Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona

40 comments on “Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona”

1. 

   javlinsharp (@javlinsharp)
   21st February 2012, 16:12

   Nice to see Nico H near the top, and even close to SV. I always knew that kid had talent. ;-)

   Of course, everyone else was ‘sandbagging’ and we all know tests never show actual pace.

   Im starting to get that warm itch, its nearly F1 TIME again!!!
2. 

   kenneth Ntulume
   21st February 2012, 16:13

   A not so strange headline
3. 

   Mads (@mads)
   21st February 2012, 16:16

   Funny how the gap has suddenly decreased.
   Its still large, but if we don’t consider what the expected order of performance is, but just looking at the gaps this is relatively close to the gaps we see in qualifying between the best, 2nd, 3rd team and so on.
   In Jerez the gaps was ridiculously large, and between most cars it were in seconds rather then tenths.
   Is that a sign of teams getting close to gathering real race simulation data, rather then fixed speed runs to determine windtunnel and CFD accuracy, or maybe more importantly inaccuracies etc. Or is it just a coincidence?
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      22nd February 2012, 7:14

      I would say its because the first thing you offer, teams getting into race simulation like running.
4. 

   Preekel (@preekel)
   21st February 2012, 16:20

   Very nice to see McLaren getting a whole heap of laps in, looks like we have a good baseline to work from this year.
   1. 

      matt90 (@matt90)
      21st February 2012, 17:27

      Wow, they really ramped it up in the afternoon. They’d only done about 45 before lunch.
      1. 

         Preekel (@preekel)
         21st February 2012, 17:30

         After Ferrari’s tally last year, we all know it don’t mean too much, but its always nice to see a large lap tally rather than a small one!
         1. 

            BasCB (@bascb)
            22nd February 2012, 7:16

            It did mean a lot: they were reliable all season long
   2. 

      Rally Man (@rally-man)
      21st February 2012, 17:32

      Indeed they do.
   3. 

      Chris Gresty (@gresty)
      21st February 2012, 17:41

      so much better than the start of last season! Hopefully raw pace is good in melbourne, McLaren usually over achieve there anyway!
5. 

   Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
   21st February 2012, 16:29

   So it begins again… (maybe)
6. 

   raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
   21st February 2012, 16:30

   Nice to see Hulkencurve/Unkelberr (depending if you ask Jonathan Legard or Fernando Alonso) near the top of the timings.
   1. 

      Theo
      21st February 2012, 21:38

      Good pickup on the name, I’ve noticed that too!
7. 

   raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
   21st February 2012, 16:32

   The laptimes are quite interesting. If youc ompare it to on-the-limit laps from SPain 2011 qualifying; that RB8 is lapping 2.4s down on the pole time. Vettel did that on hards; so taking into account that; that’s maybe some 8 tenths based on Pirelli’s estimates of the year; so so far we can safely say they’re 1.6s down on last year at most, flat out vs flat out. Without the EBD; that’s quite something.
   1. 

      Preekel (@preekel)
      21st February 2012, 16:38

      But the RB8 surely was not pushing it today to achieve that lap time?
      I think, by the first race, some of the teams may have found most of that lost speed back!
      1. 

         raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
         21st February 2012, 17:04

         @Preekel Oh I think Vettel was pushing. It’s just that he wouldn’t have been on fumes; and he was on hard tyres. It gets more difficult year on year to regain lost performance as the cars reach the peak of what is possible with the current regs.
         1. 

            Preekel (@preekel)
            21st February 2012, 17:24

            I’m not saying Vettel was not pushing, I’m saying they are no where near pushing the car to its limits, like you say, hard tyres and highish fuel.
            The gap to last years qualy time will be minimal if they were to do a qualy run under the same conditions!
   2. 

      javlinsharp (@javlinsharp)
      21st February 2012, 16:41

      I often find it interesting how engineers find ways to extract performance under any given rules. I am sure the gap from last year will shrink.

      F-Ducts, Huge Diffusers, Exhaust Channeling, all very innovative stuff.

      FIA/FOTA tries to respond with spec limitations, parts bans, and rule changes, but somehow, someway, the engineers find another loophole, another great idea.

      I love F1.
      1. 

         raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
         21st February 2012, 17:13

         @javlinsharp I hate restrictions to be honest! I love seeing different paths. I love it when you see so many super different concepts producing near identical laptimes. Like in 2011; McLaren opted for weird; never seen before sidepods. Newey opted for shrinkwrapped sidepods. And both were absolutely neck and neck at times.
         1. 

            javlinsharp (@javlinsharp)
            21st February 2012, 17:30

            @raymondu999
            Im with you. If I had my way, I would remove all engineering restrictions except those for safety, and impose an ultimate spending cap including the entire cost of running the team.

            I really hate when innovation is stifled simply because of belly aching from some high-powered team(s) because they didnt think of it first.

            You want interesting races with disparate winners, You want to see more than the same 3 teams on the podium race after race? do you think KERS and DRS mandates are artificial and stupid? Do you love to see a struggling team asend to greatness in spite of overwhelming odds, or a winning team make wrong choices and get shuffled back? Let the engineering roam free, its the reason why most of us are here anyway.

            Im sure there is some logical argument against these ‘green field” statements, and I would love to hear it.
8. 

   Oli
   21st February 2012, 16:35

   Hope merc do well this year. Also nice to see hulkenberg near the top. He will beat di resta this year mark my words………
9. 

   Lew1s (@lew1s)
   21st February 2012, 16:44

   Hmmm, Deja Vu.
   1. 

      Cyclops_PL (@cyclops_pl)
      21st February 2012, 16:49

      Indeed.
   2. 

      Fixy (@)
      22nd February 2012, 11:33

      As long as it’s testing…
      I have a bad feeling about this.
10. 

    Philonso (@philonso)
    21st February 2012, 16:55

    *disappointed sigh*; and so it begins again…
    1. 

       It`s got to be Geoff
       21st February 2012, 18:22

       You took the words out of my mouth,

       Starting to feel that malase that came with Schmumacher winning everything in the noughties.
       1. 

          Eleanore (@leucocrystal)
          22nd February 2012, 2:26

          I have to agree. Nothing against Vettel, he’s obviously very talented, I just wish the field of competition were much closer together. I actually quit watching for a couple years during Schumacher’s reign because it just got entirely too redundant.
11. 

    Robbie (@robbie)
    21st February 2012, 17:07

    Until someone’s actions prove otherwise come the post-race review of race 1, SV will be the man and car to beat, and so far it is status quo. Solid as they were last year, and still being a Newey car, no surprise that up until and including today they remain the target.
    1. 

       raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
       21st February 2012, 17:12

       @Robbie Don’t forget Newey does design bad cars even after dominant seasons. I’m just saying that he’s not the alpha and omega of car design – he’s human too.
       1. 

          Robbie (@robbie)
          21st February 2012, 17:28

          For sure…just doesn’t feel to me like we’re in for a bad Newey car right now…maybe if they had taken big chances with a big departure from last year it would be more of a question mark. And for sure he’s human too, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he is better at his job than he has ever been.
12. 

    KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed)
    21st February 2012, 17:10

    I do hope the closeness of the top 7 are reasonably representative of raw speed, that’s the closest test day I can remember…
13. 

    OOliver
    21st February 2012, 17:11

    This is Barcelona. Compare the times to last and previous years.
    Then remember this is testing, different fuel loads and programmes.
    Then calm down.
14. 

    Henry (@scuderiaexxon)
    21st February 2012, 17:30

    So the dominece of Vettel starts again :(
    1. 

       Henry (@scuderiaexxon)
       21st February 2012, 17:33

       *dominance
15. 

    Pamphlet (@pamphlet)
    21st February 2012, 17:34

    Vettel on top again, you say?
16. 

    raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
    21st February 2012, 17:50

    Lotus have pulled out completely from the test.
17. 

    It`s got to be Geoff
    21st February 2012, 18:34

    I think this will be an interesting year for Vettel because the honeymoon will be over, If Vettel walks away with it then the press will be looking for cracks elsewere in He`s life, This year we will see the onslaught of the media, they will question everything from He`s girlfreind to hes deoderant. If Vettel survives this year strong then i might be happy to wait till he drives an average car. Good luck Sebastion.
18. 

    AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
    21st February 2012, 21:14

    I think the only vague conclusions you can draw from testing are that of reliability. Those little victories can easily turn into tenths while your rivals pick up the pieces, literally sometimes.

    Nevertheless, it’s exciting though!
19. 

    UKFan (@)
    21st February 2012, 21:27

    Hate that Red bull exhaust its just too beautiful
20. 

    Ace
    21st February 2012, 23:32

    So I’ve read that Vettel set his time on hard tyres. Does anyone have any data on the tyres used by everyone else?

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