FORMULA 1 - 2010

[MIKA27]

Sauber says new C29 hitting targets

Willy Rampf says Sauber’s C29 delivered the performance the team had been expecting of it during its highly encouraging debut test in Valencia last week.

While Ferrari stole the early pre-season headlines by heading the timesheet on all three days in Spain, Sauber finished directly behind it on the times on each occasion with either Pedro de la Rosa or Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel – although some have suggested this could partly be down to the team running a lighter fuel load than most.

Rampf, the Hinwil-based squad’s technical director, refused to be drawn into predicting where the team might be on the nascent 2010 pecking order – but did admit that the C29’s on-track performance was so far correlating with its data from simulation work.

“That is even more difficult to assess this year than in previous years,” he said when asked to give a verdict on the team’s early competitiveness.

“All we can say is that our car is delivering the performance expected based on our simulations and measurements in the wind tunnel.

“Vastly differing fuel loads make it impossible to draw an absolute comparison with other teams’ cars.”

He added: “The drivers’ comments have been generally positive regarding factors such as braking stability, traction and the car’s responses under widely varying fuel loads.”

Sauber, like all of the seven teams in action at Valencia last week, enjoyed high levels of reliability with its all-new car and Rampf says that, a few tweaks aside, there are no major concerns to address ahead of the start of the second test at Jerez on Wednesday.

“All in all we can be satisfied with the reliability of the car,” he said.

“We completed 1,000 kilometres over the three days without encountering any major problems.

“Of course, we have to make some adjustments and modifications, but that’s what tests are there for.”

“We will have worked through most of the points before the next test in Jerez.

“There’s nothing that we need to be seriously concerned about.

“For example, the rear of the engine cover was singed by the exhaust gases, so we’ll be using a different material for that.”

Sauber has opted for an all-new driver line-up for this year following 2006-2009 owner BMW’s withdrawal from Formula 1 and Rampf is pleased with how de la Rosa and Kobayashi have settled into the team so far.

“Both drivers are new to the team and so we’re all still getting to know each other," Rampf added.

“However, the working relationship between the drivers and team has got off to a very good start.

“With Pedro you can see that his vast well of experience has given him a broad base of technical knowledge, which is extremely valuable for all involved.

“Kamui gets his impressions across very quickly, which means he can give the engineers the information they need to work out the changes required. All in all, the drivers and engineers are already working together very productively.”

[MIKA27]

Webber upbeat after first Red Bull test

Mark Webber has given Red Bull Racing's new RB6 an instant thumbs up after its first day of testing - and reckons the team has delivered exactly what it needed to for this season.

Despite losing track time at Jerez through a precautionary engine change, and rain affecting the day's running, Webber was upbeat about his early impressions of the car.

"It was a pretty positive feeling actually," said the Australian. "It wasn't exactly a clean day of testing with the changeable conditions but that is the same with everyone.

"Then we had an unfortunate, pretty basic oil leak that turned into a bit more of a palaver than that. It was unfortunate that with hindsight we probably could have handled it a little bit better, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

"We haven't done the track time that we should have, but in the end we still got 50 laps on the car. Hopefully tomorrow it is dry so we can get more information."

Although almost the entire day was wet, the conditions were good enough for Webber to feel that the car was doing what he hoped it would.

"Everything felt as we targeted and expected," he said. "On a normal wet, slippery day at Jerez it felt fine. There were no real vices in the car.

"We still have to understand a few things with it, but now it is shaken down we can start to do a bit of work tomorrow. Then in the back part of the month we can start to look at lap times.

"It's impossible [to judge the speed exactly] because you've got people out there who are one minute flying and the next minute not flying, so it's hard to say who is doing what."

And although some have expressed surprise that the RB6 is just an evolution of last year's successful RB5, Webber is convinced enough by the work that technical chief Adrian Newey has done as the team targets world title glory in 2010.

"I saw the car months ago so I knew what it was like," he said. "Everyone copied his ideas from last year, which is a real credit to Adrian, but there is only so much the guy can do.

"You don't know what he might come up with and you might think it is going to be strange or different, but he has generally done a good job of designing F1 cars for regulation changes.

"We are very confident that this is a strong evolution of what we had last year and we hope it stands us in good stead. But hoping and wishing doesn't get you anywhere. We know what we are up against and we are respectful of the opposition. We've done enough, that's all you can do."

[MIKA27]

McLaren repeat: No need for alarm bells

McLaren insist there is no need for "alarm bells" after the team's MP4-25 was spotted with a rather unusual device attached at Jerez on Wednesday morning.

Concerns were raised about McLaren's 2010 challenger at the first pre-season test at Valencia last week when the MP4-25 was splashed with 'fluminescent' paint.

This paint is often used by teams to get a better understanding of a car's aerodynamic shortcomings, however, McLaren were quick to insist that there is "no cause for alarm."

Less than a week later and the team is once again having to deny problems after Jenson Button took to the Valencia track on Wednesday morning with a strange sidepod structure on his car.

The device, which is used for measuring aerodynamic flow structures, once again had McLaren putting out fires before they started.

A team spokesman told Autosport that there is no need for "alarm bells", adding that it is "normal engineering work.

"Given the limited amount of testing that teams have been permitted over the past two seasons, as a team we feel it's necessary to put as much emphasis as we possibly can on accurately measuring the flow structures we encounter at the track so that we can match them to the flow structures we are able to simulate in CFD and the windtunnel back at the factory."

MIKA: I don't see what the big deal is really, it's testing afterall and if they ran out of time, I find it hard to see how that would work in a wind tunnel etc, so perhaps others should concentrate on their own teams.

[MIKA27]

Jerez Day One: A tale of two Nicos

Nico Rosberg may officially be the winner of the opening day of testing at Jerez but it was Nico Hulkenberg who won the bigger - and longer - battle.

Wednesday marked the first of four days that the Formula One teams will be testing this week and with heavy cloud cover overhead it was only a matter of time before the rain came down.

But before it did, Rosberg put in 11 laps during which he clocked a 1:20.927, putting him at the top of the leaderboard.

The Mercedes GP driver's time proved to be unbeatable for the remaining seven hours of play as the constant rain meant his rivals were unable to get the grip or speed needed to challenge him.

But while Rosberg may be the official winner of Day One, one could argue that Hulkenberg was just as big a winner.

The Williams driver set the fastest lap time on a wet track, clocking a 1:28.606, four-tenths up on Fernando Alonso's best.

Jenson Button was third quickest in the wet, some 1.5s off Hulkenberg's pace. Button's day began with some concerns about his MP4-25, which was fitted with a special device used to measures aerodynamic flow structures.

This prompted some speculation that McLaren were having aero problems, a claim denied by the team, who also ran Button's MP4-25 without the device attached.

Mark Webber, whose newly-launched RB6 suffered an oil leak that kept him off the track for over four hours, was fourth quickest in the wet, although only ninth in the dry. The Aussie also brought out the day's first red flag when his car stopped out on track.

He finished, at the wet timesheets at least, ahead of Kamui Kobayashi and Rosberg. Rosberg was responsible for the only other red flag, bringing the session to an end with eight minutes left on the clock. Initial reports claim it was a mechanical failure that caused Rosberg to stop out on track.

Tonio Liuzzi, testing Force India's VJM01 for the first time, finished in seventh place ahead of Sebastian Buemi, Vitaly Petrov and Timo Glock.

Glock was in action for Virgin Racing today, putting their new challenger through its paces up against rivals for the very first time. However, he joined the action late in the day, only hitting the track after lunch, which meant the German wasn't able to put in a single lap on a dry track.

Unofficial Wet Times

1. Hulkenberg Williams 1:28.606

2. Alonso Ferrari 1:28.7

3. Button McLaren 1:30

4. Webber Red Bull 1:30

5. Kobayashi Sauber 1:31

6. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:32

7. Liuzzi Force India 1:32

8. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:33

9. Petrov Renault 1:34

10. Glock Virgin Racing 1:38

Unofficial Dry Times

1. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP W01 1:20.927 57 laps

2. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:21.031 +0.104 84 laps

3. N. Hülkenberg Williams FW32 1:22.243 +1.316 118 laps

4. F. Alonso Ferrari F10 1:22.895 +1.968 88 laps

5. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:23.287 +2.360 55 laps

6. J. Button McLaren MP4-25 1:24.947 +4.020 68 laps

7. V. Liuzzi Force India VJM-03 1:24.968 +4.041 71 laps

8. V. Petrov Renault R30 1:25.440 +4.513 27 laps

9. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB6 1:26.502 +5.575 50 laps

10. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:38.734 +17.807 5 laps

MIKA: Nico Hulkenberg has my vote over Rosberg anyday. That guy is awesome in any weather. Watch this space, he will be the next Schuey.

[MIKA27]

Glock 'encouraged' by Virgin's first run

After a delayed start, Timo Glock was delighted to be back in action, testing Virgin's new VR01 at the Jerez circuit on Wednesday.

Virgin became the first of the newcomers to pit their new car against the existing Formula One teams, however, the day did not quite go according to plan.

A delayed started due to some parts arriving late on Tuesday night, meant Glock wasn't able to venture out until after the lunch.

And, unfortunately for the German and his team, that meant they were not able to get in even a single lap of drying running as the rain came down early in the morning session and continued throughout the day.

Glock completed just five laps in two very short runs as the team wanted to ensure that the car would be set for a full day's play on Thursday.

"It's great to be back in the car and to have the chance to open it up a bit around a few full laps of the track," said Glock.

"It's early days but I'm encouraged by what I've experienced so far and in particular the fact that we haven't had any reliability issues on the first day of our first proper test.

"A big thank you to the guys for working all through the night. I hope they can get some sleep tonight so we can all start to put the car through its paces tomorrow."

[MIKA27]

'Engine rules could drive manufacturers away'

Red Bull boss Christian Horner expects more big manufacturing names to leave Formula One unless there are rule changes.

The 36-year-old was speaking at the launch of his team's new RB6 car, which has a Renault engine believed to be underpowered compared to some of its rivals.

And Horner believes more suppliers could withdraw unless the FIA's rules on engine development are relaxed.

"The problem with the engine freeze is that you freeze in an advantage," he said in comments reported on www.autosport.com.

"I think the Renault has some good aspects and Renault, when the freeze came, took it a bit more literally than some of the other manufacturers. I think there is disparity currently within engine performance.

"On a fair and equitable basis, we rely on the governing body to ensure that you don't have large disparity between engines because the problem is that, as the chassis converge in performance, the engines will become a key performance differentiator, and the idea of freezing the engine was largely to eliminate the performance differential between the engines.

"I think the problem is if you don't allow some development, then you freeze in an advantage for one team or a disadvantage for another.

"So there has to be a balancing of that, otherwise we will end up with Mercedes-powered cars winning all the races - which I think is not good for F1.

"And other manufacturers may choose to leave F1 off of the back of that.

"The engine isn't supposed to be a key performance differentiator and therefore hopefully the ruling body will balance out somewhat the differences there at the moment."

The RB6 revealed in Jerez on Wednesday showed slight changes from last year's car, with extra length to accommodate more fuel and an exaggerated 'v' nose.

"This car is a limousine," said Mark Webber. "We had only small aerodynamic changes so we didn't go crazy.

"It shows how clever Adrian Newey is that a lot of people copied our car (last year)."

MIKA: The Renault engine is quite a formidable piece of machinery regardless of the freeze. Look at last year, 6 wins and more than Ferrari. Engines aren't the 'complete' solution, it's also chassis and aero which make a huge difference and RBR have one of the best aero technician/designers in F1.

[MIKA27]

Horner refuses to rule out signing Raikkonen

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner concedes the prospect of Kimi Raikkonen joining his team in 2011 is an "interesting" one.

Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One World Champion, is taking a sabbatical year from grand prix racing after being released by Ferrari at the end of last season.

The Finn failed to agree terms on a switch to the McLaren team and subsequently signed with the Citroen Junior Team to contest the 2010 World Rally Championship, which gets under way in Sweden this weekend.

Red Bull, who finished second in last year's Constructors' Championship, were immediately linked with a move for Raikkonen in 2011 after the news of his sabbatical broke, and his association with the Red Bull-backed Citroen Junior outfit has only served to intensify that speculation.

Speaking in Jerez at the launch of his team's new car, Horner refused to categorically rule out a move for the 30-year-old, but insisted his focus was firmly on current Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

Horner said: "I think it is an interesting idea.

"Inevitably people will write and speculate about it, but what I can tell you is that Kimi's focus is very much on rallying. There has been no discussion about F1.

"Kimi's heart seems to be in rallying. He had a lot of desire to go there, and it is going to be an interesting year for him.

"We are very happy with our current driver line-up. Next year is a long way away, but we will focus on our current drivers."

[MIKA27]

Schumi: First step is reliability

Michael Schumacher had no complaints about his MGP W01, which proved its reliability during Thursday's marathon run at Jerez.

Taking over from his team-mate Nico Rosberg for the second day at the Spanish track, the seven-time World Champion made the most of a dry track, amassing 124 laps.

Testing different tyre compounds provided by Bridgestone alongside some chassis set-up work during the morning session, Scumacher swapped over to work through a race simulation programme in the afternoon.

The German finished the day sixth on the timesheets, with a best time of 1:21.083, which was 1.133s off the pace.

"I am very happy with how the day went today even if we could not finish our schedule completely due to red flags," [/b]said Schumacher.

"However I managed to complete a lot of laps which is very precious to me. A new car, a new team and new conditions, therefore our first goal has to be to make the car reliable.

"Days like today help massively in that respect, especially as the weather forecast for the next few days isn't looking quite so rosy.

"I felt very comfortable driving the car and it was good fun today."

MIKA: What a machine, 124 laps for testing then MS sits in a simulator!

[MIKA27]

Alonso: It's always special to race Schumi

Fernando Alonso is enjoying his time up against Schumacher after sharing the track with the German at Jerez on Thursday.

Schumacher, a seven-time World Champion, is making his return to Formula One after a three-year lay-off.

Schumacher quit F1 at the end of 2006, the second successive year in which he was beaten to the Drivers' crown by Alonso.

The German, now racing for Mercedes GP, and Ferrari's Alonso are two of the favourites for this year's title and F1 fans aren't the only ones looking forward to the battle.

"I always enjoy the big names and the big battles, and for sure it's very, very special to race with Michael again," Alonso told Autosport.

"If you have a fight and you win a race it's always nicer to have a battle with Michael than any other driver."

[MIKA27]

Di Grassi: Wing issue is resolved

Lucas di Grassi is confident that Virgin Racing has solved the front wing-mounting issue which has forced the team to miss significant running at Jerez after the problem did not repeat itself today.

The Virgin VR-01 lost its front wing with Timo Glock at the wheel on Thursday, and the team was forced to modify the design of its mounting and manufacturer new parts.

All of the required parts had arrived by the middle of the day, and di Grassi was able to take to the track in late afternoon.

"The weather is not helping us, with rain forecast for tomorrow," he said. "But we hope that everything goes according to plan and we are able to do more mileage tomorrow."

[MIKA27]

Lotus launches 2010 car in London

Lotus became the latest Formula 1 team to launch its 2010 challenger, as the wraps officially came off the new car in London on Friday.

The new car - named T127 - carries the colours used by the legendary team back in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Lotus name is returning to Formula 1 this year having quit the sport at the end of the 1994 season. The team is now owned by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes.

"Words cannot express how I feel today," said Fernandes. "It is an amazing job to get an F1 licence, have five people in Hingham and turn up today with this car.

"I was thrilled when Clive [Chapman] said that this was just like te beginning of Lotus back in the early days."

He added: "We know we have a huge burden on our shoulers, standing on the shoulders of giants - Clark, Moss, Hill, and Mansell. We know we have a tremendous journey in front of us, we are honoured and cherished to be a part of history - we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts and we will do our best to return Lotus to its glory days."

The new car was shaken down at the Silverstone circuit earlier this week and the team is scheduled to begin testing at the Jerez circuit alongside rivals from next week.

Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen will be the men in charge of racing the Lotus cars this year.

Lotus is the second new team to complete and launch its car ahead of the start of the 2010 season. Technical chief Mike Gascoyne said Lotus is aiming to do a professional job this year.

"We are looking in really good shape," Gascoyne stated earlier this week. "We have to improve the pace of our car and the results from wind tunnel, but that will come with time.

"Our first aim was to be on the grid - to be a professional team where everything is to be F1 standard. We definitely will do that. The team will look good and step one has been achieved."

[MIKA27]

Jerez testing gallery:

Action Shots:

Hamilton took over from Button in the McLaren MP4-25 on Friday

Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari set the pace in the early dry running

Vettel is getting his first opportunity to sample Red Bull's new car

Barrichello's Williams shadows Massa's Ferrari

Jaime Alguersuari: a study in concentration

Pedro de la Rosa is back behind the wheel of the Sauber

Fernando Alonso completed 129 laps in the Ferrari on Thursday

Sebastien Buemi set the pace for most of the day but wound up second to Kamui Kobayashi

Michael Schumacher says he is feeling ever more comfortable in the Mercedes W01

Robert Kubica chats with Renault's chief engineer Alan Permane

Despite a few teething troubles, Mark Webber is upbeat about the new Red Bull

Nico Hulkenberg's Williams has been fast but unreliable at Jerez

The teams took full advantage of Thursday's improved weather, logging more than 120 laps in some cases

The Force India VJM03 ran reliably and clocked the fifth best time

Getting used to the narrower front tyres is one of the teams' main tasks this winter

Alonso was impressively quick throughout a marathon 48-lap run

Jenson Button enjoyed a productive day in the McLaren, despite stopping on track near the end of Thursday's session when a warning light came on in the cockpit

Webber gave the Red Bull RB6 its first real dry weather running

Virgin had to park its VR-01 after the front wing came off and it didn't have enough spare parts

Buemi pushing hard in the Toro Rosso STR5

2010 testing continues to pull in the punters, and on Thursday they were rewarded with dry weather

Schumacher and Rosberg are driving the Mercedes on alternate days

This curious sidepod structure on the McLaren is, we are assured, used for measuring aerodynamic flow structures rather than warding off over-zealous photographers...

Nico Rosberg made the most of the brief dry spell at Jerez to set Wednesday's fastest time

Red Bull suffered an oil leak in the late morning and made a precautionary engine change

Nico Hulkenberg pounded round in the wet and completed a mammoth 118 laps in the Williams-Cosworth

The crowd was a fraction of that at Valencia last week, but there were still plenty of hardy fans who braved the bad weather

Virgin Racing rolls out its maiden Formula 1 car, the VR-01

After an early delay while the team waited for new parts to arrive, Virgin got a handful of laps in with Timo Glock at the wheel

Jenson Button applies some opposite lock as his McLaren slides on the wet surface

Kamui Kobayashi got 55 laps under his belt in the Sauber C29

Fernando Alonso focused on reliability work and found the Ferrari F10 was easy to drive in all conditions

Tonio Liuzzi completed 71 laps on the testing debut of the Force India VJM03

Vitaly Petrov spent most of the day in the garage and on the pit wall, completing only 27 laps

Rosberg is happier with both his seating position and the set-up of the Mercedes W01 at Jerez

Button spent the day getting used to the wet-weather behaviour of the MP4-25

Compare and contrast the double diffusers - this is the Force India VJM03...

...the Red Bull RB6

...the Sauber C29

...and the Renault R30

[MIKA27]

The feeling is coming, says Raikkonen

Citroen Junior Team driver Kimi Raikkonen believes his times on the second day of Rally Sweden show progress is being made in his bid to make it as a top line WRC driver.

The Finn ended Saturday's second day of the rally more than 34 minutes behind the leaders after going off the road and getting stuck in a snow bank during Friday's competition. But after a series of promising stage times on Saturday, including one sixth-fastest time on SS15, the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion felt he was starting to get the hang of his new Citroen C4 WRC.

"Yes, it was really good," said Kimi after only his second full day on a World Championship rally. "I didn't like the first stage on Saturday morning so much; then we stalled the engine and got stuck for a little bit on the second stage. After then it all went really well for me; it was a nice day. I'm feeling more confident with the car and we had no problems at all. I always knew that finding the right driving style would take a bit of time, but now it is gradually coming. Hopefully we can have a strong final day; I'm feeling quite confident."

Starting SS6 in 10th place, Raikkonen slid off the road and out of the top 30

Also in an upbeat mood, Kimi's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom said Raikkonen shared at least one critical rally attribute with one of his previous drivers - four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen.

"You can't really compare Kimi to Tommi but one thing they have in common is that they both have fantastic natural speed," said Kaj. "You can always improve your technique and together with Kimi this is something that we are trying to do, but you can't actually learn the speed. Today really showed how when you combine the right speed with the right technique things begin to come together. I've been very impressed by Kimi's progress and we're going to build on this in future."

MIKA: I'm watching the WRC of Sweden as I type this and I can tell you all now that whilst yes. it is early days, Kimi is doing really bad!

We all know Kimi and there's one thing he absolutely hates is losing and looking at his results, 34 minutes behind, he's not even close to the mid field let alone the front runners like leader Gronholm and Loeb.

Kimi is Super quick but he needs to learn control and drifting which is way more complex than driving on an F1 track where the skill required is much more different than Formula 1. I hope that perhaps once Kimi learns the stages in detail, he will be a far more formiddable oponent.

[OZCUBAN]

Shame about Kimi he deserves better results ,but it is a totally different discipline.

Hope Lotus does do well they have a lot of weight on there shoulders good to see British racing green beck again

Keep up the good work Mika (where do you find the time )

Cannot wait for Season to start

Oz

[MIKA27]

Shame about Kimi he deserves better results ,but it is a totally different discipline.

Hope Lotus does do well they have a lot of weight on there shoulders good to see British racing green beck again

Keep up the good work Mika (where do you find the time )

Cannot wait for Season to start

Oz

Thanks OZ.

I make the time to post to keep everyone interested in F1 informed. Sure, most fans have other forums they venture to for F1 news, but I figure, why not have all my sources here on this site.

We're a small group here (Who post generally) but looking at the views, it seems a great many do read our posts which is what drives me.

[MIKA27]

'The old Michael is back'

Michael Schumacher appears to have lost none of his self-confidence during his three years away from Formula One.

With the start of the new season just a month away, the seven-time World Champion has loudly proclaimed that he is back to his best.

"The old Michael is back and he has all his speed," Schumacher is quoted on the James Allen website. "I'm convinced that I have a good car and a good relationship with [Nico] Rosberg. It's great to be able to express myself to a team-mate in my own language."

Mercedes had a few glitches in both Jerez and Valencia, but they appear to have found problems and are working hard to ironed it out.

'The suspicion doing the rounds is that Mercedes has miscalculated the weight distribution slightly, with the weight too far forward. They are working to solve this with new suspension solutions,' the latest Allen story added.

Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull are expected to be Mercedes' main challengers for the World Championship this season. All four have had good outings during the first two pre-season tests in Valencia and Jerez.

Although he concedes that one can't read too much into the testing times, Schumacher admits the top four appear to be in front already.

"It's very tough still to understand the order of the teams just yet as everyone can play so much with the fuel loads and even the weight distribution," he told his official website.

"To me, it looks as if the expected four teams - us, Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull - are up front, but also Sauber seems to be good so far.

"At the end of this week's programme we can say the car looks good. But then, as usual at this period prior to the season there is still a lot to happen. Only at the start of the season we will probably know more in the end."

[MIKA27]

Massa: We're heading in the right direction

Although he is aware that there's still a lot of hard work ahead, Felipe Massa is confident Ferrari are moving in the right direction.

The Brazilian completed a marathon session on the final day of testing in Jerez which included 160 laps - the most in the day. He finished seventh on the timesheets with a 1:21.485.

The time though wasn't important for Ferrari and Massa - it was all about mileage.

"We've never driven 700 kilometres in just one day," Felipe told the Ferrari website.

"Physically I feel well, I actually thought that I might be more tired than I am. I'm pleased by the work we've done today, because we could test the car under all conditions. I'm happy for myself and the team: we concluded the foreseen programme and there is lots of data to analyse over the upcoming days, so we can prepare ourselves the best possible way for the next test session, without any particular problems.

"The only stop I had doesn't worry me at all, because we know what caused it. I think we're heading in the right direction, but we're aware of the fact that there's still lots of work ahead of us."

While the F10 has impressed during the first two tests, Massa refused to make any early predictions about his chances of winning his maiden World Championship.

"For sure we can say that we've got a reliable car, but it's much too early for the rest, although I really hope so," he added. "The one who does the best work, day after day on the track and at home, wins the title.

"I'm not the most important thing here. What counts is that we know that we've got a fast and constant car."

MIKA: It's great to see Massa back in F1.

[MIKA27]

'I Have Seen The Future of F1 - And It's a CFD'

The new Virgin VR01 has had a torrid time of it this week, running only a handful of laps and being anywhere from 10 to 17 seconds off the pace.

The car is the first of its kind in that it has been designed without reference to a wind tunnel. The entire process has been undertaken using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) which simulate the effects of air flow over a car's surfaces.

Other teams have CFD, Renault have a large CFD facility at their factory in Enstone and BMW have the biggest computer of all, named Albert II. But they use the process in conjunction with a wind tunnel to verify whether something works or not. After the first runs in Jerez this week, CFD was beginning to take on the initials of Complete ****ing Disaster.

Red Bull's technical genius Adrian Newey explained why it's best not to have all your eggs in one basket. "I think CFD is a very powerful tool, there is no doubt about it, and it is another way of simulating the real environment," he said at the Red Bull launch. "A wind tunnel is a simulation of the real world.

"CFD is an electronic simulation of a real environment, but it still has its pitfalls - not least that every single run in CFD for a given attitude of the car, or ride height, or whatever it might be, is a discreet (limited data) run. Whereas in the wind tunnel, a normal run will have 20 or more data points in it, i.e. the equivalent of 20 runs in the CFD.

"That is a limitation of size really, so your CFD cluster has to be that much bigger to do that many runs. And there are some areas that CFD physically doesn't capture as well as a wind tunnel - like basic aerodynamic properties."

Newey was speaking before the launch of the Red Bull and the VR-01's debut, but in his usual modest, self-effacing way was keen to emphasize that he didn't know for certain.

"So how well it turns out, we shall see. It is a different route, and my personal belief is that you still need to combine the two at the moment. But maybe their car will go very well and I will have to revise my opinion."

After the VR-01's launch, their main anticipated rivals, Lotus, were keen to chip in their opinion. Not surprising when technical director Mike Gascoyne's affectionate nickname is The Rottweiler (although a very small rottweiler).

"I think CFD is an integral part, but it is not a complete part. You look at BMW when Albert II was announced as one of the world's biggest supercomputers dedicated just to their CFD. If you look at Enstone, they built their environmentally-friendly CFD centre with a huge computing resource. I don't think these guys are stupid, and they also have wind tunnels.

"I know Bob Bell at Renault, he is a clever guy who gave me my first job in F1 and he is a trained aerodynamicist - and he thinks you need a wind tunnel. I think CFD is a very exciting technology and it is advancing, but is it an absolute? I don't think there are many people who think it is."

One of those people is obviously the VR-01 designer Nick Wirth, who had a bit of a temper tantrum last year when Williams old hand Patrick Head suggested that his team might be "heading for a fall" .

"Patrick is used to falling because he has fallen from winning," retorted Wirth, "which is probably why he is saying that. He has also unwisely invested in two wind tunnels which are a bit archaic.

"But we've done enough due diligence on this (CFD) programme, and there is no doubt it works, and no doubt the technology is right. We've 120 people in engineering and two simulators working on the F1 project, and a huge computational resource.

"I can tell you right now how fast our car will go around Barcelona - I won't, but I can."

On the fourth and final day of the Jerez test, Virgin finally got their dry laps in and the results were as impressive as the car is good-looking. Though few will imagine that Lucas di Grassi had much in the tank when he set his fastest lap; to go faster than one of the established F1 runners was a major achievement, especially given the adversity of the previous three days.

Now they need to make sure the thing doesn't fall apart on a regular basis. But the battle of CFD versus Aero is firmly underway.

MIKA: In my opinion, CFD is a huge waste as wind tunnelling is far more realistic compared to a computer programme.

The problem with CFD is the fact that it is purely dependent on the amount of computing power which you have. The more you can compute the more accurate the readings will be. Computers will be able to mimic real life once we have enough computing power to individually predict each molecules behaviour, but that is still not realistic today. Perhaps one day it will?

I would also imagine that budget caps would go through the roof if teams were to build super computers for CFD!?

Virgins car may look great but F1 isn't about a great looking car that runs like a saop box cart, its about being competative and scoring vital points. As far as I'm concerned, there are just some things computers can't do as accurate as a windtunnel can do.

[MIKA27]

Dallara slow down Campos F1 project

Dallara owner and boss Gian Paolo Dallara has confirmed the Italian constructor is pushing ahead with its F1 plans for 2010.

The Parma based outfit, famous for its F3 chassis as well as for its involvement in the Indycar, GP2 and other junior series, was commissioned by the new Spanish entrant Campos to pen its 2010 car.

Campos' other problems, however, have been well documented, amid rumours Dallara is growing impatient with the wait for invoices to be paid and is now beginning talks with Stefan GP and perhaps also USF1.

Referring to the Campos project, Dallara said: "I can say with pride that we have done a good job in design and development, all safety (crash) tests have been passed and production has gone ahead.

"Unfortunately, factors outside our control are slowing the process down, but I am confident that we can find solutions so that our work is not lost," the 73-year-old added.

MIKA: This is not looking good for Compos....

[MIKA27]

Michelin in talks for F1 tyre return

Michelin is in talks with the FIA about a possible return to Formula One.

With Bridgestone pulling out as the sport's official sole supplier at the end of 2010, the French tyre marque's Jean-Dominique Senard told Bloomberg that "formal discussions" with the governing body are underway.

Michelin pulled out of F1 at the end of 2006, disgruntled by the FIA's move to impose a single-tyre formula by tender.

"We might consider returning but there are some very clear conditions," Senard said in an interview in Paris.

He said the tyre rules need changing to "show the performance they can bring, notably in terms of fuel saving and CO2 reductions".

An FIA spokesman would not comment.

MIKA: If Jean Todt is serious about being 'Eco friendly' he may just approve and have Michellin return to F1.

[MIKA27]

Cosworth 'better' than Toyota engine

Nico Hulkenberg has admitted that returning engine supplier Cosworth's V8 unit feels "better" and "stronger" than the Toyota power plant.

The German rookie was Williams' test driver in 2009, meaning that the last two Formula One cars he drove were respectively Toyota and Cosworth powered.

Williams has this year switched to Cosworth, the independent British supplier supported by the FIA to also power F1's new teams Virgin, Lotus, Campos and USF1.

Asked about the Cosworth engine by reporters at Jerez, 22-year-old Hulkenberg said: "It is good; I'm positively surprised about it."

Asked to compare it with Toyota's engine, he added: "It feels better, it feels stronger."

Thursday was otherwise not a great day for Williams, after a hydraulic leak preceded a driveshaft problem aboard the new FW32 car.

[OZCUBAN]

As long as it does not have Toyota brakes it should be O.K

Oz

[OZCUBAN]

Virgins car may look great but F1 isn't about a great looking car that runs like a saop box cart, its about being competative and scoring vital points. As far as I'm concerned, there are just some things computers can't do as accurate as a windtunnel can do.

Could not agree more mika wind tunnels rule F-1 always finds new technology to blow huge amounts of money I t seems to me the teams that have invested heavily in this technology have not really reaped the rewards that it is said to bring,wonder how long before F.I.A. bans this as well

Lets also hope that Michelin comes back to the sport and the

F.I.A looks after them ,after all f-1 cars cannot run on rims

Oz

[OZCUBAN]

Jerez testing review

With the testing restrictions getting tighter and tighter, every lap counted at Jerez this week - but with rain disrupting two and a half of the four days, the teams' efforts to fine-tune their 2010 cars were often frustrated.

As if the conditions weren't making things hard enough to judge, there was the added complication of fuel loads, with teams running with anything from a few cups' full in qualifying trim to a fully laden tank ready to get them through a 300km race.

Even the drivers aren't sure exactly where they stand at the moment, but at the halfway point of winter testing 2010, itv.com/f1 evaluates the week's events team by team, and brings you the full list of best times and top mileages from Jerez.

McLaren

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Button, Fri/Sat - Hamilton

Best time: Hamilton, 1m19.583s, Sat

Day by day results (Weds to Sat): 6th, 3rd, 9th, 1st

Total laps: 332

McLaren caused a few ripples of concern among its fans by sporting outlandish aero flow measuring devices early in the test - raising fears of perplexing aero problems like last year - and when Lewis Hamilton gave an apparently terse press briefing on Friday.

But the truth was that the team ended the week in great shape: the unusual measuring appendages having just been part of the team's desire to maximise what it could learn on-track, and Hamilton's frustration being with the weather rather than the car, which he is revelling in at present.

Sure enough, after some promising long runs, Lewis took on a fresh set of tyres in the final ten minutes yesterday and blasted out a string of laps could enough to comfortably top the combined testing times.

Jenson Button made strides too, declaring himself significantly more comfortable in the new car after his two days.

Mercedes GP

Driver schedule: Weds/Fri - Rosberg, Thurs/Sat - Schumacher

Best time: Schumacher, 1m20.613s, Sat

Day by day results: 1st, 6th, 7th, 5th

Total laps: 317

With a few changes to the car and set-up since Valenca, Mercedes seemed to be in better shape at Jerez, lapping close behind the absolute pacesetters while not letting off too many fireworks.

By coincidence, Michael Schumacher ended up with the lion's share of dry running, Nico Rosberg's two days both turning wet within an hour.

But despite this, the younger German took bragging rights by setting the fastest time of the day just before Wednesday's cloudbursts, and reported that he felt much more at home in the Mercedes at Jerez following cockpit adjustments.

Red Bull

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Webber, Fri/Sat - Vettel

Best time: Vettel, 1m21.203s, Sat

Day by day results: 9th, 9th, 5th, 6th

Total laps: 297

An inconclusive first week for the car many expected to be the title favourite this year.

The rain got in the way of Red Bull's efforts to put miles on the RB6, as did an oil leak on Wednesday and a fuel pump failure on Saturday, both of which stranded the car in the garage for a while.

The drivers were both adamant that the car is an excellent baseline, though, and expect it to show its true pace once its achieves a few more laps in the dry.

Ferrari

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Alonso, Fri/Sat - Massa

Best time: Alonso, 1m21.424s, Thurs

Day by day results: 4th, 7th, 4th, 7th

Total laps: 449

After dominating at Valencia, this appeared from the outside to be a quieter week for Ferrari - but it ended the Jerez test still at the forefront of the pack.

Ferrari chose to work on reliability and heavy fuel loads for most of the week, and that programme went extremely well, as Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa racked up an enormous 449 laps between them.

Only tiny glitches were experienced, and while neither driver went for any headline-grabbing lap times, their speed on fuel tanks was ominous for their rivals, with Alonso's 50-lap stint on Thursday both extremely rapid and unnervingly consistent.

Williams

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Hulkenberg, Fri/Sat - Barrichello

Best time: Barrichello, 1m20.341s, Sat

Day by day results: 3rd, 4th, 8th, 3rd

Total laps: 395

Williams didn't really show what it could do at Valencia, with the returning Cosworth choosing to run its engines on conservative settings for its first test back in Formula 1.

But at Jerez Williams was able to step up a gear and get among the front-runners more often.

That was despite suffering more gremlins than most, with a hydraulic leak and then later a driveline problem delaying Nico Hulkenberg on Thursday, and Rubens Barrichello forced to abandon his last run of the week due to a gearbox glitch.

Renault

Driver schedule: Weds/Fri - Petrov, Thurs/Sat - Kubica

Best time: Kubica, 1m20.358s, Sat

Day by day results: 8th, 8th, 6th, 4th

Total laps: 283

Encouraging noises from one side of the Renault garage, with Robert Kubica much happier with the car this week and convinced it was getting quicker and quicker each day.

Eager to make the most of Kubica's experience and feedback, the team shuffled its schedule to ensure the Pole had maximum dry mileage.

But that meant his rookie team-mate Vitaly Petrov made little progress this week, with the team unwilling to give the inexperienced Russian too many laps in the tricky conditions on Wednesday - although he handled Friday's rain well.

Force India

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Liuzzi, Fri/Sat - Sutil

Best time: Sutil, 1m20.180s, Sat

Day by day results: 7th, 5th, 3rd, 2nd

Total laps: 282

It was easy to forget that this week marked the Force India VJM03's debut, for the team was rapid from the outset, and immediately up with the cars that had already notched up three days of running at Valencia.

Both Tonio Liuzzi and in particular Adrian Sutil were absolutely buzzing about the car afterwards too, raising hopes of a great start to the season.

The team still feels there is more speed to come from the car, and there were one or two mechanical issues to deal with as well, but overall it was a great start to Force India's build-up.

Toro Rosso

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Buemi, Fri/Sat - Alguersuari

Best time: Alguersuari, 1m19.919s, Fri

Day by day results: 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 10th

Total laps: 369

Plenty of optimism at Toro Rosso, with the car's Red Bull lineage (still being inspired by last year's ultra-successful RB5 despite the customer car relationship now being banned) helping it to hit the ground running.

Jaime Alguersuari's super-fast Friday time owed something to the young Spaniard being one of the few to bang in a flat-out run in the brief period between the rain hit, but was still good enough to stand as the week's benchmark until the last ten minutes of Saturday - suggesting the new STR has plenty of pace.

The fact that Alguersuari plunged to the foot of the times when doing race work yesterday however hinted that it might have been running lighter than others earlier in the week.

Virgin

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Glock, Fri/Sat - di Grassi

Best time: Di Grassi, 1m22.912s, Sat

Day by day results: 10th, 10th, 10th, 9th

Total laps: 87

A fraught start for Virgin, which was waiting for last minute parts to arrive for most of Wednesday, had to cut short its running when the front wing came off the VR-01 on Thursday, then sat out the majority of Friday while waiting for the rapidly-redesigned wing mounting to arrive.

But finally on day four Lucas di Grassi was able to reel off a longer string of laps, and although he was 3s off the pace, that was more than respectable for what was effectively the first proper day of running for this brand new team's car.

The Virgin crew put in a huge effort during the tribulations, which bodes well for the season, but the issues did underline the scale of the task facing the start-up teams.

Sauber

Driver schedule: Weds/Thurs - Kobayashi, Fri/Sat - de la Rosa

Best time: Kobayashi, 1m19.950s, Thurs

Day by day results: 5th, 1st, 2nd, 8th

Total laps: 321

The surprise package of winter testing so far remained among the leaders at Jerez - although Kamui Kobayashi's super-fast Thursday time was achieved with relatively little petrol in the tank.

Nevertheless, when Kobayashi was asked by journalists if he could win this year, he hinted that it would be his inexperience - not any lack of pace in the car - that precluded this...

Sauber wasn't totally happy with the amount of running that it managed this week and rued the incessant rain, but remains in good shape heading towards the season opener, even if it is unlikely to be as close to the front as its testing positions have so far suggested.

Combined testing times from Jerez

1 HAMILTON McLaren 1m19.583s (181)

2 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 1m19.919s (174)

3 KOBAYASHI Sauber 1m19.950s (158)

4 BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m20.026s (195)

5 SUTIL Force India 1m20.180s (131)

6 BARRICHELLO Williams 1m20.341s (210)

7 KUBICA Renault 1m20.358s (188)

8 SCHUMACHER Mercedes 1m20.613s (207)

9 BUTTON McLaren 1m20.618s (151)

10 HULKENBERG Williams 1m20.629s (185)

11 DE LA ROSA Sauber 1m20.736s (163)

12 LIUZZI Force India 1m20.754s (151)

13 ROSBERG Mercedes 1m20.927s (110)

14 VETTEL Red Bull 1m21.203s (148)

15 ALONSO Ferrari 1m21.424s (217)

16 MASSA Ferrari 1m21.485s (232)

17 PETROV Renault 1m22.000s (95)

18 WEBBER Red Bull 1m22.043s (149)

19 DI GRASSI Virgin 1m22.912s (71)

20 GLOCK Virgin 1m29.964s (16)

* laps completed in brackets

TOTAL MILEAGE COMPLETED

1 Ferrari 1,236 miles

2 Williams 1,087 miles

3 Toro Rosso 1,016 miles

4 McLaren 914 miles

5 Sauber 883 miles

6 Mercedes 872 miles

7 Red Bull 817 miles

8 Renault 779 miles

9 Force India 776 miles

10 Virgin 239 miles

Oz If i had to make one prediction i would stick my neck out and say that KOBAYASHI is the one to watch lets hope the car can do him justice ,i believe that he is a real talent and fearless .

Oz

[OZCUBAN]

Schumi: No idea of pecking order yet

Michael Schumacher says he still has no idea of the pecking order heading into the 2010 Formula 1 season after the second week of testing.

This week's Jerez sessions were interrupted by rain on several days, and with mid-race refuelling now banned, teams are testing with a variety of fuel loads to cover everything from fully-laden opening stints to ultra-light qualifying laps.

That fuel-load variation and the fluctuating conditions at Jerez have left Schumacher baffled about the relative strength of the teams halfway through this winter's truncated testing period.

"It's very tough to understand the order of the teams just yet as everyone can play so much with the fuel loads," said the returning legend.

"So there is a lot of speculation going on but it's very interesting."

But while Schumacher remains puzzled by the overall picture, he was pleased with what his Mercedes squad was able to achieve when the weather finally cleared on day four yesteday.

"We had a good day to end this week's test programme," he said.

"The weather affected us a little in the early part of the day but we were able to use our time very effectively once we could run on dry tyres.

"We completed everything that we wanted and were able to increase our understanding of the car a step further so overall it's been positive."

Oz It is to early to call first two races should shed some light on this question