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The Williams spy could have chosen a better disguise

There is always fun and games in the pitlane at testing as teams try to get a look at other new cars while protecting their own intellectual property, and with eight 2011 models on view at Valencia this week there has been much to keep an eye on.

All teams study internet pictures and employ photographers to provide them with shots of their rivals’ machines. However in Valencia Williams used one of its engineers – someone who obviously knows what he’s looking for – to get some shots.

At least the team was open about it and didn’t use a ‘ringer’ like others are known to have done. A former Ferrari aero guy who famously once got caught taking pictures when out of team kit at a test also used to give an Aussie GP pass to a Melbourne-based relative. The fellow duly ambled up and down the Albert Park pitlane on the Wednesday and Thursday with his camera, looking every inch the tourist…

Of course they all know that the others are doing the same as them, which is why Red Bull covered the rear of RB7 with a silver blanket every time it came in, the crew looking menacingly around like a bunch of would-be bouncers. It’s a fruitless task. When Sebastian Vettel stopped during last year’s Australian GP a manufacturer team that employs its own full time photographer soon received a full portfolio of views of the blue machine.

Not every team took kindly to the presence of the Williams representative in Valencia. When he gatecrashed the Toro Rosso launch and tried to get shots of its trick aero – from a spot even the invited media had been asked to vacate – he was told by a team spokesman to ‘f**k off…’

NASCAR espionage lags behind F1

Like several other drivers Rubens Barrichello has expressed concerns about the amount of work drivers have to do in the cockpit this season.

Yesterday the Brazilian tried KERS and the movable wing for the first time, and found it hard to focus on the actual driving.

“The only drawback from the day is that the number of buttons on the steering wheel can distract you from the driving,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a danger, but I think it’s a concern. In terms of execution, the additional controls are obviously necessary, but people have different steering wheels, so drivers may therefore be able to reach some buttons easier than others. The problem is you are taking your eye off the road.

“There is not a single straight where I don’t press a button and change gear. In my role in the GPDA we will keep talking about this, but I think the FIA will let us practice a little more. I think the strong comments will come now but will lessen as people get used to things.”

Rubens says he’s happy with the latest Pirellis: “I ran the medium tyre for most of yesterday. They seem quite hard which is causing us to slide around a bit too much, but the soft compound seems to be fine.”

Karun Chandhok is present at the Valencia test wearing a Team Lotus jacket, but team principal Tony Fernandes says that the Indian driver is not yet officially confirmed in the reserve driver role.

However it would be logical for the team to have someone on hand with recent F1 racing experience, much as Lotus Renault has engaged Chandhok’s former HRT team mate Bruno Senna.

“Karun’s here as a guest,” said Fernandes. “I’m not someone who’s going to rush into things. Karun is definitely on the list. I want it to be a team effort, I want everyone to feel comfortable. A lot of people get shoved into it, but it’s not my style. ‘Here, take this reserve driver, and do this.’ I want everyone to feel good about it. And I think the reserve driver has go to contribute, he’s got to feel part of the team.

“Today is for him to see what the team’s like. I think he likes us a lot, but he would, because he hasn’t got anything else! Let’s be real. But I want the team also to gel with him. I think he’s a good lad, I think he can add a lot of value to the team. There are a few other guys, we’ve got a GP2 team as well. I really would like the team as well, but I would definitely like Karun involved in some way, shape or form.”

Although the sister Air Asia GP2 team has yet to formally confirm Luiz Razia and Davide Valsecchi, Fernandes admitted that his juniors could do some Fridays mornings – which is what the drivers themselves have told the media.

“We are going to give, depending upon the performance, about four slots, four to six slots for Friday. My whole thing is if they prove themselves… It won’t be any time early, but it’s also a motivational thing. It gives them a buzz to be there, and get in an F1 car etc. That’s something where I’m controlling the process a little bit, to make sure we get the right mix.”

The Lotus T128 heading out at 9am today

The Lotus T128 became the eighth 2011 car to take to the track when Heikki Kovalainen head out of the Valencia pit garage this morning.

The car had previously only been seen in pictures taken in an undergound car park in the team’s internet launch in the early hours of Monday morning.

Lotus is of course the only team to have switched engine supplier over the winter, and the Renault is mated to the 2009 Red Bull gearbox. Last year’s RBR box was optimised for the double diffuser, which is why it made more sense to go for an older spec.

The team has no immediate plans to run KERS but may be forced to do so later in the year if its lack proves to be a real handicap.

The car also features a ‘spike’ roll hoop, although it is not as extreme as  that on last year’s Mercedes, and is thus legal.

New car has Red Bull gearbox but no KERS

Alonso stopped on track after a routine fuel pick-up test

Fernando Alonso had a good first proper day in the Ferrari F150 at Valencia, the team having already shaken the car down at Fiorano last week.

Of the new cars only Sebastian Vettel was faster with the Red Bull, but the Spaniard admitted that there was still a lot to learn about the Pirellis.

“The tyre degrade a lot, and they are not very consistent at the moment, and we are very limited in terms of number of tyres as well,” he said. “You have to keep one set of tyres for the whole morning, and then maybe put one for half of the afternoon and one at the end. It’s difficult to do set-up changes and to really get an answer at the moment on those.”

Alonso says he’s quickly got used to playing around with KERS and wing buttons, although it’s early days yet. He made some interesting observations on the new technology.

“It’s OK, it’s obviously not the easiest thing to do at the exit of the corners, these new buttons on the steering wheel. We start slowly, we did some practice also in the simulator, so it’s not the first time we had the buttons on the steering.

“But in the morning we started step-by-step, some laps we activate the KERS, some other laps we activate the rear wing, and then we start doing everything at the same time and getting used to it. Now in the afternoon everything was coming out automatically, so I think it’s good. Tomorrow plus Jerez will be enough to be completely confident on the new things.”

However he admitted that it was still going to be tricky to keep on top of everything.

“It’s a difficult question. Obviously it’s not very easy, you lose concentration in your driving line or in your driving style, pure performance, but it’s also something that drivers who get used to the systems, and drivers who are trained more or they are more clever on this, they can have an advantage, so it’s also a challenge for all of us to try to do better than our colleagues.

“We all have our self confidence, we all think that we can do it, and that it also something that can be good with the new buttons, with the new F1, you have to try to get used to it better than the others.”

Asked by this blog how he felt compared with a year ago, as a Ferrari new boy, he said: “Yeah obviously it’s better this year. Last year it was really, really the first test. A lot of excitement, a lot of emotions last year also, because it was the first time in a Ferrari car.

“This year we approach the test in a better way, more relaxed. You know Ferrari, you know all the staff, you know also the programme for this test. We have two days, last year I only had one. So it was a lot of things to do in one day. This year we start more in a relaxed way and really focus on the things you have to do. Last year was more like a demo more than work!”

Winning title has not changed Seb's taste in hats...

Sebastian Vettel was in buoyant mood at the end of the first day of testing in Valencia, but after topping the times he said it was still too early to say much about how the new RB7 stacks up.

Vettel says testing is key this year, especially with the change of tyre supplier, and he’s happy that the new car was ready for Valencia.

“This year it’s very important, that’s why we couldn’t afford another delayed start into the season, and we made sure that our car was ready straight away for the first test,” said the German. “We have new tyres for this year with the Pirellis. I think all in all it was a good day today. It’s still way too early to make any conclusions.

“If you can draw one, then we did a lot of laps today. For the first time I think we can be very proud. There wasn’t much time between Abu Dhabi and here, only 10 weeks, and in that time to build a new car and put everything together and on the first day to do around 93 laps is I think quite an achievement. I’m very happy with that.

“I didn’t really have a lunch break. I stayed in the car, just had a quick sandwich, and continued running!”

Regarding the opposition, Seb said: “Definitely we’ll have a look at the pictures this evening. Maybe we’ll have one or the other spy shot. It’s a very nice time of year, especially when people try different things. I think the Toro Rosso looks quite different, and the Renault, with a different approach with the exhaust pipes. It’s nice to see that, that’s F1 and that’s how it should be.”

Vettel made it clear he has one aim for this season.

“There’s no guarantee that the number one makes you two or three tenths faster a lap, you still have to push very hard and make you way round every single lap at every single race. So it will be a tough fight.

“The aim and the target is to make sure the number one stays on the car, otherwise we have to invest in some paint again in changing the numbers. In the end we just try to save money!”

At the end of an exciting day for F1 it was business as usual as Sebastian Vettel topped the times in the new Red Bull.

However most team would agree that little was learned today as drivers were running brand new cars for the first time, and two top teams did very few laps. In addition several were still using last year’s models, including McLaren.

After the launches of the Sauber and Renault yesterday this morning saw the wraps come off the Red Bull, Mercedes, Toro Rosso and Williams.

Vettel ran a marathon 93 laps in the new car, while Ferrari showed reliability as Fernando Alonso matched that figure.

Second fastest was the 2010 Force India of Niko Hulkenberg, while Gary Paffett was third in last year’s McLaren. Paul di Resta, who shared the Force India for half a day, was fourth.

Of the other new cars Alonso was fifth, ahead of Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber. Belgian rookie Jerome d’Ambrosio was next in the 2010 Virgin, ahead of Vitaly Petrov in the Renault, the Russian running only 26 laps and missing a lot of track time with car problems.

Running only in the afternoon Michael Schumacher was thwarted by hydraulic problems and did only 14 laps, after Nico Rosberg did only eight in the morning with the silver car.

The new Lotus T128 will join the action tomorrow.

More news later…

Sauber has released a fascinating video showing some onboard shots from the new C30 in Valencia yesterday – including Kamui Kobayashi trying out the movable rear wing.

It’s the best insight we’ve had so far into how it will operate – you have to wait until the end!

The Merc looks great, with a clear RBR influence

The Mercedes MGP W02 – the car with which Michael Schumacher hopes to return to race winning form – looked stunning when shown in Valencia today (see earlier story for more pics.)

It shows a clear Red Bull influence, but that’s hardly surprising, and Mercedes is not alone in going down the pull rod suspension route.

“Finally the waiting is over and things get started,” said Schumacher in a team statement. “For us drivers, the break every year is hard to take because the gap between the last race and the first time out on track seems to be never-ending. Even if I have been involved and updated all winter on the developments, and even if I know the improvements are significant, it is still different to see the new car literally for the first time in front of you.

“You automatically build up this nice pre-start tension. I very much look forward to the new season. We have said it several times already but again, we are really to building up something big together. I am very confident that this season we will be standing on the podium much more regularly; ideally in the middle!”

Nico Rosberg added: “It is always a very exciting time of year to drive the new car for the first time and feel how it performs out on track. This year we have the added challenge of not having an immediate reference due to the change in tyre manufacturer to the new Pirelli tyres, which felt good during our first try-out at the Abu Dhabi test last year. I am very much looking forward to having a much stronger season than last year and as always, our targets are aggressive.

“We want to be competing at the front and challenging for race wins. Everyone at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth has worked extremely hard on the new Silver Arrow and we are all looking forward to seeing how it performs.”

Ross Brawn has admitted that the team didn’t push the limits last year, but has done this time.

“It is always a thrill to see a new car ready to take the track for the first time and this year is no exception,” said Ross. “After our first year as the Mercedes-Benz works team, we are now seeing the benefits of our chassis and engine groups working well together. With a good technical structure and a strengthened race engineering organisation, both at the factory and the race track, I am confident that we have done and will continue to do a better job this year in all key areas.

“The concept development for the MGP W02 started early and we have set challenging targets for the design, combined with a robust plan to ensure that the pace of development can continue throughout the long 2011 season. We have two excellent drivers in Michael and Nico, both of whom capable of winning races in a good car, and we look forward to seeing them push each other and the development of the new Silver Arrow during the season.

“We want to be setting the standard right from the start but if we are not, we will respond very strongly to get ourselves into the game. Everyone is excitedly waiting to see what the new season will reveal.”

New car but an interim livery

Williams has followed the 2011 trend and used the buzzword ‘aggressive’ to describe the new FW33, testing today in an interim livery.

Sam Michael said: “Until you start testing you’re never sure how you’re going to stack up against the opposition, but we’re optimistic. We think this is a good car, but we’ll have a better overall picture in a few weeks time.

“The design of this year’s car has been pretty smooth,” continues Sam. “We’ve improved our way of working by increasing the communication between the mechanical and aerodynamic departments, and that improved our decision making processes. It allowed us to increase the optimisation time spent on each part of the car.”

More later!

Car looks cool in this colour! More sponsors to be added yet