17-Nov-08: Takuma Sato Tops Day 1 of Barcelona Test
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 17th November 2008.
Testing got underway at Barcelona today, with our first glimpse of the 2009 wings in action. BMW ran a very high rear wing and low front wing, and it’s not that pretty. They were also testing out KERS, with the mechanics protected with thick gloves.
Toyota were the only team not in action, and we saw Takuma Sato top the timesheets in his test for Toro Rosso. Sebastien Buemi, also in the Toro Rosso, was just three tenths slower.
There were three red flags, caused by Robert Kubica for BMW and Nico Hulkenberg for Williams, with the main disaster saved for Giedo van der Garde in the Renault. He completed 27 laps as part of his World Series prize, but crashed out and finished the day in 16th.
Elsewhere, it appears the Canadian Grand Prix will definitely be off the calendar as the Montreal Mayor has admitted: “Despite our endeavours, the unreasonable demands of Formula One exceeded the taxpayer’s ability to pay.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Ollie on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 19:45
Sato did really well, all things considering. He didn’t cause any red flags and just kept his head down and tested. He completed the most laps of the day as well, putting in some serious mileage. Is it possible the man has finally matured, or is this just a minor blip? And if given the chance to race again, would we see the crash-bang-wallop Sato-of-old return?
me on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 20:03
maybe he was super-focussed for this one. i still think he’s too slow and been out of it for too long to be any use any more.
he did good though, i guess it depends on budget requirements and marketing needs now.
Scott on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 21:24
I’m sceptical on this one. The overriding memory I have of Sato from his time in British F3 was him doing his best to throw away a race win by chucking his car off the road at Woodcote. This was after he’d built up a huge lead and wasn’t under pressure from anyone.
Right throughout his career he’s been reasonably fast (although arguably not quick enough to make it at the top level of F1), but at the same time far too erratic. I find it hard to believe that after failing to improve for so many years he’s all of a sudden got it together.
Ollie on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 21:30
Felipe Massa did. Brundle once commentated on Massa “turning the wheel while driving in a straight line, wtf?” or words to those effect. And, well, we all know what happened this year. So for a driver to suddenly get everything together? Well, I say it is possible, even if I am still waiting to see what Massa will do next year before finally deciding.
me on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 21:46
massa carried on testing though. what’s sato been up to?
also massa had a benchmark and a mentor in schumi. what’s sato had… button and davidson?
Scott on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 21:49
In the case of Massa, although he only made his first real challenge for the title this year, he has improved steadily throughout his career. With regards to his hands being all over the place, that in itself had disappeared after his year away from racing. I remember Brundle commenting that Massa seemed to have developed a very different driving style when he came back.
Even going right back to his F3 days, I personally haven’t seen such dramatic improvements from Sato.
Scott on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 21:57
I would say that Massa compared better to Schumacher than Sato did to Fisichella or Button. Remember that during 2006 Ferrari had to mess about with Massa’s strategy as he was faster than Schumacher in some races (e.g. Hockenheim).