Team-By-Team Reflections From Valencia
Thursday 4th February 2010
Valencia's tight and twisty circuit provides only a limited test for cars and drivers, and the seven teams in Spain this week were primarily focused on reliability. But a vague picture did emerge...
Ferrari: Though the team has downplayed their quick start in Valencia, the rest of the paddock is in no doubt that the F10 has proved fastest out of the box and the car to beat. Fernando Alonso's best-of-the-week lap was set during a morning of acclimatisation and, even if the team ran shorter stints than McLaren, there was no suggestion that Ferrari were pushing for speed either: the Spaniard's 1:11.470 was set on the fourth of a 12-lap run when he was still focused on achieving "comfort in the cockpit". Ominious?
Just as encouraging was the team's reliability - Ferrari registered more laps than any other team on view and did so without a single glitch - and Alonso's long-run stint on Wednesday afternoon. He reduced his time on every one of his 16 laps, starting in the 1:13s and ending in the 1:11s, suggesting that the F60 is well balanced, already well set-up, and consistent on its tyres. There's talk of an issue with the car's fuel efficiency but so far it's nothing but talk.
McLaren: Relief is likely to have been McLaren's overriding emotion as they left Valencia. The MP4-25 has yet to bare its teeth but, unlike its predecessor, it's certainly no dog.
Lewis Hamilton finished Tuesday half a second adrift of Felipe Massa but the McLaren was probably carrying around an additional ten laps' worth of fuel when those times were set and on a long run that afternoon he became quicker and quicker in much the same way as Alonso did 24 hours later. So far, so good.
Less impressive was Jenson Button's debut. The World Champion had a frustrating and limited first day at work. While Alonso quickly settled into his new office, Button spent most of Wednesday trying to find a comfortable seat in his McLaren. The contrast was probably a consequence of Button being seven inches taller than Hamilton whereas Massa and Alonso are roughly the same size. Nonetheless, it was a slow start for McLaren's new recruit with every other driver in action this week completing more laps.
So, with testing time a precious commodity this winter, Button must hit the ground running next week at Jerez on a circuit that is not only likely to provide a clearer picture of each car's true speed but also a proper test of McLaren's aerodynamic weakness last season - high-speed cornering. Only then will it emerge just what sort of a bite the MP4-25 possesses.
Sauber: The surprise package. Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi took second place in the timesheets on all three days in Valencia and, though it looks bland, Sauber appear to have created a handy machine.
It should, of course, be noted that De la Rosa and Kobayashi seem to have been carrying less fuel than either Ferrari or McLaren when they set their fastest laps of the week, but this was undoubtedly an impressive first outing.
Mercedes: The bad news is that Ross Brawn has admitted his team are "off the pace" and have "work to do" if they are to catch Ferrari and McLaren. The good news is that he probably wouldn't have made such a public admission if he wasn't confident they could do just that.
"We've got a handling imbalance because we are all learning about these tyres here and we've seen straight away some things we want done on the tyres which we'll have done by Jerez.," he reported. "We are cracking exhausts and are having to change those every 150-200km. It's a problem we can fix but here it's difficult."
Quite the irony really: Last February, Brawn bolted on the Mercedes engine in a last-minute 'botch job' without a hitch but have hit a leak this winter when both car and engine carry the same name. But it's the power of Mercedes that is probably the cause of Brawn's optimism that their problems can be fixed - and quickly.
Another positive was Michael Schumacher's return to action and the absence of any genuine fitness concerns. He appeared in front of the press within minutes of climbing out of the car on both Monday and Wednesday and did so without a bead of sweat apparent. He at least looks in good shape.
Renault: A slow(ish) start. Robert Kubica struggled to settle into his new car on Monday and then found himself hampered by understeer. Tuesday was spent mostly focused on long running and Kubica's solitary short stint produced a time that was not particularly impressive given the very low amount of fuel that the car is likely to have been carrying. On the other hand, the times set on his long run that afternoon were encouragingly consistent.
Williams: Valencia's long-distance runner with the team quick - almost too quick - to remind all observers that they were heavily fuelled throughout the test.
That tends to be the Williams way - they're far too serious a racing team to even contemplate making a 'glory run' - but their conservative and cautious approach is also likely to have been a result of the need to use the test as a preliminary examination of their Cosworth engine. Not since 2006 has a F1 car been powered by the Northampton company and the apparently trouble-free and inconspicuous nature of its return was itself probably the best news of the week for Williams.
Toro Rosso: The only team to suffer a serious mechanical fault this week with Sebastien Buemi only completing 18 laps on Monday due to a gearbox failure. Such teething problems were inevitable with the team debuting the first car they have designed and built themselves. That in itself is a considerable achievement - team boss Franz Tost hailed it as a "landmark" - and Wednesday's results were especially respectable with Jamie Alguersauri completing almost 100 laps as well as the day's fourth-fastest time.
What's Next: Testing at Jerez, February 10-13; Testing at Jerez, February 17-20; Testing at Barcelona, February 25-28.
Pete Gill.
My friend who drives a 612 just took delivery on a California for his wife - not bad for an 8 up front
