Alonso, Ferrari, Barcelona. But no Bahrain.
By Roberto Motta
Photos: Ferrari-Media
The Bahrain Grand Prix, first race of Formula One Championship has been postponed. The decision was taken by the Arabs organizers as results of the sad events that are happening on these days in this country.
Catalunya Testing
On Friday February 18th, the Ferrari 150th Italia started its third test session in preparation for the Formula 1 World Championship, at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
Alonso began the test at 9 am, and the work was dedicated to aerodynamic measurements. In the second stage Alonso began tire evaluation, which once again was the number one priority. In the morning Alonso had completed 37 laps, setting the best time of all so far of 1.25.485. At the end of the first testing day, the Spaniard completed 101 laps, covering around 470 kilometers without any problems. The chassis has been used for the crash tests, chassis 287, were used for bench testing and now it showed a good level of reliability. In the mean time the chassis 288 that has been used at the launch and in Valencia and Jerez testing days, was sent back to Maranello’s factory to be updated in readiness for the start of the season in Sakhir.
Tire testing remained the top priority for the Ferrari team on Friday.
At the end of the test Alonso said “Overall, it was a positive day. We did a lot of laps and brought home much valuable information. It seems that, on this track too, there is a certain level of tire degradation, but it is only the first day and we have to see how the track evolves between now and Monday”
There was also some good news from Renault, who announced that Robert Kubica is continuing to recover well from his rally crash injuries at Italy’s Santa Corona Hospital. Kubika left the intensive care after undergoing a third surgery on Wednesday. Kubica underwent a successful procedure was to repair the complex fracture to his elbow and he is now set to be transferred to the hospital’s rehabilitation department to continue his recuperation. But Kubica is sure to miss much of the 2011 Formula One season after his accident in the Ronde di Andora Rally earlier this month. His place at Renault is being taken by Nick Heidfeld, who was Kubica’s former team mate at BMW Sauber.
18th February is an important date in the history of the Maranello for on that day in 1898, Enzo Ferrari was born, even if the official registration of his birth states it happened two days later. His son Piero said: “My father always celebrated his birthday on the 18th, and today would have been a working day for him,” then said “He would be very interested to see how this championship will start, given all the new rules and, especially, the return of Pirelli, the company with which he won his first Drivers’ title in 1952, with Alberto Ascari.”
Unofficial Friday test times:
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:24.374, 37 laps
2. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:25.485, 101
3. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:25.638, 57
4. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 1:25.641, 78
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:26.365, 77
6. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:26.575, 26
7. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:26.912, 52
8. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:27.512, 90
9. Narain Karthikeyan, HRT, 1:28.393, 116
10. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, 1:30.065, 54
11. Jerome d’Ambrosio, Virgin, 1:30.950, 116
12. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:35.174, 20
13. Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 1:44.324, 27
Alonso's Saturday testing was cut short due to mechanical problems.
On Saturday, February 19th during the second day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and the other Formula 1 teams, Alonso had problems and Vettel was again the fastest driver. Alonso completed only a few laps before was stopped by a couple of problems, one electrical, the other mechanical. The electrical problem did not cost too much in terms of time, but the mechanical problem, took a couple of hours to resolve. After the repair, there was not time to work through all the planned programs. However, the amount of data gathered, especially in terms of that relating to the behavior of the new Pirelli tires, was still substantial. At the end of the test, Alonso’s fastest lap was 1.23.978.
Alonso philosophically said “Better to have problems here than in a race”
Unofficial Saturday test times:
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:23.315, 104 laps
2. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:23.519, 97
3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:23.978, 90
4. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:24.008, 118
5. Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 1:24.242, 41
6. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 1:24.243, 125
7. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:24.730, 131
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:24.923, 54
9. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:25.194, 80
10. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, 1:26.421, 58
11. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:26.884, 61
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi, HRT, 1:27.044, 70
13. Timo Glock, Virgin, 1:27.242, 66
14. Ricardo Teixeira, Lotus, 1:31.584, 26
Massa gets a chance to try out the intermediate and wet compounds.
On Sunday February 20th, was the first day of testing for Felipe Massa, but he was affected by bad weather as it rained during the night and then again in early morning.
Felipe started its testing after 9 am, and was able to get a first impression of the handling of the intermediate rubber, completing a total of 42 laps. Felipe had two excursions on the gravel, but fortunately, the Ferrari F150th Italia was repaired in a short time. At the end of the morning the times were good enough for use the dry tires, and Felipe ended the morning doing practice starts. In the afternoon, on a completely dry track, Felipe had long run and made a successful race simulation. He drove a total of 123 laps, with a best time of 1.26.508.
“It was a really busy day, during which we managed to do a lot of kilometers in very different conditions,” said Felipe. “It was important to be able to complete a simulation of a Grand Prix, which we did while trying to make the tires last as long as possible: it’s fair to say that it went off without any surprises.”
Study in concentration for Massa, who did very well testing in Barcelona.
Unofficial Sunday test times:
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:23.168, 92 laps
2. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:23.463, 93
3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:23.858, 93
4. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:24.815, 60
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:24.995, 139
6. Jarno Trulli, Lotus, 1:25.454, 48
7. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:25.557, 115
8. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:25.720, 102
9. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:26.155, 31
10. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:26.508, 123
11. Timo Glock, Virgin, 1:26.598, 97
12. Giorgio Mondini, HRT, 1:28.178, 39
13. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:28.329, 42
14. Narain Karthikeyan, HRT, 1:30.722, 32
On Monday, February 21st, the final testing day began under sunny skies. Massa was able to work on a long run, and stopped the testing for a lunch break, covering 66 laps, with a best time of 1.24.929. Felipe continued his work in the afternoon, running various fuel loads and covered a total of 121 laps. The Felipe’s best lap, a 1m 22.625s, was the fastest time of the four-day session at the Spanish circuit and almost four seconds quicker than the Brazilian’s fastest lap on Sunday.
We are not supposed to think about the times, but Massa set the fastest time overall for Barcelona testing.
Unofficial Monday test times:
1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:22.625
2. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.442
3. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:23.550
4. Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 1:23.657
5. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:24.003
6. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:24.057
7. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:24.177
8. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:24.515
9. Jerome D’Ambrosio, Virgin, 1:26.501
10. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:27.079
11. Jarno Trulli, Lotus, 1:29.992