Posted by ashleigh on
January 17, 2008
Jerez Day 3 Testing
A Surprise fastest time today, from not only a team that is not expected, but from one of the new boys as well, Timo Glock put’s the Toyota on the top spot of the time sheets for the final day.
The surprising thing was not that he set the fastest time, but who he beat to take it. Timo piloting the TF108 set times that were two tenths of a second faster than Lewis in the MP4-23 and Fernando Alonso in the seemingly much improved Renault.
The conditions for the day were not ideal for testing, as it was light rain for the majority of the day, however the ex Jordan F1 and 2007 GP2 World Champion driver showed that he will certainly not miss the traction control systems, showing great skill, control and pace on a day that some struggled for pace. He did however show that it can be tricky, as he had a spin into the gravel just before lunch.
Posted by ashleigh on
January 17, 2008
Jerez Testing Day 2
Day 2 of testing at Jerez saw Fernando Alonso take the fastest time. The Spaniard said that he enjoyed the day, and showed that the Renault did have some pace in the right hands.
Fernando also showed off a new helmet design, stating it was so the other drivers could follow it.
Pedro de la Rossa popped the McLaren into the second spot, however the McLaren team were obviously doing extended race distance testing, with the de la Rossa car doing 111 laps and Kovalainen doing 130 laps in the MP4-23.
With that level of lapping, showing no issues, it seems that the team have at least brought some of the speed and reliability over to the new car from last year.
The Ferrari’s also showed decent pace, with the two drivers (Kimi and Felipe) popping the 2008 car’s into third and fifth spots on the time sheets. Nico Rosberg also continues to show form in the Williams ‘B’ spec car, grabbing the fourth spot on the times.
Posted by ashleigh on
January 15, 2008
Jerez day one roundup
Testing from a lot of the teams (9 of the 11) started in earnest yesterday at Jerez in Spain.
It was a mixed bag weather wise, and this caused some of the teams to run a reduced test day, and others seemed to take advantage and try running different wet weather configurations.
The day seemed to be dominated a bit by the Ferrari drivers, with Kimi showing the fastest time of the day. The Ferrari seemed to handle the wet weather well considering the drivers are no longer helped out with traction control systems.
It was not completely flawless for the Italian champions though, as Massa’s car showed a hickup, and he lost track time to a mechanical fault that Ferrari have not said the cause of, suspect a gearbox 
issue though as it was a relatively quick fix by the team.
Toro Rosso, and Sebastian Vettel showed the car had a decent pace in the conditions (also running the Ferrari engine remember). He took the third fastest time, with newcomer Sebastien Bourdais taking the 6th fastest time in the sister car.
Posted by ashleigh on
January 10, 2008
McLaren First Day Testing
A couple of shots from the first testing day for McLaren at Jerez.
You will notice that the Aero Bridge on the nose of the car is back, even if it was missing from the car at the launch event.
How much of the actual 2008 car is on show is anyone’s guess, you do however notice the slight increase in the cars wheelbase in these shots, the shots below have a nice closeup of the detailing around the rear wheels and exhausts.
Pedro and Heiki are the drivers on the track at Jerez at the moment. Today however should see Lewis behind the wheel.
