Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the Barcelona test on Saturday, lapping the track in 1m20.558s, an impressive time given the results so far this winter. However the speed does not mean that the Mercedes team can sustain such pace over race stints, so one still needs to be careful about creating theories about who will be where when the new season kicks off in Melbourne in a fortnight. The track was dry on Saturday after two days which were largely spoiled by rain and even Hamilton admitted that “we definitely haven’t seen the full potential of our competitors yet, so it’s difficult to predict where we might be”. Hamilton’s best, which was the best of 117 laps, was sixth-tenths ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari, which recorded a 1m21.266s, during his 94 laps of running, which also included losing a wheel at one point. Adrian Sutil was third fastest for Force India, completing 109 laps, with a best of 1m21.627s. The two Williams drivers both ran fast laps with Pastor Maldonado setting a 1m22.305s and Valtteri Bottas a 1m22.468s, after 31 and 34 laps respectively, while Esteban Gutierrez was sixth quickest for the day with a 1m22.553s after 99 laps. Red Bull Racing continued to hold its cards close to its chest, with Mark Webber completing 59 laps, with a best of 1m22.658s, while Sergio Perez (McLaren) was next up with a 1m22.694s, after 101 laps of running. Jean-Eric Vergne was ninth overall with a best of 1m23.223s after 114 laps, while Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and David Valesecchi shared the work for the Enstone team after Kimi Raikkonen withdrew with an upset stomach. Grosjean did 46 laps and set a best of 1m23.223s, while Valsecchi lapped in 1m23.448s after just 16 laps.
Jules Bianchi had his first runs with Marussia, completing 74 laps with a best of 1m24.028s, while Giedo Van der Garde gave Caterham a little more hope with a lap of 1m24.235s, after 126 laps of running.
The 12th and final day of running will be tomorrow Sunday before the cars are packed up and sent off to Australia.
I look forward to watching Lewis Hamilton squeeze every last tenth out of the W04.
I know you can’t read much from testing, but that’s got to be an encouraging sign from Lewis, his pole lap last year was 1:21.707 in the McLaren before it was taken from him for stopping on track, so technically he should have been slower than that with appropriate fuel on board, and he’s nearly 1.2 seconds faster than last years pole in a Mercedes at 1:20.558….. plus aren’t they restricted on DRS this year too?
Is the circuit the same for testing as for last years race? Rosberg’s q3 best last year was a 1:23.005 although his q2 was a couple of tenths faster.
Jump to conclusions if you wish. I’m not going to.
I’m not jumping, I always assume each new years cars will faster unless there are really big changes, but I’m thinking it’s a pretty good lap if the circuit hasn’t changed and I really want to see the true difference in Melbourne, I would put my current position as ‘intrigued’
Melbourne does not always give a true picture either.
But at least it counts towards the championship.
Anyway, half the fun of watching F1 is jumping to unjustified conclusions.
What conclusion do you arrive at then..
I don’t, because we don’t know enough.
but if you look at the begining of testing at jerez, the drivers all said we will have a clearer picture at the end of the tests at barcelona. So i think we are pretty sure of one thing. They are all very close in pace terms. So vettel alonso and hamilton are going to be in the hunt for victories.
No – two teams are not showing their pace, each other team is.
The circuit is different in may when its warmer . no conclusions can be drawn from this time
If Lewis finds success with Mercedes, I might be done with F1. He does not deserve such success since he does not appreciate it. A few years spent having to fight just to win points might cure him of that, but I fear he is a lost cause.
Worst of all, if does have success with Mercedes, there will be those, some of them rather prominent in F1 circles, that will use it as justification to try to tarnish the record of Michael Schumacher. Conveniently ignoring the fact that Schumacher spent the second half of last season essentially testing at every Grand Prix, rather than going for the best possible results, to ensure that the 2013 car would be competitive from day one. If Lewis gets a win this year, it will be Schumacher’s 92nd win more than Lewis’s 22nd.
This is a very odd comment.
The Wisdom of ?
Martin
He DOES perform, but for me his attitude is too cocky and usually more like that of an attention-seeking spoilt child than racing driver. His voice gets me like fingernails being scraped down a plastered wall, so I usually have to hit the mute button when he’s interviewed.
Oh, hai! 2007 called and would like it’s opinion back.
FYI; Time is linear no matter how hard you with it otherwise. We’ve all moved on, care to join us?
He’s a racing driver, of course he’s cocky. God forbid some of these robots show personality. Whether you like his disposition or not is another story…
I don’t think you can make it to the top of an elite sport without having an air of confidence that can come off as “arrogance” depending on your disposition.
Love him or hate him, it does appear to me as if Lewis is “Box office” / “marketable”, and he certainly seems to inspire strong feelings one way or another if you scan through the comments of a, say, BBC or PlanetF1 article, in fact frustratingly, most topics seem to gravitate towards him naturally and end up in a Pro/Anti argument.
That’s so funny, but you are right on one thing, Schumi certainly tested the crash structures.
schumacher being a number two driver, even a test mule, for hamilton?!! that’s good for a change. Like irvine once said, schumacher is depressing, he is not only the best number one driver, but the best number two. Here in spain we’d love to see hamilton suceed at mercedes.
Really? I thought Hamilton was persona non grata in España. Has the climate cooled since the Hamilton/Alonso love-in began?
The knowledgable fans always liked him, even during 2007, but the mayority were manipulated by the spanish media. Now because all fans see that alonso gets along with hamilton fine, everybody recognizes hamilton’s skills and like him quite a lot i would say. Spanish fans are growing up in my view.
Kowalsky,
do they have tax treaties in Madagascar?
just checking . . carry on !
Can you expand on your Schumacher testing on Sundays comment?
I actually believe it is very possible that out of loyalty to Ross, Michael would do such a thing, and in a certain way it would recover a sense of dignity in his exit, to have done the right thing for the team. I think I once commented that I felt MS’s return was almost Ross calling in a favour. Moreover I think Michael would even relish the challenge of racing a “compromised” car. I always thought him at his best when the Ferrari was, relatively speaking, a dog. Well, I thought him much more interesting to watch before the red car became practically invincible and more a product of vast resources than merely ingenuity. There’s even in my head a somewhat boyish thought along the lines of “I know something you don’t know” that getting any result in a test setup would be every bit as much fun. Didn’t see the man looking unhappy with much, anyhow.
Thing is, something I can’t evaluate, how much do rule changes or other major developments simply mean data from last season’s car will or will not bring the new one ahead?
I can understand Lewis is not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’ll admit I don’t follow many of his interviews, and certainly not interested in the slightest in his off track life or lifestyle. Still, bit harsh, surely, to think already the reason for a pace – in testing – is not his own work?
. . .
Thinking of school playing tennis and my friend who I wanted to play with, we were not outwardly sporting types, we were pretty awful, but in technique I was definitely ahead of my pal. Anyhow I sure preferred the company, so I modified my game. It’s pretty hard to tone down a game and not hit a winner when it’s staring you in the face, to keep a rally challenging but within reach of a opponent more novice. I had to get over the frustration that by extending rallies, I’d loose by mistakes from tiredness. Not to mention you simply need more concentration to actually remember to play a winner, time to time, when to be having any game at all you have to rein those in. Anyhow they got a game, I got a game, and we learned plenty. The pay-off was we got to deliver a whole surprise to the bigger faster older kids at doubles, because we’d been extending the range of our play, knew our limits, and had a some headroom to stretch into. That was immensely satisfying, feel good about that today. Nerds beat jocks. I’m just grinning at the memory. So if that’s similar to what Michael was doing, fair cop, no shame in it, and I’d guess he might well take pleasure in seeing Lewis go fast, if that’s the case.
(This idea I learned from a book by a veteran American coach, which I still consider too full of good ideas applicable to more than tennis to let on . . )
This is the oddest post I have ever read..
It just sounds like you don’t care for Lewis Hamilton at all..
Back in the first half of 09 Lewis was fighting for lower points as the McLaren was awful until they fixed it, so I dont think it is fair to say he has never experienced a mid table car.
In fact the move to Merc actually suggests he wanted out of a comfort zone and into the challenge of taking what was a 5th placed team up the grid.
Schumacher was beaten by Rosberg each of his 3 years which suggests he wasnt the same man as before.
I do agree that Lewis attitude sometimes comes across as a spoilt brat when things dont go his way – Vettel is the same. Alonso 2007 wasnt much better, but has shown maturity with Ferrari. Younger Schumacher wasnt much better though!
Experience brings maturity. Lewis just sets standards few (including him) often don’t achieve. In 2011 he was to blame a lot of the time – in 2012 others. So he learnt lessons in 2012.
Definitely think Lewis’ move to Mercedes could turn out to be a shrewd one. Not saying that Mercedes are the team to beat but with the regulation shake up next year and impressive technical staff, Mercedes could really be up there in the near future.
I make that 7 tenths, Joe.
It’s testing! It’s testing! It’s testing!
People, look back at who tops the time sheets in the final week of testing each year. Correlate that to their final WDC position or even their rd1 qualifying position. Yes, surprising isn’t it…
Yet, amusingly, it’s the same hype each year. when a driver hits P1. Mercedes did this last year also by the way. No parameter is the same or consistent across any of the teams at any given time or day.
I understand Joe , that you are not hyping this result and reporting the facts. Just a comment for the other testing clairvoyants.
Thanks to you I’m now beginning to question the existence of Santa Claus as well.
Gearbox ratios. End of story.
Nothing else is of comparable relevance.
The pre season follies!!! It is good, no clear cut leader and teams holding their cards tight to their respective chests. Can only hope 2013 eclipses 2012 for excitement.
It is encouraging, but that’s all.
It would only take one of the others to beat that time today and then you’re back to square one.
Good to see and very encouraging for the team, but let us see where they are after the first 3 or 4 races.
Typical pre-season light fuel load dashes for headlines? These are historically the tactics of underfunded midfield-bottom tier teams desperately seeking sponsorship dollars.
Nico does it again today for MB, maybe legitimate performance has been found?
On the subject of Hamilton, its interesting how the public views the key characters in the sport. If he had been in the sport 20-30 years ago, Hamilton and his “Hollywood” lifestyle would be celebrated. Now its seen as a hinderence to his performance. Similarly, in the Senna/Prost rivalry, the deliberate ramming of a competitor was seen as “justice” (for example in the Senna documentary) whereas when Schumacher did it, it was seen as dastardly. I think it is a part of a person’s character to miss the subtle shift in public perception as to what is deemed acceptable. Lewis seems to have missed this over the past few years following his success. However, he seems to now be adjusting his attitude. Hopefully it brings new success.
I don’t recall that anyone at the time saw Senna’s 1990 crash into Prost as justice. Other than Senna.
Prost’s crash into Senna the previous year got more sympathy, as it seemed far less premeditated and happened at the slowest part of the circuit. And there was a certain amount of talk about Senna getting a taste of his own medicine.
I disagree entirely. I thought Prost ruined his reputation in one move and then lied through his teeth about it and politicked his way to success in league with Jean-Marie Balestre. Senna’s move was very definitely seen as revenge and while such things should be frowned upon, it was the perfect payback. It was justice of a kind because Senna was very badly treated in 1989.
Agree with your stance on the two Suzuka crashes Joe, but would be interested in your opinion regarding the equality of the Honda engines. Nigel Roebuck was saying that Prost and many others were sure that he Senna was getting the best engines in 88-89. Any thoughts?
No, I don’t believe that and I never have believed that. Prost needed an excuse to explain Senna being quicker…
Interesting.
As an insider you’d have a better view of it than the rest of us (which is why we read this Blog).
Prost’s move seemed to an observer to be a refusal to move over for Senna and a payback for the earlier “edging Prost towards the pitwall at high speed” incident.
Senna had the “move over or we both crash” technique in place well before F1. He showed it in FF2000 and F3 (ask M.Brundle). I know you were covering F3 at around that time (or was it a little later?) so you may have a view on that too?
I thought at the time that the Suzuka crash in 1989 was only Prost refusing to give in to that tactic. I’d be interested too hear more of your view, Joe.
I’m late seeing this. Joe – you cannot condone what Senna did, no matter what Prost’s motives were. Prost’s manoeuvre was clumsy at best and a much slower accident anyway. Senna went full pelt at Prost and could have had more serious consequences (for him as well). He should have been banned – you know he would be these days (look at Grosjean at Spa and all that hoo-ha after afterwards). There’s never an excuse in my view to put others drivers’ lives at risk. It wasn’t just seen as revenge, it was – Senna admitted later that it was deliberate.
Did I say I condoned it? I said I understood it.
You must put these things into the proper perspective.
In 1989 Senna had been screwed by Prost, who went unpunished for a disgustingly unsporting manoeuvre in Suzuka. Senna was excluded from the event when it ought to have been Prost. Senna, bravely but quite rightly, said that he felt the World Championship was being manipulated by FIA President Jean-Marie Balestre, which was clearly the case. Senna was then fined $100,000 and his licence was taken away. Not surprisingly, he felt aggrieved. A year later, in the same place, there was more manipulation. It had been agreed that pole position would be on the clean side of the circuit. After Senna won pole the request to switch the pole was denied. Senna saw it as collusion between Prost and the FIA and he decided that if he found himself at a disadvantage as a result he would not back off in the first corner. Prost made the better start (as expected) and as they went into the first corner he was half a car length ahead. Senna did not lift off. He did not drive “full pelt” at Prost, they were going the same speed.
But it was the closing speed that counted, Senna didn’t lift off. Listen, everything you say is fair enough and I agree Senna was ‘wronged’ in principal but in my opinion what he did was worse. That’s why to me, in any case, he will always be flawed. In some ways I miss the old ‘cut and thrust’ of those days but the way the sport is run now is far safer and fairer and would have ultimately suited Senna if indeed had any sense of fair play.
Thanks for the comprehensive reply by the way.
what has changed is society. And f1 had to move with the times. If you look at an eastwood movie, and the way he treated women, it’s like a joke. But during the 60′s that was the way to go. If he did the same now, he’d be sued right away.
Moesley was the one that started focusing on safety, and that’s why what senna did just a few years before was not acceptable anymore in early 1990′s onwards.
If you want to know my opinion… the 1976 season was the best ever.
Well Hamilton’s pace was convincing enough for me to slap £20 on him for the championship (10-1). I might even have a flutter on Merc for the constructors (16-1).
I’d save it!
Where’s the fun in that? I actually won over £600 from a £20 bet on Brawn GP when they were 33-1 (the most I’ve won in my life). It was a very nice feeling and made me look like an amazing F1 expert in the eyes of my friends and family and to be honest losing £20 is within acceptable tolerance levels
Very much looking forward to another unpredictable season.
I’ve never bet on anything, but I do regret not putting £20 on Mika Hakkinen during 1998 pre-season testing, when it was obvious something special was going on with Newey’s first McLaren and the odds were long. Have never been in a betting shop in my life, so didn’t know how to do such a thing; shame internet betting wasn’t around then. Just as well though, I might have been tempted to do more of it…