2012 Formula 1 pre-season testing

[Ed]

Order after 3 hours into the session:

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Hulkenberg Force India 1:23.440 36
2 Alonso Ferrari 1:24.100 17
3 Hamilton McLaren 1:24.131 31
4 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:24.215 34
5 Vettel Red Bull 1:24.260 31
6 Schumacher Mercedes 1:25.024 22
7 Senna Williams 1:26.342 38
8 Grosjean Lotus 1:26.809 7
9 Perez Sauber 1:27.039 9
10 Kovalainen Caterham 1:27.537 9
11 Pic Marussia 1:29.248 58

[Ed]

Both Hamilton and Ricciardo have set times in the 1:23's joining Hulkenberg

[Ed]

Vettel goes quickest with a 1:23.343

[Ed]

Order after 4 hours into the session:

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Vettel Red Bull 1:23.343 38
2 Hulkenberg Force India 1:23.440 47
3 Hamilton McLaren 1:23.590 45
4 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.618 45
5 Alonso Ferrari 1:24.100 37
6 Schumacher Mercedes 1:24.150 42
7 Perez Sauber 1:24.219 29
8 Senna Williams 1:26.188 56
9 Grosjean Lotus 1:26.809 7
10 Kovalainen Caterham 1:27.537 9
11 Pic Marussia 1:29.248 65

[Ed]

Lotus will not resume running today. The team intended to run their second chassis today but after an initial shakedown the team was not happy with the car and it will be returned to the factory in Enstone.

The team will run with the first chassis which was used in Jerez tomorrow

[Ed]

Session resumes after the lunch break at Bareclona

[Ed]

Order after 5 hours into the session:

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Vettel Red Bull 1:23.265 50
2 Hulkenberg Force India 1:23.440 66
3 Hamilton McLaren 1:23.590 78
4 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.618 66
5 Alonso Ferrari 1:24.100 54
6 Schumacher Mercedes 1:24.150 51
7 Perez Sauber 1:24.219 37
8 Senna Williams 1:26.188 75
9 Grosjean Lotus 1:26.809 7
10 Kovalainen Caterham 1:27.537 9
11 Pic Marussia 1:29.248 103

[Ed]

Day 1 testing results from Barcelona:

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Vettel Red Bull 1:23.265 79
2 Hulkenberg Force India 1:23.440 97
3 Hamilton McLaren 1:23.590 114
4 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.618 76
5 Alonso Ferrari 1:24.100 75
6 Schumacher Mercedes 1:24.150 51
7 Perez Sauber 1:24.219 66
8 Senna Williams 1:25.711 97
9 Kovalainen Caterham 1:26.035 31
10 Grosjean Lotus 1:26.809 7
11 Pic Marussia 1:28.026 131

Note: Marussia running 2011 car

Most teams had problems today, Lotus only ran 7 laps in their 2nd chassiis and will return the car for further investigation. Caterham had a track rod problem on their car and only managed 31 laps while the new Mercedes only covered 51 laps today.
McLaren had a good day with 114 laps, Williams and Force India also did a reasonable number of laps with 97 laps each

[Ed]

A major setback for the Lotus team

Following investigation of the problem they encountered early in the test, the team has decided to withdraw from the test and work on both cars to be ready for the next test next week.

A statement from the team read:

Barcelona test finishes early for Lotus F1 Team

Lotus F1 Team will not run for the remainder of the second test at Barcelona, scheduled from today until Friday.

During initial runs this morning with Romain Grosjean at the wheel, the team identified an issue with the chassis. After investigation at Enstone, initial plans to bring out chassis E20-01 to Barcelona have been held in order to give the team enough time to rectify the situation.

Lotus F1 Team will be back on track next week in Barcelona (1-4 March)

James Allison, Technical Director:
“Before we were due to fly chassis E20-01 out to Barcelona in replacement of chassis E20-02 - damaged this morning - we ran a series of simulations at the factory based on the data provided by our brief running on track today. As a result, we were able to identify an area which requires some additional work. It will be more productive for us to carry out these modifications to both chassis at Enstone rather than send E20-01 out to this week’s test. We’ll put the right measures in place and we will be able to fix the problem before next week.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal:
“Not running this week has been a tough decision to take, but we feel that our choice is the right one. On the positive side, we have quickly identified the issue with the chassis and our design office has already devised a solution. We will be present at next week’s test in Barcelona. We draw faith from the fact that the E20 was quick out of the box in Jerez and showed its reliability there. We have a lot of work ahead of us over the next week but everyone at Enstone is ready for this challenge.”

[Ed]

Day 2 testing from Barcelona got underway about an hour ago:

The major story is that Lotus F1 have pulled out of the test due to a serious problem they have discovered with their chassis on this track. They expect to be back for the second test next week

Best times after an hour into the session (day 2)

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Vettel Red Bull 1:24.370 16
2 Alonso Ferrari 1:24.644 13
3 Perez Sauber 1:24.747 18
4 Hulkenberg Force India 1:26.585 21
5 Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.307 11
6 Hamilton McLaren 1:27.937 14
7 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:28.122 7
8 Bottas Williams 1:29.321 21
9 Pic Marussia 1:31.060 9
10 Petrov Caterham 1:39.651 4

Note: Marussia running 2011 car

[Ed]

Vettel improves the best time of the day with a 1:23.056

[Ed]

Alonso improves his time to a 1:23.640

[Ed]

Order after 2 hours (day 2)

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Vettel Red Bull 1:23.056 20
2 Alonso Ferrari 1:23.640 26
3 Hamilton McLaren 1:24.040 28
4 Hulkenberg Force India 1:24.075 40
5 Perez Sauber 1:24.118 28
6 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:24.446 19
7 Rosberg Mercedes 1:25.582 31
8 Bottas Williams 1:26.363 35
9 Pic Marussia 1:28.092 25
10 Petrov Caterham 1:28.812 12

Notes:
Marussia running 2011 car
Lotus pulled out of the test due to a problem with their chassis

[Ed]

Order after 3.5 hours (day 2)

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Hulkenberg Force India 1:22.608 57
2 Perez Sauber 1:23.011 47
3 Vettel Red Bull 1:23.056 20
4 Alonso Ferrari 1:23.640 41
5 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.783 37
6 Hamilton McLaren 1:24.040 39
7 Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.555 59
8 Bottas Williams 1:25.858 58
9 Petrov Caterham 1:26.605 25
10 Pic Marussia 1:28.092 41

Notes:
Marussia running 2011 car
Lotus pulled out of the test due to a problem with their chassis

[Ed]

Order at lunch (day 2)

Rank Driver Team Best Time Laps
1 Hulkenberg Force India 1:22.608 63
2 Perez Sauber 1:22.648 51
3 Vettel Red Bull 1:22.891 31
4 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.639 45
5 Alonso Ferrari 1:23.640 52
6 Hamilton McLaren 1:24.040 45
7 Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.555 75
8 Bottas Williams 1:25.858 69
9 Petrov Caterham 1:26.605 36
10 Pic Marussia 1:28.092 47

Notes:
Marussia running 2011 car
Lotus pulled out of the test due to a problem with their chassis