Japanese GP 2009: Kovalainen Fastest In FP1

Heikki Kovalainen was fastest in FP1 for the Japanese Grand Prix, back at Suzuka where it belongs!

The Finn displaced Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima who threw everything and the kitchen sink at trying to be fastest at his home race.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time              Laps
 1.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:40.356           24
 2.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:40.648 + 0.292   18
 3.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:40.806 + 0.450   14
 4.  Fisichella    Ferrari              (B)  1:40.985 + 0.629   27
 5.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:41.421 + 1.065   26
 6.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:41.443 + 1.087   15
 7.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:41.532 + 1.176   22
 8.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:41.577 + 1.221   25
 9.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:41.821 + 1.465   18
10.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:42.188 + 1.832   20
11.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:42.332 + 1.976   10
12.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:42.475 + 2.119   15
13.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:42.657 + 2.301   13
14.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:42.667 + 2.311   27
15.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:42.833 + 2.477   16
16.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:42.977 + 2.621   14
17.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:43.218 + 2.862   11
18.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:43.318 + 2.962   17
19.  Kobayashi     Toyota               (B)  1:43.407 + 3.051   16
20.  Grosjean      Renault              (B)  1:43.572 + 3.216   22

Hulkenberg Could Get 2010 Williams Seat As They Start Driver Search

Nico Hulkenberg, the highly regarded German racer is being widely tipped for a race seat with the Williams F1 Team for next season after an interview with Sam Michael.

Hulkenberg is already a tester with the team based in Grove, and has completed some running with the 2009 car.  Nico also races in GP2, and could clinch the title at the next round of the season in Monza with a race to spare.

“Nico is someone that is on our list for a drive next year,” said Michael. “But there are lots of drivers knocking on our door.

“It’s a point of discussion internally at the moment and we need to come to a decision in the coming weeks or months. We have a long-term contract and we have to decide whether to engage that or not.”

With Nico Rosberg talking with McLaren about taking over from Heikki Kovalainen [who might be back off to Renault], and Kazuki Nakajima potentially being ousted now Williams will not be using Toyota engines, it’s all to play for on the Williams driver search.

Williams Suspended From FOTA Following 2010 Entry

The Williams F1 Team have been formally suspended from the teams racing group FOTA following their announcement and confirmation of a written entry to the FIA for the 2010 Formula One World Championship.

During the Monaco Grand Prix weekend a series of meetings were held to discuss the future of the current teams in Formula One, primerily the manufacturers.  However all teams involved in FOTA were told they would be suspended should the formally send an application to the FIA for their continued entry into F1 for 2010.

The teams are trying to stick together as they fight Max Mosley’s now dictatorship of a governing body to the pinnacle of motorsport, with Ferrari, Toyota, Red Bull and Renault leading the way out of the changing sport and heading possibly for a new rival series made up of manufacturer backed teams.

Frank Williams head of the Williams team admitted it was unfortunate to be suspended, but he respected the actions.  He hoped FOTA and the fans would respect their decision to continue entering as they have a contract with Bernie Ecclestone to stay in the sport until 2012.

“FOTA’s decision, although regrettable, is understandable.” Williams said today

“However, as a racing team and a company whose only business is Formula 1, with obligations to our partners and our employees, submitting our entry to next year’s championship was unquestionable.

“In addition, we are legally obliged under our contract with FOM and the FIA to participate in the World Championship until the end of 2012.”

Spanish GP 2009: Williams On Top In FP2

Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima locked out the top two spots after the final free practice on Friday.

The Ferrari’s slumped a little on their Fp1 form, McLaren still looked poor and Force India propped up the times with Adrian Sutil not even making it out for a timed lap.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:21.588            43
 2.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:21.740  + 0.152   40
 3.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:21.781  + 0.193   36
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:21.843  + 0.255   39
 5.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:22.027  + 0.439   37
 6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:22.052  + 0.464   35
 7.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:22.082  + 0.494   45
 8.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:22.349  + 0.761   26
 9.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:22.571  + 0.983   17
10.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:22.599  + 1.011   40
11.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:22.615  + 1.027   30
12.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:22.670  + 1.082   32
13.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.809  + 1.221   31
14.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.876  + 1.288   29
15.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:22.878  + 1.290   35
16.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:22.948  + 1.360   40
17.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:23.173  + 1.585   39
18.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:23.360  + 1.772   46
19.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:23.623  + 2.035   47
20.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)

Raikkonen Fastest On Barcelona Test Day 2

Kimi Raikkonen stormed to the top of the timesheets on day 2 of testing in Barcelona, just a couple of weeks before the season start.

The Finnish driver was easily faster than second place man Kazuki Nakajima, although Raikkonen could only complete 55 laps after a KERS system problem, one of Ferrari’s first reliability problems over the recent tests.

Rubens Barrichello got behind the wheel of the Brawn GP BGP001 for the first time and after putting in 111 laps, the Brazilian found himself in 3rd place.  That car is showing real promise.

Trulli followed in 4th, with a much better day from Webber in 5th and then Heidfeld in 6th.

Kovalainen was 9th for McLaren, lagging slightly behind the Renault of Alonso.

The Toro Rosso’s dream start with the new STR4 is not going too well, major problems with the car which means they need parts to be sent from the Faenza factory hampered running and saw their drivers propping up the table just a day after launch.

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time     Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:20.314   55
 2.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:20.907   66
 3.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes       (B)  1:20.966  111
 4.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:21.182  121
 5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:21.347   66
 6.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (B)  1:21.615  127
 7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:21.834   82
 8.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:21.937  111
 9.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:21.991   88
10.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:23.039   14
11.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  no time     6

Impressive display from Kimi

Rubens proves the BGP001 is a good car

Nakajima had a good day

McLaren still struggling and using the hi-viz paint

Michael keeping an eye on things at Ferrari

Trulli - consistent

Pitstop practice vital

Heidfeld Fastest On Jerez Test Final Day

Nick Heidfeld topped the time sheets in the BMW Sauber F1.09 on the final day of the Jerez test week which started last Sunday with all teams (bar Toro Rosso) running their 2009 machinery together for the first time.

Heidfeld put in 123 laps, by faar the busiest of the day.

He was just faster than Kimi Raikkonen who put the Ferrari in 2nd place, a locale it has held all week with consistent and reliable tests.

Lewis Hamilton was 3rd, he lost control of his car and put it in the barriers during the day and completed under 60 laps.  The World Champion and his team look to be struggling at this crucial stage of the pre-season.

Webber and Nakajima were next, and propping up the times was Jarno Trulli who had lots of problems and got hardly any competitive running in.

The Italian was happy with his chance to run 2010 Bridgestone tyres however.

“That was a short day for us,” said Trulli. “We lost the morning to the weather but in the afternoon we had a chance to try out the 2010 Bridgestone slick tyres. The conditions remained difficult because the wind was still strong.

“On one run I picked up some damage to the front wing after running over kerbs. Still, we made it through a number of runs and collected data for the future. As for this season, this test shows that things are going well for us so we can be confident.”

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time     Laps
 1.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:20.052  123
 2.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  1:20.404  112
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:21.272   58
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:22.219   47
 5.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:22.226   54
 6.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  1:23.119   38

Nick Heidfeld

Lewis Hamilton

Bridgestone Slicks

Kazuki Nakajima

Spectator

Jarno Trulli

Williams Launch Final FW31 Livery

Williams have launched the definitive final livery for their 2009 car the FW31 in a minor ceremony at their factory in Grove today.

We released a picture spotted in the back of a garage at Jerez of the colour scheme earlier on this month (http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/spotted-williams-fw31-2009-livery/ ).

The final edition is very close to that, and feature heavy branding from electronics supplier Philips and former banking giant RBS with whom the sponsorship deal will end this season.

The team are hoping that they can get a win this season, having not experienced the top step of the podium in the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix with Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

“We’d love to be a winner or in the top three all the time,” said Williams.

“But to be very close to the top three would be a big step for year one. It’s by no means impossible, but it depends how good we’ve been this winter. We might get lucky with the car.”

Bourdais Fastest At Jerez Test

Sebastien Bourdais was the fastest driver of the day at Jerez, but Lewis Hamilton was the fastest of the 2009 car runners at the circuit.

While Ferrari and Toyota were not running in Bahrain, Toro Rosso, McLaren and Red Bull amongst other teams were present in Europe for one of the first dry tests of the season.

Bourdais was clearly fastest, but mainly because the 2008 cars on slick tyres are just so much faster than 2009 cars.

While Hamilton was fastest of the 2009 bunch, the McLaren team are still running a 2008 rear wing on the MP4-24 so the times are not 100% accurate to the new regulations.

Sebastian Vettel was kicking at the World Champions heels in the new Red Bull RB5, with a time just 0.001 of a second slower.  That Red Bull has the potential to be one of the best this season.

Nakajima and Fernando Alonso followed in 4th and 5th places.

“Today was all about getting mileage on the car, especially with the new KERS system,” said Alonso.

“It was my first full dry day in the car and so I was able to learn a lot. We completed lots of laps, which is encouraging and now we will start working on the set-up of the car so that I can get more comfortable with it.”

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time     Laps
 1.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)   1:18.493  128
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)   1:20.737   93
 3.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)   1:20.738   92
 4.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)   1:20.898   92
 5.  Alonso        Renault              (B)   1:21.307  133

Kazuki Nakajima under the bridge across the main straight

Hamilton was the fastest 2009 car, but they were using an '08 rear wing

Fernando Alonso

Vettel was fast again in the promising RB5

Meanwhile in Bahrain….

Testing might as well be abandoned as a major sandstorm has hit the Sakhir circuit again

Williams Launch Their 2009 Car – The FW31

Williams have joined Renault in launching their 2009 challenger today in a low key event at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal.

The British based team left test driver and rising star Nico Hulkenberg with the duty to show the new car, named the Fw31 to the presses.

The new machine will give the team optimism to get back to the top with the swathes of new rule changes leaving this car completly different to the FW30.  Still powered by a Toyota engine, this car has a lot in common with the Ferrari F60.  It has a very similar front wing, and aerodynamic winglets protruding from the sidepods where Ferrari houses its wing mirrors.

The car seen here is in an interim test livery and will have a liverly launch nearer to the first round of the season in March.

Philips have become a larger sponsor to the team, who are struggling to find backers in the increasingly tough economic crisis.  Thomson, Oris and RBS still remain on the car, but for RBS how much longer must be questioned as they posted a £20billion loss, the largest loss for a British company ever today.

Front 3/4

Front

Above

Rear

Nose Detail

Sidepod detail

Toyota Launch Their 2009 Car The TF109

Toyota have launched their 2009 car the TF109 in a “virtual” ceremony in Cologne, Germany.

The team are continuing the theme of understated lauches this season to save money.

The teams #1 driver, Jarno Trulli hopes the new machine will put Toyota at the front and in a race winning position.

“I expect Toyota to be competitive again,” said Trulli as Toyota unveiled their new TF109. “Beyond that I cannot say; we will have to wait and see what the first few races hold.

“I am a very confident person and I am always optimistic so again this season I have high hopes, but I know from my experience that whatever I say in the winter doesn’t really count for much when the season starts – the important thing is what we do on the track.

“I hope I can fight for Toyota’s first victory; that is my dream. Formula One is extremely competitive at the moment so I expect this season to be exciting and very interesting; I am looking forward to it.”

He added: “I hope we can build on the progress we showed in 2008 and challenge for the team’s first win. Formula One is a team game, you win and lose together, and Toyota did a very good job last year which allowed me to be competitive and fight at the front.”

Front 3/4

Front

Above

Front Wing Detail

Rear Coke-Bottle Detail

TF109 with Jarno Trulli, Kazuki Nakajima (seated) and Timo Glock