2009 F1 testing notes: January 20th (pictures and video)

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Nico Rosberg drove the Williams FW31 for the first time at Portimao

The same six teams were in action today as yesterday, plus BMW who shook down their new F1.09 at Valencia in Spain.

Here’s a recap of the day’s activity plus pictures from the 2009 tests so far.

Update: video from the test added below.

Algarve Motor Park, Portimao, Portugal

Once again the new Portuguese circuit was the centre of most of the action. And again it was wet and again Sebastien Buemi set the fastest lap of the day in a 2008-specification Toro Rosso.

Best individual lap times (unofficial)

1. Sebastien Buemi – Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR3 – 1:34.429 – 48 laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa – McLaren-Mercedes MP4-24 – 1:37.512 – 62 laps
3. Jarno Trulli – Toyota TF109 – 1:42.399 – 30 laps
4. Nelson Piquet Jnr – Renault R29- 1:45.860 – 9 laps
5. Nico Rosberg – Williams-Toyota FW31 – 1:51.580 – 31 laps

Renault

Just nine laps for Nelson Piquet Jnr in the R29 as he suffered an engine problem. The team worked on testing electrical systems on the car. Fernando Alonso will drive the car for the first time tomorrow.

Williams

Nico Rosberg tried the new Williams for the first time.

McLaren

Pedro de la Rosa was fastest of the drivers in the 2009-specification cars.

Toyota

Jarno Trulli became the first of Toyota’s race drivers to try the TF109.

Toro Rosso

Buemi was fastest in the 2008 Toro Rosso, although it was running with reduced downforce to simulate 2009 levels.

Mugello, Italy

Best individual lap times (unofficial)

1. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari F60 – 1:33.920 – 42 laps

Ferrari

Mugello was also hit by rain but Raikkonen completed another 42 laps in the F60.

Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Spain

Best individual lap times (unofficial)

1. Robert Kubica – BMW F1.09 – TBA – 73 laps

Kubica did the first laps in the 2009 BMW. It was a private test, and BMW reported no problems. See here for pictures from the BMW F1.09 launch.

F1 testing pictures

F1 testing video

Images copyright: Toro Rosso – Getty Images; McLaren – www.mclaren.com; Ferrari – Ferrari spa; Williams – Williams/LAT; Toyota – Toyota F1 World

See here for track maps: 2009 F1 testing dates and tracks

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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16 comments on “2009 F1 testing notes: January 20th (pictures and video)”

  1. simpdog
    20th January 2009, 20:05

    got to love Raikkonen!

    1. Paige
      20th January 2009, 21:06

      Indeed. As a McLaren fan, I was very sad to see him go. He’s still my favorite driver and I pull for him, even if he drives a red car.

  2. Chaz
    20th January 2009, 20:14

    Gosh darn it no McLaren pics…

    1. Profile Photo

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      20th January 2009, 20:39

      Actually I’ve just added one now but it’s not very big.

    2. mani
      21st January 2009, 3:37

      Keith, don’t we have any high resolution McLaren pics?

  3. Atticus
    20th January 2009, 20:15

    im starting to really look forward to this season. it is obvious that it will take so much time for the remaining 9 teams to achieve the best performance given the new rules.

    what im trying to say is that i think the time of 0.020 gaps is over and there will be a huge difference between the performances next year.

    i dare not say who is going to be the fastest though.

    1. Paige
      20th January 2009, 21:10

      Based on initial impressions, I think BMW are going to come out of the gate on top. BMW has been doing the most development work on the 2009 specifications of any of the teams, and they were the first team with a (nearly) full 2009 spec car ready to test. They’ve got to be ahead of the field on this.

      It also looks to me like McLaren has gotten a big step on development of the 2009 spec car. Their car seems to have the most advanced and well-researched features. (i.e. The front wing flaps, which indicate a significant amount of effort put into them.)

  4. Paige
    20th January 2009, 21:07

    By the looks of things, the McLaren is set to demolish the field in wet races if things continue this way. That, or DLR is a damned good wet racer.

    1. Profile Photo

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      20th January 2009, 21:11

      They were still running the 2008-spec rear wing as yesterday, so that probably helped.

    2. ajokay
      21st January 2009, 9:43

      I wonder why? surely thats near enough no benefit, or point, to running last year’s wing.

      Unless they didn’t make enough of them at the ol’ carbie fibie mill.

  5. Matt
    20th January 2009, 21:31

    can you get a higher res pic of that over head shot of kimi? thats a beautiful shot!

  6. Mandev theorum
    20th January 2009, 22:15

    The front wing of the Toro Rosso already looks strange to me! :|

  7. mani
    21st January 2009, 2:22

    Ferrari seem to have reduced their protruding exhaust length :)

  8. Melanie
    21st January 2009, 4:02

    According to Turun Sanomat, Ferrari tested with KERS the whole day, and they didn’t experience any problems with it.

  9. sumedh
    21st January 2009, 7:32

    I have a feeling that the field will be spaced out to almost 5-10 seconds between the fastest and slowest car.

    Which is not good for overtaking :(

  10. ajokay
    21st January 2009, 9:39

    Good photo for a dual monitor setup:

    https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/buem_toro_alga_2009-3.jpg

Comments are closed.