22-Jan-08: Ferrari’s Lead the Way at Valencia

Listen to this episode

It’s the 22^nd January 2008 and this is F1 Minute.

Testing continues at Valencia, with Ferrari’s Massa outpacing teammate Raikkonen, with a surprising third for Nico Rosberg in the Williams. Two McLarens were next in the timesheets, followed by Alonso in the Renault. There continues to be a mix of old and new, with Rosberg in a new Williams, but Nakajima struggling in the old style car. Alex Wurz made his testing debut for Honda but finished the day at the very bottom of the timesheets. There were four red flags during the day, two from Heidfeld, one from Alonso and one from Massa, who ran out of fuel.

Elsewhere, Malaysian officials have decided they’d like to follow in the footsteps of Singapore and host a night race next year. The Chairman of Sepang said he is collaborating with the lighting consultants who are working on the Singapore setup with the aim of a night race in 2009.

Also today, the Circuit de Catalunya bosses have confirmed they will be making some safety upgrades after requests from several motorsport factions. Tyre barriers and run-off areas look set to be improved, with the pitlane getting a complete resurfacing.

That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.