Former F1 champ Kimi Räikkönen tests Kyle Busch truck, already has sights on Cup, Nationwide races

Former Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen tested a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck today at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway and already has talked to team owner Kyle Busch about running Nationwide and Sprint Cup events.

The 31-year-old Finnish driver, who currently competes full time in the World Rally Championship after a nine-year F1 career that included his 2007 championship while driving for Ferrari, tested Monday and Tuesday at Gresham (Ga.) Motorsports Park.

An international star with 18 career F1 victories, Raikkonen has sponsorship from Perky Jerky beef jerky for his NASCAR races and several international companies as personal sponsors – making the Cup talk more than just a driver fantasy.

But his only signed deal as of today, according to sources, is with KBM for an unspecified number of truck races. The first will come May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the plan likely is to run three to five races.

“He has asked after the truck debut in Charlotte, which is what our first focus is, to kind of evaluate and see where he’s at and how he feels and what he wants to do,” Busch said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway.

“He has asked about Nationwide and Cup and if Kyle Busch Motorsports could do that or where would be the best place to do that. He wants to re-evaluate all that once we get past Charlotte.”

Raikkonen is a Red Bull athlete but Red Bull Racing has not had any conversations with him about competing in NASCAR, team general manager Jay Frye said Friday. He has talked with other Cup teams, according to sources. The most likely place for a Cup debut would be at the road course at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. in June.

KBM might be able to field a Nationwide car for Raikkonen, but a Cup program likely would be a stretch for Busch’s organization.

“We just said we would evaluate,” Busch said about what he told Raikkonen when asked about doing Nationwide or Cup. “I’ve told everybody here that KBM would like to go to Nationwide. We would like to have a full-time Nationwide team next year. In order to work towards that, you would work towards that this year.

“If it came to be the right situation and we could get cars built or get cars from JGR, it would all be a tell-tale thing, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now, our focus is on Charlotte and the truck race there and making sure we get the right stuff under Kimi that he can run well there.

” As far as the tests in the last few days, Busch said Räikkönen has had no problem going fast in the truck.

“The test went really well at Gresham,” Busch said. “Kimi is a race-car driver so he does know how to drive race cars and drive them well. … I got to get in the truck myself and ran some laps just to kind of see where I compared to where he was at on tires and stuff, and we ran identical lap times.

“So he’s right there. He knows what he’s doing.”

Part of the test at Gresham was to get Räikkönen used to the intricacies of NASCAR racing.

“It was just kind of getting his feet used to running caution laps, running down pit road, watching the lights on the tach and how all that goes and then working on some restart stuff and getting him accustomed to coming up through the gears quick and not spinning the tires on restarts,” Busch said. “There are still some things that we’d like to work on a little bit more, but we don’t feel like there’s any time before he gets back [for the race].

“They were in Rockingham [Thursday] with our trucks, and he did good again. He ran a lot better than we expected to run there, a lot faster than we expected to run there. So I’m real happy with it.”

Source: SceneDaily
Courtesy: Miezicat

Räikkönen's NASCAR-tests continue on Thursday

The crowned king of track-racing, Kimi Räikkönen, drove for the first time in his life two days on an American oval track and he will continue his adventure by testing Kyle Busch Motosports -team's Toyota Tundra on Thursday.

Räikkönen circled on Monday and Tuesday 400 times the half mile oval in Gresham. He has now about 320 km experience of the Camping World Truck -car. The laptimes have been solid and the driver's professionality has now come to its own.

What is driving on ovals like?

– New and different, Räikkönen tells Turun Sanomat shortly not wanting to explain it more.

Räikkönen's ICE1 Racing -team has leased a truck from the leading KBM-team only for Charlotte's race on 20th May. According to Kyle Busch they have been negotiating about 3-5 truck-class races with Räikkönen's representatives.

In practice everything is wide open and Räikkönen's own feeling will decide how he will start developing his NASCAR-career.

Different setup-work

The first testing session is purely an experiment to understand driving on ovals. To find setups for corners that continuously turn in the same direction on a track with inclination is also very unusual when comparing to European track-classes.

– This offers Kimi an interesting new world and a completely new challenge. The most important thing is now to proceed with patience, Räikkönen's spokesman Riku Kuvaja said.

– NASCAR is a really huge and very professionally run show, Kuvaja emphasises.

Kyle Busch announced last Saturday in Martinsville Speedway NASCAR-race that he has done a deal with Räikkönen's ICE1 Racing over a selected race schedule in Camping World Truck Series.

Rally notes already on Monday

After the tests are over Räikkönen will return to Europe and go to the Middle-East because Jordan's WRC-rally is next week. He starts making pace notes on Monday, the rally takes off on Wednesday and ends on Saturday.

After Jordan Räikkönen skips Sardinia's and Argentina's rallies. This way he has time to concentrate on his NASCAR-debut.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Renault’s message to Kubica from Barcelona

The Renault F1 team gathered for a team photo with a pit board wishing Robert Kubica to get well soon.

Prior to start of the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Barcelona, the team including drivers Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna posed for a picture in the Circuit de Catalunya pitlane.

Kubica, who was injured in a freak rally accident earlier this month, was yesterday transferred from intensive care unit to the rehabilitation department to continue his recovery.

The Renault F1 team have appointed Nick Heidfeld to replace Kubica.

Source: YallaF1

Alonso: Too early to judge rear wings

Fernando Alonso is reserving judgement on whether the introduction of moveable rear wings will improve overtaking

Halfway through pre-season testing, all the teams, barring Hispania Racing who have yet to run, have had a taste of the new 2011 regulations.

These include the return of KERS and the introduction of moveable rear wings, both of which are intended to make passing easier by giving the driver a power or speed advantage over the car ahead.

Alonso, though, reckons it may not be as easy as the powers-that-be are hoping.

"We were able to try the adjustable wing in race conditions, but it is still too early to understand clearly if overtaking will be easier," he told Ferrari's website.

"We need to see if the 600 metre limit set by the FIA is not too restrictive, but we know this situation is still able to be revised.

"From the little we could see, I think it will still be very difficult to pass a car with similar performance to your own. The system works well on our car: we never had any problems, not even under braking."

And although both KERS and the moveable wings are adding to the drivers' workloads, the double World Champion believes the switch from Bridgestone to Pirelli tyres is the biggest challenge.

"It is the biggest change of the year and there is still a lot of work to do to adapt the car set-up and driving style to these tyres.

"From what we have seen so far, we will need to run different strategies with more pit stops. We managed to do around forty laps, not all at one go, on the same set of tyres, but we know that in the much higher temperatures of Bahrain, the situation will be very different."

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso: “Important to have done a lot of kilometres”

It is definitely still too early to start evaluating its performance level, but the F150th Italia is proving to be a tough car. 217 laps were completed by Felipe Massa on the first two days of this second test session in the run up to the start of the Formula 1 World Championship and now Fernando Alonso has added a further 131, taking the total number of kilometres past the 1500 mark. The Spaniard said he was pleased with the work done today, centred on evaluating the Pirelli tyres and a long distance run. “It is very important to be able to do so many kilometres one after the other, without experiencing any problems,” Fernando told www.ferrari.com. “It means we can pick up a lot of data which is useful especially when it comes to understanding the tyre behaviour, which is the biggest unknown at this test. I already said it in Valencia and I repeat it now: we must not think about what the others are doing, in terms of times. It is better to focus on our own efforts and then we can see where we are in Bahrain in a month’s time.”

Today, Fernando wore a helmet specially dedicated to Robert Kubica. “I am delighted that Robert’s condition is evolving in a positive way, with every passing day,” said the Spanish driver. “Now he will need a lot of patience, but the most important thing is he is getting better.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Jerez: Schumi tops the charts

Michael Schumacher set the pace at Jerez on Friday where once again the times set during the morning session proved to be the best

The seven-time World Champion clocked a 1:20.352 on a run that was more than ten laps. However, as the day progressed, he struggled to match his best and in fact found himself outside the top half in terms of pace over longer distances.

Thursday's pace-setter Felipe Massa dropped to second place, 0.061s behind his former Ferrari team-mate. Massa had a busy day, finishing with the most laps completed and an average of 1:27s per lap during his long-distance runs.

Jenson Button, who had his first taste of McLaren's MP4-26, was third quickest, although the Brit spent a large part of the morning - which was when the faster times were set - in the pits as McLaren conducted system checks.

Jaime Alguersuari, who was fourth quickest on Friday, just 0.862s off the pace, was the first to run into trouble on Day Two as the Toro Rosso driver spun off the track, bringing out the red flags.

His car was taken back to the pits, however, it wasn't long before he was back in the action, working on a programme that featured three key elements; tyre evaluation, weight distribution and car set-up work.

The Spaniard said: "In performance terms, it is still a bit too early to start drawing conclusions, especially as the lap times here vary a lot from the morning to the afternoon, but I am reasonably confident that this side of the car's progress is on the right track."

Mark Webber was fifth for Red Bull Racing, finishing ahead of Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez. However, the latter's day was curtailed when he crashed between Turns Seven and Eight during the afternoon session.

Timo Glock was next in line, three-tenths up on Renault's Vitaly Petrov, who was another to bring out the red flags when he spun off track in the morning.

The day's final flag belonged to Pastor Maldonado as the Williams driver became the second rookie to crash. He lost control at Turn Four, damaging the front and rear of his FW32 as he hit the wall.

Jarno Trulli completed the timesheets after failing to make an appearance in the afternoon due to an unspecified mechanical problem.

Times
01. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:20.352 112 laps
02. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:20.413 + 0.061 116 laps
03. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.009 + 0.657 69 laps
04. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.214 + 0.862 72 laps
05. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:21.613 + 1.261 113 laps
06. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:21.780 + 1.428 73 laps
07. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.857 + 1.505 56 laps
08. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:22.208 + 1.856 57 laps
09. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:22.493 + 2.141 65 laps
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:22.591 + 2.239 38 laps
11. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:23.216 + 2.864 40 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Jerez: Massa sets a blistering pace

Felipe Massa was the man to beat on the opening day of testing at Jerez, however, much of the focus in the paddock was on Robert Kubica

11 of the 12 teams, with only Hispania Racing missing from the line-up, hit the Spanish track at 9am on Thursday morning and one by one the cars came out of the pits carrying a message of support for the injured Kubica.

"Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia Robert," read the stickers on the cars, which translated means: "Get better soon Robert!"

Massa took the lead early in the morning as the Ferrari driver clocked a 1:20.709 midway through his opening 14-lap stint.

The Brazilian's time proved to be unbeatable as the day progressed with even Massa struggling to match it.

Sauber rookie Sergio Perez finished in second place, 0.774s behind Massa. He too set his best time early in the morning after venturing back out on track following a brief stoppage at the exit of Curva Jorge Martinez.

It was the first of the day's four red flags, the others belonging to Nico Rosberg, who stopped twice, and Vitaly Petrov, who spun off into the gravel.

Mark Webber claimed third place for Red Bull Racing while Toro Rosso test driver Daniel Ricciardo was a surprise in fourth place. The Australian test driver finished ahead of 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit, who had the honour of being the first to put McLaren's new MP4-26 through its paces, spent the day focusing on short runs. In fact, Hamilton's best time for the day was set on a single flying-lap run, similar to a qualifying run.

Jaime Alguersuari was sixth for Toro Rosso as he took over from Ricciardo in the afternoon while Adrian Sutil debuted Force India's VJM04. Like McLaren, Force India spent the day putting in short distance runs.

Petrov was eighth for Renault, finishing ahead of Nico Rosberg, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. The latter was another driver debuting his team's 2011 challenger.

New Williams signing Pastor Maldonado finished at the very bottom of the timesheets after spending much of the day stuck in the pits. The Venezuelan's FW32 suffered a problem with the rear wing, limiting his running to just 13 laps.

Times
01. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m20.709 101 laps
02. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.483 + 0.774 94 laps
03. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.522 + 0.813 94 laps
04. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m21.755 + 1.046 31 laps
05. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.914 + 1.205 58 laps
06. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.689 + 1.980 42 laps
07. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m23.472 + 2.763 28 laps
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m23.504 + 2.795 57 laps
09. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.963 + 3.254 67 laps
10. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m24.458 + 3.749 54 laps
11. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m25.086 + 4.377 42 laps
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m34.968 + 14.259 13 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Heidfeld and Senna in Lotus Renault shoot-out

Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna are set for a testing shoot-out to replace the injured Robert Kubica in the Lotus Renault team with the pair to be evaluated during the Jerez test

Heidfeld, who raced for Sauber towards the end of last season, had been seen as one of the favourites to replace Kubica, who is beginning a lengthy rehabilitation after being seriously hurt in a crash on the Ronde di Andora rally on Sunday.

Renault team owner Gerard Lopez hinted that Heidfeld or former Force India driver Tonio Liuzzi would drive for the team at Jerez, and 33-year-old Heidfeld has been given the nod to drive the R31 along with Senna on Saturday and Sunday as the team seek a team-mate to partner Vitaly Petrov.

A Lotus Renault statement read: "Lotus Renault GP has revised its driver line-up for this week's test session in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

"Vitaly Petrov will drive the R31 on Thursday and Friday, as originally scheduled. For Saturday and Sunday, the team will give mileage to Bruno Senna and will also evaluate Nick Heidfeld, who is a potential replacement for Robert Kubica as a race driver."

Senna, who along with Romain Grosjean is one of Lotus Renault's test drivers for the coming campaign, is seen as another potential replacement for Kubica, but the team are understood to be keen to move for an experienced driver to partner Petrov.

The Russian and Senna competed in Formula One for the first time last season, with the Brazilian enduring a particularly tough time at the struggling Hispania team.

Heidfeld, on the other hand, has been in the sport since racing for Prost in 2000, going on to have spells with Sauber, Jordan, Williams and BMW Sauber and racking up 172 starts.

Lotus Renault believe Petrov has plenty of potential, but his lack of development experience means Heidfeld would be a major asset to the squad, particularly as the R31 appears to be a competitive proposition, with Kubica topping the testing times with the new car in Valencia last week.

But Kubica is likely to miss the whole of the 2011 season after partially severing his right hand and suffering breaks to his elbow, shoulder and leg in his accident.

He has since undergone a seven-hour operation to re-attach his hand and was kept in an induced coma following the procedure.

The surgery to repair Kubica's hand has been hailed a success by specialist Igor Rossello.

"The operation was perfectly successful," he told Sky Italia.

"It's a great result because the operation was long and very complex."

Kubica, who took his only F1 win to date in Canada in 2008, will undergo further surgery on his leg and shoulder on Friday and Giorgio Barabino, head of intensive care at the Santa Corona hospital, said: "The phase of the final surgery operations is beginning: the double operation to foot and shoulder is planned for Friday morning, while the course of surgeries will end next week.

"The driver's right hand has completely stabilised. Now the delicate recovery of the functionalities begins."

Source: Planet-F1

Domenicali: “Let’s keep our feet on the ground”

There’s an air of great concentration in the corridors of Maranello, after the first three days of testing with the F150. The team pretty much got through the programme established prior to the test, which centred mainly on getting to grips with the behaviour of the new car and on understanding the new Pirelli tyres. On the reliability front, the first assessment can be seen as positive: the mishap that forced Felipe Massa to spend a long time in the garage yesterday is in no way the sign of some congenital defect in the car.

“As we already said at the launch, the important thing is to do many kilometres at the first test and in that we have succeeded, “ said Stefano Domenicali on www.ferrari.com. “The stopwatch revealed little and that will also be the case in the next test sessions. We are pleased with our debut, but we are perfectly aware that there is still a lot of work to do, both on track and in the factory. Over the next few weeks, we must keep our feet solidly on the ground and concentrate on our own job, without being distracted by what the others are up to. The first conclusions will only be drawn in Bahrain when things start getting serious.”

Fernando Alonso was also in Maranello today, spending a long time in the simulator. The team got back from Valencia late morning and by Monday the mechanics will already be on their way again, this time to Jerez de la Frontera where testing resumes on Thursday 10 February: this time Felipe will be the first on track for two days, with Fernando rounding off the last two days of Saturday and Sunday.

Source: Ferrari.com

Valencia day three: Kubica Is The Fastest Man In Spain

After three days of pre-season testing a third constructor top the timesheets, with Robert Kubica's Renault seeing off Adrian Sutil's Force India for the honours on Thursday

Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull ended the opening day on top before Fernando Alonso piped the German to the post on Wednesday, but it was Kubica who recorded the fastest time of the week, beating his more fancied competitors to the first 'win' of the season.

Felipe Massa stole the headlines during the morning session, albeit for the wrong reasons. Just half an hour and 12 laps into his first day of pre-season testing, the spun at turn five, and while he was able to collect the car, spoke billowed out the back of his Ferrari followed by flames. The Brazilian then entered into another spin after which the car came to a halt, Massa promptly exited the vehicle and the marshals will called to extinguish the blaze.

The patched up F150 did make an appearance later in the day, and having failed to impress for much of the afternoon, Massa posted a 1:14.073 late in the session to end the day fifth fastest.

After two days fraught with problems, matters look to be improving for Mercedes GP, with Schumacher posting the third fastest time of the morning session with a 1:14.537, 0.108 faster than team-mate Nico Rosberg's quickest lap yesterday.

Despite a long run in the afternoon, the German was unable to better his time, finishing the day as the in a disappointing ninth spot.

Kubica and Sutil were joined by Jenson Button and Mark Webber in breaking the 1:14 mark, with the later pair both putting in more than 100 laps. Webber endured a medicore start to the day in which he was unable to replicate the pass produced by Sebastian Vettel on the first two days at Valencia. However, with a reduced fuel load, the Australia improved in the afternoon to post a fastest lap of 1:13.936.

Button was there or thereabouts throughout the day, and will be happy to have recorded a 1:13.553 during his lengthy spell out on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Sutil was the fastest man on track after the morning's running, following the lead set by Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta on previous days by showing there is plenty of life left in the VJM03.

But while Sutil impressed in a 2010 model, Robert Kubica and his R31 served notice that Renault may well be on their way to narrowing the gap to the top teams.

While one can never read too much into pre-season times, the Pole appeared to spend the morning gathering data (his quickest time at the interval was four seconds off the pace) before proceeding to knock Sutil off the top of the timesheets with a 1:13.144.

On the other end of the spectrum, there were again problems for Lotus, with the power steering problem that ended their day prematurely on Wednesday again an issue, with Jarno Trulli only able to complete 38 laps all of which were without power steering.

While the Italian was unable to post a lap time, chief engineer Mike Gascoyne reported that the team was able to get all their "background tests done".

Having seemingly produced a shock result on Wednesday when he registered a 1:14.472, there were no timing errors or for that matter times of substance for Narain Karthikeyan, with his HRT more than three seconds off the pace.

There was some late improvement for Timo Glock and his VR-01, with the German finishing with a 1:14.207 to beat off the Williams of Pastor Maldonado (1:14.299) and the Sauber of Sergio Perez (1:14.458) for sixth spot. Schumacher and Sebastien Buemi (1:14.801) were still further behind.

Unofficial times:
01. Robert Kubica Renault 1:13.144 96 laps
02. Adrian Sutil Force India Mercedes 1:13.201 +0.057 117 laps
03. Jenson Button McLaren Mercedes 1:13.553 0.409 105 laps
04. Mark Webber Red Bull Renault 1:13.936 +0.792 105 laps
05. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:14.017 +0.873 80 laps
06. Timo Glock Virgin Cosworth 1:14.207 +1.063 114 laps
07. Pastor Maldonado Williams Cosworth 1:14.299 + 1.155 101 laps
08. Sergio Perez Sauber Ferrari 1:14.458 +1.314 104 laps
09. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:14.537 +1.393 110 laps
10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:14.801 + 1.657 73 laps
11. Narain Karthikeyan HRT Cosworth 1:16.535 +3.391 63 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Hamilton says new McLaren looks different to rivals

Lewis Hamilton had a sharp-eyed return to formula one on Wednesday after a long winter break.

The McLaren driver was in action at the Valencia test at the wheel of the team’s 2010 car, with the MP4-26 only to be unveiled in Berlin on Friday.

As well as adapting to the new Pirelli tyres, Briton Hamilton admitted to casting an eye over his rivals’ new cars at the Ricardo Tormo track.

"Our car looks different to others and I hope it reflects on its performance," he is quoted by BBC Sport. "Ferrari and Red Bull look more like an evolution of last year’s car."

Another change for the 2008 world champion this year is that his father will be back in the grand prix paddocks.

Hamilton, 26, dumped his dad as manager last year but Anthony Hamilton will this season be in the Force India garage with his new charge Paul di Resta.

"He (Anthony) has done a fantastic job to get Paul in and clearly he’s very gifted at getting drivers to formula one," admitted Lewis.

At the same time, he said he is close to appointing a new manager to work on his image and brand, particularly in new markets like the US.

"Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to let you know what’s going on," Hamilton told reporters.

It is believed that 19 Entertainment, IMG and Creative Artists Agency are the frontrunners to represent Hamilton.

Source: YallaF1

Valencia day two: Alonso's F150 rules supreme in Spain

In a day with many firsts, the pecking order at the end of day two in Valencia was headlined by two familiar foes, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel

Much of the talk heading into Wednesday's session revolved around the appearance of Lotus' T128, with the team the only outfit not to get any running on day one.

Indeed, Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus was the first car out on the Circuito Ricardo Tormo on Wednesday morning. The Finn's presence was brief however, with the team bringing the T128 back into the garage after its instillation lap.

It was there that it remained for most of the day, with a brief 15-lap salvo in the afternoon interrupted by a problem with the car's power steering which ultimately proved terminal in terms of the day's activities.

The T128 was not the only newcomer to the fold, with Sauber's Sergio Perez and Williams' Pastor Maldonado getting their first taste of F1 pre-season testing.

Rubens Barrichello electrical problem brought out the first red flag before the session had really begun, with the flying Scotsman Paul di Resta briefly topping the tables with a 1:13.844 before he too brought a halt to proceedings after spinning at turn two.

Di Resta impressed for the most part, putting Force India's 2010 model in third place in the day's final classification.

Renault and Mercedes may have been the two teams fighting it out behind the frontrunners last season, but the two teams are having vastly different fortunes thus far in 2011.

Kubica improved on yesterday's performance from Vitaly Petrov by some distance, notching up a 1:14.412, the fourth fastest time of the session, and the third quickest by a team using a 2011 model.

Conversely, Merc GP's struggles continued on Wednesday. Having been hindered by a hydraulics problem on day one, Rosberg brought out his second red flag in two days when he came to a standstill at turn eleven. Rosberg was able to post a 1:14.645, a second faster than the team's best yesterday and while the day was interrupted it was still more productive.

Lewis Hamilton was out on track for the second day in succession, putting the McLaren MP4-25 through its paces. Perhaps it was because McLaren weren't offering up their knew challenger, but despite putting in 83 laps, Hamilton went largely unnoticed throughout the day, notching up the fourth best time of the day (1:14.353) but at no stage troubling Alonso and Vettel.

Di Resta, Kubica and Vettel all held the day's fastest time at some stage during the morning's opening hours, but by the break it was Alonso who headed the field with a 1:13.307, and that remained the top time of the day.

A statement from Ferrari said that Alonso was focusing first on "aerodynamic tests" and then a "comparison test between various types of Pirelli tyre," but regardless by what the Spaniard was looking for, the F150's ability to outpace the Red Bull of Vettel will come as a welcome relief to many after the RB6's performance on day one suggested that Red Bull may once again have a great early dominance.

While Vettel was behind the wheel during the morning, Mark Webber was given a run in the afternoon, but curiously only came out on track with half-an-hour left in the day. As a result it came as no surprise when he failed to post a time of any substance.

Perhaps the shock of the day was a late burst from Narain Karthikeyan and his Hispania car to post a time of 1:14.472, the sixth fastest of the day and superior to many more fancied campaigners.

Unofficial Times:
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:13.307s 108 laps
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Renault 1:13.614s +0.307 43 laps
03. Paul di Resta Di Resta Force India Mercedes 1:13.844s +0.537 111 laps
04. Leiws Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 1:14.353s +1.046 83 laps
05. Robert Kubica Renault 1:14.412s +1.105 104 laps
06. Narain Karthikeyan HRT Cosworth 1:14.472s +1.165 80 laps
07. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.645s +1.338 69 laps
08. Timo Glock Virgin Cosworth 1:15.408s +2.101 34 laps
09. Rubens Barrichello Williams Cosworth 1:16.023s +2.716 51 laps
10. Sergio Perez Sauber Ferrari 1:16.198s +2.891 42 laps
11. Pastor Maldonado Williams Cosworth 1:16.266s +2.959 29 laps
12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:16.359s +3.052 46 laps
13. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:16.474s +3.167 64 laps
14. Mark Webber Red Bull Renault 1:17.365s +4.058 17 laps
15. Hiekki Kovalainen Lotus Renault 1:20.649s +7.342 15 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso Leads The Way Again In Valencia

Fernando Alonso staved off the challenger of Sebastian Vettel to finish the morning session of day two of pre-season testing with the fastest time

Having started strongly on Tuesday, Alonso finished behind Vettel at the close of day one, but the Spaniard was again out in front at the second time of asking.

Heikki Kovalainen got day two going as he put the T128 through its paces for the first time in the form of an instillation lap. The initial feedback from the Lotus garage was one positive, with technical director Mike Gascoyne reporting that both team and driver were happy with its first run.

Having made adjustments to the car during the morning, the Norfolk-based outfit will be hoping to get some mileage on the car in the afternoon.

It wasn't long before the red flag made its first appearance of the day as Ruben Barrichello's Williams came to a halt out on track. The stoppage was a result of an electrical problem which caused a loss of power and it did not prevent the Brazilian from getting further laps under his belt later in the session.

Driving Force India's 2010 model, Paul di Resta notched up a time of 1:15.314, the fastest in the early running, before promptly going off at turn two and bringing out the red flag once again. The Scot's time was enough to end the session third, an impressive performance from the newcomer.

Lewis Hamilton made his first appearance in the old MP-25, producing a string of mid-range laps the best of which was a 1:14.701.

Having topped the time sheets on day one, Vettel again performed strongly on day two, producing a lap of 1:13.614, which remained the number to beat for the majority of the session.

However, it was Alonso who posted the fastest time of Wednesday's opening session with a 1:13.307. The Spaniard was there are thereabouts throughout the session before knocking Vettel off the top of the leaderboard with a 1:13.469 before improving on it just before the break.

Alonso will at least be glad not to have endured the drama that followed his countryman, Jaime Alguersuari.

The youngster first spun into the gravel before only narrowly avoiding a collision with Sauber's Sergio Perez as the former exited the pit lane. In between all the drama, Alguersuari managed to put in more laps than any other driver and to nip round in a time of 1:16.474, the seventh fastest of the day.

Aside from a near miss with Alguersuari, Perez enjoyed an uneventful start to life in F1, finishing ahead of TImo Glock's Virgin (1:17.228), Barrichello's Williams (1:17.344) and Narain Karthikeyan's Hispania (1:17.823) with a 1:17.019.

Renault and Mercedes may have been the two teams fighting it out behind the frontrunners last season, but the two teams are having vastly different fortunes thus far in 2011.

Kubica improved on yesterday's performance from Vitaly Petrov by some distance, notching up a 1:14.412, the fourth fastest time of the session, and the third quickest by a team using a 2011 model.

Conversely, Merc GP's struggles continued on Wednesday. Having been hindered by a hydraulics problem on day one, Rosberg brought out his second red flag in two days when he came to a standstill at turn eleven. The only silver lining for the team will be that when Rosberg was running he managed to go over a second quicker than the team's fastest lap yesterday, set by Michael Schumacher.

Unofficial Times:
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:13.469 56 laps
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:13.614 + 0.145 43 laps
03. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:13.844 + 0.375 43 laps
04. Robert Kubica Renault 1:14.412 + 0.943 44 laps
05. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.701 + 1.232 35 laps
06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.383 + 1.914 36 laps
07. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.474 + 3.005 64 laps
08. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.019 + 3.550 39 laps
09. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:17.288 + 3.819 32 laps
10. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.344 + 3.875 48 laps
11. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania-Cosworth 1:17.823 + 4.354 50 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Valencia Day One: Vettel takes charge

Sebastian Vettel not only set the fastest lap time at Valencia on the opening day of pre-season testing but also demonstrated the RB7's consistent pace

Out on track immediately after Red Bull Racing launched their 2011 challenger at the Spanish circuit, Vettel's pace improved throughout the day, resulting in the reigning World Champion finishing the day at the top of the timesheets.

The German crossed the line with a 1:13.769, however, also demonstrated a more consistent pace over longer runs, lapping in the 1:15.8s to 1:15.9s.

Another German was right behind him on the timesheets with Nico Hulkenberg impressing his Force India team bosses.

Hulkenberg, who joined the team just days ago as their official test and reserve driver, was in action in last year's VJM-03. He finished the day 0.169s behind Vettel.

Gary Paffett, another driver using last year's car in order for his McLaren team to focus on Pirelli tyre testing, was third quickest ahead of Paul di Resta - Force India's new 2011 driver.

Fernando Alonso had a mixed day. Although he started at the top of the timesheets, the Spaniard dropped to fifth by the close of play, 0.784s behind Vettel.

The Ferrari driver also encountered a minor problem with his new F150 in the morning's session while his day ended with him stopping out on track on the final corner of the day's final lap.

Kamui Kobayashi made a solid start to Sauber's C30's preparations, claiming sixth place ahead of new Virgin signing Jerome D'Ambrosio. The latter was driving a modified version of last year's VR01.

Vitaly Petrov was another putting his team's new car through its pace. However, he amassed just 28 laps in Renault's R31.

Michael Schumacher had his first taste of the Merc GP W02 in the last hour of testing, completing 15 laps on his way to a 1:16.450.

The German, who was down to test in the afternoon, had his running cut short after team-mate Nico Rosberg, who was in action during the morning session, stopped out on track, bringing out the day's - and year's - first red flag. Rosberg, who had suffered a hydraulic problem, finished P13, 4.5s down on team-mate.

Toro Rosso and Williams also debuted their 2011 cars on Tuesday with Jaime Alguersuari 10th quickest ahead of Rubens Barrichello. The latter, though, reportedly had a few problems with his KERS unit.

Unofficial Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:13.769 93 laps
02. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:13.938 + 0.169s 71 laps
03. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.292 + 0.523s 91 laps
04. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:14.461 + 0.692s 28 laps
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:14.553 + 0.784s 97 laps
06. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.621 + 1.852s 68 laps
07. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:16.003 + 2.234s 71 laps
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:16.351 + 2.582s 28 laps
09. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.450 + 2.681s 15 laps
10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.214 + 3.445s 19 laps
11. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.335 + 3.566s 77 laps
12. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:18.020 + 4.251s 45 laps
13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:19.930 + 6.161s 9 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Valencia: Problems and pace for Alonso

Just a mere 78 days after F1 bid farewell to the 2010 season, testing for the 2011 campaign got underway at Valencia

New Force India test driver Nico Hulkenberg was the first out on track followed by McLaren's Gary Paffett. Both drivers, though, were using last year's cars as their team's new challengers won't be launched until later in the morning.

Fernando Alonso therefore had the honour of being the first to display his team's new car as he took the track in Ferrari's F150.

His run was, according to reports, short-lived as the Spaniard suffered an apparent technical problem within the first hour. Alonso, though, was able to get his car, which had the rear covered in flow-paint, back to the garage.

Soon back on track, the double World Champion climbed to the top of the timesheets with a 1:15.371.

Defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi both hit the track in their 2011 challengers while Vitaly Petrov debuted Renault's new R31 before Rubens Barrichello ventured out in his FW33.

Unofficial Times
1. Alonso Ferrari F15 01:15.371 8 laps
2. Hulkenberg Force India VJM-03 1:15.948 + 0.577 12 laps
3. D'Ambrosio Virgin MVR-01 1:17.991 + 2.62 14 laps
4. Barrichello Williams FW33 1:24.424 + 9.053 4 laps
5. Paffett McLaren MP4-25 1:30.471 + 15.100 4 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Kimi: fewer applications, more tests

Ex-F1 world champion Kimi Räikkönen will remain faithful to the World Rally Championship. But the Finn will change his tactics and plans to place more emphasis on testing

With his own team "ICE 1 racing" Kimi Räikkönen returns to the World Rally Championship in 2011. For a long time the rumour mill was buzzing that the Finn would withdraw completely, "but that was totally wrong," said his manager, Steve Robertson.

Räikkönen will take part in ten out of 13 of the World Rally Championship races with a Citroën WRC DS3. The expensive overseas rallies are omitted for budget reasons. Kimi will make good use of the resulting free time. Additional tests are planned to gather further experience.

For 2012, the signs are good that Räikkönen will remain in the WRC. After a two year break, he believes there little chance that he will return to Formula 1. “It’s not impossible, but it certainly makes it harder to go back, the longer you leave it,” said Kimi. “If I missed Formula One I would have gone back, but in fact I haven’t missed it at all.”

Source: Rallye-Magazin
Courtesy: sleenster

Domenicali hopes for rain in winter testing

Stefano Domenicali on Wednesday said he hopes it rains at some point during the 15 scheduled days of pre-season testing before the 2011 opener.

F1 has switched from Bridgestone to Pirelli for this year, but solid sunny weather will mean the circus congregates in Bahrain in March without having tried the Italian marque’s wet tyres.

"If it doesn’t rain, there is no other way to try them," Domenicali told reporters at the ’Wrooom’ media event in the Italian Dolomites.

"That would make the first wet session at the track interesting," smiled the boss of the Ferrari team, a staunch opponent of F1’s harsh restrictions on track testing.

Also interesting in F1 will be the sport’s political side, Domenicali admitted.

At the end of 2012, the current Concorde Agreement will expire and there has already been some talk of a ’breakaway’ series.

"Right now it (the politics) is fairly quiet," Domenicali is quoted as saying by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. "I expect that to change by the middle of the season.

"The FIA, the teams and the commercial rights holder must together find a way forwards," he added.

More immediately, there has been talk that Red Bull broke a cost-saving agreement in 2010, but Domenicali denied that the team might be stripped of its championship titles.
This (the resource restriction agreement) is between the teams," said the Italian. "The FIA is not involved.

"So, a violation will not affect the results. If a team has spent too much, the agreement provides that it has to spend less in subsequent years," he added.

Ferrari wants to win both titles

When a new season starts you take a glance at the one that has just finished but, above all, you give targets for the new one. That’s up to the chief and for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro since 2008 that job has gone to Stefano Domenicali, who has begun his 20th year at the Maranello company. The stage for this announcement is a year older: Wroom is now in its 21st edition.

The Ferrari team principal said: “In 2010 we just missed out on the drivers title with Fernando Alonso and we came third in the constructors championship. The target for 2011 is as easy to say as it is hard to achieve – it requires taking one step forward in the drivers championship and two in the one for the teams. These have to be our targets because we are Ferrari. To manage it we want to have a car that is super-competitive and reliable from the very start. We know that we will have to be perfect, including in how we react to all the events that can crop up in a race weekend – because when the opponents are so strong and numerous this is what you need if you aspire to win.”

The new car will be presented on January 28 at Maranello and then, weather conditions permitting, it will immediately be used for some promotional shots at the Fiorano circuit. The car will have a livery based on the new logo that will adorn all the sporting activities carried out by Ferrari this year. Then it will begin the 15 days of pre-season testing allowed by the regulations on February 1 at the Cheste circuit in Valencia. The first driver at the wheel will be Fernando Alonso, who will hand over to team-mate Felipe Massa on the third day.

“The car that you will see at the Maranello launch will be very different from the one that makes its debut on March 13 in Bahrain,” added Domenicali. “We will continue to develop the car up to the last available day, as we believe the other teams will.”

The Valencia test will also mark Pat Fry’s debut in his new role of head of race track engineering – one that he holds in addition to his existing title of deputy technical director. Domenicali explained: “For a while we were thinking of improving the team in certain areas so this decision was not taken on impulse after what happened in Abu Dhabi – if anything it was just brought forward. Pat will have the responsibility of running all the track activities both technical and relating to the drivers. To do that in the most effective way, together with the race engineers, he will also have the support of the tools that will be available and improved by a new technical body that we have created: the Operations Research department, which will be headed by new arrival Neil Martin. This department will also have the job of improving the integration between simulator, wind tunnel and technical office. There will be no other changes.”

"Abu Dhabi is the past"

There was a vast number of questions during a three-hour, marathon media session, what with a press conference and TV and radio interviews that constituted the main part of Stefano Domenicali’s day at Madonna di Campiglio.

There was no way the 2010 season could be ignored, especially the way it all ended in Abu Dhabi. As usual, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Team Principal had a very reasoned approach to those events. “Everyone reckons that it was all down to Abu Dhabi and the mistake made there, but the truth is that the championship was lost in the early part of the season, when we failed to pick up the points that were within our grasp. At the final race we missed a decisive penalty shot, but as is the case in football, the best thing to do is to take another one immediately, to consign the mistake to history, even if it does not wipe out all the good work we did earlier. I clearly remember that, at the start of the summer, no one would have bet a single Euro on our chances of challenging to the end, but then we all know how it turned out. Now, throughout the team, there is a great will to do well and to put behind us this bad end to a season which was nevertheless a positive one, especially the second half, when we put on a great show of concentration and determination in what was definitely not an easy situation.”

“From a personal point of view, I can confirm that I did consider that it would be the right thing to do as team boss, and therefore the person ultimately responsible for every decision, to hand in my resignation, but I also told myself that it would be the wrong decision,” continued Domenicali. “Sure, in the days immediately after, I felt downhearted but then and with the support I got, first and foremost from President Montezemolo, but also the thousands of messages of support that came from all over, from partners to fans which only served to sustain my will to react. Apart from that, there’s no point crying over spilt milk, as all it does is goes our opponents an advantage.”

Source: NextgenAuto

McLaren to launch new car after Valencia test

McLaren will buck the trend of its closest F1 rivals by not revealing its 2011 car until after the forthcoming Valencia test.

While fellow 2010 title contenders Red Bull and Ferrari plan to kick off the four-test pre-season period with new cars, Woking based McLaren announced late on Friday that the MP4-26 will not be unveiled until February 4.

That is the day after the Valencia group test ends, making it likely that McLaren will commence its winter programme with an interim version of the 2010 chassis before the new car debuts at Jerez.

McLaren said the 2011 launch will take place in Berlin but gave no further details.

Source: NextgenAuto

2011 Mercedes passes FIA crash tests

Mercedes has become the second team to have reportedly passed the mandatory FIA crash tests with its 2011 car.

On the day before New Year’s eve, Italian reports said Ferrari’s next single seater had passed through a series of monocoque crash tests at the CSI facility near Milan.

And on Monday, French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet wrote in his Auto Plus column that the 2011 Mercedes – the W02 – has been similarly crash-tested to FIA standards.

On the same day, the Brackley based team’s famous German driver Michael Schumacher turned 42.

Moncet also reported that Force India will announce officially on Tuesday that Paul di Resta will race alongside Adrian Sutil in 2011, with Nico Hulkenberg as third driver.

Source: NextgenAuto

2011 Ferrari passes monocoque crash tests

Ferrari’s 2011 chassis has passed a sequence of crucial crash tests, according to Italian media reports.

The mandatory monocoque tests reportedly took place under FIA guidelines and in the presence of an official observer at the CSI technical facility in Bollate, near Milan.

The reports cited rumours that the outcome of the tests was a relief to Ferrari’s Aldo Costa-led design team, due to fundamental differences between the F10 and its successor.

A key difference, said the reports, is in the new monocoque’s actual construction and composite materials, which are more extreme for 2011.

Ferrari’s crash test chief Davide Terletti reportedly investigated a crack that opened on the surface of the monocoque, but the detail was not enough to cause the chassis to fail the tests.

The reports said other parts of the 2011 car will be crash tested shortly.

Source: NextgenAuto