xpb.cc Formula 1 test drives Valencia, day 2
02.02.2010
You have to start with F errari calculate again. Two best times in a row, that can't be a coincidence. At the start of the test, it was still speculated that Ferrari wanted to take the enormous pressure of expectations off the shoulders of its employees after a season full of bankruptcies with a record time, the Scuderia practiced business as usual by the second day at the latest. Massa spins a total of 124 laps and, with 1.11.722 minutes, was three tenths below the time of second fastest Kamui Kobayashi.
The diffuser is possibly Ferrari's advantage
'I have the feeling that we are heading in the right direction', concluded Massa after two days in the new F10 . Although Ferrari holed up at the beginning of the pit lane far away from all other teams, the competitors studied the red car. 'The Ferrari seems to have the most extreme diffuser,' said Sauber technical director Willy Rampf.
At Sauber, Kobayashi first had to make friends with his new company vehicle. It only took 20 laps, then the former Toyota protégé was already up to speed. With 1.12.056 minutes he was placed directly behind Massa in the morning. The rest of the day, the Japanese tried different settings and gasoline loads.
Lewis Hamilton reeled off the first endurance run on his first appearance in the McLaren MP4-25. The ex-world champion impressed with constant laps in the 1.12 range. The best lap was enough for third place with 1.12.256 minutes.
Robert Kubica surprises with fourth place
Fourth place is a surprise. Robert Kubica whipped the Renault R30 in fourth place with 1.12,426. The braking problems have been cured, the power steering is no longer as stiff as on the first day. Even so, the yellow and black car did not become a winning car overnight. When Kubica set his personal best, he was only on the track for one flying lap. This arouses the suspicion that there wasn't too much gasoline on board.
Nico Rosberg did not manage to clearly undercut Michael Schumacher's time from the previous day despite 119 laps. In the end, the clock stopped at 1:12.899 minutes, only slightly faster than its colleague onMonday. While the 41-year-old kept himself fit by cycling on his day off, Rosberg did endurance runs with various loads of petrol.
Rubens Barrichello ran a similar program, but had to pit every now and then because the technicians wanted to fine-tune the interaction between the electronics of the engine and transmission. Barrichello's time of 1.13.377 minutes shows: There is still a lot to do at Williams .
Test drives ended with red flag
A red flag ended the training day four minutes before the scheduled end. Kubica parked his Renault on the home straight. Probably without fuel in the tank. This is part of the standard program. How the engineers check the accuracy of their fuel gauge
Valencia is now preparing for Fernando Alonso's first drive in a Ferrari. When the Spaniard arrived on the track in the late afternoon, Ferrari cordoned off its area around the vans and the motorhome like Fort Knox. The grandstands are expected to be well filled on Wednesday.
