[Mendel]

Originally Posted by hoom

For the record & incase some of you guys are too young/have been too caught up in F1: a racing car looks something like this:

I dunno, it looks kind of like a plastic toy to me...

Then again that McLaren sure looks sweet, hope they get back to that color scheme.

[Kaotik]

Originally Posted by Mendel

Then again that McLaren sure looks sweet, hope they get back to that color scheme.

The ridicilous laws against cigarette advertising wouldn't allow that color scheme anymore

[Bludd]

First day of the first Barcelona test

First time Mercedes ran their new car. They also have a platypus nose but it is a bit more rounded in profile.

Lotus had a problem with their chassis (second chassis) and did very few laps. Chassis 1 which did Jerez test is being sent from Enstone and they think they will be up and running tomorrow. Second chassis needs to be examined at Enstone.

HRT will not attend this entire test due to problems in crash testing.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97612

Team		Testing laps 2012	
Red Bull		375	
McLaren			425	
Ferrari			345	
Mercedes		 51	
Lotus			409	
Force India		403	
Sauber			364	
Toro Rosso		362	
Williams		469	
Caterham		389	
HRT			  0**
Marussia		121*
Mercedes 2011 car	347	
HRT 2011 car		108	
		
		
* Did not attend first test Jerez		
** Did not attend second test Barcelona 1

[Dave Baumann]

Originally Posted by Bludd

Lotus had a problem with their chassis (second chassis) and did very few laps. Chassis 1 which did Jerez test is being sent from Enstone and they think they will be up and running tomorrow. Second chassis needs to be examined at Enstone.

They have pulled out of the rest of the test this week. They need to alter both chassis now they figured out what was wrong today.

[Lightman]

Originally Posted by Dave Baumann

They have pulled out of the rest of the test this week. They need to alter both chassis now they figured out what was wrong today.

That is a bit of a setback!

Either they spotted something on certain drink company car they have chance copying quickly and think it's worth the risk or simply have real problem with their design. Strange though it didn't show up in Jertz

[Dave Baumann]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97616
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97620

Couple of articles to look at on the subject. The second being the hypothesis on why it showed up in this test and not the previous.

[Bludd]

Thanks for the info. It is a really tough break.

[Bludd]

Barcelona 1 day 2. Hulkenberg fastest in the Force India. Red Bull and McLaren seem comfortable with their cars while Ferrari are still finding their feet. Williams have done the most laps so far, though. Lotus did not run today. See Dave's post earlier in this thread.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97631

Team		Testing laps 2012	
Red Bull		479	
McLaren			545	
Ferrari			432	
Mercedes		133	
Lotus			409***
Force India		515	
Sauber			449	
Toro Rosso		410	
Williams		586	
Caterham		458	
HRT			  0**
Marussia		229*
Mercedes 2011 car	347	
HRT 2011 car		108	
		
		
* Did not attend first test Jerez		
** Did not attend second test Barcelona 1		
*** Only did first day of second test Barcelona 1

Going away for business tomorrow, so I will post day 3 and day 4 sometime during the weekend.

[Dave Baumann]

Little excerpt from an Autosport Plus article after studying the cars on track today:

Trackside at Barcelona: Red Bull vs McLaren

On the second day of testing at Barcelona, Edd Straw took a close look at how the leading cars handle on every corner of the circuit. The conclusion? The fight between Red Bull and McLaren is too close to call...


...But what was the bottom line? Well, it's pretty difficult to choose between Red Bull and McLaren right now. While it's hardly front page news to say that the best two teams of 2011 look like they could start this year in the same position, that's what the on-track evidence suggested.

No wonder Vettel has already cast an envious eye at Hamilton's race pace and the McLaren man was so happy today. Right now, if you had to put money down for Melbourne, it would be on one of those two teams. As for which one, it's looking close enough to make a race of it.

As for the rest, the Ferrari still doesn't look right. As mentioned earlier, in the transition from the exit of Turn 2 into Turn 3, Alonso was having to work hard on the throttle to get the car to do roughly what he wanted and there were plenty of wobbles that suggest that the car is not giving him enough consistent grip. As he admitted himself, there are other faster cars out there, and again the evidence suggests that Ferrari needs to make a big step very quickly if it's to be in the mix for victory at Melbourne.

[Gerry]

There's something wrong with your testing laps image there Bludd.

[Silent_Buddha]

Yup Mercedes are damn impressive going ~1400 Km without doing a single lap.

I think you used your laps graph from just Jerez test.

Regards,
SB

[Bludd]

Thanks guys. Gonna fix it, watch out for a new post.

[Bludd]

Complete laps and distance after 2 tests.

[Bludd]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97710

Marussia has failed a crash test and won't launch their car at Barcelona 2.

[RobertR1]

Originally Posted by Bludd

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97710

Marussia has failed a crash test and won't launch their car at Barcelona 2.

2 moving chicanes, coming right up!

[Bludd]

Last test before the season starts began today

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97765

[Davros]

Barrichello makes IndyCar switch

Former grand prix driver Rubens Barrichello switches to US-based IndyCar racing after failing to find a drive in Formula 1.
The Brazilian, 39, the most experienced F1 driver in history with 322 starts, will drive for the KV Racing team.

[Bludd]

Day 2 of Barca2

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97800

[Bludd]

Day 3 of Barca2

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97818

[Lightman]

Nice 'new' RB8.
It's getting close to quali times in Barca with updates to the cars flowing from left and right!

Oh, and HRT will not make it tomorrow with their new car, so they will have to test during P1 in Melbourne. Still improvement compared to last year and better than Marussia at least.

[Bludd]

Originally Posted by Lightman

Nice 'new' RB8.
It's getting close to quali times in Barca with updates to the cars flowing from left and right!

Oh, and HRT will not make it tomorrow with their new car, so they will have to test during P1 in Melbourne. Still improvement compared to last year and better than Marussia at least.

What about a filming day for HRT at Barcelona on Monday?

[Lightman]

Originally Posted by Bludd

What about a filming day for HRT at Barcelona on Monday?

True, they are planning to do it, but will they?
Anyway they are better prepared than they were previous years and this is only good thing. Marussia is a big surprise for me not passing crash tests this late ...
2 more weeks before we will get some decent answers who is roughly where with their cars

[Bludd]

Originally Posted by Lightman

True, they are planning to do it, but will they?
Anyway they are better prepared than they were previous years and this is only good thing. Marussia is a big surprise for me not passing crash tests this late ...
2 more weeks before we will get some decent answers who is roughly where with their cars

Well, if Nick Wirth were still with them he'd probably just said said "fuck it, let's do the race with CFD too!"

Marussia could surprise us with being good, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Lightman]

Originally Posted by Bludd

Well, if Nick Wirth were still with them he'd probably just said said "fuck it, let's do the race with CFD too!"

Marussia could surprise us with being good, but I wouldn't bet on it.

LOL at CFD race, in our place it's called video game!

Anyway they might surprise, at least as second team with pretty nose on their car. I expect their new car to be quite a big departure from last year machine, otherwise they shouldn't have many problems passing crash tests.

[Dave Baumann]

Originally Posted by Bludd

Marussia could surprise us with being good, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Bear in mind that they have entered into a similar type of technical arrangement with McLaren as Force India did a number of years ago. I wouldn't expect them to leap into midfield, but I'd wager them being faster than HRT once they get on top of the car.

Coincidentally, rumour has it that they will be he only other team with a low, un-stepped nose.