Oliver WhiteMy apologies for the late arrival of this post, but here is a quick run down of the runners and riders from the Barcelona test that commenced yesterday. It was the first time that all the 2009 cars were on the same track together and while the times should still be taken with a pinch of salt, we can at last see who is doing what in comparison to others. And while Brawn GP enjoyed their first full day of testing, Nick Heidfeld set the pace in the BMW F1.09.
There was drizzle in the morning but this didn’t hamper the teams too much and by lunchtime the circuit had dried and the times began to tumble. Nick Heidfeld ended Monday’s running a comfortable 0.6s ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, completing 12 more laps than the Finn and suddenly making himself known after a relatively anonymous winter so far.
Jarno Trulli continued Toyota’s impressive off-season with a third quickest time of the day, just 0.029s shy of Raikkonen. The TF109 completed 118 laps and so far the Cologne-based team are looking quite strong for the 2009 campaign. Jenson Button also impressed in the Brawn BGP 001. Despite having not completed many miles, Ross Brawn’s team looked good and comfortable. Button completed 82 laps in the Mercedes powered car, and much attention was focused on the design of the diffuser.
Also debuting in public for the first time was the STR4, having been launched earlier in the morning. Sebastien Bourdais had the honours of the first drive at Circuit de Catalunya and the Frenchmen ended the afternoon in sixth; an impressive start for the new car, although Bourdais was 0.5s slower than Nelson Piquet Jr in the Renault R29.
Mark Webber continued to drive the Red Bull RB5, but couldn’t manage a time faster than junior team Scuderia Toro Rosso. Adrian Sutil showed good pace in the Force India, lapping just 0.2s shy of Webber in eighth. Sutil said he managed a race distance as well as simulating some qualifying runs. Kazuki Nakajima was sent out for Williams while Heikki Kovalainen paced the Catalan track for McLaren. surprisingly, Kovalainen ended Monday at the bottom of the timing sheets.
Barcelona Test
|
Lap Time
|
Laps Set
|
|
| 1. |  Nick Heidfeld BMW |
1m20.339s | 92 Laps |
| 2. |  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari |
1m20.908s | 80 Laps |
| 3. |  Jarno Trulli Toyota |
1m20.937s | 118 Laps |
| 4. |  Jenson Button Brawn GP |
1m21.140s | 82 Laps |
| 5. |  Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault |
1m21.662s | 124 Laps |
| 6. |  Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso |
1m22.158s | 96 Laps |
| 7. |  Mark Webber Red Bull Racing |
1m22.246s | 115 Laps |
| 8. | Adrian Sutil Force India |
1m22.452s | 129 Laps |
| 9. |  Kazuki Nakajima Williams |
1m22.813s | 111 Laps |
| 10. | Heikki Kovalainen McLaren |
1m22.948s | 87 Laps |
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