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Raikkonen was the star attraction on the first day in Jerez

Kimi Raikkonen refused to read any significance into his performance today after he topped the time sheets in Jerez.

Raikkonen got up to speed by driving a two-year old Renault in Valencia recently, and also did some slow filming laps in the Lotus E20 yesterday.

He was fastest from the very start of the day as most teams focussed on systems checks with their brand new machines. Even allowing for that, it was a serious statement of intent from the 2007 World Champion.

“It was OK, we had a few small issues,” said Raikkonen. “It’s pretty normal with a new car, but nothing major, so that was a good thing. I have no idea what the others are doing, I don’t really care if they are first or we are fifth, it doesn’t really make any difference.

“As long as we can do what we want, that’s the main thing, and for sure there are still things to improve and to work on. I think it could have been much worse the first day, so I’m pretty happy with it.

“I don’t think it makes any difference, testing doesn’t give you anything. You try to do all the things that are necessary to get ready for the season, the times only count when there are racing. We did more or less what we were planning to do before we started the day.

“Like I said I have no idea what the others are doing. I’m not too interested in it right now. It feels OK to drive, it felt already OK after yesterday.”

Raikkonen said that overall, his first full day with the E20 was a positive experience: “You learn always, it’s a new car, first day, so if you didn’t learn anything about the car it would be funny. But like I said, it was a good start.

“It was the first time two weeks ago, it felt pretty normal straight away, no really big issues, and here it’s been the same story. I’ve been on this circuit many times and I know how it should feel.

“Right now we have no idea where we going to be, and I don’t think anyone knows where they’re going to be in the first race. There’s still a long way to go, so let’s wait and see.”

The Red Bull RB8 ran its first laps in the hands of Mark Webber at Jerez this morning, and after its debut technical director Adrian Newey had some interesting comments to make about the car.

He insists that it still has much in common with the RB5 of 2009, although over time the design has adapted to various rule changes. He also said that RBR lost more than most with the ban on exhaut blown diffusers.

“The principal challenge has been the restriction in the exhaust outlet position,” said Newey. “Coupled with the restriction on engine mapping, which really means we’ve lost the exhaust blown technology that we developed initially in 2010 and then took a further step last year.

“Certainly last year’s car was designed around that, we adopted that exhaust position in the wind tunnel in August and designed the car around it.

“Perhaps other people copied ours and therefore hadn’t designed their car around it. If you lose that, it stands to reason that you perhaps lose more than other people. Obviously the work over the winter has been to try and mitigate against that, but it’s a lost technology, it can’t simply be re-invented.”

Newey admits that the nose of the car is not as pleasing as he would have liked.

“That’s really a product of the regulation that has restricted the height of the nose, but not the height of the chassis. We’ve taken a high nose route, along with most of the field, and to satisfy that regulation we’ve ended up with an awkward looking step at the front. Those who pursued a lower nose in the first place have managed to maintain a smooth shape.”

Intriguingly he said that the car is not as steeply raked as its predecessor. Last year there was controversy over the way the front wing appeared to be closer to the ground than that of other cars. The lack of exhaust blowing has changed that.

“Yes, it certainly means that the very good rear downforce that we were able to enjoy at high rear ride height is massively compromised. So part of the work on this year’s car had to be reducing the rake from what we had last year.”

Asked by this writer about the RB8’s exhaust position, Newey played down the significance.

“I think in truth there’s not a lot to come out of exhausts. What often happens in those situations is you get a reasonable variety of different positions, because there’s not a lot to be gained from it. We’ve obviously launched in the position we’re in – other people are taking different routes. As I say I doubt if there’s a lot to be had from the various different positions that people are sporting.”

Newey also said that the hole at the top of the nose was “primarily for driver cooling.”

Mark Webber heads onto the track for the first time

Mark Webber gave the new RB8 its first installation lap shortly before noon at Jerez, some three hours after the session started.

Christian Horner told this blog that the team has been waiting for some parts to arrive. Another source said it had been an ‘exciting morning’ for the team…

The Williams FW34 looks like a neat and tidy package

The Williams FW34 was shown in Jerez this morning, before Pastor Maldonado gave the car its first laps shortly afterwards.

The car is the first from the new technical team led by Mike Coughlan and Mark Gillan, and of course has been designed around a Renault rather than Cosworth engine.

Inevitably the car has a stepped nose, but the overall impression is one of a neat and tidy package, the car again featuring a small gearbox.

Chief operations engineer Gillan said: “We are really looking forward to this season and from a personal perspective I can’t wait to get the FW34 on to the race track. The factory has worked extremely hard over the winter to ensure that the car met its design, build and rig test targets and we start testing with the car prepared to a high standard.

“We’ve worked in close co-operation with all of our partners to achieve that, including Renault Sport F1. In the run-up to Australia, we will be working hard with our exciting new driver line-up to ensure that we maximise and unlock the full potential of the FW34. It is imperative that we demonstrate a continuous improvement in our performance and deliver results throughout the season.”

Sir Frank Williams said: “One could say that looking at the Williams F1 Team today we are off to a truly fresh start. We have a new car, new driver line up, new engine and new senior personnel. We also have a number of new partners who have joined the team in the past few months. I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome them formally and sincerely wish that they have an enjoyable and, most importantly, a valuable experience with us. The team has had a good winter at the factory and we feel ready and strong for the fight.”

Meanwhile the drivers expressed their satisfaction with the package.

“I have faith in the FW34 and the Renault engine and so have high hopes for the races ahead,” said Maldonado. “It will be very important that we develop the car from the start of the season to the end. Now that I have a year’s experience, I can help in that area much more now.”

“This is my ever first pre-season testing programme since I started in Formula One two years ago,” said Bruno Senna. “I’m really motivated and looking forward to working hard and with everyone in the team. I hope we have a successful month testing and developing the car so we arrive in Melbourne as well prepared as possible.”

The Williams FW34 broke cover at Jerez this morning

Williams has shown its new Renault-powered FW34 at Jerez this morning.

The car is the first product of the new structure led by technical director Mike Coughlan and chief operations engineer Mark Gillan.

It also sees the Renault name on the side of the car for the first time since 1997.

Guess what, the car has a stepped nose!

The car has very sleek lines from the rear

Scuderia Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says the target in 2012 is to move up from last year’s eighth place to sixth or seventh in the World Championship.

Tost is bullish about the prospects of the new STR7, which will be driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.

“First we must know what Toro Rosso is here for,” said Tost. “Toro Rosso is to educate the young drivers for Red Bull Racing. This is our philosophy, and within this philosophy, we do our best. The car itself, I think we made another step forward.

“We built up the infrastructure, we bought in new people, we brought in machines, and we invested a lot of money. I hope that the new car will be a step forward on last year’s car, which was already a good car, and we can reach our goals.”

Tost played down questions about the inexperienced line-up after Buemi and Alguersuari were dropped in December.

“Regarding the drivers, I always say after three years we have to evaluate a driver, and therefore we decided – or Red Bull decided – to come up with a new driver line-up. I’m quite convinced that Daniel Ricciardo, as well as Jean-Eric Vergne, will do a good job. They were quite successful in the young driver classes, both of them won championships.

“I convinced we have a good basis. The rest we will see. To come into F1 is one thing. To be in F1 and to make the next step forward and develop is another question.

“That’s the role of Toro Rosso. I’m looking forward to being involved in this project and I’m looking forward to working with these drivers. Especially as I think that both of them are skilled drivers and talented drivers.”

The Toro Rosso follows the now familiar stepped nose route

Toro Rosso has unveiled the STR7, the third car to designed and built in Faenza since the enforced split from Milton Keynes.

To no one’s surprise, it has a stepped nose.

More later…

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is adamant that the team has left nothing to chance in the design and construction of the new RB8.

“This year’s car build has gone fantastically well, and I think it’s the epitome of continuity, continuity across all areas,” said Horner. “I think we’ve designed and built this car in a record amount of time, in a ridiculously short amount of time.

“Adrian’s never famous for his drawings being early, but the design team, the production teams, all the associated departments that go into producing these cars, have delivered, and delivered in a fantastic way. We’ve hit our target of being at the first test so, despite the snow over the latter part of this week, I think we’re in great shape for the first test.

“The roll out of a new car is always filled with great anticipation; it’s almost like going back to school for a new school year. Of course, you’re keen to see what your rivals are doing (and) of course they’re looking to protect the secrets of their car also. Pictures are scoured over; we’ll all be looking at what rivals have been doing over the winter. It’s the longest time we spend away from each other, from Brazil to the first race, but we’ll be very much focused on our own performance.

“We’ll be looking to sign off the first systems checks to make sure the car is performing and working in accordance with how it was designed and get those checks out of the way. We then get into testing proper, because we have a very short amount of time this year – only three tests that are split with only one car between two drivers. It’s a short amount of time and only offers a few days for each driver, before starting on the grid in Melbourne.”

Horner said that RBR’s target for 2012 is clear.

“The team’s goals are quite simple. It’s to try and defend both titles in the manner (in which) we achieved them. Of course, when you’ve achieved what we have, particularly in 2011, we’ve set a very high standard for ourselves. But, we’re always looking to improve, we’re always looking, in all areas, to try and do better.

“We can’t control what our opponents do, we’re up against some formidable opponents, but we can only really focus on ourselves and only when we get to Melbourne will we truly know where we sit against our rivals.”

Horner conceded that there will be strong competition this season.

“I think on the grid this year we’re going to have six world champions, and McLaren have a strong team, they’ve got strength and depth and two world class drivers. Fernando Alonso: everyone knows his capability, and Ferrari also being a great team.

“We have Kimi Raikkonen coming back as well; Mercedes also look like they’re going to be competitive, so I think Formula One is set for an exciting year and at Red Bull Racing our goals and objectives are to try and stay ahead of our rivals and build on the success that we have (had) and build on the lessons that we’ve learned in 2011.”

We haven’t heard much from double World Champion Sebastian Vettel lately, but not surprisngly he’s pumped up about the RB8 and the 2012 season.

Here’s what he had to say in a Q&A provided by the team.

Back-to-back titles, the record for pole positions, most laps led, 11 wins last year – what’s your next target?

Oh, we do it again! Obviously, we had a great year, and I think you know we’ll always look back to 2011 and think how special it was, but to be honest, you don’t start the season having, you know, expectations to have the same or similar season again. So we know how special it was and we really enjoyed that but we know how hard it is to be that consistent – always there and nearly every race on the podium – so, you know, the target is to obviously try to do it again and try to get everything out of ourselves, so we’ll see how we get on with the new car, the RB8.

Did you get a chance to enjoy winning another world title?

Yeah, it was obviously, you know, quite busy after the first championship back in 2010, so yeah, in 2011, surely there’s a couple of things you have to do, want to do and you want to give back as well to, you know, people here in the factory, your fans. But after that, around Christmas, it was really time to slow down, back off a little bit and enjoy the peace, have a good rest in order to be prepared for this season. It will be a long and hard season again, but yeah it was really nice to let things sink in and, as I said before, you know, I think it makes you realise how special the season was when you look at the results again and the races itself, and you sum up things a little bit. So, it was a nice feeling and the good thing is, similar to back in 2010, no one can take it away from you, so it was always stays in your memory.

How did you spend your off-season?

Well, the thing is, many people always imagine the off-season to be as exciting or, you know, busy as the actual season – as in we do crazy things or we live a crazy life. But, to be honest, when you are travelling so much and you are so busy, you enjoy the time you have off really and that’s sitting at home enjoying normal things – watching TV, just not having to do anything. So I think that it was quite important to recharge the batteries, re-fuel the system a little bit, and, yeah, to come back fresh – hopefully fresh enough for this year. So, over Christmas I spent my time home with the family and with friends and then I went skiing a little bit; we had an awful lot of snow this winter so it was quite good. And then, very soon in January, you start to prepare yourself again. You start to work out regularly, so you get back into shape and burn the unnecessary calories and probably the unnecessary weight you might have put on over Christmas.

Are you expecting a bigger, tighter fight this year?

The thing is, at the beginning of last year we didn’t really expect whatever happened last year, so I think it’s the same thing again. It would be wrong to go into this season and expect 2011 to happen again, as in getting into the lead early and having a very big gap to other competitors in the Championship. So I think it will be very, very tight this year and everything else would be a surprise to be honest. Looking at the cars, you know there’s not much room we have left to play (with) for designers and to find something extra. You know, the last two years we have had two big things taken away, the double diffusers, plus, for this year, the system around the blown exhaust. So we are missing that and therefore I think it’s difficult to really create a difference. We’ll see, obviously we hope our car is better than all the others but it will be difficult, and I think the cars will be fairly similar, as in the gaps will be even closer than they have been.

Can you identify any weakness in your game? Are there things you want to work on?

Of course (in) 2011 we were extremely successful and it was a good season, so we did only very few mistakes. But still we sat down during the season and especially after the season and before this season again, trying to identify where we think we can improve, and yeah we got a couple of points. It’s not as if it was a blank sheet, so you would be surprised, and I think you know, we had a couple of pages with things that we can do better, we know we can do better. Of course, there were a lot of things that we did well and we try to keep it up and improve them as well but, as I said, there are a lot of things here and there you know – small things, details, attention to detail – that you can work on that might make a difference on a Sunday. You know we have 20 races, so maybe it helps you only in one out of 20 races, but that might help you to score that one point more that you might need to be on top at the end, so we’ll see.

What’s it like getting in the new car for the first time?

Obviously, you have a rough idea how the car should look like by what you see in the early stages from the design office, so yes it’s quite exciting to see the full car, everything coming together. So it’s quite a long progress, imagining when we start building the car and to today, where we present it. And again, the most exciting bit is putting it on track and seeing how it feels, so that’s yet to be seen. But (the) first time I jumped into the car for the seat fit – checking the position, checking your pedals, see if everything works – I think it was the same for Mark and myself, we felt extremely comfortable, everything went well and we got our position, comfortable position, fairly quickly. So it didn’t take too long. We had other cars where a little bit here a little bit there, you know, you always ask for something, but the RB8 was pretty straightforward, so we hope it continues that way.

What do you think about Mr Ecclestone’s hope that you don’t dominate again?

I hope he’s wrong obviously! Its difficult to say. You know, every season we start from zero again and unlike other sports… I don’t know if in tennis, for instance, you’re the number one in the world, there is a certain gap between you and the number two, so you have this cushion and it doesn’t matter if its one year or another year, you still have it, whereas for us it all starts from zero again, zero points, everyone has the same chance and we are all building our new cars. So, until we really put them on track to race each other we don’t really know. So, we’ll see, but I’m as confident as I can be at this point and hopefully we will have a good couple of days with the car; a good couple of days testing to prepare the season well.

Have you thought of a name for the car yet?

Not yet, no name yet! To be honest, last year we found a name I think Wednesday before the first race, in that race week, so we might be a bit earlier this year, but so far, no names. We have a couple of candidates, hot candidates, but nothing is decided yet!

The RB8 has an unusual take on the stepped nose

All eyes will be on the Red Bull RB8 when it takes to the track in Jerez on Tuesday. Here’s what Adrian Newey has to say about the car and the 2012 campaign.

Does recent success add to the pressure to maintain it or lessen it, as you have continuity?

The last few years have been really good, really successful; it’s been an incredible journey to get there. It’s the fourth evolution of the RB5 this year, so obviously the pressure is to try and stay there if we possibly can. It’s a difficult task, we have lost the exhaust technology with the restriction exhaust outlet position that we were able to develop and perhaps be ahead of the pack on in the last couple of years, that led to a big re think over the winter. Whether that will affect us more than other people is difficult to know of course. We designed the RB7, last year’s car, around that exhaust position and were probably the only people to do so, so it may be that we’ve lost more than other people through that. Only time will tell, it will be good to get out to do some testing and to see where we get to.

Do you find that frustrating or more of a challenge?            

Regulation restrictions like the lost exhaust are a bit frustrating in truth, because they are exactly that, they are restrictions, they’re not giving new opportunities or revenues particularly, they’re just closing a door. Regulation changes I enjoy, regulation restrictions I rather lament.

How have you coped with the removal of the exhaust blown diffuser for RB8?

RB7 was designed around the exhaust, this year knowing that the exhaust position from last year would be taken away, we’ve had to go back and look at how we developed the car through the last one and two years with the side exit exhaust and try and, if you like, make sure that the routes we had taken that were only suitable for that exhaust position we now had to re-evaluate. Probably one of the key things there is the rear ride height. The exhaust allowed us to run a high rear ride height, it’s much more difficult without that to sustain a high rear height so we have to go back down and have to redevelop the car around that lower ride height.

The other major change is the height of the nose. Did that present difficulties?

The restriction nose height which is a maximum height just in front of the front bulkhead hasn’t really changed the chassis shape very much. We’ve kept more or less the same chassis shape, but had to drop the nose just in front of the front bulkhead, which, in common with many other teams, has led us to I think I’d probably say a slightly ugly looking nose. We’ve tried to style it as best we can, but it’s not a feature you would choose to put in were it not for the regulation.

Would you say RB8 is still an evolution of RB7 or did you have to rethink many aspects?

I’d say RB8 is the fourth generation of what started with the 2009 car, the RB5. So I guess this is the great grandson of that car.

Do you simply hate to lose or is the thing that keeps you coming back the process of solving the design puzzle created by the regulations?

I’ve been lucky enough through my career to have had a good amount of success and people often ask will I retire soon or whatever, the answer is that as long as I keep enjoying it then I’d like to keep going. What really fascinates me about it is the technical challenge, the fact that we’ve moved a very high, fast pace, so every two weeks we’re out being evaluated, which if we’re doing well is great, and if we’re doing poorly is painful, so at least you know where you are and you get to see the product of your work very quickly. So I really enjoy working with my colleagues, my fellow engineers here at Milton Keynes, with the drivers of course at the track and it’s a job that has many facets and many varieties that you always get that immediate feedback and that really motivates me about the job.

In Sebastian you’ve got a driver who seems to be getting even better. What do you expect from this season?

I think we have a great driver line up. Sebastian, obviously double World Champion now, I think matured tremendously through last year. In 2010 he drove a great season, showed immense talent and thoroughly deserved to be World Champion at the end of it. It was a rocky year, he was a very young lad, showed incredible determination and ability to learn from his mistakes. Like all people he made mistakes through that year, but he never made them twice and I think that ability to learn from his mistakes and to always be searching and trying to improve really showed in his driving last year. He really made no mistakes last year, he was aggressive when he needed to be, he was patient when he needed to be, he really showed incredible maturity and there is no reason to think that won’t continue.

And in Mark you have a driver with a point to make after a difficult 2011. Do you think Mark will find RB8 an easier task then RB7?

Mark had a rocky ride last year. Through his 2010 he had a very good season and he was unlucky in many ways not to be World Champion at the end of that year. 2011 he initially I think struggled a little bit to understand how to use the Pirelli tyres. It took a little bit of time for him to adapt to them. He’s had a great winter, he’s tremendously fit, he’s really looking forward to the start of the season and I think he’ll be one to look out for this year I hope.

Is part of what keep you coming back the process of evolving this team? Is it still a work in progress?

The team is still a relatively young team, it’s come a long way in a very short period and we had a great deal of success over the last two or three years but we still occasionally show our youth, we still occasionally make mistakes which hopefully is like the swan that looks graceful on the top but there is lot of action going on underneath. So we’re still learning, but I think the fact that we are a young team with tremendous spirit and determination is great, which means that we do learn and we do try to evaluate and to continue to criticise ourselves and see how we can improve. I would hope with the confidence of the last few years and our steady improvement, we can keep maintaining and keep learning.

How do you approach that moment of first dropping the car on track? Are you quietly confident or is there a dread of what other teams will bring?

People often ask just before the new car runs, what’s the expectation for this year and my answer is always, I have absolutely no idea. We know what we have done through the winter, we know how we have developed the car but we have absolutely no idea what everybody else has done, with the regulation changes and restrictions then it’s quite a different game to the end of last year. Have we made as much improvement as others, more, less? It’s impossible to know. There is always trepidation when we start preseason testing and preseason testing itself is very difficult to read from. If we are hopelessly uncompetitive to another team then we will probably realise it, if there’s two or three of us that look broadly similar then it will be very difficult to pick actually who is the quickest out of those. So it won’t be until we get to Melbourne qualifying that we’ll really get more of a feel for it.

Finally, how does the OBE feel?

To be recognised by the Queen with an OBE is very flattering, I’m particularly proud of the fact that it’s for engineering achievements. I think so often engineers in the UK are overlooked and that’s a shame given our proud roots through the Victorian area of developing industry and technology engineering. I feel real pride actually that I’ve been awarded that and a tremendous thank you to everybody who feels that’s been appropriate. I’ve had an enormously enjoyable career and to be recognised as an engineer gives a very good feeling.