2011 Testing discussion thread

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 11:48

I guess it is time for a testing dicussion thread.

I will start to put my predictions from the car launches thread:
I foresee a Williams being the fastest of the day, today, with Red Bull 2nd, Something Renault 3rd, Sauber 4th, Mercedes 5th, McLaren 6th then Force India, Virgin, STR and HRT nowhere. Lets see how many do I get right...

And the ranking at the moment goes like this:
1- Alonso 1:15.371
2 -Vettel 1:15.559
3- Hulkenberg 1:15.615
4- Kobayashi 1:15.831
5- Paffett 1:16.256
6- D'Ambrosio 1:16.398
7- Alguersuari 1:18.260
8- Rubens Barrichello 1:18.714
9- Narain Karthikeyan 1:19.189
10- Rosberg 1:19.930
11- Vitaly Petrov 1:20.633

There are 2 important poins: HRT is less than 4 seconds off the pace (!) and D'ambrosio... 1 second only!!!!

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 01 Feb 2011, 11:58

Remember, 1.11 was last years pace here...

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 01 Feb 2011, 11:59

DanielPT wrote:...and D'ambrosio... 1 second only!!!!

It is still early, and apparently pretty cold, so the times should get quicker.

Oh, and there was a red flag earlier, when Rosberg's Merc conked out on the main straight, I don't know precisely what happened.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 12:03

Yes I know, but it is believed that the Pirellis are around 2 seconds off the Bridgstones pace. So, last year times may not be achieved. They have Kers, but they are heavier... Anyway, Virgin can now say that they were once 1 second off the pace! :lol:

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 01 Feb 2011, 12:04

And no f-duck(t) (even though the Merc looks like a duck), no funny diffusor. Maybe Virgin & co can be well on pace this year?

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 01 Feb 2011, 12:06

Are you updating the times? Because Alonso is in the 1:14s, and I think Vettel just improved as well.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 12:12

the Masked Lapwing wrote:Are you updating the times? Because Alonso is in the 1:14s, and I think Vettel just improved as well.

I was thinking of updating the rankings 3/4 times a day. And keeping the old ones posted to keep track of the times evolution. Do you prefer to see updates as they improve?

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 01 Feb 2011, 12:13

DanielPT wrote:
the Masked Lapwing wrote:Are you updating the times? Because Alonso is in the 1:14s, and I think Vettel just improved as well.

I was thinking of updating the rankings 3/4 times a day. And keeping the old ones posted to keep track of the times evolution. Do you prefer to see updates as they improve?

Nah, I've found a live timing thing, so you can do your thing. I was just wondering.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 12:54

At lunch time the timing board looks like:
1- Hulkenberg 1:13.938
2- Alonso 1:14.718
3 -Vettel 1:14.921
4- Kobayashi 1:15.831
5- Paffett 1:16.256
6- D'Ambrosio 1:16.398
7- Alguersuari 1:18.260
8- Narain Karthikeyan 1:18.650
9- Rubens Barrichello 1:18.714
10- Rosberg 1:19.930
11- Vitaly Petrov 1:20.633

Go Hulk!!!

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 01 Feb 2011, 13:16

Now if only Hulk were still in a Williams...

Glennerz · Post by **Glennerz** » 01 Feb 2011, 13:53

Is there a way to watch testing live?

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 01 Feb 2011, 14:38

the Masked Lapwing wrote:Oh, and there was a red flag earlier, when Rosberg's Merc conked out on the main straight, I don't know precisely what happened.

Hydraulic leak. Could this be a potential flaw in the new merc?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 15:16

Glennerz wrote:Is there a way to watch testing live?

I don't think there is a way. At least not for this one. Maybe in the later tests there will be some coverage (I am thinking of final test in Bahrain).

patrick · Post by **patrick** » 01 Feb 2011, 16:11

Day 1, Vettel P1. Surprised?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 16:41

February 1st Valencia test results:
1 -Vettel 1:13.769 93 Laps
2- Hulkenberg 1:13.938 (2010 Force India) 71 Laps
3- Paffett 1:14.292 (2010 McLaren) 91 Laps
4- Di Resta 1:14.461 (2010 Force India) 28 Laps
5- Alonso 1:14.553 98 Laps
6- Kobayashi 1:15.831 64 Laps
7- D'Ambrosio 1:16.003 (2010 Virgin) 71 Laps
8- Petrov 1:16.351 28 Laps
9- Schumacher 1:16.450 15 Laps
10- Alguersuari 1:17.214 20 Laps
11- Barrichello 1:17.335 78 Laps
12- Karthikeyan 1:18.020 (2010 HRT) 45 Laps
13- Rosberg 1:19.930 15 Laps

Since testing doesn't mean anything, there still hope HRT can come with the car to win the championship :lol:

Predictably, I failed most of my (wild) predictions.

Got Virgin ahead of STR though...

EDIT: I added the amount of laps they made today.

Mister Fungus · Post by **Mister Fungus** » 01 Feb 2011, 16:46

Still early but somehow I would've expected 2010 cars on the top, at least the McLaren. Are they pure 2010 cars, or modified without DD? Does the car need to adhere to 2011 regulations on the testing?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 17:07

It think they are just like at the end of 2010, possibly with new parts. I don't think the new car needs to adhere to 2011 regulations until the first practice in the first race (technically, until the FIA scrutinity). One would expect that 2010 cars would be faster? Actually if you take the 2 seconds the Pirelli tires add, you see that Paffet's time matches that of Lewis Hamilton in Valencia last year. And if you take into account that Paffet is usually around 1 second off Hamilton's pace, that could be the time expected of a 2010 McLaren. Of course they could be testing new aerodinamic bits but essencially it is the 2010 car (probably without the F-Duct though...).

Post by **mario** » 01 Feb 2011, 18:39

DanielPT wrote:It think they are just like at the end of 2010, possibly with new parts. I don't think the new car needs to adhere to 2011 regulations until the first practice in the first race (technically, until the FIA scrutinity). One would expect that 2010 cars would be faster? Actually if you take the 2 seconds the Pirelli tires add, you see that Paffet's time matches that of Lewis Hamilton in Valencia last year. And if you take into account that Paffet is usually around 1 second off Hamilton's pace, that could be the time expected of a 2010 McLaren. Of course they could be testing new aerodinamic bits but essencially it is the 2010 car (probably without the F-Duct though...).

Paffett has been talking about the Pirelli tyres, and says that he thinks that the tyres have changed quite considerably compared to the behaviour of the tyres in Abu Dhabi. He reckons that the tyres have improved since then, with improved wear characteristics, and with more distinct differences in performance. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89218
So, although the gap in ultimate performance is probably quite large, perhaps it isn't as wide as it was in the past?

Interestingly, Mclaren went to the extent of bringing a spare set of Bridgestone tyres to the Valencia test, according to the BBC's feed on the test sessions (one of their reporters saw a set of Bridgestone's kicking about in the Mclaren motorhome). Now, I doubt that they would have actually used them on track (because that would surely have been spotted in no time), but perhaps they brought them for comparisons on tyre wear?

As to the specification of the 2010 cars, they seem, on the whole, to be based around the specification they used in Abu Dhabi (or at least that seems to be the indication so far).

Another interesting comment was made by the Autosport article summarising the test session. Basically, over a short stint, or qualifying style runs, Vettel was blisteringly fast in the RB7, and easily the fastest of anybody on track. However, once he was laden up with fuel, the RB7 was not that quick - in fact, he was consistently slower than most of the leading teams (by more than a second). Now, I suspect that there are a couple of factors in play here - Vettel's eagerness to stamp his mark on the field, and tendency to set aggressive times even when not necessary, followed by quite conservative high fuel runs.

And adding to this is the fact that Pirelli has brought the entire range of tyres to Valencia, but without an obvious way of letting us know what tyres are actually being used. Perhaps Ferrari, say, have been consistently using the harder compounds whilst Vettel wanted to showboat with a low fuel quali lap on the super soft tyres? His times did rapidly improve suddenly, from being a few tenths behind to suddenly so far ahead of Alonso.

Also, over at Renault, it seems that the talk of this front exhaust blown diffuser is still causing quite a stir, and a lot of interest in the R31. That said, they didn't do that much running today, so it's hard to get an idea of whether this exhaust system (assuming, of course, that it exists) works, and isn't at risk of cooking the drivers. Then there is the risk that the other teams might raise an objection with the FIA if this system is real - it could be an interesting off season if somebody objects.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 01 Feb 2011, 21:43

mario wrote:Paffett has been talking about the Pirelli tyres, and says that he thinks that the tyres have changed quite considerably compared to the behaviour of the tyres in Abu Dhabi. He reckons that the tyres have improved since then, with improved wear characteristics, and with more distinct differences in performance. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89218
So, although the gap in ultimate performance is probably quite large, perhaps it isn't as wide as it was in the past?

Perhaps. But I think an improvement in tire wear doesn't automaticaly translates into performance improvement. It can go the other way around. But I am expecting that they did not stood still so, the gap should be narrower. But by how much?

mario wrote:Interestingly, Mclaren went to the extent of bringing a spare set of Bridgestone tyres to the Valencia test, according to the BBC's feed on the test sessions (one of their reporters saw a set of Bridgestone's kicking about in the Mclaren motorhome). Now, I doubt that they would have actually used them on track (because that would surely have been spotted in no time), but perhaps they brought them for comparisons on tyre wear?

I also noticed this bit of information. I wonder how relevant it is... For it to be an interesting comparison the tyre must have been used in Valencia or somewhere very similar. Do they keep the tires from ancient tests? Shouldn't the massive data gathered at the time be enough?

mario wrote:And adding to this is the fact that Pirelli has brought the entire range of tyres to Valencia, but without an obvious way of letting us know what tyres are actually being used. Perhaps Ferrari, say, have been consistently using the harder compounds whilst Vettel wanted to showboat with a low fuel quali lap on the super soft tyres? His times did rapidly improve suddenly, from being a few tenths behind to suddenly so far ahead of Alonso.

Testing is a bit unpredictable but with a few days testing data we should see patterns rising. For information, today, and looking at the Williams live timing, people were lapping mostly in 1:16s and 1:17s (Vettel being inside the latter). And I may add that the quantity of fuel in the runs is also a guessing game.

mario wrote: Also, over at Renault, it seems that the talk of this front exhaust blown diffuser is still causing quite a stir, and a lot of interest in the R31. That said, they didn't do that much running today, so it's hard to get an idea of whether this exhaust system (assuming, of course, that it exists) works, and isn't at risk of cooking the drivers. Then there is the risk that the other teams might raise an objection with the FIA if this system is real - it could be an interesting off season if somebody objects.

It is all good to be able to keep people speaking of the R31. But wasn't it better to just try and top the times? Wouldn't that cause even more stir? I wonder that if overheating problems caused that lack of running today.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 02 Feb 2011, 03:54

Wow. How does a Mercedes lose to the 2010 HRT?

They call themselves the Silver Arrows. I think they're more like the Silver Toilet.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 02 Feb 2011, 04:14

JeremyMcClean wrote:Wow. How does a Mercedes lose to the 2010 HRT?

They call themselves the Silver Arrows. I think they're more like the Silver Toilet.

HRT could be doing what Sauber did last year, running really light in the hopes of attracting a sponsor.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 02 Feb 2011, 04:39

I for one hope Williams is sandbagging massively otherwise they are in a whole world of trouble.

And Vettel's time doesn't surprise me because in my opinion he's the new qualifying king of F1.

Post by **mario** » 02 Feb 2011, 08:50

JeremyMcClean wrote:Wow. How does a Mercedes lose to the 2010 HRT?

They call themselves the Silver Arrows. I think they're more like the Silver Toilet.

The fact that Rosberg spent most of his time in the garage with hydraulic problems, which hit whilst he was winding up to a faster lap, is why. The fact that Schumacher was easily able to go 3.5s faster than Rosberg indicates that the W02 probably is unlikely to spend much time looking at the back of an HRT.

And Wizzie, as far as I can tell, Williams were having a few teething problems with their KERS yesterday which held them up - the indication is that the Motor Generator Unit (MGU) was malfunctioning, although it should be working properly today. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89217
[Or at least it should be, but something else has gone wrong, it seems - Barrichello has stopped out on track just as I'm typing]

[Edit] And finally Renault have confirmed that this rumour of a front blown diffuser does appear to be correct. Boullier has confirmed that, with the regulations preventing the teams from injecting the exhaust gas directly into the diffuser (which means that most teams are blowing the exhaust gas over the top of the diffuser), they have taken a more radical step to recover some of the downforce lost with the ban on the DDD. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89223

It isn't without problems, he admits - for a start, controlling the flow of the exhaust gas once it leaves the exhaust is not trivial, and likely to give the team a bit of trouble initially (as seemed to be the case yesterday). It's given the engine designers a bit of a headache as well, since it interferes with the exhaust acoustics and tuning, potentially altering the performance of the engine adversely. And, of course, there are the limitations on internal packaging, cooling and the resultant effect on internal airflow, all of which could bring their own problems.
However, Boullier seems to think that this design works (based on wind tunnel data), and is keen to press on with development - as, indeed, are rival team principals, who are rapidly reconsidering their own designs (Mercedes are already said to be seeing if it is feasible to re-engineer their exhausts, believing that Renault have spotted a pretty clever trick here).

Still, for those interested in seeing this unusual exhaust arrangement, here it is:

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 02 Feb 2011, 09:25

Di Resta goes fastest... and celebrates by going to the beach.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Feb 2011, 10:23

Valencia test, day 2, mid-morning rankings:
1- Vettel 1:13.614
2- Hamilton 1:14.701 (2010 McLaren)
3- Di Resta 1:15.314 (2010 Force India)
4- Kubica 1:15.361
5- Alguersuari 1:16.599
6- Rosberg 1:17.627
7- Perez 1:17.652
8- Barrichello 1:18.565
9- Karthikayan 1:18.974 (2010 HRT)
10- Glock 1:19.533 (2010 Virgin)
11- Alonso 1:24.706

That Mercedes doesn't look like a record beater. Rosberg currently lapping inside 1:20s.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Feb 2011, 12:56

With another Red Flag caused by Nico Rosberg's car, here are Valencia test, day 2, lunch time (more or less) results:
1- Alonso 1:13.469
2- Vettel 1:13.614
3- Di Resta 1:13.844 (2010 Force India)
4- Kubica 1:14.412
5- Hamilton 1:14.701 (2010 McLaren)
6- Rosberg 1:15.383
7- Alguersuari 1:16.474
8- Perez 1:17.019
9- Glock 1:17.228 (2010 Virgin)
10- Barrichello 1:17.344
11- Karthikayan 1:17.823 (2010 HRT)

Mercedes has improved but, reliability wise, it is not encouraging. Will we see a Vettel improvement in the afternoon?

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 02 Feb 2011, 13:04

Mercedes is as fragile and slow as the 2004 McLaren in the first half of that season.

Post by **mario** » 02 Feb 2011, 13:32

DanielPT wrote:With another Red Flag caused by Nico Rosberg's car, here are Valencia test, day 2, lunch time (more or less) results:
1- Alonso 1:13.469
2- Vettel 1:13.614
3- Di Resta 1:13.844 (2010 Force India)
4- Kubica 1:14.412
5- Hamilton 1:14.701 (2010 McLaren)
6- Rosberg 1:15.383
7- Alguersuari 1:16.474
8- Perez 1:17.019
9- Glock 1:17.228 (2010 Virgin)
10- Barrichello 1:17.344
11- Karthikayan 1:17.823 (2010 HRT)

Mercedes has improved but, reliability wise, it is not encouraging. Will we see a Vettel improvement in the afternoon?

So far, the only improvements are by Alonso - he's shaved a few more tenths off his time to get down to a 1m13.307s, putting him about three tenths ahead of Vettel for the moment. If Red Bull were trying to entice a few of their opponents to put in some more aggressive laps, it seems that it has worked - and those times by Alonso will make for interesting reading.

Shizuka wrote:Mercedes is as fragile and slow as the 2004 McLaren in the first half of that season.

The W02 does seem to be having more issues than expected, but when they've ironed them out, the car seems to be working OK - Rosberg has managed to rack up 45 laps, despite stopping out on track. Kovalainen's had a few minor issues too - a faulty brake line eariler that had to be replaced, and although he has done his first flying lap, it seems that the car was overheating a bit (or it seems that way from the mangled translation by Google of the commentary on F1today.nl).

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Feb 2011, 16:19

Valencia test, day 2, end of the day results:
1- Alonso 1:13.307 108 laps
2- Vettel 1:13.614 43 laps
3- Di Resta 1:13.844 (2010 Force India) 111 laps
4- Hamilton 1:14.353 (2010 McLaren) 83 laps
5- Kubica 1:14.412 104 laps
6- Karthikayan 1:14.472 (2010 HRT) 80 laps
7- Rosberg 1:14.645 69 laps
8- Glock 1:15.408 (2010 Virgin) 34 laps
9- Barrichello 1:16.023 50 laps
10- Perez 1:16.198 42 laps
11- Maldonado 1:16.266 29 laps
12- Buemi 1:16.359 46 laps
13- Alguersuari 1:16.474 64 laps
14- Webber 1:17.365 17 laps
15- Kovalainen 1:20.649 15 laps

Now, what the hell Karthikayan is doing up there?

EDIT: Number of laps added... And forgot to say that there was another red flag near the end of the day, this time caused by Buemi.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Feb 2011, 16:29

On an added note, it is reported in Pitpass that criticisms were made by Alonso to Pirelli saying that the tires degraded a lot and that lap times are inconsistent.

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_ ... t_id=42878

Paffet only said that the tyres improved since the Abu Dhabi test... Looking at the lap times from each driver it is true that in a dozen laps stint there are a few of inconsistent lap times. I personally think that seeing the drivers managing these situation will create great racing entertainment. Some people think it can be dangerous. I hope not...

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 02 Feb 2011, 18:44

DanielPT wrote:Valencia test, day 2, end of the day results:
1- Alonso 1:13.307 108 laps
2- Vettel 1:13.614 43 laps
3- Di Resta 1:13.844 (2010 Force India) 111 laps
4- Hamilton 1:14.353 (2010 McLaren) 83 laps
5- Kubica 1:14.412 104 laps
6- Karthikayan 1:14.472 (2010 HRT) 80 laps
7- Rosberg 1:14.645 69 laps
8- Glock 1:15.408 (2010 Virgin) 34 laps
9- Barrichello 1:16.023 50 laps
10- Perez 1:16.198 42 laps
11- Maldonado 1:16.266 29 laps
12- Buemi 1:16.359 46 laps
13- Alguersuari 1:16.474 64 laps
14- Webber 1:17.365 17 laps
15- Kovalainen 1:20.649 15 laps

Now, what the hell Karthikayan is doing up there?

EDIT: Number of laps added... And forgot to say that there was another red flag near the end of the day, this time caused by Buemi.

...and what is Alguersuari doing? Doesn't matter what he's doing!

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 02 Feb 2011, 20:39

JeremyMcClean wrote:
DanielPT wrote:Valencia test, day 2, end of the day results:
1- Alonso 1:13.307 108 laps
2- Vettel 1:13.614 43 laps
3- Di Resta 1:13.844 (2010 Force India) 111 laps
4- Hamilton 1:14.353 (2010 McLaren) 83 laps
5- Kubica 1:14.412 104 laps
6- Karthikayan 1:14.472 (2010 HRT) 80 laps
7- Rosberg 1:14.645 69 laps
8- Glock 1:15.408 (2010 Virgin) 34 laps
9- Barrichello 1:16.023 50 laps
10- Perez 1:16.198 42 laps
11- Maldonado 1:16.266 29 laps
12- Buemi 1:16.359 46 laps
13- Alguersuari 1:16.474 64 laps
14- Webber 1:17.365 17 laps
15- Kovalainen 1:20.649 15 laps

Now, what the hell Karthikayan is doing up there?

EDIT: Number of laps added... And forgot to say that there was another red flag near the end of the day, this time caused by Buemi.

...and what is Alguersuari doing? Doesn't matter what he's doing!

Karthikeyan for title!!! :lol:

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 02 Feb 2011, 21:33

I love this.

As long as the teams complain that the tyres are "inconsistent" and that they "degrade very quickly", we won't have soft enough tyres and the races will become processional, just like last year. I'm pretty convinced that we'll have extra-hard tyres at Melbourne because of bitching drivers and teams.

Not that I wasn't expecting this to happen, but it still s***s.

EDIT: I'm getting old. A few years ago I wouldn't have missed that the first race of the season is not at Melbourne...

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 03 Feb 2011, 00:09

So, what do we know so far?

Seems like only the obvious - Of the new cars, looks like Red Bull and Ferrari will be the pace setters, and the Mercs are still behind by a bit.

However, its far too early. And as a lot of you have rightly pointed out, theres various fuel loads and tyres and such to consider

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 03 Feb 2011, 00:12

Robert Kubica wrote:"At least if you want to have a five or six-stop race then it is okay, but then we will need more tyres! I am joking."

He may be joking, but if anything this sounds like a great idea to me. With 6 stops, nobody would have any idea what the hell was going on, and we'd all be guessing who would win until the very end!

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 03 Feb 2011, 08:47

kostas22 wrote:
Robert Kubica wrote:"At least if you want to have a five or six-stop race then it is okay, but then we will need more tyres! I am joking."

He may be joking, but if anything this sounds like a great idea to me. With 6 stops, nobody would have any idea what the hell was going on, and we'd all be guessing who would win until the very end!

Plus those, who can make it with less stops might get a decent shot at a better result!

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 03 Feb 2011, 09:39

Shizuka wrote:Plus those, who can make it with less stops might get a decent shot at a better result!

Yes, which is why cars should have been able to make 0 pitstops in 2010.

Also, Massa's Ferrari has already caught fire on Day 3 of testing.

Here's a picture of it

P_Friesacher · Post by **P_Friesacher** » 03 Feb 2011, 09:41

Timing officials in Valencia have now reviewed yesterdays times. Sad to report that Karthikeyans 1:14.472 has been corrected. It was a 1:17.769.

Edit: So he did set the time after all. But they say he cut the track somewhere.

Post by **mario** » 03 Feb 2011, 10:13

Collieafc wrote:So, what do we know so far?

Seems like only the obvious - Of the new cars, looks like Red Bull and Ferrari will be the pace setters, and the Mercs are still behind by a bit.

However, its far too early. And as a lot of you have rightly pointed out, theres various fuel loads and tyres and such to consider

Fuel and tyres will make a big difference to the overall performance of the cars, as well as KERS (with some teams developing their own systems, like Williams, and having to sort out various little technical problems, whereas teams like Mclaren can use the Mercedes-Zytek system which is a proven package). The verdict is still out about how effective the Renault attempt at blowing the front of the floor is, too - they're busy using a lot of flow viz. paint to try to analyse the aerodynamics:

So Renault are probably not going all out with the R31 just yet.

Alonso did point out how deceptive testing can be, though, when he pointed out that in the last test, both Force India and Sauber were on top of the time sheets, with Ferrari in 6th place, but Ferrari lapped both of those teams in the first race. It's true that with a number of cars being evolutions of their predecessors (the RB7, F150 etc. are all developments of the 2010 car), the order is likely to be similar to what it was last year, but there are still enough peculiar developments for the order to be shaken up a bit.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 03 Feb 2011, 10:40

Valencia test, day 3, midmorning lap times:
1- Sutil 1:13.201 (2010 Force India)
2- Schumacher 1:14.531
3- Webber 1:14.701
4- Button 1:14.701 (2010 McLaren)
5- Maldonado 1:15.136
6- Massa 1:15.650
7- Glock 1:15.753 (2010 Virgin)
8- Perez 1:16.399
9- Buemi 1:16.904
10- Karthikayan 1:17.654 (2010 HRT)
11- Kubica 1:27.813

Is that Mercedes getting faster? Schummi best time came in a 6 lap stint were he did mostly high 1:14s and a few 1:15s.

EDIT: Just a small remark. Glock best time came in a 12 lap stint, so he had some fuel!