15/04/2008
NEWS STORY
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Rubens Barrichello topped the timesheets on the second day of testing at Barcelona. However, as was the case on Monday, the majority of the quickest times were set using 2009-spec tyres and aero configurations.
Ironically, 2009 will see a serious reduction in the size of wings as the sport moves back towards mechanical grip over aerodynamic, which means several teams have been running with the smaller 2009-spec rear wings. However, with the remainder of the 2008 season in mind, a number of teams have been adding on even more outrageous winglets as they seek every last bit of downforce possible.
One such team was Honda, which once again ran the 'rabbit ears' wings on the nose of the RA108. The Brackley team's programme for the day focused on the evaluation of development parts in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix, along with further running of the 2009 specification slick tyres.
Rubens Barrichello completed 79 laps over the course of the day, setting the overall fastest time whilst running on slick tyres towards the end of the afternoon.
Second quickest, albeit 0.793s off Barrichello's pace, though also running in 2009-spec, was Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India. The Italian recorded a 1:19.721 lap, which placed him fastest for the majority of the day, however he was bettered in the final part of the session by Barrichello.
Fisichella's time was set on the 2009 'slick' Bridgestone tyre option with the 2008 aerodynamic configuration, however a more representative time of 1:20.7 set on the grooved 2008 tyres with this year's aero package demonstrated the step forward the team has made since the start of the season.
Adrian Sutil will take over testing duties for the third and final day of testing tomorrow.
"The car went much better this time out than the last time we tested in Barcelona," said Fisichella, "which you can see in the considerable improvement in our lap times. This is largely due to the new parts we have introduced since the start of the season and the last time we were here. I tested the new 2009 slick tyres here today - which was the reason for my fastest lap - but we were also much quicker on the 2008 grooved rubber too. The best lap we did here in February was a 1min 22.3 and now we are at 1min 20.7, so we're really moving forward."
"A positive day of testing," said Mike Gascoyne. "Apart from a few minor mechanical issues we had no real problems and were able to complete our whole test programme for today. In the morning we ran, as per yesterday, in the 2008 aero configuration to look at set-up work for next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. Giancarlo also ran a set of 2009 tyres and put in a very good lap that put us at the top of the times for most of the day. In the afternoon we then switched to the 2009 configuration and tried out the different options of tyres available to us next year and got a lot of useful information. Most positive from the day however is that with full 2008 settings and tyres, Giancarlo put in strong times that bettered our previous fastest times round here by more than two seconds. We're obviously very pleased with this progress going into next week's race."
Third fastest was Monday's pace-setter, Felipe Massa, who posted his best time using 2008-spec tyres and aero. The Brazilian worked mainly on preparations for the forthcoming Grand Prix, as well as evaluating new aerodynamic solutions.
Seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher is on duty for the Maranello outfit on Wednesday.
Red Bull continues to make progress as it continued its developments in preparation for next week's race, it focussing on testing new aero parts in the morning, followed by suspension development in the afternoon. David Coulthard also completed a series of long and short runs to evaluate car set-up, as well as tyres. Mark Webber takes over tomorrow and will drive for the final two days of the test.
Lewis Hamilton took to the track for McLaren as the Woking outfit's focus returned to the 2008 season. The test plan for the day included aerodynamic development with a number of new components fitted to the MP4-23. In addition Hamilton and the team spent time on set-up for the upcoming Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso was on duty for Renault, the Spaniard continuing with the evaluation of upgrades, which included a revised engine cover similar to that used by Red Bull and updated suspension components.
Alonso will remain in the car for his final day of work tomorrow (Wednesday) as the team continues with its intensive development programme, while Nelson Piquet returns for a final day of running on Thursday.
"The car felt good today and we seemed reasonably competitive," said the Spaniard. "But we have to remember that a lot of the teams were running slick tyres and so we should not concentrate too much on the times. We are certainly improving the car and we tried out some new aerodynamic parts today which went well. We managed to do 119 laps, which is 2 race distances, and so we are quite happy, but there is more to do tomorrow."
"Again the programme went very well today," added Christian Silk, "and we have a lot of data that we will go through this evening. The whole factory made a great effort to get all the new parts ready for this test and we made the most of them today. Also the mechanics worked very well on the car which enabled us to do a lot of running on the circuit. Tomorrow we will continue with the programme and see what more we can find."
Nico Rosberg ended the day seventh quickest of the nine drivers on duty. "Nico took over the FW30 today and concentrated on running the 2009
slick tyres gathering valuable data for next year," said Test Team Manager, Dickie Stanford. "The day ran smoothly, with no major problems and we'll continue with Nico tomorrow."
Timo Glock continued for Toyota, the German spending most of his time continuing his work on set-up for the Grand Prix, along with dampers and suspension. Late in the afternoon he went out on slicks.
"This has been a positive two days of testing for me," said the German. "We spent the morning continuing our set-up work for the Spanish Grand Prix and collecting data on various systems. We're going in the right direction so we hope that can help us next week. Towards the end of the day we tried the new slick tyres for next year. We gathered some important information but we still need to learn more. For now I am more focused on the current situation, in particular the race here next weekend. The work we have done here will hopefully make us well prepared."
"Today we had a busy programme with a variety of different elements," added Gerd Pfeiffer. "In the morning we kept up our work on set-up for the Spanish Grand Prix, along with some tests on other parts including dampers and suspension. We continued that work after lunch before switching late in the afternoon to the slick tyres that are going to be introduced in 2009. Overall we made it through everything we had planned and collected useful data."
Once again, Nick Heidfeld concentrated on setup work related to next week's Grand Prix, as BMW tried different aerodynamical and mechanical options as it continues with the development of the BMW Sauber F1.08. Another focus of the day's work was tyre testing, again in preparation for the upcoming Grand Prix.
While most of the teams ran with slick tyres, resulting in significantly better lap times, BMW continued with 2008 specifications during the entire session.
Robert Kubica is on duty tomorrow.