Valencia Test Day 1 – Massa Fastest In Morning Session

 

 

Testing resumed this morning in Valencia, with a total of 16 drivers venturing out on-track. Following yesterday’s mixed conditions, the weather has improved for day 2, with sunshine now bathing the track. At the top of the timesheets by the end of the morning session were the two Ferraris, with Felipe Massa dominating proceedings, a comfortable three tenths ahead of team-mate Räikkönen. The Finn in turn was over seven tenths clear of third-placed man Heikki Kovalainen.

An impressive crowd turned out today to watch the cars at the spectator-friendly Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo. The circuit’s compactness gives all the fans, the majority of which have been situated at the first corner, a near-perfect view of the whole track, meaning no event goes unnoticed.

One event which caught the eyes of spectators and teams alike, was Sebastian Vettel spinning into the gravel during the session.

Also grabbing attention today was the radical front wing of BMW, which got its track debut today. The new-style front wing, which has rabbit-ears, much like those seen on the BMW’s engine cover, protruding from the top of the nose cone, near the suspension, will remind many of the twin-towers which the team tested in 2006.
Those particular pieces were banned before getting to a race, due to fears of them restricting driver visibility. The current versions however, hold no such danger as things stand.

Another debut witnessed today was that of Alex Wurz with Honda, just weeks after announcing his retirement from racing following the Chinese Grand Prix.
Wurz will spend today acclimatising to the team, as well as testing last year’s RA107 in order for him to have a comparison when he tests the new RA108 later this week.
He ended the morning session down in 16th and last, with a time of 1m16.213s.

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Unofficial morning times from Valencia (22/01/2008):
1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 1:12.445, 28 laps
2. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) – 1:12.721, 30 laps
3. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:13.475, 23 laps
4. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 1:13.627, 31, 31 laps
5. Fernando Alonso (Renault) – 1:13.629, 22 laps
6. Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) – 1:13.665, 18 laps
7. Marko Asmer (BMW Sauber-BMW) – 1:13.669, 23 laps
8. Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:13.673, 21 laps
9. Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 1:13.675, 31 laps
10. Nick Heifeld (BMW Sauber-BMW) – 1:13.779, 21 laps
11. David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault) – 1:13.994, 34 laps
12. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) – 1:14.166, 25 laps
13. Timo Glock (Toyota) – 1:14.413, 19 laps
14. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) – 1:14.166, 23 laps
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India-Ferrari) – 1:15.749, 23 laps
16. Alexander Wurz (Honda) – 1:16.213, 10 laps

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Jenson Button – Girlfriend Hired By John Lewis

Jenson Button’s girlfriend has hit the headlines today,  it was announced that she has been hired to model for the British department store chain John Lewis. 

Florence Brudenell-Bruce, who descended from Britain’s earls of Cardigan and began dating Honda driver Button last year, was hired to help “sex up” the John Lewis brand, a spokesman said.

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Felipe Massa – Presented With A Brand New Fiat 500

Today in Monte Carlo, Felipe Massa was presented with a Fiat 500 powered by an exclusive 1.4 litre, 120 bhp engine and personalised with unique graphic details, such as his signature embossed in the sill scuff plate.
With Pearl White paintwork and interior trim in brown Cordura, the supermini given to the Scuderia Ferrari driver is, of course, the Sport variant, with a Skydome electric sunroof, 16” diamond alloy finish and red brake callipers.

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Lewis Hamilton – Views A £4Million Yacht

 

Lewis Hamilton looks over a £4million yacht

The race ace viewed the magnificent Sunseeker 90 with pals at the London Boat Show.
Lewis, 23, has just signed a megabucks five-year extension of his contract after his amazing debut Formula 1 season, when he finished runner-up in the world championship. It makes him Britain’s highest-paid sportsman.
The yacht with its own living room, a bar, three plasma TVs and two double bedrooms would be a drop in the ocean for whizkid Lewis.

One onlooker said: “Lots of people were admiring the yacht, but then they were all asked to leave. Lewis was then brought on with a group of men. He looked very impressed and in a very good mood

But a spokesman for Lewis said: “He isn’t buying one at the moment.
“He was back in London and went to the show with some friends who just really like boats.”

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BMW Sauber – Good 1st Week At Valencia Test

Testing continued today for the BMW Sauber squad in Valencia. In the morning the team lost some time due to a mechanical problem with the power steering on Nick Heidfeld’s car.However, later on he continued with set-up work on the F1.08 and was able to cover 91 laps. Team-mate Robert Kubica completed 42 laps in the F1.07. “Apart from this morning we had no noteworthy reliability problems during the four days,” explained Technical Director Willy Rampf. “We were able to complete many laps with the new car and managed to collect a lot of valuable data.”“We have a base line for determining the programme for next week’s test.

We are only just starting out and have a fair amount of work to do to find the ideal settings for the new car,” he added.

BMW Sauber will be testing again in Valencia from Tuesday to Thursday next week.

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Lewis Extends His Mclaren Contract To 2012

McLaren Mercedes has today extended Lewis Hamilton’s contract with the team for a further five years. The new agreement, which starts for 2008, will run up to and including the 2012 season.

Ron Dennis, McLaren Group CEO said

“We are pleased to announce that we have extended our contract with Lewis, which will now run for a further five years until 2012.
Following our initial Formula 1 agreement with Lewis, which we announced in November 2006, he went on to exceed all expectations for a rookie in Formula 1, even those of us in the team who have known him for over a decade. Given Lewis’s performances over the course of the 2007 season, it is clear that improved financial terms were fully deserved and this formed part of the friendly negotiations with Lewis’s manager Anthony Hamilton. Today’s announcement will take the length of our relationship with Lewis to a total of 15 years, which we believe is among the longest running associations
between a sportsman and a team in the history of sport, particularly motorsport.”
“This is a great achievement for everyone involved, including Anthony. Lewis is an exceptional human being, on both a personal and professional level,
and will continue to be a credit to this team. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is looking forward to the new season, and we all expect that, with Heikki coming on board to partner Lewis, we will have a very competitive year.”

Lewis Hamilton said

“It’s fantastic for me that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has extended my contract until 2012.  Whilst last year was my first year with the team in Formula 1, I have been connected to McLaren and Mercedes-Benz since 1998 and feel that I could
easily drive for this team for the whole of my Formula 1 career. I am with the right team to compete for race wins and both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships in the future.” “We will have a lot of challenges ahead, but I am 100% positive I am with the people to take them on. The first of those challenges is the 2008 season. I am enjoying working closely with Heikki, Pedro, Gary and the team as we push hard with the development of the MP4-23. We have 57 days to go until the lights go out on the grid at Albert Park and we are motivated to make the most of this time and arrive in Melbourne with a competitive car.”

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Christian Klien Has Been Summoned For Military Service

After missing out on the vacant Force India race cockpit for 2008, Christian Klien has been summoned by the Austrian army to do six months of mandatory military service this year.

According to reports in the former Jaguar, Red Bull and Honda test driver’s native country, the 24-year-old was on Thursday ordered to report for duty at Vorarlberg, the western province that houses his home town Hohenems.

Klien, however, lives across the border in Switzerland, so he to write to Austrian authorities asking for an exemption from the army summons. The Austrian army refused his request, confirming that he should report to the Vorarlberg barracks in March.

Klien was this week testing Mercedes-Benz’s works DTM car in Portugal, the Austrian broadcaster ORF said.

Some reports said Klien’s mandatory duty could be postponed if he secures a full time ride.

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De La Rosa Misses Alonso And Is Eager To Race Again

 

Pedro de la Rosa says the departure of his countryman from the McLaren driver line-up in 2008 is a loss to the British team. The Spanish test driver has made it clear that the disagreement involving Fernando Alonso, the former double world champion, and team colleagues Lewis Hamilton and Ron Dennis last year, did not also involve himself.
“I personally miss him,” de la Rosa explained to the Spanish newspaper Diario AS.
“Fernando is always a great contributor to a team, it is better to have him with you than to have him somewhere else. But we will get used to working without him,” the Spaniard added.

De la Rosa tested McLaren’s new MP4-23 earlier this week at Jerez.
“For now it resembles the car of last year,” he revealed. “It’s easy to drive but there is still much room for improvement. At the moment we are working on the reliability rather than seeking lap times. And so far there have not been any problems,” he said.

De la Rosa also admitted that, with his chances of ever returning to the Grand Prix grid are very slim now, he is beginning to contemplate a return to racing elsewhere.
Asked if Le Mans might be an option after losing the 2008 seat to Heikki Kovalainen, he admitted: “After what happened, my chances of racing for McLaren are small.
“Looking ahead, yes, I am thinking about some other series. I am eager to return to racing.”

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F1 Drivers Will Get 1 Free Engine Change This Season

 

F1 drivers will not be penalised for their first unscheduled engine change in 2008, FIA President Max Mosley has confirmed in a letter to team bosses.
The new rule, ensures that each driver will not lose ten grid places or be sent to the back of the grid for his first engine change of the season, it was apparently agreed at the team principals’ recent meeting with Mosley in Paris.
It must now be ratified by the World Motor Sport Council, but this is imminently likely. 
“It was agreed that each team could have one engine failure per car without penalty during the 2008 season,” Mosley wrote in a letter seen by some media outlets.
“This would be the first engine failure suffered by each car,” he clarified.

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Heikki Kovalainen – Very Happy At Mclaren

Heikki Kovalainen says he is happy with his new team. Heikki said he can already feel the performance difference between his new car and his old Renault R27.

“I can already feel the difference to my old Renault,” Kovalainen said. “There aren’t any single big differences, just little bits everywhere, but you can definitely feel it add up over a lap. I’m feeling positive about the car, but it’s too early to say how good it will be,” he added. “Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming to me and I probably haven’t been happier in my life.”

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BMW Sauber – Good Day At Valencia Test

The BMW Sauber team had a productive day of work at the Valencia circuit on Thursday as they continued with the first test with the new F1.08.
BMW were hindered by poor weather yesterday but, despite some gusty winds in the afternoon today, the team managed to complete the scheduled programme.
Nick Heidfeld was the man in charge of working with the new car, covering a total of 117 laps as the team began making changes in the mechanical and aero set-up to check the car’s reactions.
Meanwhile, Marko Asmer drove last year’s car for a total of 76 laps.
Heidfeld will continue to drive the new car in tomorrow’s final session at Valencia, while teammate Robert Kubica will replace Asmer in the F1.07.

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Ralf Schumacher – Will He Drive In The DTM Series?

 

Mercedes DTM boss Norbert Haug wants to wait for Ralf Schumacher to decide whether he wants to race in the DTM this year before finalising the team’s driver line-up.

After the former F1 Grand Prix driver sampled a 2006-spec C Class at Estoril this week, Haug said: “I don’t want to raise high hopes. He is testing and to date nothing else has been discussed.

“Should he be inspired by the tests and the same can be said about us, then it’s time to continue the discussions.”

But Haug denied that Mercedes is looking for an ex-Formula One driver to replace Mika Hakkinen, who retired at the end of last season: “The series is strong enough, we don’t need to hire people just for their names,” he said.

“I’ve known Ralf since he was in F3, and for many years he said he’d like to try the DTM. I said he should wait until his current contract situation allowed it and this is the first opportunity.”

Ralf Schumacher declared himself happy after testing the black C-Class touring car at the former Portuguese Grand Prix circuit Estoril this week, ahead of a possible switch to the German race series in 2008.

“It is a new feeling for me to have a roof over my head,” the former Williams and Toyota driver told the Bild newspaper.
“The first lap was enormous fun,” Schumacher, a six-time winner of F1 races, added.

Ralf is due to drive again on Thursday, with Bild saying talks with Norbert Haug about a possible 2.5 million euro retainer to race this year may then begin.

Haug, Mercedes’ competition director, observed: “His lap times were very satisfactory.”

Mercedes also tested fellow F1 refugee Christian Klien and F3 graduate Maro Engel alongside regular drivers Bernd Schneider and Bruno Spengler at Estoril.

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Work Starts On The New Valencia Circuit

 

The city of Valencia will play host to the European Grand Prix this season at the end of August. The city will be hosting its very first race through the streets of the city centre and harbour. At the moment work is fully underway to get everything ready for the eleven Formula 1 teams and thousands of fans that will visit the city in August.
The track through the city of Valencia will cover 5.473 kilometres. Organisers of the Grand Prix in Valencia expect the drivers will be completing a lap in around 1 minute and 37 seconds with an average speed of 200 kilometres an hour. In the Juan Carlos harbour the drivers will see their speed go up to 320 kilometres an hour.

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Super Aguri – Jerez Test Was A Disaster

Super Aguri Honda did not get its new year test session off to the best of starts after overheating problems prevented the team from testing on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday, Anthony Davidson spent a frustrating day watching the action from the sidelines once again. The team had been hoping to receive the parts they needed to cure the overheating issues that had marred the opening day of their action. But a scheduled plane that was due to arrive at Gibraltar at midday ran into technical problems, and the components had to be flown to Malaga instead. 
A team member attempted to drive the parts to the Jerez track only to find that the motorway from Malaga was closed due to road works – meaning the test finished before the essential parts arrived.
In total, the team managed ten timed laps on Monday with James Rossiter behind the wheel of the SA07B.

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Lewis Hamilton – Interview About Testing The MP4/23

 

Lewis Hamilton has been testing the McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 in the damp conditions in Spain this week and like team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and many of his rivals, the Brit has so far found the experience of driving a modern F1 car on the limit without driver aids an enjoyable experience.  Here is what he thought below.

How did testing go today?
“I am quite happy with it. I think today was a bit of a difficult day, the weather wasn’t great, which is a bit unusual for Spain. But despite that, we had a good day.”

What about the traction control, do you find it dangerous in the wet without it?
“No, its just fun.”

Who are the people to beat this year?
“I think it will be the same as last year. It is difficult to say who is quick and who is not right now. We don’t know what everyone is doing, light runs, heavy runs. As always we won’t see until we get to the first race.”

What have the you been working on today?
“I am getting used to having no traction control, and also managing the tyres and developing the car.”

How do you think the start of the races will be without electronics?
“I think from the look of the practice starts we are doing at the moment, we seem to get off the line quite well. It is the second part of the process where you can have some wheel spin, but I don’t see it slowing us down. ”

How is your relationship with Heikki?
“It is good, we have had a friendship for maybe four or five years already, so it couldn’t be better.”

How did you feel about the wet conditions this morning?
“It was the first time I have driven in these conditions without traction control and you have to just take it step by step and try to build up to it, because it is slippery. It is even harder without traction control, it really does make it a little bit nervous on corner entry and you just have to deal with it. You have a lot less engine braking, which makes a difference to how you brake and approach the corners. I think times will be similar, but it is a lot more tricky and probably easier to make mistakes.”

Is it the lack of traction control or engine braking that has the greatest impact?
“Probably traction control, without it driving is more natural but there is so much power. We as a team, and actually I am sure all the teams, are working hard to understand how to use the power better.”

We have had about a week since the launch, how are things progressing?
“I’ve had two and a half days in the car and we got off to a really good start. Compared to last year the first few tests have been a big improvement, to see the reliability of the car already. It is great for the team and shows how hard they have been working. We are moving in the right direction, we just need to keep chipping away.”

Is the MP4-23 a big improvement on last year?
“It will be. The car is an evolution of the MP4-22, so it feels very similar. Already different bits feel better and I am sure over the next few weeks it will just get better and better and keep improving.”

Compared to this time last year, do you feel better prepared for the season?
“A lot, I know what I need, I know how much I have to train, how many days of testing I need to do. I am fitter now than I was this time last year. Going into the races, I know the tracks and it makes it a little bit easier. It is still a big, big challenge for me and the team.”

From last year, are you leading the team more in testing?
“I think we share the responsibility quite equally throughout the team, between Heikki, Pedro, Gary and myself. Although our driving styles are not all the same, we all have our own input and it seems to be working quite well.”

You had a spin this morning, what happened there?
“It was just wet and I touched the kerb, I just went onto the edge of the gravel. I locked the rears, without the controls, the engine braking, there is a lot more locking of the rear wheels at the corner entry. When you are on the limit and pushing, that kind of thing happens.”

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Glock Fastest On Last Day Of Jerez Test

 

The final day of testing this week at Jerez saw Timo Glock head the timesheets after a relatively steady performance on Tuesday.
After overnight rain no one was able to get particularly close to the lap times recorded earlier in the week until later in the afternoon.
Toyota’s new recruit, again at the wheel of the new TF108, set the pace with a best lap of 1:19.799s, exactly three-tenths of a second clear of Lewis Hamilton in the new McLaren MP4-23. Heikki Kovalainen was sixth fastest in the sister McLaren.
Fernando Alonso was back in action for the Renault team, recording the third fastest time just a fraction ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the leading Toro Rosso Ferrari.
Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were fifth and eighth fastest for Ferrari, both less than a second off the ultimate pace. New Toyota test driver Kamui Kobayashi picked up the pace today, recording the seventh best time in the older TF107.
Kazuki Nakajima rounded out the top ten for Williams Toyota while Nico Hulkenberg tested for the first time this year in the sister FW29 and was 13th fastest.
Over at Red Bull Renault  Mark Webber posted the 11th best time, three-tenths ahead of David Coulthard who ran the new RB4 for the first time.
Sebastian Vettel brought up the rear of the timesheets in the second Toro Rosso while Super Aguri Honda did not run once again.

Test resumes next week for a majority of the teams in Valencia.

Jerez* – 16/01/2008
1 . T. Glock – Toyota TF108 – 1:19.779 (+ 0.000 ) – 96 laps
2 . L. Hamilton – McLaren MP4-23 – 1:20.099 (+ 0.320 ) – 73 laps
3 . F. Alonso – Renault R27 – 1:20.363 (+ 0.584 ) – 49 laps
4 . S. Bourdais – Toro Rosso Ferrari STR2 – 1:20.407 (+ 0.628 ) – 61 laps
5 . F. Massa – Ferrari F2008 – 1:20.500 (+ 0.721 ) – 85 laps
6 . H. Kovalainen – McLaren MP4-23 – 1:20.535 (+ 0.756 ) – 79 laps
7 . K. Kobayashi – Toyota TF107 – 1:20.577 (+ 0.798 ) – 53 laps
8 . K. Raikkonen – Ferrari F2008 – 1:20.646 (+ 0.867 ) – 88 laps
9 . K. Nakajima – Williams Toyota FW29 – 1:20.758 (+ 0.979 ) – 57 laps
10 . A. Sutil – Force India Ferrari F8-VII – 1:21.705 (+ 1.926 ) – 71 laps
11 . M. Webber – Red Bull Renault RB3 – 1:22.275 (+ 2.496 ) – 53 laps
12 . D. Coulthard – Red Bull Renault RB4 – 1:22.581 (+ 2.802 ) – 54 laps
13 . N. Hulkenberg – Williams FW29 – 1:24.023 (+ 4.244 ) – 65 laps
14 . S. Vettel – Toro Rosso Ferrari STR2 – 1:24.873 (+ 5.094 ) – 50 laps.

*Times courtesy of Circuito de Jerez

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Sebastien Buemi Confirmed As New Red Bull Test Driver

 

Red Bull Racing has announced that it has appointed Sebastien Buemi as the team’s test and reserve driver for 2008. The 19-year-old Swiss driver will also be racing in GP2 with Christian Horner’s Arden International team. Buemi raced in the Formula 3 Eurocup last year, finishing runner-up to Roman Grosjean (now the Renault F1 test driver) and did a number of GP2 races after Michael Ammermuller ran into injury problems.

“This appointment is a big step forward for me,” said Buemi. “I am delighted and thank Red Bull, which has supported me in the lower formulas since 2005. I will do my best to concentrate on combining my GP2 racing commitment with my duties for Red Bull Racing and I am looking forward to the year ahead.”

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Coulthard Tests The New Red Bull RB4

David Coulthard was entrusted with taking the car for its first shakedown lap on a damp track.
“It’s great to see a new car come together,” said the Scot.
“Inevitably, a lot of parts were still arriving last night, so when I left for my bed it looked a bit bare, but this morning, there it was in all its glory!
“It looks super with lots of nice detail on it and given that it did its installation lap and came back to the garage, so far we have achieved all our targets!
“Now we have to build from there.”

Team boss Christian Horner, anxiously watching from the pit wall, was equally excited to see the new car make a hitch-free debut appearance.
“It’s always a key moment to see a new car run for the first time,” he said.
“And particularly in the case of RB4, that first lap represents a monumental amount of work from the entire workforce.
“Over the last few weeks, all the departments have made fantastic efforts to get the car ready for this shakedown today.”

RBR is entering its fourth season of F1 competition and is looking to build on the tangible signs of progress it showed in the second half of last season.
The team had a poor reliability record last season, suffering numerous race-ending gearbox and hydraulics problems, and Horner has made improving this a key priority.
“We learnt many lessons during 2007 and obviously reliability is a key topic that the design and development groups are fully focused on,” he said before Christmas.
“In 2007 we gave away approximately 24 points as a result of poor reliability, without which we would have been much closer to Renault and ahead of Williams.
“This is therefore one of our key focuses for 2008.”

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The New Red Bull RB4 Is Unveiled

Red Bull Racing unveiled its new 2008 RB4 car at Jerez this morning
The new car is Adrian Newey’s second design since joining the team mid-way through the 2006 season.
The 2007 car proved fast but also fragile with the hydraulic systems in particular causing a number of retirements.
This is something the team hope to have overcome with its latest challenger.
“Reliability is very important but we need a fast car too,” Coulthard said recently at the Autosport International show in Birmingham.
“McLaren and Ferrari are likely to be closest to maximising what can be gotten out of the car from the current regulations
and we have to get as close to that as possible. We have a great team of people on our side though.
David Coulthard then took to the test track to test the new RB4
For Webber, testing the older RB3 chassis today, reliability is also the buzzword. 
“It’s is all about continuity for us, we are keeping the same drivers, engineering staff and engine and this will definitely help us come Sunday afternoon.
It’s a totally new car but that is the same for everyone. We need to build on our improvements at the end of last season.
“This year gearboxes have to last for four races, which brings another element of reliability to contention.
It’s hard to see drivers penalised for an issue like that, and hopefully it won’t happen to us but if it does, let’s hope it’s at a circuit where we can overtake…”

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Timo Glock Enjoys First Run Of The New TF108

 

Yesterday Timo Glock completed his first laps in Toyota’s brand new TF108. After a roll-out and one day of testing in the hands of Jarno Trulli, Toyota newcomer Timo Glock took the wheel and continued where Trulli left off.

Glock’s task in Jerez was to continue systems checks and gather information on how the car responds to set-up changes. He was joined by third driver Kamui Kobayashi, who tested the 2008 gearbox and electronics on the TF107.

Glock said about his first run in the TF108: “It was an exciting experience to drive the TF108 for the first time and I think it went well. We did a lot of laps and got a lot of data which was our main target today so I am pleased with that.

“My first impression of the car is generally positive but at this stage of the year it is too early to truly know how competitive it will be. We carried out some set-up work today and I must say we achieved quite a lot, although there is still a lot of work to do. Now I hope the car will continue to be reliable for the final day of this test so we can continue to make good progress.”

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Alonso Goes Fastest For Renault At Jerez Test

Double world champion Fernando Alonso climbed back in a Renault Formula 1 car for the first time since 2006. At Circuito de Jerez, Alonso completed his first laps in the R27 just after 09.00. Alonso will be completing his test programme with the team on Tuesday and Wednesday. Alonso and Renault will focus today’s programme on getting used to the car and driving without driver aids. He also showed his new helmet to the gathered photographers in Jerez. When he moved from Renault to McLaren last year his helmet changed to the colours of the McLaren team, but the Spanish colours are now back on the Spaniard’s helmet.

Jerez* – 15/01/2008
1 . Alonso – Renault R27 – 1:19.503 – 70 laps
2 . De la Rosa – MP4-23 – 1:19.650 – 111 laps
3 . Raikkonen – Ferrari F2008 – 1:19.708  – 90 laps
4 . Rosberg – Williams FW29 – 1:19.755 – 81 laps
5 . Massa – Ferrari F2008 – 1:19.772 – 86 laps
6 . Kovalainen – MP4-23 – 1:19.780 – 130 laps
7 . Vettel – Toro Rosso STR2 – 1:20.305 – 86 laps
8 . Bourdais – Toro Rosso STR2 – 1:20.346  – 76 laps
9 . Webber – Red Bull RB3 – 1:20.392 – 80 laps
10  Nakajima – Williams FW29 – 1:20.525 – 68 laps
11 .Glock – Toyota TF108 – 1:20.598 – 109 laps
12 .Fisichella – Force India F8-VII – 1:20.764 – 76 laps
13 .Kobayashi – Toyota TF107 – 1:22.060 – 56 laps.

*Times courtesy of Circuito de Jerez

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Fisichella On Track With Force India

Giancarlo Fisichella completed his first official day of testing with the Force India Ferrari today at the Jerez.
The Italian continued the team’s programme of set-up work and integrating the 2008 standard electronic control unit. Over the day he completed 76 laps, more than a full race distance. Although the track was damp in the morning, with far fewer red flags than Monday, the team was able to make up for yesterday’s limited running and complete the greater part of its programme. Fisichella completed 76 laps with a best time of 1:20.764s, 12th fastest.

Adrian Sutil will take over for the third and final day of the test tomorrow.

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Raikkonen Fastest On 1st Day At Jerez Testing

Ferrari and McLaren both ran their new cars on the first official day of testing for 2008 following their unveiling last week.

And it was World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, who clinched the title in dramatic circumstances last year, and team-mate Felipe Massa who topped the timesheets at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain. After rain in the morning, the track dried out in the afternoon, with Raikkonen completing 59 laps overall with a best unofficial time of one minute 19.845 seconds. Massa was just under 0.3secs adrift, with McLaren tester Pedro de la Rosa another 0.4secs off the pace in third place ahead of the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel.

The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen was fifth overall, just over a second down on Raikkonen, while Sebastien Bourdais gave Toro Rosso a strong showing with sixth.

Nico Rosberg and Jarno Trulli completed the top eight.

“We can be pleased with our progress so far with the TF108,” said Toyota’s general manager Pascal Vasselon. “The roll-out yesterday went well and we ran through several system checks with no significant problems. Today we started to look more at set-up and I believe we made a promising start but at this stage it is still too early to be comparing lap times. The main target today was to get information and data about the new car, how it behaves and how it reacts to changes, and we achieved that in both wet and dry conditions.”

New Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr set the ninth best time. The Brazilian was at wheel of the R27-06 as the team worked on engine mapping and understanding new electronic regulations, which include that all teams use a standard electronic control unit. However, he completed just 41 laps.

“I would certainly have liked the chance to get more time in the car today,” Piquet said. “But the conditions this morning were not ideal for either wet or dry tyres and so we had to wait for the weather to improve. “I’m still happy to get back on track for the first time this year and get my preparartions under way. I am aware that there are lots of things that need to be done, and there is a lot of hard work ahead. But that is why we are here.”

His team-mate Fernando Alonso will take over the driver duties on Tuesday 

Overall, nine teams tested, with only BMW missing out as they launched their new car in Munich today, along with Honda.

Times
01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:19.846 59 laps
02 F. Massa Ferrari 01:20.123 42 laps
03 P. de la Rosa McLaren 01:20.548 54 laps
04 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:20.732 40 laps
05 H. Kovalainen McLaren 01:20.936 48 laps
06 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:20.997 47 laps
07 N. Rosberg Williams 01:21.143 47 laps
08 J. Trulli Toyota 01:21.314 84 laps
09 N. Piquet jr. Renault 01:21.696 41 laps
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull 01:21.746 49 laps
11 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 01:23.035 44 laps
12 K. Nakajima Williams 01:23.134 42 laps
13 T. Glock Toyota 01:24.351 56 laps
14 J. Rossiter Super Aguri 01:34.862 10 laps

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Schumacher Predicts Ferrari To Win The Championship

Michael Schumacher says Ferrari is his tip to successfully defend both championships in 2008. The seven-time champion says the coming season is more likely to be a battle between Raikkonen and Massa for the crown rather than between the Ferrari drivers and any other team.

When asked if Hamilton stood a chance this year, Schumacher said, “I think Kimi and Felipe will start the season in the strongest position,” Schumacher told BBC Sport.

“If you look at last year’s results Felipe was very strong but just really unlucky.”

“I think the championship will again be a battle between Ferrari and McLaren but BMW and Renault will be much closer than last season and can also get involved in the fight for the title,” he added.

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