Barcelona: Day Two, Three & Four

Pre-season testing is nearing a very sudden end, it's then only two weeks away until the lights go out in Melbourne, it still seems a lifetime away! It hasn't gotten any drier for the teams, something which is really hampering development of the 2013 models. 

Day Two Final Standings

1. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – 1:22.716s
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) – 1:23.181s
3. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – 1:23.628s
4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 1:23.743s
5. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 1:23.744s
6. Adrian Sutil (Force India) – 1:24.215s
7. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) – 1:25.483s
8. Max Chilton (Marussia) – 1:25.598s
9. Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) – 1:26.316s
10. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 1:26.655s
11. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 1:27.878s

As a Lotus fan, the words 'THANK CHRIST' have never came out of my mouth accompanied by much needed relief. Although set on a drying track it's not much to take away, but it's a bloody start! Romain Grosjean was followed by another let down of testing in the form of McLaren's Jenson Button but really, it doesn't really matter beyond this point. If testing pace is no relation to race pace during the season, then wet testing is just a waste of time. It would be a lot more cost effective for the teams  just to pack up for the day and go home, but then I'm not sure if the spectators pay to watch testing or not so it wouldn't exactly be fair. 

I haven't a terrible lot to say on the matter, there's nothing that can be taken away from wet running other than seeing how the cars react under the conditions. However one would think that after one session the teams would have all they need. No point in chancing a collision or crash. The forecast for the next two days is set to improve, let's up the action does too.

Day Three Final Standings

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:20.558s
2. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 1:21.266s
3. Adrian Sutil (Force India) – 1:21.627s
4. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – 1:22.305s
5. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) – 1:22.468s
6. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) – 1:22.553s
7. Mark Webber (Red Bull) – 1:22.658s
8. Sergio Perez (McLaren) – 1:22.694s
9. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) – 1:23.223s
10. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – 1:23.380s
11. Davide Valsecchi (Lotus) – 1:23.448s
12. Jules Bianchi (Marussia) – 1:24.028s
13. Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) – 1:24.235s

I'd like to start this post off by wishing my favourite superstar Kimi Raikkonen a very speedy recovery. The Flying Finn was due to begin his test today but has succumbed to food poisoning... Or is just really, really hungover.

On a completely dry day, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time over any of the Barcelona days. The Brit put in blinding laps to top the time sheets and will be hoping that his form carry's over into Melbourne. One thing to note about every team is how close the grid was. Liittle under 4s seperates 13 drivers which is an encouraging display, very delighted to see.

Bianchi's Second Chance

Jules Bianchi who suffered a recent career defeat when he lost out to Adrian Sutil (opinion coming VERY SOON) for the Force India seat got a second chance when Marussia offered him a race seat. This was following the immediate dismissal of Luiz Razia after his sponsors failed to provide the team with the funds that were promised. The team had no hesitation in cutting their loses and signing up this ever impressive young man to partner fellow rookie Max Chilton. 

Bianchi also represents the sports 4th French driver, If there was ever a case to pull out of those tragic desert/Asian races and return to Europe, it is this very statement. Imagine the riots there would be if Britain didn't run a Grand Prix this year. There wouldn't be any, because anybody in Formula 1 rolls over and simply buries their dignity because Bernie says so. It's a joke he couldn't be bothered to lower his prices to accommodate a 20th GP this season. 

Bernie needs to be reminded that it's not his 'yes men' who pay to see races, it is us. The real fans.

Day Four

This is it. The final day to make a mark and stand your ground. Another day of drying running means the teams will simply be trying to showcase their speed. Personally, the results of today will be the closest in terms of race pace. Not exact readings, but very closely related.

Final Standings

  1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 1:20.130s

  2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 1:20.494s

  3. Jenson Button (McLaren) – 1:21.444s

  4. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 1:21.541s

  5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) – 1:21.658s

  6. Paul di Resta (Force India) – 1:21.664s

  7. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – 1:22.415s

  8. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 1:22.514s

  9. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) – 1:22.524s

10. Charles Pic (Caterham) – 1:23.115s

11. Jules Bianchi (Marussia) – 1:23.167s

12. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) – 1:23.628s

13. Max Chilton (Marussia) – 1:24.103s

I have to say, this was probably my favourite day of any test. What a grid! Everybody thought Lewis Hamilton had pulled off a wonder feat yesterday by stunning everyone with the fastest time set, and then his dark horse of a team mate Nico Rosberg breaks his team mates 2013 record by 0.5s! 

The end result certainly looks like it should come the first race, except from Red Bull cause they would have to be special and look like they're struggling (idiots). Great to see Kimi back in action and set some more consistent laps, he even done far fewer laps than anybody above him, he is certainly looking to be a contender for a podium down under.

Nico Hulkenberg finishes off Sauber's pre season campaign in style after grabbing himself a top 5 finish. Today also marks the first time that Caterham have got the better of their closest rival Marussia in any of the Barcelona days. Charles Pic set a faster time that either of the Marussia drivers who each had a go out on track.

Daniel Ricciardo and Valterri Bottas were among the disappointments, both have shown that they have quicker pace than their rivals but each failed to make any relevant impact on today's proceedings. Bottas's team mate Pastor Maldonado couldn't break into the top 5.

It has been a terrific few weeks of testing, and I have really enjoyed writing up about them even if my posts have been ridiculously late. Expect more frequent blog posts and a lot more from me in the future. 

Thank you very much for reading!

W04 / MR02 / CT03

Yet another triple review for you today! The last three cars have finally been revealed, Williams have yet to officially launch their FW35, but at the test in Jerez they ran the 2012 car, only in the 2013 livery with some 2013 parts so they will get their own review at the end of the month when they launch on the 19th February.

The first test is well under way at Jerez, I'd like to take this opportunity to mention that I will be publishing a full review of the four days after the first test is over. Keep up to date on Twitter @Houston60 for more info!

W04

I covered the launch for Let's Talk F1, including a comprehensive review of the launch, my thoughts on the car and provided lots of photos of the Mercedes F1 W04. Click here to read it. 

Feel free to check out the rest of the site and get in touch with us at @LetsTalkF1.














MR02

Marussia have came back from an okay 2012 campaign that saw them nearly get that very valuable 10th place in the constructors championship.











Right after their last race, they saw rookie Charles Pic leave them for Caterham and recently tsaw veteran Timo Glock depart for the DTM. Before Glock left, Marussia had confirmed the signing of GP2 ace Max Chilton and the line up was not fully completed until today when the team announced they had signed another GP2 name in Luiz Razia.

The MR02 essentially looks nearly the same as the previous model, maybe a design change but nothing clearly visable. 

The car has adorned the optional vanity cover that is used to hide the ugly boxers nose of 2012 regulation changes. There is still a visible slope but it is nowhere near as bad as last season.

The technical aspects of the car remain the same although with the dissolution of HRT, they are now the only team on the grid to run the Cosworth engine. Throughout the year they may look for a better engine deal in order to prepare for the 2014 season where the sport undergoes a massive regulation change. I'll speak more about that at the end of this post.

What Marussia have done is introduced the KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) to their car, a first for the team. This will close the gap between them and fellow back runner team Caterham who were already equipped with the technology.

The team have all the mechanical components for success, but after allowing a driver like Timo Glock to slip through their fingers, they lack that experience. But I have faith in young Chilton and I believe that this is the season where they overtake Caterham in the pecking order.



CT03

Caterham have seen a reshuffle of members including two new drivers and a new team principle. Giedo Van der Garde completes the driver line up for this season.











First of all, the car looks FANTASTIC. I love the brighter shade of green and having always wanted to own a Caterham car, I am naturally drawn to the colours. Because of Tony Fernandes's departure from the game, the stupid soccer ball team logo is removed from the car. Soccer ball doesn't belong in a real sport like F1. 

If you're not a regular reader (you should be it's great) you would have known that I made a prediction about the Caterham having the stepped nose and why. In my Mercedes W04 review, I stated that it might have something to do with the Renault engine. So far, all the Mercedes powered cars, all the Ferrari powered cars and the one Cosworth powered car have opted to cover up the stepped nose. Lotus's E21, Red Bull's RB9 and now Caterham's CT03 (all Renault powered cars) have all decided against using a vanity panel, citing performance over beauty. Is there maybe a cooling issue with the Renault engine or other components that deem a vanity panel unnecessary? Lotus cited a weight issue, but if the majority of teams have added it to their cars, surely it doesn't mean a thing? It's a disappointment to know that we're going to have a very stupid looking field next season, but what's worse is that if the panels mean lesser performance, the covers will all be dropped meaning one more season of the disastrous looking noses!

NOTE

"The technical aspects of the car remain the same although with the dissolution of HRT, they are now the only team on the grid to run the Cosworth engine. Throughout the year they may look for a better deal in order to prepare for the 2014 season where the sport undergoes a massive regulation change."

I recently purchased Jenson Button's book "A Championship Year" and I must say it is a fantastic read, loving every word. The reason why I brought it up is because of how he describes how the Brawn car was so successful in the opening races. In 2008, Honda stopped developing their current car because it was a lost cause, and also because there were big regulation changes coming in 2009. They started work straight away and financial issues aside, they (after become Brawn) developed a championship winning car for 2009. This is because they got ahead of the curve.

Why is this so important? What can be learned? If Caterham and Marussia both separately sat down and said to themselves; "let's do a Brawn" and started focusing their energy on 2014, they could seriously turn things around! I'm not saying they'll have a Brawn story or anything but if they just got over themselves and focused on the important issue, they could find themselves with a bit more respect next season and a status shift from back markers to a midfield team. Brawn done it on a budget, there is absolutely no excuse why these two can't. And who knows, maybe Scorpion Racing (HRT) may have already got the jump on us all. Food for thought right there.