2009 F1 testing: March 15th (Video)

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The first of five days of testing began in Jerez today, with four teams present. But one, McLaren elected not to do any running, and will stay on for an extra day at the end of the test.

Brawn GP repeated their form from earlier this week with Rubens Barrichello posting the fastest time.

Fernando Alonso was second quickest but lost a lot of time after crashing in the morning. According to the Renault F1 blog this caused them to abandon their plans to do a race distance.

The teams will test for three more days, except McLaren, who will do four.

Times from today’s test

1. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP-Mercedes – 1’19.236 (102 laps)
2. Fernando Alonso, Renault – 1’19.895 (33 laps)
3. Nico Hlkenberg, Williams-Toyota – 1’20.013 (69 laps)

Video from today’s test

Some video of the aftermath of Alonso’s accident:

2009 F1 testing

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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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31 comments on “2009 F1 testing: March 15th (Video)”

  1. Brawn GP are for real.

  2. Wonder why Mclaren didn’t go out

    1. Rumor is Mclaren didn’t go out because the new parts which were scheduled to arrive today haven’t arrived yet so they decided not to test and add another day at the end, which could also benefit them because they will have the track for themselves, meaning less red flags etc.

  3. I have been following it all-day was wondering why you hadn’t put a post Keith!

    Mclaren are starting to really worry but excite me as well, so Hamilton Monday and Tuesday Kovalinen Wednesday and Thursday. Brawn GP may well win in Melbourne, but they will probably have loads of reliability issues and wont be able to develop as fast as other teams…. i think!

    1. I’ve been away – was driving back to London this morning, and didn’t have time to get a post arranged earlier. Sorry guys!

  4. sergio is Striay Really… oops

  5. Can someone explain to me why its only Renault, Williams, Brawn GP, and Mclaren testing, not every team?

    1. Well Ferrari, BMW and Toyota did all that testing in Bahrain, maybe they’re close to their limit?

    2. The other teams had a double week earlier so had completed their quota of test days.

  6. Very strange why McLaren not out today with the others. Be interested tomorrow how they fair against Brawn GP.

  7. Damn that Brawn GP car is quick!

    I think McLaren will be on the pace for Melbourne. Hopefully they at least manage to get one car in the top 10!

    1. They might be hard pushed the way things are going!!

  8. theRoswellite
    15th March 2009, 17:33

    Could someone suggest a good site for following the testing days.

    1. f1today.nl put through google translate is pretty much all you need, although they’ve been a bit sparse on the text updates today, but that’s perhaps because Alonso red flagged the course for hours!

    2. non in English that i know of but http://www.sportlifepress.com is good also http://www.directo.thef1.es/tests/ is the one i used today!

      P.S. Keith its ok i was just wondering you are normally very quick to post it!

  9. Well at least with McLaren not running I don’t have anything to get worried about. :)

  10. Keith, I think Williams planed to test on Thursday too, they were supposed to be the only one but McLaren will probably join them too…

  11. I thought that teams have mileage limit not test day limit. As long as they don’t complete 15.000 km, shouldn’t they be allowed to do test? Have any idea guys?

  12. Didn’t realise the testing started today, thought it started tomorrow.

    Good to see Brawn still at the top, after many many laps.

  13. yep, been to the circuits website, and Williams will be with Nakajima on Thursday alongside Mclaren with Kovalinen.

  14. Eduardo Colombi
    15th March 2009, 20:05

    think that mclaren wants to see other testing and then have the final day alone in jerez, with no interruptions. very nice tactic i think…

    Does any one knows if Brawn have new sponsors?

  15. My read is Brawn needs sponsors, so he needs to get attention. That means many many revs, low fuel, and maybe even some ballast forgotten in the garage. It would be the sporting coup of the century of Honda/Brawn went from being seconds off the pace to dominating in one season.

    1. It happened with McLaren going into1 1998 (mid field car in ’97 to lapping the field half way through the first race of’98.)

  16. Can Button or Barrichello faster than Vettel (01:19.055)last test in Jerez ?

  17. @dmw i disagree, as Ross Brawn said, they have the capital to fund this year, so money for this year and most of next is not an issue, the issue is pace and they need to focus on car speed and setup, not being quick in testing, quick in testing wont bring big long term sponsors, quick on the track and winning races will.

    running the car above the legal spec (higher revs and less weight) does nothing to help them on or off the track…

    Brawn is smart, he wants to win races and that’s what they will be focused on, not press from testing. Mainstream media don’d focus on testing at all, the only f1 news you read during the season in a normal media outlet is who won the race on the weekend, that’s where they need to be.

  18. mp4-24 (RIP)
    16th March 2009, 7:25

    what is wrong with mclaren & martin whitmarsh. skipping a day’s practice when they pretty well know that they have got a car that is suffering from arthritis. even my grandmother could run faster that car. how could they have designed such a pig of a car whose rear wing is as flawed as a pig’s snout. Then martin whitmarsh firing warnings at rivals, defending his design team’s approach, leaving everything to the last moment. surely sign of things to come at mclaren under the leadership of whitmarsh. They have really embarrassed themselves.just imagine a force india beating them in their own game in its first season of technical collaboration with them. mclaren may boast of a great record ….fine. but that doesn’t mean that you can rest back on your laurels. complacency is what has cost mclaren a shot at the title this year & many years to come. i agree with some of the gentlemen in these posts, that mclaren at this very moment do not have competent design engineers . we must always remember that the cars that brought race wins & championships to mclaren were an evolution of the cars designed by sir adrian newey. namely mp418 to mp423. clearly the current rules have not been interpreted properly by the dumb mclaren engineers. considering the fact that the have got their own engineers in the OWG( overtaking working group) & their ceo martin whitmarsh as the head Sporting Regulation in FOTA, mclaren have failed miserably. i along with many mclaren fans feel very cheated, humiliated & let down after being promised soo much during winter. mclaren is going the lotus way. i am sure of it.

    1. “i along with many mclaren fans feel very cheated, humiliated & let down after being promised soo much during winter.”

      How on earth have they let YOU down exactly? Do you pay them anything?

      Instead of moaning about others, why don’t you get out there, get a PhD in Fluid Dynamics, get a job at McLaren and tell them what they are doing wrong?

    2. I agree whole heartedly with John H. These comments are rather short sighted, and reminiscent of a child’s tantrum.

      I’m a McLaren fan and I don’t feel let down, I feel slightly apprehensive for Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren team, if anything.

      I’m sure as heck looking forward to the start of the season though. If McLaren are off the pace, it’s going to be a great year as they attempt to fight their way back, which I’m sure we all agree, they will do.

      This kind of uncertainty, along with all the new rule changes has, for me, made this season one of the most excitingly anticipated to date. Bring it on!!! :-)

  19. real talk man, i feel they probably didn’t take enough caution in designing the car ,but lets wait till the friday practices i still feel mclaren are lying about the real pace of thier car hmmmmmmmmmmm

  20. ||The teams will test for three more days, except McLaren, who will do four.||
    Other teams will test till wednesday and McLaren till Thursday ( to compensate for their day off on Sunday) isn’t that the official release :-?

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