Alvin's Formula One Blog

Thursday 19th March 2009 Kazuki Nakajima claimed the final pre-season P1 position at Jerez on Thursday after netting the fastest lap time of the day - and of the week. Just two outfits, Williams and McLaren, remained at Jerez for the final day of pre-season testing ahead of next weekend's Australian GP. It was a day to conduct some last minute tweaking with both Williams and McLaren finding pace they otherwise hadn't shown during the week. Nakajima proved to the quicker of the two drivers, clocking a 1:17.494 under clear and sunny skies. It was an impressive lap from the Japanese driver, who eclipsed the previous best time set by Jenson Button on Tuesday by four tenths of a second. Heikki Kovalainen, spending his second successive day touring the Jerez track in his MP4-24, also broke into the 1:17s, but was just under half a second slower than Nakajima. Times 1. Nakajima Williams 1:17.494 102 laps 2. ...

Barcelona - McLaren Mercedes - Test day 1 Following a troubled test last week at Jerez , the McLaren Mercedes team were back in action today in Barcelona with Heikki Kovalainen behind the wheel. The test team today fitted the MP4-24 with the 2009-specification rear wing after opting to run the older high downforce 2008 device for the bulk of the pre-season running. The morning session was spent focusing on longer runs using an existing bodywork package in order to establish an accurate baseline ahead of the evaluation of new parts in the afternoon. During the lunch break, MP4-24 was fitted with a new front wing, floor and top body and the programme continued - on identical fuel-loads - throughout the afternoon. Kovalainen completed 90 laps over the day, his best lap of 1:22.948s coming on his 85th tour. The Finn was the slowest of the ten runners, 2.610s off the ultimate pace. The team now turns its focus towards tuning the set-up in order to fully exploit ...

Monday 9th March 2009 Although Nick Heidfeld set the pace on the opening day of testing at Barcelona, it was the debuts of the BGP01 and STR4 that caught the attention. Both Brawn GP and Toro Rosso left it late to their new 2009 challengers as this week's outing marks the penultimate test before the start of the new season. Both teams, though, were quickly out of the blocks with Jenson Button even setting the pace in the morning session in the BGP01. But by the end of the day, and after a total of 82 laps, the Brit found himself fourth on the timesheets having been overtaken by the three outfits that have largely dominated pre-season testing, BMW, Ferrari and Toyota. BMW's Heidfeld proved to be the man to beat on Monday as he clocked a 1:20.339 during his 92 laps to take the P1 slot from Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen. Jarno Trulli once again impressed for Toyota as he was only marginally slower than the Ferrar...

Wednesday 4th March 2009 Lewis Hamilton's was forced to call an early halt to his morning session at Jerez on Wednesday. Hamilton had completed just seven laps when he returned to the pits with flames coming out of the back of his MP4-24. McLaren's mechanics were quick to remove the engine, but Hamilton played down the incident. "We had an issue, but I think they're fixing it and we'll be back out as soon as possible," he told reporters. "But the car was good this morning. I didn't get many laps, but I'm looking forward to getting back out." Toyota have so far dominated proceedings in the south of Spain, and Hamilton admits quite a few teams have impressed in pre-season testing. "This is my first day with Ferrari being at the same track, so for me it looks very similar to every other year - 2007 and 2008," Hamilton said. "Everyone's times are looking good,...

Monday 2nd March 2009 On a rain-soaked day in Portugal, Toyota and BMW stole the show as testing continued in Jerez on Monday. With heavy rain falling throughout the session, it was the Toyota of Timo Glock which finished the day at the head of the timesheets courtesy of his lap of 1:30.979. While it is never wise to read too much in to the times set during testing, especially one that is run in the wet, Monday's result will only add to the growing expectation that the moneybags of Cologne are finally set to achieve their long overdue breakthrough this season. Glock's running, though, wasn't without problems as the Toyota driver found himself getting a lift back to the pits after his TF109 in the gravel. But despite his off, Glock was happy with how his day panned out. "It tends to be difficult to carry out meaningful testing when there is so much rain," said Glock. "The conditions made thing...

Sunday 1st March 2009 The opening day of testing at Jerez belonged to Sebastian Vettel, who beat his rivals by over a second. For the first time in pre-season testing, eight F1 teams were out in force in their new 2009 challengers. It was Red Bull, though, who proved to have the early upper hand. On a day that was interrupted with a mid-day rain shower, Vettel posted an impressive 1:19.055 in his Red Bull racer, easily outpacing the Ferrari of Felipe Massa by almost 1.3s. Massa's day, though, wasn't without problems as an off-track excursion for the Brazilian saw him sidelined for part of the afternoon. Toyota test driver Kamui Kobayashi was another who impressed with his turn of pace, putting his TF109 up into third place. "This morning was my first real chance to try out the TF109 in dry conditions," said the Japanese driver. "From the first run the car felt easy to drive so we were able to g...

Monday 2nd February 2009 Formula One's agreement to ban in-season testing is set to be scrapped, according to reports. The F1 teams had collectively, under the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), agreed to ban in-season testing as a way to reduce the costs of competing in F1. However, given that this year's new regulations, which include F1's first ever season using the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), many of the teams are reconsidering the ban. "KERS is new for everybody and no one has achieved the level of reliability with it that we would like to have," a team member explained to grandprix.com . "It makes sense to have a transitional year, with less testing than before, but with a few tests early on in the season, to help everybody get on top of their problems. "It's not on everybody's interest to see only five or six cars finish races, so we're trying to get an...