Williams Testing in the Rain

Williams testing in the Algarve. Frank Williams has revealed his dissatisfaction with the FOTA proposals on wind tunnel limitations. FOTA will reveal their vision of the future in early March, but Frank isn’t happy about only using one wind tunnel, and relying on CFD.

Toyota TF109

The TF109 sits in the garage waiting for a clear run of track at the Algarve. The team ran the new car after the online launch the previous week, with both Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli taking turns behind the wheel. Copyright: Toyota Motorsport GmbH

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg puts the brand new FW31 through its paces, while still running an interim winter livery, testing in the Algarve. The four day test suffered from bad weather throughout, with just a brief respite on the third day. The teams only got half an hour on the final day before packing up and going home. Copyright: Charles Coates/LAT

22-Jan-09: Bridgestone Find Wet Testing Unhelpful

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this episode

This is F1 Minute and it’s the 22nd January.

Testing came to an abrupt and early end today when the wet weather became too treacherous. The session was red flagged after just half an hour, as the medical helicopters were unable to take off in the bad conditions.

The Technical Manager at Bridgestone, Tetsuro Kobayashi admits that this test has been troublesome. He said: “This was a difficult test because of the weather and we learnt that the Algarve does not always live up to its reputation of good conditions. The rain, and even hailstones, seriously hampered progress during the week.” He added that they’re not worried about being behind schedule, as there are still a few more tests before the season gets going.

Elsewhere today, Bernie Ecclestone has told the BBC Asian Network that there will definitely be an Indian Grand Prix in 2011. Development on a new track was postponed in October but is due to begin again this year after Bernie said contracts and calendars had been sorted out.

That’s it for today, please join me tomorrow for more from F1 Minute.

Bridgestone Motorsport Portimão Test Summary

Bridgestone Motorsport, the Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship, has completed its first group test of 2009 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimão, Portugal, where two compounds of 2009 specification slick tyres were used as well as current specification wet and extreme wet tyres.

Five teams were present over four days of testing between 19-22 January. Despite the Algarve location of the circuit being famed for its good weather, the test was affected by wet and windy weather, with even hailstones falling on the track during the course of the four days. Whilst Bridgestone’s soft and super soft compound slick tyres were available for use, teams predominantly made use of the wet and extreme wet tyres.

Adding to the difficulty of the wet weather, the ambient temperature was also much cooler than is expected to be experienced at races this season, with meaningful data being hard to obtain. The circuit is relatively new, meaning that the surface was very slippery from the new surface itself as well as the rainfall.

Bridgestone’s Potenza Formula One tyres will next been seen in use in Jerez on February 10-13, where six teams are scheduled to test, and in Bahrain on the same dates, where three teams are scheduled to test.

Q&A with Tetsuro Kobayashi – Technical Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport:

What was learnt from this test?
“This was a difficult test because of the weather and we learnt that the Algarve does not always live up to its reputation of good conditions. The rain, and even hailstones, seriously hampered progress during the week. The conditions compounded the difficulty of running on a new track surface as the oils come out from the tarmac, making the surface very slippery, even when we did have dry running.”

With limited testing in 2009, how does this affect developments ahead of the season start?
“For Bridgestone we are confident that there will be sufficient testing for teams before the season starts to enable good, safe, racing. Of course, any test days lost means that teams have not been able to test their new cars and continue learning about our slick tyres, however we will see several more tests before we visit Albert Park in Australia for the first race of the season.”

What are your thoughts of the Portimão track?
“The Portimão track is certainly an impressive facility and a challenging circuit to learn for teams and drivers. The track surface is very smooth, just as you would expect of a new facility. At this test the rain did not help with the grip levels, so in terms of gaining data for us to evaluate, we were at a disadvantage.”

Williams – Algarve Test, Day 2 of 4

Circuit: Autodromo do Algarve, Portugal. 4.686km
Objective: Initial systems, performance and reliability checks with the FW31.
Weather: Rain for the majority of the day with one hailstorm.
Average ambient temperature: 11°C

Pos	Driver	Team	Best Time	Best / Total Laps
1	S Buemi	Toro Rosso	1:34.429	34 / 48
2	P de la Rosa	McLaren Mercedes	1:37.512	32 / 62
3	J Trulli	Toyota	1:42.399	26 / 30
4	N Piquet	Renault	1:45.860	4 / 9
5	N Rosberg	AT&T Williams	1:51.580	16 / 31

Sam Michael, Technical Director, Williams F1:
“We had another wet day in Portugal today. When we could get out on track, we continued working on systems checks and completed some medium runs. We experienced a couple of reliability issues with the 31 which forced us into the garage for a while, but they were nothing major. The team is looking forward to some dry weather tomorrow.”

Toyota – Portimao Test – Day 2

Location: Algarve Motor Park, Portimao, Portugal
Driver: Jarno Trulli
Track length: 4.686km

IT’S A WASH-OUT
Panasonic Toyota Racing continued to put laps on the new TF109 car at the first test of the year at Algarve Motor Park in Portugal today. Jarno Trulli took over from Kamui Kobayashi for the second day of the test but heavy rain just before the session started restricted his early running and the situation did not improve during the day. Jarno was planned to gather initial set-up data about the new car but wind and heavy showers, including a hail storm, restricted the running of all teams. Jarno at least used the opportunity to gain some data on the TF109’s behaviour in the wet and he finished with 30 laps. Timo Glock takes over the wheel of the TF109 tomorrow when the weather is expected to be better.

Jarno Trulli - Chassis TF109-01
Best Lap Time: 1min 42.399s
Position: 3rd
Total laps: 30
“It is very hard to give my first impressions of the new car because the track conditions today were not very good at all. It was very wet and there was no grip. It is a pity that I could not do more laps but there was little to gain considering the conditions. Hopefully the weather improves for Timo later in the week and we can get a better idea of the characteristics of the new car.”

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis
“Today was all about the weather and we had to fit our running around the showers, which meant we didn’t get as much time on track as we would expect. On the positive side, at least we have had quite a bit of experience now with the TF109 in wet conditions and this could be helpful if there is no rain over the rest of pre-season testing. The car ran without any trouble today and we are constantly learning more about it, which is an interesting experience, and I am happy with the progress we have made so far. I hope tomorrow the weather is kinder to us and we can complete more laps.”

Renault – Algarve Testing, Day 2

Nelson Piquet, R29-01, 9 laps, 42 km, fastest lap 1:45.860

Following the unveiling of the R29 yesterday morning, the ING Renault F1 Team remained at the Algarve Motor Park today to continue with its winter development programme.

The team’s Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet remained in the cockpit of the R29, but endured a frustrating day with rain showers and hail storms hitting the circuit and disrupting the team’s technical programme.

As such Nelson only completed a handful of laps as the team continued to check the systems on the car. With better conditions forecast for tomorrow the team looks forward to running the new car on a dry track when Fernando Alonso gets behind the wheel of the R29 for the first time.

Nelson Piquet: “It was another wet and windy day and so we were not able to do many laps. It’s frustrating to lose so much track time, but this is something that can happen in winter testing. I’ve yet to drive the new car on a dry track and so it’s difficult for me to really say how different it is to the R28, but the forecast looks better for tomorrow and hopefully we can learn more about the car then.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “It has been quite a frustrating day and the weather has made things very difficult. As it’s a new car we don’t want to risk it by doing lots of wet weather running and so we’ve done limited mileage today. The rain also makes it difficult to learn very much about the car, but all the teams here have the same problem and so in that sense we are all in the same position. We are hoping for a better forecast tomorrow so we can get on and do some proper running.”

19-Jan-09: Renault and Williams Launch New Cars and Liveries

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this episode

This is F1 Minute and it’s the 19th January 2009.

The launches are set to continue this week, as a four day test kicked off in Portugal. Today we saw both Renault and Williams reveal their 2009 cars, but in a much more understated style than last week’s launches.

Renault were first, with a new livery. It’s much yellower than previously, and the blue has been replaced with red. The team also confirmed their third driver for this season will be Romain Grosjean again.

The Williams was unveiled in front of the garage, and sports a sleek dark blue livery, although that is only for winter testing. Frank Williams has said he hopes the car will prove a big step forward for the team.

Regarding the test itself, Sebastien Buemi was fastest overall in the Toro Rosso, although times aren’t really representative at the moment. It was also very wet, which is one reason why Ferrari decided to stay home at Mugello. Unfortunately for them, it was just as bad in Italy.

That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

Toyota – Portimao Test – Day 1

Location: Algarve Motor Park, Portimao, Portugal
Drivers: Kamui Kobayashi

THE SEASON STARTS HERE
Panasonic Toyota Racing got its 2009 testing programme underway today at a new venue for the team; the Algarve Motor Park in Portugal. Kamui Kobayashi was at the wheel for the first pre-season tests of the TF109, which was unveiled for the first time on www.tf109-premiere.com last week. After conducting a successful and trouble-free roll-out of the TF109 yesterday, Kamui continued to work on the team’s kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), which is being used on track for the first time this week, as well as performing systems checks and gathering information about the new car. Unfortunately, wind and rain, particularly in the afternoon, disrupted the programme. Jarno Trulli takes over from Kamui tomorrow.

Kamui Kobayashi – Chassis TF109-02
Best Lap Time: 1min 50.989s
Position: 5th
Total laps: 46
“Today has gone well and I am happy with the new car. It has been an interesting experience to drive with KERS for the first time and we are understanding more about the system all the time. This is my first time driving at this track and I have to say I am very impressed; the lay-out is really exciting and quite challenging for a driver. The weather was far from ideal, especially in the afternoon, so that meant we could not spend as much time on track as we planned.”

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis
“It is always a very exciting moment to see your new car begin pre-season testing and that is especially true this year after such a significant regulation change. Overall I am very pleased with the initial results from the TF109 and I believe we have good reason for optimism. Of course, it is very difficult to make comparisons to the other teams in the winter, and that is particularly true when the weather is not very good. In addition to the usual challenges of testing a new car, we worked with the KERS system again today. This is a new technology to Formula 1 so there is a huge amount to learn but our hard work in the factory meant we were quite well prepared for this first test and we have collected a lot of important information.”

Next Page »