlo 24 - 27 May
07 Canadian GP, Montreal 8 - 10 Jun
08 European GP, Valencia 22 - 24 Jun
09 British GP, Silverstone, England 6 - 8 Jul
10 German GP, Hockenheim 20 - 22 Jul
11 Hungarian GP, Budapest 27 - 29 Jul
12 Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps 31 Aug - 2 Sep
13 Italian GP, Monza 07 - 09 Sep
14 Singapore GP, Marina Bay Street 21 - 23 Sep
15 Japanese GP, Suzuka 05 - 07 Oct
16 Korean GP, Yeongam 12 - 14 Oct
17 Indian GP, Buddh 26 - 28 Oct
18 Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina 02 - 04 Nov
19 United States GP, Austin 16 - 18 Nov
20 Brazilian GP, Sao Paulo 23 - 25 Nov

Flash news

Barcelona - Tests

Day one
1. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:23.252, 73 Laps
2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:23.510, 64 Laps
3. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:23.820, 118 Laps
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.830, 102 Laps
5. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:23.992, 128 Laps
6. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:24.216, 113 Laps
Read more... Link  

2012 Race Drivers

Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber
Lewis Hamilton
Jenson Button
Fernando Alonso
Felipe Massa
Michael Schumacher
Nico Rosberg
Kimi Räikkönen
Romain Grosjean
Paul di Resta
Nico Hulkenberg
Kamui Kobayashi
Sergio Perez
Daniel Ricciardo
Jean-Eric Vergne
Pastor Maldonado
Bruno Senna
Heikki Kovalainen
Vitaly Petrov
Pedro de la Rosa
Narain Karthikeyan
Timo Glock
Charles Pic

You are here: F1 News Barcelona day one - Hamilton pips Ferrari duo in Spain