Rubens Barrichello set fast time in Tuesday's testing besting the likes of Felippe Masa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. However, Alonso was back on top on Wednesday and Barrichello was not in the top five. Still is it possible Honda might actually be competitive this weekend? It sure would be a welcoming sight.
Honda’s Rubens Barrichello led the way in Barcelona on Tuesday, as testing continued at the Circuit de Catalunya. Running Bridgestone’s experimental slick tyres, Barrichello was close to a second faster than Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella, also on slicks. The Brazilian covered 79 laps during the course of the day, as he focused on evaluating development parts for the RA108.
“I tested the new 2009 slick tyres here today (Tuesday) - which was the reason for my fastest lap - but we were also much quicker on the 2008 grooved rubber too,” he explained. “The best lap we did here in February was a 1min 22.3s and now we are at 1min 20.7s, so we're really moving forward.”
Renault’s Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets as this week’s multi-team test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya continued on Wednesday. Alonso’s best, a 1m 18.483s lap, was set on Bridgestone’s 2009 slick tyres and put the Spaniard almost a second ahead of former sparring partner Michael Schumacher, who returned to the cockpit for Ferrari.
“The day has been good and I was happy with the developments to the car,” Alonso said. “But we still need to keep improving because it seems that our competitors have also improved and so it is still difficult to say how we really compare with them. We have to wait until next week to get a full picture of where we stand. It was fun to try the slick tyres, which gave very good grip.”
Schumacher, meanwhile, took charge of Ferrari’s test programme for the day.
Barrichello was sixth on Wednesday.
Though Rubens did not mention it, his Honda is sporting a radical new front wing this weekend.
Paul Tracy found himself in mid-pack running 9th fastest in today's qualifying and only very slightly improving on his time from Friday. Because of his performance yesterday he will start tomorrows race on the front row along side todays Pole winner Will Power. Team Australia's Power, born and bred in Toowoomba Queensland, beat his nearest rival today by an amazing 0.886 of a second. Today's result supports Power's maiden pole at his home race at the Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of Queensland's Gold Coast last October. Power then went on to claim his first podium in the final race of the year in Mexico and clinch the "Rookie of the Year" title as a result.
Will Power #5 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone -"I think it's going to be important for everybody to get through the first corner and go racing. I think this is the start of a new era for Champ Car. You've got a bunch of new young drivers that are in the series, obviously showing that they're quick. It's not the scenario that everybody thought it was going to be where everybody was saying in the off-season, Sebastien is going to run away with everything. He's starting near the back.
Paul Tracy #3 INDECK Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It was a little tougher for us today. Obviously we made some changes from yesterday. But it just seemed like my car suited going over that big jump in the chicane. We just never really got a chance to capitalize on the tires. We seemed to either catch a red at the end of the first set of tires, then the second set of tires I had some traffic with Pagenaud, which didn't help. That kind of just killed our qualifying effort.
It's Ferrari vs McLaren up front. The animals came in two by two at the front of the grid for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday, as the final session of qualifying developed into a last-lap shoot-out between McLaren and Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen was the first to cross the start/finish line, temporarily snatching the coveted pole position with 1m 35.479s for Ferrari. But McLaren’s Fernando Alonso grabbed that away immediately, following him across the line mere feet behind and stopping the clocks in 1m 35.310s. Lewis Hamilton was next across in 1m 36.045s to secure fourth, but then Felipe Massa put things beyond reach with 1m 35.043s to restore Ferrari’s supremacy. The closeness of the times, however, and the fact that they were all set on Bridgestone’s softer compound, bodes well for a great race on Sunday.
Clearly there were some unhappy people out there - notably the Renault and Honda drivers but the potential battle between Ferrari and McLaren in what is always a very tough encounter should make for a memorable 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix.
My man Reubens Barrichello had a big day during testing in Jerez Spain on Friday of last week. It looks like the Honda may be the fastest team on wet tires. And since it will likely rain during at least one F1 race this season, I am going to look forward to the wet stuff.
You see, once again, this is not your fathers NASCAR. F1 runs in the rain. They put on tires with grooves and go at it. Wow, novel thought, if it rains the fans still see a race. None of this postponing the race to Monday stuff. None of this gee should I stay till Monday and watch the race since I've got $200 bucks tied up in it anyway or should I go back to work so I don't get fired instead?
And in case you have missed the story, Lewis Hamilton was fastest on day two of testing when it wasn't raining. Hamilton will become F1's first black driver when the season opens next month.
p.s. If you spell it tyres and you say Honda are, you might be English.
Honda’s Rubens Barrichello topped the timesheets in Jerez on Friday, clocking a lap time of 1m 19.981s. Barrichello ended the session just under two-tenths faster than team mate James Rossiter.
Although heavy rain at the Spanish circuit during the morning caused a delay to the start of testing, Honda managed to complete their programme. Both Barrichello and Rossiter went out initially on Bridgestone’s extreme wets before switching to dry rubber as the weather cleared up.
Lewis Hamilton, who had set the fastest time on Thursday, ended the session in third for McLaren. Hamilton’s team mate, Pedro de la Rosa, was just over one-tenth slower. Both drivers continued to evaluate tyres, but while Hamilton focused on suspension work, De la Rosa spearheaded the team’s aerodynamic development programme.
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