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gkaytaz wrote:

Bundy wrote: I have been hibernating for a while....OK extremely evenlt match is a bit of an exaggeration but compared with past years we will hopefully see a few close races

All the better for us fans More excitement.

Bundy is definately awake,.........could hear him scratchin n 'arting from the East Coast

Q & A with with Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone Motorsport
Head of Track Engineering Operations following the 3 day test at Jerez:

Are the new specification tyres of a harder compound than last season? How does this affect the teams and drivers?
A target of the development of the new compounds is to make the tyre easier to drive. We have changed the working range of the tyre to make the temperature range in which the tyre operates wider.
The overall grip level is lower, but the temperature dependency of the grip is far wider and not so extreme, which means improved driveability.

What does the wider operating window of the 2007 specification mean for teams and drivers?
We believe it is easier to drive and this has been seen in the testing we have had where the teams have been able to go out when it is not much above 0° Celsius and then up to 25° Celsius with the same tyre. Warm up has become less of an issue. Over the course of a season there is a lot of variation of temperature and of track surface and the wider operating window we have accounts for this.
We have tested at different circuits and on different types of tarmac and have had good feedback from all of them.

Can you clarify how the decision is made for which two tyre compounds are taken to each Grand Prix?
We already have a plan of our expected tyre compound allocation for the season which is based on our estimates of wear life, graining level, and the blister level of the compounds. Whilst the outline allocation is decided, we are still conducting the winter tests which give us validation of our estimates and after these are completed we will make our final decisions. So far though we are happy and confident with what we have seen related to our estimates.

What were the aims of this week’s test and which tyres were tested at Jerez?
We used the medium, wet and extreme wets here. This is our third winter test at Jerez so we have already confirmed that the tyre works well in these conditions. It is more of an opportunity for the teams to get further data and become more confident with their chassis. There has been some tyre degradation of course, but at the moment the teams are still studying how to run with the new tyres and how to make the best use of their characteristics. Of course the difference this year is that it is the teams who have to adapt to the tyres whereas in previous years we have provided teams with tyres to suit each of them and each circuit.

The final day at Jerez featured a wet circuit, which tyres were used on this and what did you learn?
On Thursday we ran with the wet and extreme wet weather tyres. The operating window of both tyres was very similar to our expectations, their performance has been good and they provide a good base for teams to work with when they face variable conditions.

How do you expect hot weather to affect the different compounds?
The only aspect we need to validate is our estimation of how the tyres will work in hot conditions as we have not had hot weather so far in testing. Hopefully it will be hot in Bahrain, judging from our experience last year we gained valuable data when we visited there. It could be that the Sepang test is the first time teams run in really hot conditions, and we will be very interested in those results. The main concern from the heat is tyre degradation, but the compounds we have selected are the best from the information we have so far, and we can expect improvements in car development and setup as teams learn more about their cars.

Are there differences in the data coming back from the teams?
There are, of course, differences as the teams are running with different cars. The general trends are similar however.

Which compounds are scheduled for the next tests in Barcelona and Bahrain?
In Barcelona we will be using the hard compound and in Bahrain we will use the medium and hard compounds.

Massa believes....BMW is the team to beat!!!

But can the drivers hold of the challenge?...Alonso even in a dead car would give trouble to the best car package....KIMI i'm still not sure?

Massa could be impressive

It is very interesting what Massa has said. How much of it is serious and how much distraction we won't know. And how much does he really know about BMW apart from laptimes ?
While I would be surprised if BMW actually make it into the top 3, it isn't impossible. The team did an impressive job last year and if they continue at the same pace they could acheive that. Keep in mind that they have the best windtunnel in the business and is now operating optimally, they also have the best supercomputer in the business so expect the results to start showing.
Yes there is a question mark on the drivers and they have yet to win as a team.

We'll see the lap by lap times from Barcelona starting Monday then we'll have better information about those cars

I think BMW will make it into the top 3 for the constructors

beating who?

Barcelona - 12/02/2007
1 . P. de la Rosa - McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 - 1:22.634 (+ 0.000 ) - 76 laps
2 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.07 - 1:22.635 (+ 0.001 ) - 60 laps
3 . F. Alonso - McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 - 1:22.726 (+ 0.092 ) - 56 laps
4 . A. Wurz - Williams Toyota FW29 - 1:23.037 (+ 0.403 ) - 44 laps
5 . F. Massa - Ferrari F2007 - 1:23.077 (+ 0.443 ) - 29 laps
6 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F2007 - 1:23.215 (+ 0.581 ) - 25 laps
7 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF107 - 1:23.239 (+ 0.605 ) - 74 laps
8 . H. Kovalainen - Renault R27 - 1:23.491 (+ 0.857 ) - 55 laps
9 . N. Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW29 - 1:23.602 (+ 0.968 ) - 78 laps
10 . T. Glock - BMW Sauber F1.07 - 1:23.653 (+ 1.019 ) - 61 laps
11 . G. Fisichella - Renault R27 - 1:23.896 (+ 1.262 ) - 79 laps
12 . F. Montagny - Toyota TF107 - 1:24.015 (+ 1.381 ) - 64 laps
13 . C. Klien - Honda RA107 - 1:24.227 (+ 1.593 ) - 51 laps
14 . D. Coulthard - Red Bull Renault RB3 - 1:24.291 (+ 1.657 ) - 80 laps
15 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB3 - 1:24.531 (+ 1.897 ) - 83 laps
16 . A. Davidson - Super Aguri Honda RA106 - 1:24.574 (+ 1.940 ) - 66 laps
17 . R. Barrichello - Honda RA107 - 1:24.934 (+ 2.300 ) - 24 laps
18 . A. Sutil - Spyker Ferrari F8-VII - 1:25.581 (+ 2.947 ) - 83 laps.

More fuel for my impression that MW may have moved too soon

F1greyhound wrote:beating who?

7 others

GhoGho wrote:More fuel for my impression that MW may have moved too soon

It wasn't just car performance behind his move, gho gho.

Julian Mayo wrote:

GhoGho wrote:More fuel for my impression that MW may have moved too soon

It wasn't just car performance behind his move, gho gho.

As a former party animal myself, I can understand his main motivation.
RBR is THE place to be at any GP meeting

GhoGho wrote:

Julian Mayo wrote:

GhoGho wrote:More fuel for my impression that MW may have moved too soon

It wasn't just car performance behind his move, gho gho.

As a former party animal myself, I can understand his main motivation.
RBR is THE place to be at any GP meeting

former????

Thanks GhoGho for posting the times.

For some reason, the Catalunya circuit have not published the lap by lap times for Monday. Hopefully they will shortly!

A few notes on the testing;

First, the lap times are much slower than last year and that is not only due to the harder tyres but also because the track has been modified with a new chicane added.
Best time last year on last year's tyres was a 1:13.471 (Michael Schumacher).
Best time last year on 07 spec tyres was 1:15.926 (Jarno Trulli)

Ferrari continue to have major problems. Massa's car had an electrical fault and caught fire while Raikkonen suffered a different electrical problem. Both drivers had limited running with Massa doing 29 laps and Raikkonen just 25.

Kubica's car came to a halt on the track however the team indicated they planned to run the car dry.

Webber in the Red Bull and Adrian Sutil in the Spyker F1 both covered the most laps with 83.

It appears that BMW and Williams have both made good steps forward.

Testing continues on Tuesday.

BMW will be = 3 Fig

Barcelona - 13/02/2007

1 . F. Massa - Ferrari F2007 - 1:21.181 (+ 0.000 ) - 107 laps
2 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F2007 - 1:21.719 (+ 0.538 ) - 154 laps
3 . H. Kovalainen - Renault R27 - 1:21.819 (+ 0.638 ) - 99 laps
4 . F. Alonso - McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 - 1:21.901 (+ 0.720 ) - 63 laps
5 . G. Fisichella - Renault R27 - 1:21.997 (+ 0.816 ) - 129 laps
6 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 - 1:22.078 (+ 0.897 ) - 118 aps
7 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.07 - 1:22.100 (+ 0.919 ) - 56 laps
8 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF107 - 1:22.227 (+ 1.046 ) - 96 laps
9 . N. Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW29 - 1:22.249 (+ 1.068 ) - 10 laps
10 . A. Wurz - Williams Toyota FW29 - 1:22.288 (+ 1.107 ) - 55 laps
11 . F. Montagny - Toyota TF107 - 1:22.476 (+ 1.295 ) - 96 laps
12 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.07 - 1:22.618 (+ 1.437 ) - 92 laps
13 . R. Barrichello - Honda RA107 - 1:22.669 (+ 1.488 ) - 85 laps
14 . J. Button - Honda RA107 - 1:22.816 (+ 1.635 ) - 91 laps
15 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB3 - 1:22.916 (+ 1.735 ) - 83 laps
16 . D. Coulthard - Red Bull Renault RB3 - 1:23.322 (+ 2.141 ) - 50 laps
17 . A. Davidson - Super Aguri Honda RA106 - 1:23.969 (+ 2.788 ) - 97 laps
18 . C. Albers - Spyker Ferrari F8-VII - 1:24.425 (+ 3.244 ) - 108 laps.