Oliver WhiteLewis Hamilton has lead the field today at the pre-German Grand test at Hockenheim. With his McLaren MP4-23, the British Grand Prix winner went fastest and sported the now common finned-engine cover, much like Renault, Force India, Red Bull and Scuderia Toro Rosso cars. The session was stopped for a while due to heavy rain showers, but after lunch Hamilton was able to eclipse his rival Kimi Raikkonen and go to the top of the tables.
Three-tenths separated the pair who are at the top of the championship along with Felipe Massa, and all teams were present in Germany with at least one regular driver or test driver. Nico Rosberg, who has had a terrible couple of races was testing in the Williams FW30, the German being able to go third quickest ahead of the other local pilot, Adrian Sutil.
Kamui Kobayashi was present for Toyota and the squad tested a new front and rear wing and the Japanese test driver went sixth for the Cologne-based team. Alex Wurz was the other test driver at The Hock, running in the Honda RA108 with a slightly revised front wing. Wurz caused the only red flag of the day when he spun on the wet track.
Testing is expected to continue tomorrow providing the bad weather can hold off.
Hockenheim Test: Day One Times
| 1. | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | 1m15.483s | 75 Laps |
| 2. | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m15.803s | 63 Laps |
| 3. | Nico Rosberg | Williams | 1m16.099s | 87 Laps |
| 4. | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 1m16.516s | 97 Laps |
| 5. | Sebastien Bourdais | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1m16.533s | 113 Laps |
| 6. | Kamui Kobayashi | Toyota | 1m16.570s | 65 Laps |
| 7. | Nick Heidfeld | BMW | 1m16.593s | 59 Laps |
| 8. | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault | 1m16.856s | 111 Laps |
| 9. | David Coulthard | Red Bull Racing | 1m17.361s | 67 Laps |
| 10. | Alex Wurz | Honda | 1m17.825s | 31 Laps |
Oliver,
What you think about the look of the cars with this new engine cover? I must confess that a like it a lot, they seems to be much more FAST.
Isn´t great that the cars has changed his basic design which is the same since the 70´s?
What you think?
I’m not convinced yet – Force India’s is probably the ugliest IMO, although that may be more to do with the colours they use. McLaren’s doesn’t look too bad I suppose.
Anyway, they might be banned from next year what with the crack down in the rules on aero parts. Not sure if this part falls into it though as it doesn’t produce downforce.