AUTOSPORT Live: Test day three - F1 Valencia February Test

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LIVE COMMENTARY: VALENCIA FEBRUARY TEST - TEST DAY THREE

GO TO LIVE INDEX	ALL TIMES GMT

As it happened: Test day three
By Geoff Creighton and Pablo Elizalde

The live commentary has ended. No further updates will be posted.

09:00 Welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for our continuing coverage of the first pre-season test of 2010.

Excitement is building and the session is just getting underway on a crisp morning in Valencia.

09:02 The air temperature is a chilly three celsius with the track only a couple of degrees warmer. However, the sun is out and things should warm up during the day.

09:02 Nico Hulkenberg is the first man out on track today in his Williams FW32.

09:04 Fans are pouring into the circuit already to see local hero Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard has just completed an installation lap in the Ferrari F10.

09:06 Two other former world champions also continue their new challenges today with Michael Schumacher back on track in the Mercedes and Jenson Button getting his first taste of the McLaren MP4-25.

09:07 Button was presented to the media in a photocall outside the McLaren garage a few minutes ago.

09:09 Also on track today will be Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) and Nico Hulkenberg (Williams).

09:10 The track has fallen silent after first installation laps. Button and Schumacher are the only men not to have left the garage yet.

09:13 World champion Jenson Button takes to the track for the first time in his McLaren.

09:16 It is a three lap run for Button as he gets his first taste of the MP4-25.

09:19 Button is back in the pits to wrap up his first experience of the new McLaren.

09:22 Michael Schumacher is wearing a black carbon prototype Schuberth helmet and is working on a run of laps. A 1m14.889s is the German's best effort so far.

09:23 Pedro de la Rosa is now on top of the early order with a lap of 1m12.293s in the Sauber.

09:25 The session has been stopped.

09:25 De la Rosa has stopped on track in his Sauber on the run to Turn 4.

09:30 The Spaniard still heads the early times while his car is being recovered back to the pits.

09:36 Jaime Alguersuari is currently third fastest before the first red flag of the day. This will be his first chance to complete a test day in the Toro Rosso as the young Spaniard was prevented from testing last year by the in-season ban.

09:38 The session has restarted.

09:40 Things are warming up nicely now with the winter sunshine overhead. The track temperature is now up to 18.3 celsius.

09:40 Fernando Alonso is quickly back on circuit in the Ferrari F10.

09:43 De la Rosa's Sauber has been recovered back to the pitlane on a truck and the mechanics are now looking in to why the car stopped earlier.

09:45 An early effort from Alonso in the Ferrari moves him up to third quickest in 1m14.554s.

09:46 Alguersuari has gone faster than Buemi managed in the Toro Rosso. He's done a 1m13.527s compared to the Swiss driver's 1m13.823 of yesterday.

09:47 Alonso improves again with a 1m13.006 to go second quickest.

09:49 It is a march up the order for the Spaniard as he is now under four tenths off De la Rosa's early benchmark.

09:51 Fernando Alonso delights the crowd by topping the timesheet with a 1m12.160s in the Ferrari.

09:53 Alonso continues his promising early run with a new benchmark of 1m11.905s.

09:57 Sauber technical director Willy Rampf tells our man Edd Straw there was a clash between Pedro de la Rosa and Nico Hulkenberg, which caused the red flag earlier.

The Sauber team are tending to some bodywork damage on the car.

10:01 Times after one hour: Alonso 1m11.905; de la Rosa 12.293; Alguersuari 1m12.576; Schumacher 1m13.686s; Petrov 1m17.425s; Hulkenberg 1m17.723s; Button 1m32.980s.

10:03 Meanwhile, Virgin Racing are unveiling their 2010 contender in a virtual launch. Stick with AUTOSPORT for all the details.

10:05 Jenson Button remains in the McLaren garage and hasn't been out since that early installation run.

10:16 Michael Schumacher continues to lap in the Mercedes and has improved to a 1m12.874s, just under a second off Alonso's benchmark.

10:21 From @eddstrawF1 - Williams confirm that Hulkenberg and De la Rosa did make contact. They say "we bumped wheels and suffered no damage"

10:24 Official figures from yesterday's test: 15,500 fans in the stands. More than 25,000 expected today. That may me more than in some races

10:29 Repairs still carried out to the BMW Sauber of de la Rosa

10:37 Meanwhile, the world waits for the first image of the Virgin car

10:42 De la Rosa is now back in action following repairs after his clash with Hulkenberg

10:44 McLaren on Button, via eddstrawF1: "It's his first run, so we're getting him comfortable and running a slightly longer checklist than we had with Gary and Lewis"

10:45 And now Button leaves the pits for some more laps

11:06 12pm update: Alonso 1m11.709; de la Rosa 1m12.094; Schumacher 1m12.450; Alguersuari 1m12.576; Button 1m13.783; Hulkenberg 14.410; Petrov 1m14.707

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Valencia testing

11:07 Now Alonso goes even quicker and sets the fastest time of the week: 1:11.599

11:13 Williams driver Hulkenberg is now the only man on track

11:18 The F1 world continues to wait for images of the new Virgin car

11:27 Alonso delights his fans by coming out of the pits. He's alone on track now

11:32 Petrov has improved to move up to sixth on the timesheets, ahead of Hulkenberg

11:36 Pictures of the new Virgin VR-01 on AUTOSPORT in a few seconds

11:37 At Valencia, Button is back on track with the McLaren

11:38 Here's AUTOSPORT F1 Editor @eddstrawf1's view from the top of the Valencia pits.

11:39 Here's the first image of the new Virgin car

11:47 Button improves his time to a 1:13.498, but he is still fifth fastest

11:59 1pm times update: Alonso 1m11.599; de la Rosa 1m12.094; Schumacher 1m12.438; Alguersuari 1m12.576; Button 1m13.498; Hulkenberg 1m13.959; Petrov 1m14.009

12:21 Plenty of laps for Hulkenberg today. He is already over the 70 mark

12:29 @ClaireVWilliams: Rubens says you can't tell how competitive everyone is because the fuel cell is so large making times difficult to read

12:36 Ferrari reports there's a 4km line of cars to get into the circuit. Over 30,000 people at the track

12:50 Alonso goes even quicker, posting a 1:11.470. He is over half a second ahead of his closest rival now

12:54 Some teams having their lunch break now

12:56 And speaking of lunch, Michael Schumacher had some pasta at Ferrari's hospitality yesterday

12:57 Alonso has completed an eight-lap run which included the fastest time of the week

13:04 Times update at 2pm: 1 Alonso 1:11.470; 2 De la Rosa 1:12.094; 3 Schumacher 1:12.438; 4 Alguersuari 1:12.576; 5 Button 1:12.951; 6 Hulkenberg 1:13.669; 7 Petrov 1:14.009

13:09 Petrov moves into the 1:13 bracket with the Renault

13:20 Spanish media has red fever today

13:30 Paddock and pitlane views courtesy of @eddstrawf1

13:32 Hulkenberg might be doing a race simulation judging by his lap times

13:33 Now he returns to the pits, so maybe he was just trying the car with full tanks

13:38 Russian Petrov has improved his time by a tiny margin, to a 1:13.889

13:44 So, so far this week, Schumacher has been quicker than Rosberg, Alonso quicker than Massa, Kobayashi quicker than de la Rosa, Hamilton quicker than Button, Kubica quicker than Petrov, Alguersuari quicker than Buemi, and Barrichello quicker than Hulkenberg

13:45 All of which, of course, means absolutely nothing

13:45 Button, Alguersuari and de la Rosa in action now

14:07 Petrov now lapping close to his best time. Schumacher, Hulkenberg and Alguersuari on track too

14:07 Less than two hours of the first test of 2010 left

14:08 Petrov improves to 1:13.582 and moves ahead of Hulkenberg on the timesheets

14:10 Some comments from Buemi after his two-day test:

Buemi confident of strong season

14:17 Ferrari says Alonso's "first impressions were positive, although it is still too early to draw any conclusions regarding its competitiveness on an absolute level.

"What is important is that Fernando could drive without interruptions to gain confidence with the car and getting closer to the team and the working methods, which are, let's not forget, completely new for him."

14:18 Hulkenberg the first man to reach the 100-lap mark today

14:20 @ToroRossospy: Random non-stop chanting of "Jaime, Jaime Jaime," from fans above pits, even when driver nowhere in sight is beginning to wear a bit thin.

Jenson Button, McLaren, Valencia testing

14:22
Jenson Button on a long run with his McLaren now. Pit boards says 10 laps left for the world champion

14:25 Ross Brawn speaking to BBC's @sarahholt: "It's always very difficult to judge. On full tanks yesterday (Tuesday) we didn't look too bad but we're a little bit off on pace and (there are problems with) the handling and balance of the car which we can fix for (the next test in) Jerez. We know what the problem is.

"Of course the other teams will be progressing as well so we are reasonable, not as quick as Ferrari and Lewis looked quick yesterday. So it looks like we've got a bit of work to do."

14:32 Alonso running in the 1:15s/1:16s with a lot of fuel onboard by the looks of it

14:45 Times at the top haven't changed for a while, with Alonso still ahead of de la Rosa and Schumacher

14:48 All the cars are now back in the pits

14:53 The grandstands have emptied progressively as the end of the session nears. Looks like people want to avoid the traffic madness

15:03 @ClaireVWilliams: Our old Nico (Rosberg) stopped in our box by mistake yesterday - he must be missing us!

15:04 Official spectator figures from Valencia: 36,400 fans today. A total of 59,100 over the three days. Some GPs would like such crowd

15:07 Ticket prices for the test were from 5 to 25 euros. That's quite a bit of money the circuit made

15:08 Michael Schumacher speaking to the media in 10 minutes. Looks like he finished his day early

15:10 Alonso on track again, lapping in the low 1:13s

15:11 Button joins Alonso on track. Meanwhile, Schumacher has officially finished testing for the day

15:13 It looks like no one will get close to Massa's total of 226 laps over his two days of testing

15:15 Of course Massa had two full days of testing while most rivals haven't

15:16 Kubica, who also did two full days, managed 188 laps. Barrichello's two days add up to 177

15:19 Fireworks set off in the grandstands as Alonso chases Button's McLaren

15:20 Looks like Alonso and Button have their own private little race now

15:21 The "race" is over as Alonso returns to the pits

15:22 With 38 minutes left, only Alonso and Massa have managed to lap the circuit in the 1:11s

15:23 Alonso didn't come into the pits. He just backed off to get some clean air

15:25 Alonso set to be right behind Button in a few minutes once again..

15:26 The crowd is loving this. It's their own little GP

15:27 And Alonso gets ahead of Button as the Briton backs off

15:28 Alonso now pits and Button is the only man left on track

15:30 Last 30 minutes of the test

15:31 Will the times stay unchanged or will @NobleF1 have to re-write his whole report?

15:36 All three Spaniards - Alonso, de la Rosa and Alguersuari - are on track now

15:39 110 laps for Alonso so far today. Ferrari well over 300 over the course of the three days

15:41 Schumacher has confirmed that a "little hydraulic leak" has ended his day early

15:43 Petrov improves to 1:13.097. The Russian is still sixth quickest

15:49 Schumacher: "I wouldn't expect to be winning right from the beginning. It wasn't something that I was aiming for and expecting to be the case. But we need to be strong enough on development."

Full story on AUTOSPORT soon.

15:50 Ten minutes left and Alonso is the only man on track, much to the delight of the Spanish fans

15:52 Button and Alguersuari also jump onto the track

15:52 Alguersuari returns to the pits without setting a time

15:55 With five minutes left Petrov leaves the pits

15:56 Button back into the pits. Looks like the day is over for the McLaren driver

15:59 It seems there will be no "glory runs" today and the timesheet will remain unchanged at the top

16:00 Alonso lapping again in the 1:11s. Just a few seconds left on the clock

16:01 The day is over and Alonso remains on top, with Ferrari having dominated all three days of the test

Only the Italian team has lapped in the 1:11s this week

16:02 You can see the final times on the right side of the screen

16:04 That's all from AUTOSPORT's live coverage of the Valencia test. We hope you have enjoyed it. Thank you for reading us.

Tune in again from February 10 to follow the second test of 2010 at Jerez

FASTEST TIMES

P	Driver	Team	Time
1	Alonso	Ferrari	1m11.470s
2	de la Rosa	Sauber	1m12.094s +0.624
3	Schumacher	Mercedes	1m12.438s +0.968
4	Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	1m12.576s +1.106
5	Button	McLaren	1m12.951s +1.481
6	Petrov	Renault	1m13.097s +1.627
7	Hulkenberg	Williams	1m13.669s +2.199

All timing unofficial. Updated: 15:43 GMT

OVERVIEW	DAY THREE

CURRENT WEATHER

	Clear skies	High Temp:	10°C / 50°F
		Track:	Dry

Hack (08:51) Join the debate during day three of pre-season testing at Valencia.

Mastah (09:00) good morning :clap:

Fudce (09:01) Hey hey

Fudce (09:01) the bad puns will likely start early today.

Mastah (09:01) green goo coming from mclaren garage http://twitpic.com/115edi :lol:

Mastah (09:01) http://twitpic.com/115ei7 the hulk

AndyW35 (09:01) morning. :wave:

Fudce (09:01) Ron Dennis's blood?

SchuOz (09:02) Good evening ! :wave:

AndyW35 (09:02) :lol:

Fudce

Fudce (09:02) Good Night. .zZ .zZ .zZ

Mastah (09:02) :lol:

Youichi (09:03) And Jamie Alguersuari follows The Hulk, onto the track for his first ever testday

SchuOz (09:04) No its not...the Hul was testing for Williams last year

Fudce (09:04) Hurrah! High-me

SchuOz (09:04) *Hulk

Fudce (09:04) Schu - it's Jaime's first test

SchuOz (09:05) Hard to believe hey after racing for half a season

Fudce (09:05) Schu - hard to believe but true. He's raced now but he's never taken part in a real test.

Mastah (09:06) i thought i would never ever write this, but go fred, you need to learn how to drive with f10, the beast, to help felipe in fight for wdc :cat:

AndyW35 (09:06) 3C is very cold, track only a couple of C more ...hmm,

The July Plot (09:06) yay a day off to sit in and check out some pre season testing! :clap:

...oh and hello everyone! :wave:

The July Plot (09:07) also im loving autosport for opening up the live forum! :clap:

Fudce (09:07) It's gonna be a strange year, both Ferrari and McLaren get special boosts this year.

Ferrari have Fred's 6/10 button.
McLaren have Jenson's Button

Fudce (09:08) Hi July

Mastah (09:10) http://twitpic.com/115ez1 vitaly

AndyW35 (09:10) How will Jenson match up today compared to Lewis I wonder. I am convinced Jenson will want to win the first round.

SaintDean (09:10) morning all, i think were set for a good days racing.

MadYarpen (09:10) hello

Fudce (09:10) Vitaly's already driving them up the wall (well, down the wall from the looks of it)

MadYarpen (09:11) straight from the exam here

Mastah (09:11) how was it, good or bad?

Gilles4Ever (09:11) Hi AndyW35 :wave:

BRK (09:12) Time to avoid the Winter Testing thread for the inevitable flood of 'Alonso waving to his fans/Alonso in deep thought in red/Alonso scratching his buttcrack' images.

Is there a sort of limit on the images that can be posted per page?

harsha (09:12) 1AM in Los Angeles and i'm still awake following F1. Kinda shows you my dedication to the sport!!!

MadYarpen (09:13) not bad i guess

Gilles4Ever (09:13) sarahholtf1 There have also been first spins around the circuit for F1 new boys Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) and Vitaly Petrov (Renault)

MadYarpen (09:13) better than last one which i've f*cking failed

AndyW35 (09:13) Morning Gilles4Ever :wave:

Good week for us guys testing wise as I mentioned on the 2 wheel thread :clap:

Fudce (09:13) Wait, people in America follow Formula One? :rolleyes:

Mastah (09:13) good then

Fudce (09:14) We can discuss the Virgin Racing launch here too in 45mins

AndyW35 (09:14) That's only online isn't it, the Virgin launch?

SaintDean (09:15) silverstone?

Mastah (09:15) they have absolutely awesome web, but suprisingly there's no mention about car launch :confused:

harsha (09:15) @fudce - I've migrated here. Originally from a different part of the world

MadYarpen (09:16) lVR launch is at 10 GMT, isn't it?

Mastah (09:16) yep, 11 in our part of europe

MadYarpen (09:17) so 45 mins remaining :up:

SaintDean (09:17) Are they launching it at silverstone?

Razgreez (09:18) :wave:

AndyW35 (09:18) I guess VR will be red. black and grey .. so perhaps similar to the old McLaren West colours??? :confused:

Youichi (09:18) ARGH ! the work firewall is now blocking twitpic.com :mad:

Fudce (09:19) Andy: but in what quantity? Will it be red, black or gray as primary?

SaintDean (09:19) M. Schumacher Mercedes GP W01 1:14.889

SchuOz (09:19) Schumi sets the first time....1.14.8

Mastah (09:19) "Michael's trying out a prototype helmet for Schuberth on his first runs to explain the black carbon lid.."

Fudce (09:20) anyway, I'm gonna disappear for a few minutes getting myself some breakfast.

AndyW35 (09:20) I'd say mainly red, then black then grey.

Youichi (09:21) Button drives a McLaren for the second time today

Mastah (09:21) pedro 1:12.3 already

Mastah (09:22) http://twitpic.com/115ge1 schumi with prototype helmet

Mastah (09:24) and again http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/9232/mp...

Mastah (09:25) red flag

whoisjohngalt (09:25) why the red flag?

Mastah (09:25) it's pedro :well:

whoisjohngalt (09:26) dela rosa..

SuperDaan (09:26) pedro trying to run on fumes ? :cool:

Mastah (09:26) he stopped at turn 4

SchuOz (09:27) out of fuel.... :lol:

AndyW35 (09:27) Ferrari will be hoping it is not a certain part I guess

Mastah (09:27) out of talent :cat:

rad787 (09:28) lol

SuperDaan (09:28) Ferrari engine too thirsty :rolleyes:

SchuOz (09:31) yes the times are up on the right !! :clap:

Mastah (09:31) http://twitpic.com/115h92

Mastah (09:32) yeah :clap:

rad787 (09:32) Obviously a low-fuel run. Ran out of fuel :P

Fudce (09:32) hark, I didn't miss much then.

SuperDaan (09:32) Thx for the times Autosport, nice 1 :up:

SchuOz (09:32) going for a fast time on a cool track

Fudce (09:32) Woah, button's McLaren is slow...

Rafo (09:33) morning everyone :wave:

Fudce (09:34) :wave:

Fudce (09:35) Wonder if Ant's gonna be checking the live commentary again today

bolmedias (09:35) And now we wait...

Fudce (09:36) So, including this one, how many red flags you reckon on today?

harsha (09:37) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4327...

Rafo (09:37) 5

bolmedias (09:37) Alguersuari is out there...i'd say 5 as well

Fudce (09:37) It's the Black Stig!

Rafo (09:38) nice helmet for shumi :eek:

bolmedias (09:38) Not to be mean to Jaime or anything :P

Rafo (09:38) those air intakes in his helmet are almost as big as the one behind him on the merc :drunk:

Mastah (09:39) "Track temperature has risen to 16 degrees in the past 40 minutes"

bolmedias (09:39) The Sauber car has consistently been quick on each of the test days so far. This could be another Brawn GP moment :P

Fudce (09:40) The Confused team

bolmedias (09:41) lets see how Fernando does in the F10

AndyW35 (09:42) That's a big temp rise, should be fine now for times.

Rafo (09:42) nah, sauber is surely fast out of the box, but brawn dominated last year testing (when they got into it) by a large measure... but sauber lokks good so far, no doubt

Mastah (09:42) fred 1m16.356s

harsha (09:43) NobleF1

Alonso completes his first flying lap for Ferrari. 1m16.356s

Mastah (09:43) 1m15.351s now

harsha (09:43) NobleF1

Alonso now 1m15.351s. Alguesuari is lapping quickly too 1m13.527s

bolmedias (09:44) That's not too bad for Alonso...

Mastah (09:44) motor21 died?

Fudce (09:44) So alonso knocked 5 thousandths of his time?

Mastah (09:44) 1m14.554s

Rafo (09:44) he already improved his time in 0.6 secs :lol:

Fudce (09:45) http://www.instantrimshot.com/

Mastah (09:45) 1m13.646

bolmedias (09:45) 1m13.646

bolmedias (09:46) heh, Mastah :P

Mastah (09:46) yeah, i beat you

bolmedias (09:46) indeed

Mastah (09:46) spain 1,2,3

SuperDaan (09:46) You have to do better Bolmedias

bolmedias (09:46) 1m13.006

Mastah (09:47) he is 6 tenths faster 1m13.006 :lol:

Mastah (09:47) damn :mad:

bolmedias (09:47) There be ninjas here, boys xD

Fudce (09:48) well you both beat the liveupdate

bolmedias (09:48) 1m12.677s

Mastah (09:48) 1m12.677

Rafo (09:48) which was massa's fastest time so far between T1 and T2?

Mastah (09:48) damn again :lol:

bolmedias (09:48) I'll leave it to u now, Mastah

SuperDaan (09:48) Common Mastah !

harsha (09:48) NobleF1

Alonso improves again: 1m12.677s

Fudce (09:48) he did 1:11.722 yesterday Rafo

Rafo (09:49) :up:

thxs

Fudce (09:49) is the Virgin Launch just on the VR site or somewhere different?

Rafo (09:50) is that today?

bolmedias (09:50) And then there's Jenson...1m32.980...

Mastah (09:50) oh, i almost forfgot about it

bolmedias (09:50) Yeah, Virgin launch is today

karlth (09:50) Latest times section! :up:

Mastah (09:50) 1m12.160

bolmedias (09:50) too bad i have a Maths lesson during the launch

Rafo (09:51) any guess on virgin's livery? ...knowing branson we should expect somethng shiny

Gilles4Ever (09:51) plain black

whoisjohngalt (09:51) how long is alonso's stint?

bolmedias (09:52) It's mostly black from what Di Grassi has said

Mastah (09:52) 6 or 7 laps

Fudce (09:52) Black with red and gray diagonal stripes at various spots would be cool

BugTomek (09:52) number of laps done in the latest time would be helpful. how many laps did Petrov and Button?

Mastah (09:52) 1m11.905

SchuOz (09:53) it's obvious the ferrari & sauber running on less fuel in the cooler morning conditions

Mastah (09:53) i guess he will do what felipe did yesterday - 11 or 12 laps

BugTomek (09:53) "In the latest times section"

Fudce (09:53) Wonder how big the crowds are today what with Fred and Schumi

bolmedias (09:53) Latest Times doesn't update that often

Gilles4Ever (09:54) 50K

Fudce (09:54) plus Jaime & Pedro there too

Rafo (09:54) well, its clear ferrari is showing an early advantage over the rest ...first massa and now alonso should lead the boards :clap:

bolmedias (09:54) And why are people calling Alonso 'Fred'?

Rafo (09:54) fernando = fred :rolleyes:

SuperDaan (09:54) Fudce: according to JA, 50.000

Mastah (09:54) Alonso is down to the 1:11 bracket, turning a lap of 1:11.905 and then pitting. - so far felipe is better

Fudce (09:55) It's much easier than typing out Fernando

Rafo (09:55) geez ...that more ppl than we got in china :smoking:

bolmedias (09:55) Conspiracy theory time...all of the top 3 drivers are Spanish. The test is in Spain. And all 3 of their cars are using FERRARI ENGINES.

Gilles4Ever (09:55) took Felipe how long to get into the 1:11s?

Razgreez (09:55) could always call him fando i guess

AndyW35 (09:55) It didn't take him long to get down to that did it. The Ferrari's are not slow are they.

harsha (09:55) That ferrari looks like a tracer bullet and seemingly easy to drive!

Mastah (09:55) Pedro's problem wasn't mechanical - according to Sauber technical director Willy Ramp there was a clash with Nico Hulkenberg - newbies :lol:

bolmedias (09:55) Looks like Ferrari engines are the new Mercedes engines this year :P

Gilles4Ever (09:55) eddstrawF1 Pedro's problem wasn't mechanical - according to Sauber technical director Willy Ramp there was a clash with Nico Hulkenberg

Fudce (09:56) Ferrari clearly got their diffuser designed by Gillete

Mastah (09:56) gilles - he did his best time on first lap out of 11

Mastah (09:56) Only bodywork damage for de la Rosa's Sauber

Fudce (09:56) When three isn't enough, and four has been done already...

bolmedias (09:56) Ferrari looking good out there, thats for sure.

Razgreez (09:57) tire dependent maybe

bolmedias (09:57) But it is quite a tell. Ferrari engines are good this year, its seems

Fudce (09:57) The five layer diffuser, the best a man can get.

SaintDean (09:58) It depends on the circuit. We might go to next test and Mclaren be on top.

bolmedias (09:58) Lol

karlth (09:58) Autosport: Try to get comments from team members or drivers on the current pecking order as they see it.
:wave:

SaintDean (09:58) Also Button may be the worst sandbagger in history of f1 putting in lap times in the 1:30

whoisjohngalt (09:59) considering it's alonso's first time...this is not bad..not bad at all.

Fudce (09:59) http://www.virginracing.com/ in a few minutes

Dalton007 (10:00) Button is probably testing a few things. Lap time is not important right now.

karlth (10:00) Button on the radio: "Am I going fast?"

BugTomek (10:01) or he can't get the tyres working with his smooth style and low track temperature :drunk:

Rafo (10:01) lmao :lol:

Razgreez (10:01) :lol:

Mastah (10:01) :lol:

AndyW35 (10:01) Did he really ask that? :eek:

whoisjohngalt (10:01) ....eerrr..no Jenson...you are not.

BugTomek (10:01) karlth :lol:

PEW (10:01) I doubt that Dalton - he's only done 3 laps

BugTomek (10:01) @AndyW35: Talladega Nights reference??? :cool:

AndyW35 (10:02) heh I am not so fast either today :lol:

Jay (10:02) :lol:

I hope he didn't really ask that

Fudce (10:03) lol @ Noble: "Virgin's virtual launch is so virtual nothing is happening yet...."

Mastah (10:03) Virgin's virtual launch is so virtual nothing is happening yet.... :lol:

Fudce (10:03) you're slow today Mastah

Victor_RO (10:04) :lol:

Mastah (10:04) it seems so :lol:

Fudce (10:05) You sure you're not driving Jenson's car?

reason42 (10:06) i thought the virgin launch was live on the web???

Mastah (10:06) damn, you know about my secret

yes, i'm jenson and i'm tweeting from my car :lol:

Fudce (10:06) It's virtual

Razgreez (10:06) explains the lack of pace

SaintDean (10:07) Virgin are sponsored by kappa, popper trousers!

Razgreez (10:07) and inability to put in more laps

Mastah (10:07) our new F1 Car launch is live in 10 mins @ www.virginracing.com 18 minutes ago from web :lol:

Fudce (10:07) Is it me, or is Timo wearing a hoodie in that pic?

Rafo (10:07) any action on the virgin front? ...cant see anything :rolleyes:

Jay (10:07) Grrrr.... Jenson is in the garage for TOO long....

Gilles4Ever (10:08) NobleF1

Virgin's virtual launch is so virtual nothing is happening yet....

Fudce (10:08) No, the Virgin hasn't got any action Rafo

reason42 (10:09) lol

Fudce (10:09) "running a littkle bit late at the momment "

Mastah (10:09) "virginf1racing

running a littkle bit late at the momment ...Everything is fine...watch for update!!!! Modern Technology...LOL"

:lol:

SaintDean (10:09) Im actually looking forward to sauber doing a Brawn on everyone this year

Razgreez (10:09) it wouldnt be a virgin if it was in the action now would it

Fudce (10:09) :clap:

SaintDean (10:09) old team quits new team buys, then win championship.

Fudce (10:10) They can't spell it seems

BrendanMcF (10:10) http://imgur.com/A23JY.jpg - Spain is taking over

Mastah (10:10) they deleted LOL from that tweet :lol:

AndyW35 (10:10) Aren't Virgin trains always late as well?

Razgreez (10:11) doubt it though saint, rules havent changed as much as they did last yr... well except for the refueling part which is a big change i admit

Fudce (10:11) A Virgin is never late. They arrive exactly at the time they intend to.

Rafo (10:12) @Fudce, thats until they are no virgin anymore ...then they are always late :drunk:

BrendanMcF (10:12) "LLive launch running a little bit late at the momment ...Everything is fine...watch for update!!!! Modern Technology..." - Virgin tweet

Fudce (10:13) Wait, did they correct their typo with a different typo?

Mastah (10:13) yes :lol:

Razgreez (10:14) nnnnervousness

Fudce (10:14) This is the attention to detail we can look forward to from VR

Fudce (10:14) They're either nervous, or welsh.

Mastah (10:14) "Live launch running a little bit late at the momment ...Everything is fine...watch for update!!!! Modern Technology.." third try :lol:

Razgreez (10:15) button looks so scruffy in that pic, quite unbecoming of a macca driver i must say

Fudce (10:15) They've still got a typo

Jay (10:15) @Razgreez . . . I'm sure Mac will sort that out soon enough..lolz...

Razgreez (10:17) they couldnt afford a spellcheck app, bare with them fudce

Mastah (10:17) Williams confirm that Hulkenberg and de la Rosa did make contact. They say "we bumped wheels and suffered no damage"

BrendanMcF (10:18) Specsavers - should have gone there I guess

Fudce (10:19) Hmm, what will get here first, the launch, or the postman?

Mastah (10:20) eddstrawF1

Still waiting on the virtual launch of the Virgin. Perhaps that car had a virtual clash with Nico Hulkenberg or Pedro de la Rosa? :lol:

SaintDean (10:20) i wouldnt bother with the launch site, it wont happen lol

stormshadow (10:20) MS 1:12.546

Rafo (10:20) any link to pics from Alonso in the Ferrari?

Fudce (10:20) ...or Adrian Sutil

BRK (10:21) Virgin either had Sir Richard do those 'tweets' by himself or hired Quentin Tarantino to do it for them.

harsha (10:22) http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/4326...

Mastah (10:22) "I've been assured that Virgin Racing pictures are on their way imminently"

Razgreez (10:22) they're still busy photoshopping them

Mastah (10:22) looks like mika salo's helmet :up:

ChrisMayhew (10:23) "virginf1racing
Will bring you the lauch as soon as possible........"

stormshadow (10:23) virgin launch is a dead stick :well:

BRK (10:23) 1.12.450 for Michael?

harsha (10:24) http://web9.twitpic.com/img/62407899-637...

Mastah (10:24) yes

Fudce (10:24) BING BONG!

stormshadow (10:24)

Fudce (10:24) We're sorry to announce that the 10:00 launch to Formula One has been delayed by approximatly thirty minutes

Rafo (10:24) what utter shame this is turning to be for Virgin ..Branson must be killing someone in there :lol:

Mastah (10:25) "Force India will launch online on February 9" :clap:

Fudce (10:25) So will the Virgin one at this rate

Mastah (10:25) :lol:

stormshadow (10:26) virgin is getting some :eek:

Razgreez (10:26) from that angle the nose of the F10 looks exactly like that of the RB5

BRK (10:26) They'll soon have a webcam put up with a 'Live Chat-put your queries to Sir Virgin' on the website.

AndyW35 (10:26) Looks like Virgin has been caught with their knickers down.

ChrisMayhew (10:27) @Rafo Branson has killed the guy who was meant to be putting the launch up online so they are waiting for his replacement.... lol

AndyW35 (10:27) 30 minutes almost ...It's virgin on the ridiculous... groan ....

Mastah (10:27) NobleF1

Am now scared of refreshing the Virgin Racing homepage because of the scary stares from di Grassi and Glock :lol:

ChrisMayhew (10:28) :lol:

BRK (10:28) Tell me about it,Glock looks like a pervert on there.

Fudce (10:28) Glock looks like a hooligan in that hoody

AndyW35 (10:29) I think Sauber drivers look worse

SaintDean (10:29) "Enjoy the Ride" is imprinted at the back of my eyes now.

Fudce (10:29) "Official figures from yesterday's test: 15,500 fans in the stands. More than 25,000 expected today. That may me more than in some races"

Like Valencia?

Rafo (10:30) LOL@ Fudce :lol:

stormshadow (10:31) Is Jenson waiting for the Virgin launch too?

Fudce (10:31) possibly

Fudce (10:31) Maybe he's responsible for pressing the launch button

SaintDean (10:31) Seriously someone check if button is twittering away.

Victor_RO (10:32) I don't see any twits from JB from today.

Racer3 (10:32) :up:

Thanks a lot Autosport for now providing the lap times on the right hand side! Only thing I'm missing now is the number of laps completed by each driver.

SaintDean (10:32) i dont want to see a Twitter from JB posting a picture of his shoe or something

ChrisMayhew (10:33) Agreed Racer3, it's much better.

Mastah (10:33) Due to technical hitch launch not live via website....

Mastah (10:33) The VR-01 is the first of a new breed of race car designed entirely in the digital domain using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics).

Mastah (10:33) launch via twitter? :lol:

SaintDean (10:34) lunch via my arse more like.

SaintDean (10:34) launch**

ChrisMayhew (10:34) you gotta feel for the guy who is now getting sacked by Branson.. lol

stormshadow (10:34) will it race virtually too?

Fudce (10:34) Woo!
http://img.worldcarfans.com/2009/2/mediu...

BrendanMcF (10:34) VR's twitter jockey needs to learn to spell...

ChrisMayhew (10:35) :lol:

AndyW35 (10:35) Bransons in a pickle.

First car to be launched in under 140 characters...

SaintDean (10:35) @Fudce, VR new concept car for F1?

BRK (10:36) Some serious competition for the Ferrari,right there...

stormshadow (10:36) @Keith Collantine all virgins are shy on their first time :stoned:

Youichi (10:36) The launch photos on the virgin site, have lots of pics of dodgy leather jackets, but none of the car.....

ChrisMayhew (10:37) "I can confirm the launch has taken place at silverstone.... But NOT shown on live www.virginracing.com as promsied...OOOOPPPPSSSS"

Mastah (10:37) NobleF1

I wonder if some virtual cameras took some virtual pictures of the virtual Virgin launch? :lol:

Rafo (10:37) :lol:

SaintDean (10:37) then virtual disappeared?

BrendanMcF (10:37) CFD = "Can't f***ing download"

Mastah (10:38) "OOOOPPPPSSSS, Investiagte" investiagte?

Fudce (10:38) Well that answered that question

Victor_RO (10:38) Warning: there's two Twitter feeds, one is @VirginRacing and one @virginf1racing. And the second one is apparently fake.

Fudce (10:38) The postman arrived first.

Rafo (10:38) "10:37 Meanwhile, the world waits for the first image of the Virgin car "

So does Branson :eek:

stormshadow (10:40) "Born to be wild" doesnt give the other dirvers much confidence on track

SaintDean (10:40) so whats the colour scheme of the VR car?

Fudce (10:40) virtual

Mastah (10:40) it's all transparent :clap:

BrendanMcF (10:40) @VirginF1Racing a fake? Figures...

Fudce (10:41) And to think, people were worried that the new cars wouldn't materialise

SaintDean (10:41) awesome. some sort of cloaking paint scheme then. that way theirs no way to know if youve been overtaken.

Fudce (10:42) Woo! New 320GB hard drive arrived

Rafo (10:42) its the wonderwoman car... joke for the oldies :stoned:

SaintDean (10:42) I wanna start my own F1 team, Ghost F1!

harsha (10:42) yay fudce

SaintDean (10:42) Cost Â£0 to run. will guarantee to be their on testing.

Fudce (10:42) now to unplug the PS3 and install it

SaintDean (10:43) will run so smoothly no one will know were their.

Victor_RO (10:44) @SaintDean

Are you also going to employ invisible drivers? :lol:

AndyW35 (10:44) Schumacher will have retired from Formula 1 by the time Virgin launches.

Mastah (10:45) jenson out on track

Mastah (10:45) http://twitpic.com/115le3 :lol:

SaintDean (10:45) not invisible but previous greats that want to get back into F1 that had sadly passed away.

SaintDean (10:45) Will leave schumacher shaking in his boots.

BrendanMcF (10:46) http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php...

Jay (10:47) wooooot... JB leaves the pitlane

Fudce (10:47) Amusingly, that page is slow loading

Victor_RO (10:49) 1:16.263 for JB on the last lap.

Mastah (10:49) jens 18.4 and 16.2

Mastah (10:50) we need more hamsters, autosport is sooo slow

Rafo (11:05) this site crashed on me :cry:

Rafo (11:06) Virgin must be sponsoring Autosport now

Slowinfastout (11:06) yeah... is web traffic from va;encia testing making autosport buckle?

what the hell lol

Mastah (11:07) NobleF1

Sorry for the site problems today - exceptionally high traffic (we did 1.7 million pages on Monday) is slowing us down. We are working on it :blush:

Rafo (11:08) Alonso fastest :eek:

Mastah (11:08) fred did 1:11.709 and 1m11.599

Slowinfastout (11:08) they're not virgins at this web thing, no excuse

bystander31 (11:08) alonso :up:

brainwrong (11:08) What's going on with the Virgin Launch - Am I looking at the right place - virginracing.com

bystander31 (11:08) brain - they couldnt work out how to do it

Dalton007 (11:09) Ferrari looks the best car out there.

bystander31 (11:10) early days yet.

Fudce (11:10) Apparantly it went ahead, but they didn't put it online due to problems.

postajegenye (11:11) at least they could show a picture...

Fudce (11:11) And for those following along at home, my PS3 is now restoring my backup to my new hard drive, and the old one is now housed in a new enclosure

Rafo (11:11) :up:

@ Fudce

postajegenye (11:12) is the Forum down for everyone, or it's just my laptop?

Mastah (11:12) yep, for everyone

Fudce (11:12) Just 1hr to go on the backup restoring.

bystander31 (11:12) the forums are back up

Julian Roberts (11:12) :lol:

Fudce (11:12) it's bak up now Mastah

Mastah (11:12) eddstrawF1

EXCLUSIVE: If you want to see the Virgin car, close your eyes and imagine a cross between a Virgin train and an F1 car :lol:

Fudce (11:13) so late, slow, and long?

Rafo (11:14) what local time in Valencia?

Mastah (11:14) btw i had no idea virgin is involved in trains, does they operate only in uk?

Mastah (11:14) 12:14

Mastah (11:15) adamcooperf1

I could suggest doing a Google Images search for 'new Virgin', but it might cause some embarrassment... :clap:

Fudce (11:16) Woo! and my old PS3 hard drive is now formatted and ready to store porn.

And by porn I mean the F1 races I recorded on PlayTV last year.

Mastah (11:17) virginf1racing

technical issues stopped the broadcast from taking place as planned, the team are working to reveal the VR-01 on its site later this morning - morning? it's almost noon :confused:

AndyW35 (11:19) This is not a good omen for the team .

reason42 (11:21) http://twitpic.com/115phz

Fudce (11:21) lol

Mastah (11:21)

SaintDean (11:22) Brawn is launching Virgin Galactic by launching their last IT Engineer into space.

Rafo (11:23) lmao

nawz (11:23) Whats up guys, how is testing so far?

CoolFiltered (11:23) lol @ Dean The virtual virgin has been vanquished.

CoolFiltered (11:24) Testing is slow atm Nawzm Alonso's quickest.

SaintDean (11:24) indeed, its like a slow mechanical grind now to get the car some publicity.

Mastah (11:24) adamcooperf1

The Virgin VR-01...untouched...And unseen! :lol:

CoolFiltered (11:24) Haha, it'll all be wirth it, eventually.

bystander31 (11:25) ahahahahaha

Mastah (11:25) wirth it :lol:

Fudce (11:25) http://www.instantrimshot.com/

CoolFiltered (11:26) I bet someone gettin rimmed @ virgin HQ.

AndyW35 (11:26) :lol:

coolfiltered .. terrible

CoolFiltered (11:27) Aye, and so obvious lol, i'll slap my own wrist

AndyW35 (11:28) Can someone remind me, is it only the Ferrari's in the 1 min 11's so far this test?

SaintDean (11:28) yep

CoolFiltered (11:29) It does seem a bit slow today, and as i say that Alonso's back out on his own, i'm not a fan but he's done well for a first go.

Yes Andy, closest is de la rosa @ 1:12:094

SaintDean (11:29) koby came close yesterday

SaintDean (11:29) no no koby was, it was 12:054

CoolFiltered (11:29) Kobys radio rental, a proper nutcase.

CoolFiltered (11:30) Sorry Dean, i meant of todays runners

Razgreez (11:30) so maybe Ferrari are the brawns this yr... probably not but all will be revealed in due time

BrendanMcF (11:30) Latest Times is not up to date guys

SaintDean (11:30) ah rite, but yeah Koby was 12:056 yesterday

CoolFiltered (11:30) Its going to be fun finding out Raz

SaintDean (11:32) Im tihnking Saubers is going to be more like Brawn. with Bmw stopping ops.

Razgreez (11:32) thing is though the brawns only showed their real pace in the last 2 tests before last season... how many tests are scheduled before bahrain gp?

AndyW35 (11:33) Thanks for confirming nobody else has... interesting.

Mastah (11:33) raz - 3 another sessions

SaintDean (11:35) Theirs 15 days of testing or 15000km

stevvy1986 (11:37) Virgin pics in a fw seconds

Mastah (11:37) fred in 12s

stevvy1986 (11:37) *few

SaintDean (11:39) www.virginembracing.com

Mastah (11:40) http://cdn.images.autosport.com/editoria...

Mastah (11:40) there she is

AndyW35 (11:40) Good colour scheme, pointy nose ..

SaintDean (11:41) awesome thanks Mastah

Rafo (11:41) nice colors ...large nose!

nawz (11:41) That is sexy

bystander31 (11:41) yup...interesting. need more pics

AndyW35 (11:41) Think it looks pretty good actually :up:

CoolFiltered (11:42) Nose looks long! someone should tell Branson those leather jackets are naff

sexy's not a word i'd use personally, it looks purposeful though.

nawz (11:42) LOL

SaintDean (11:42) nice floral design on the rear

Mastah (11:42) lovely car

Fudce (11:43) I approve

stevvy1986 (11:43) Looks ok to me

SaintDean (11:43) doesnt look that big though.

Julian Roberts (11:43) Could suprise a lot of people

AndyW35 (11:43) shows that bold primary colours and blacks look better than pastel shades.

rad787 (11:44) nice design. front wing looks too simple.

CoolFiltered (11:44) Cant tell whether the nose is as sculpted as the others

FlashMaster (11:44) Do Virgin test today?

stevvy1986 (11:44) No

SaintDean (11:44) nah thur friday at silverstone

Fudce (11:44) Nope They're at the next one though (next week)

Mastah (11:45) and then at jerez

Fudce (11:45) a shakedown at Silverstone isn't it?

stevvy1986 (11:45) If they were, they'd have been out on track already, and we'd all have seen the car by now

nawz (11:45) Is mclaren also at silverstone?

FlashMaster (11:45) thanks

CoolFiltered (11:45) I think they've missed a visual trick, that nose would have looked great with some sharks teeth :lol:

CoolFiltered (11:45) it still looks kind of predatory though.

SaintDean (11:46) i was told their testing at silverstone tomorrow thur and friday. Was going to book time off to watch it go. But if its only the one car its pointless.

Razgreez (11:46) beyond the colour scheme the car looks very plain it seems

Fudce (11:46) Will be great to see Timo and Lucas in that beast

Fudce (11:46) Is Silverstone in any sort of state to accept testing right now? I thought it was a building site

stevvy1986 (11:47) None of the big teams are at Silverstone, they're all only doing the announced test sessions at the tracks that have been mentioned. Virgin are merely going to be shaking down their car. There's no way all the teams would try and get from Valencia to Silverstone ready for tomorrow.

SaintDean (11:47) yeah, the original layout is still their.

SaintDean (11:47) Copse its call i believe where it turns left.

CoolFiltered (11:48) Button up to 1@13:498, 5th fastest.

FlashMaster (11:48) N-TV coverage live again

nawz (11:49) ooohh nice
link please

Mastah (11:49) fred did 10 laps, all in 12s

FlashMaster (11:49) www.n-tv.de/mediathek/livestream/

Mastah (11:49) http://www.n-tv.de/mediathek/livestream/

Fudce (11:49) Autosport Headline: "Booth pleased Virgin ahead of schedule"

I'd say they were about 100 minutes behind with that.

Mastah (11:49) damn, beaten again? :mad:

FlashMaster (11:49)

nawz (11:50) thanks guys

nawz (11:50) All I can see is some rubbish music playing

FlashMaster (11:50) that prototype helmet is bulletproof

SaintDean (11:51) its called advertisement

Mastah (11:51) same here, jaime cuadra :lol:

nawz (11:51) oh damn forgot about that

Razgreez (11:51) sooo, if the vr1is better than every other car by some miracle will all the other teams scrap their tunnels and begin solely using CFD? :well:

FlashMaster (11:51) wow n-tv is blocking their Internet coverage now. it seems they had too much traffic

Mastah (11:52) damn, what they are showing on tv? only merc?

BrendanMcF (11:52) n-tv on satellite showing different programme...

FlashMaster (11:53) yup. Merc pits were closed and he had this prototype helmet in his hands

SaintDean (11:53) If you would like to know how many laps have been done visit. f1today.nl

AndyW35 (11:53) The Virgin seems to be quite simple compared to others on the front wing for instance as people have pointed out. Is this because of the CFD? With the narrow tyres I hope they have enough front end downforce or it will be understeer city.

CoolFiltered (11:55) Its a big test of Wirths credentials thats for sure, there's a lot to prove.

Sisplatin (11:55) it could be that they have new wing in the windtunnel and this is just a show wing?

stevvy1986 (11:56) sisplatin, they haven't used a windtunnel, it's purely CFD, no wndtunnel usage

Fudce (11:56) @Sisplatin - no they don't have a new wing in windtunnel

stevvy1986 (11:56) *windtunnel

SaintDean (11:56) no windtunnel sisp

AndyW35 (11:56) The new wing is still in the computer

Razgreez (11:57) yeah, what everybody else said

FlashMaster (11:57) new wing in the pc :lol:

AndyW35 (11:57) Same one that does the web events

SaintDean (11:57) pure digitally created

CoolFiltered (11:57) lol

SaintDean (11:57) Currently their new wing is my current screensaver.

Mastah (11:57) :lol:

embassie (11:57) so guys what do you think about Petrov?

CoolFiltered (11:57) if its the same one as the web events, expect it around the time of silverstone.

SaintDean (11:57) ugly mofo if you ask me.

CoolFiltered (11:58) embassie, Petrove seems handy.

Fudce (11:58) Nearly dinnertime isn't it?

CoolFiltered (11:58) but h'ugly

Mastah (11:58) he is russian

FlashMaster (11:58) he's slower than Grosjean and Hulk

Razgreez (11:58) suprised with the merc though, apart from the nose the front wing hasnt really changed at all from last season... maybe they're hiding a new one... maybe they dont have a new one

CoolFiltered (11:59) i wouldnt say he was rushin, but he aint hangin about.

embassie (11:59) i never seen him driving before so i dont know his style i hope his faster then grosjean

FlashMaster (12:00) I think Brawn had to develop their 09' car too long because RBR were chasing them

Scotracer (12:00) Does anyone have an idea who's doing what? Long runs, short runs?

FlashMaster (12:00) 12 lap run for Alonso - short run?

Mastah (12:01) fred did 10 laps, all in 12s

CoolFiltered (12:01) @ Scotracer.. "SaintDean: If you would like to know how many laps have been done visit. f1today.nl "

SchuOz (12:01) Ferrari running with less fuel i suspect

embassie (12:01) flashMaster
I think Shumi wouldn't came to Merc if they didn't have good package

Scotracer (12:02) I'm not looking at who's done the *most* laps but who's doing the most laps in succession. Thanks Mastah.

SaintDean (12:02) Ross Brawn Dangled a Bratwurst on a piece of wood on a string.

Razgreez (12:02) embassie a package is only as good as its last race though

CoolFiltered (12:03) i think you're slightly confused Dean, he dangled Hamilton, it was the Worst Brat

Mastah (12:03) http://twitpic.com/115xwh interesting vent on mp4-25

FlashMaster (12:04) Schumi already said that it's gonna be hard this year

Scotracer (12:04) To cool Hamilton's big balls?

CoolFiltered (12:04) lmao

Mastah (12:04) :lol:

Razgreez (12:05) testicular airconditioning

nawz (12:05) XD

CoolFiltered (12:05) Haha, ma ballz iz c00l

nawz (12:05) Makes all the difference...

FlashMaster (12:05) noo that's his 3 points df

Razgreez (12:06) because you know the balls have to be at 1 degree lower than the body to operate optimally :drunk:

SaintDean (12:06) id love that, but to get a rock fly up the vent. Crack him in the knackers and watch him just floor it.

CoolFiltered (12:06) I'd better hang mine out the window then

FlashMaster (12:07) what if an engine blows in front? oiled balls !

CoolFiltered (12:07) Or a spring from the Merc

CoolFiltered (12:07) he'll be glad Heikki aint refuelling behind him

AndyW35 (12:08) So Coolfiltered is in regards to your sperm then? :blush:

SaintDean (12:09) what would be good is, to see refuelling from a 2nd driver. like they do for planes.

CoolFiltered (12:09) makes no diff Andy, i'm snipped lmao

SaintDean (12:09) Brawn to Rosberg :P Oi nico refuel Schumacher.

Scotracer (12:09) TMI

Scotracer (12:10) And here I was thinking a balls discussion couldn't go too far.

herminator (12:10) Hello all :wave:

AndyW35 (12:10) Hi Sperminator ! .. oops sorry

CoolFiltered (12:10) ok lets stop discussing my nads, fine nads though they are... :lol:

Hi Herminator

CoolFiltered (12:11) rofl

herminator (12:11) andy :cat:

Mastah (12:11) Williams is doing long runs. Hulkenberg has completed half a grand prix distance.

FlashMaster (12:11) theres only one herminator

Mastah (12:11) andy :lol:

herminator (12:11) lol :clap:

AndyW35 (12:11) We were discussing Lewis' balls .. got carried away

CoolFiltered (12:12) Thats us, that got carried away, not Lewis's balls, he dont need a wheelbarrow

Scotracer (12:12) Yes it did. Starting to get a bit worried about you guys.

Fudce (12:12) lol

Fudce (12:12) So anyway. Virgin

AndyW35 (12:12) :lol:

jonpollak (12:13) Well howdy race fans... :wave:

What a year this will be.
Can someone be so kind as to link me to the Autosport testing page?

Cheers y'all
Jp

CoolFiltered (12:13) lol, from balls to virgins, there's great scope there

CoolFiltered (12:13) @ JP http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php...

SaintDean (12:13) virgin balls.

Fudce (12:14) woo, PS3 nearly finished restoring backup

jonpollak (12:14) no no cool..that's THIS page.
Autosport has (or had) an entire page dedicated to testing
I think it's called the "Testing Center"

SaintDean (12:14) boo PS3, shame i wont be beating you on F1 2010 when its out then

moredeep (12:15) any LOST fans here?

Razgreez (12:15) takes forever fudce and you still lose alot of your saves anyway

herminator (12:15) ferrari look like they ve got a good package

Gilles4Ever (12:15) http://www.autosport.com/f1/testing/

CoolFiltered (12:15) Oh, apologies JP :up:

wrighty (12:15) oh no!! our boss came in to let us know 'hes taking the CAD server down but we can surf the internet all we want in the meantime'.....crusher :lol:

hi all

jonpollak (12:15) NP CF

Fudce (12:15) most of my saves were backed up elsewhere - but not many of them are copy-protected thankfully

Scotracer (12:15) lol welcome wrighty

jonpollak (12:15) Thanks to Gilles :clap:

FlashMaster (12:15) apropos PS3... Batman A.A for 17pounds at tinyurl.com/yd4y82v

Gilles4Ever (12:16) pleasure JP :wave:

wrighty (12:16) is it just me, or does the new virgin car have more than a hint of IRL design to the front end?

Fudce (12:16) and the only one that was copy protected was the one game I've platinumed already

CoolFiltered (12:16) Not a bad price Flash, I use shopto now and again

wrighty (12:17) hiya JP, where in the world.....?

herminator (12:17) who thinks fred is gonna manage to beat massa' time from yesterday :stoned:

FlashMaster (12:17) yup and dont forget the voucher: "Wicked10"

Fudce (12:17) gamestracker.com - I always look there before I buy any games to pricecheck between all the online stores

CoolFiltered (12:17) i think he will hermin

Scotracer (12:17) @ wrighty, yeah Wirth said he designed it all on computer but that REALLY means he found an image of an IRL car on Google and got the Photoshop out.

herminator (12:17) with all his supporters in - surely its a must

jonpollak (12:17) Well Wrighty I am actually @Home for once.
Don't start work till next week...In Perth Australia :drunk:

FlashMaster (12:17) @forzaphoto: Alonso consistantly laping in the 1:12.1's at the moment.

Mastah (12:18) he beat it already

Razgreez (12:18) indeed it does look like an irl with a raised nose

FlashMaster (12:18) pretty quick

wrighty (12:18) congrats JP, a well-deserved break

AndyW35 (12:18) herminator: ferrari look like they ve got a good package .. another balls pun .. nice one Herminator :up:

herminator (12:18) :up:

AndyW35 (12:19) Good spot wrighty, now you mention it.

Mastah (12:19) fred in low 12s and high 11s

herminator (12:19) does Wirth know something all the other teams don't with his pointed nose design with the VR01 ? :well:

FlashMaster (12:20) awww toyota. first their accelerator pedal problems and now problems with failing breaks

wrighty (12:20) lol it was just luck andy, no-one else watches IRL at all so i was at an advantage :lol:

moredeep (12:20) I wonder what they are (were) eating for lunch

CoolFiltered (12:20) well he probably thinks he does hermin

time will tell

jonpollak (12:21) So..Fernando confirms that this years Horse has grip a plenty!!
Just curious to see if Jenson is bothered about closing in on Lewis' 1:12.256

AndyW35 (12:21) Yes, good bluff by me because I don't know what they look like either. Last time I watched Nigel Mansell won it.

wrighty (12:22) lol andy, not to age you at all but i think the cars were called 'roadsters' then werent they? :lol:

herminator (12:22) back in a bit :wave:

CoolFiltered (12:22) me too Andy, in fact i thought IRL was a web address, and on that note, works calling, lts folks, cheers

SaintDean (12:22) I like to watch IRL, because their awful drivers and im always guaranteed a good crash on it.

wrighty (12:22) taraa cool, have fun

Razgreez (12:22) jpm came from irl didnt he...

jonpollak (12:23)
"wrighty:...., no-one else watches IRL"
Not true...

jonpollak (12:23) Jpm is from Colombia

jonpollak (12:23) Do'h

SaintDean (12:23) Montoya? Came from F1 to Nascar to IRL then to nascar i think

wrighty (12:23) i know jon, i was just funnin'

- raz, they were indycars back then, different formula (and for a shortest period, one of the bestest racing series in the world)

Mastah (12:24) fred 1:11.625, f10 is fast

jonpollak (12:24) Yeah I know you are...

SaintDean (12:24) JPM is pretty well respected in the us.

Razgreez (12:24) i'm from the tip of africa so the whole breakdown and restructure of open wheel racing in the us is a bit hazy to me

jonpollak (12:25) No probs Raz...
I am just a total smart ass and like to dish the rubbish at any opportunity

wrighty (12:25) if you have the time raz, pull up a comfy chair and a big pot of coffee and have a read in the nostalgia forum here, some fabulous threads re: indycar in there :up:

jonpollak (12:26) ditto the Nostalgia thread :up:

jonpollak (12:26) So..As I was saying..
Fernando confirms that this years Horse has grip a plenty!!
Just curious to see if Jenson is bothered about closing in on Lewis' 1:12.256

wrighty (12:27) brb 2 mins :wave:

SaintDean (12:27) i doubt it jon, i dont see button putting in fast lap times today.

FlashMaster (12:27) Hulk is no car crasher :cool:

SaintDean (12:28) hes a car crusher!

jonpollak (12:28) Makes sense really
How about that old bloke Schummi?
He is on an 1m12.438 compared to the other day on a 1:12.947

Razgreez (12:29) wonder if they've upgraded button's mic now that he's at mclaren. couldnt hear a word he was saying last season

AndyW35 (12:29) Has Schumacher been half a second faster than Rosberg on 2 days then ?

SchuOz (12:30) Alonso's stint

1:12.600

1:12.302

1:12.133

1:11.985

1:12.122

1:12.133

1:12.240

1:12.00

1:11.669

1:13.205

1:11.625

Fudce (12:30) Be thankful Raz, we didn't hear the full horror of that song

Mastah (12:30) it's time to breath with some fresh air, beautiful weather here, 25cm of snow, 1 or 2 deegrees below zero, proper winter :clap:

jonpollak (12:30) Thanks for those SchuOz

SchuOz (12:30) running with less fuel than others i suspect

stormshadow (12:31) yeah wats up with MS he's stuck o 30 laps?

jonpollak (12:31) Perhaps on orders from Luca's press agent?

herminator (12:31) im back...looks like fred getting down in the 1.11.6s but not lower and that was probably down to his lower fuel

FlashMaster (12:31) n-tv guy said theyre doing some setup work

SchuOz (12:31) yesterday - Massa & Rosberg were on track at the same time running the 1m 16's...i guess on full tanks.

FlashMaster (12:32) garage is closed

FlashMaster (12:32) hes on track now

stormshadow (12:32) thanks FlashMaster

herminator (12:32) they say that there's approx 0.6 with full fuel

jonpollak (12:33) Ahh..Here was the page I am looking for.
http://www.autosport.com/f1/testing/mont...

herminator (12:33) anyone there have any more twitpics we can see?

BrendanMcF (12:33) n-tv back on tv - Boss Haug being interviewed

FlashMaster (12:33) Haug interview , awful voice he seems to be pretty ill

wrighty (12:34) bk, did i miss owt?

BrendanMcF (12:34) yeah, not sounding very well at all

FlashMaster (12:35) 1:15.8 first lap

BrendanMcF (12:36) recorded, not live

FlashMaster (12:37) 420 journalists there lmao

Razgreez (12:37) has haug ever looked well? too much bratwurst and oktoberfest beer

BrendanMcF (12:37) 420 accredited journo's in Valencia :eek:

SaintDean (12:37) True What Rubens says, if your within says 6 seconds of the fastest i say you still have a fast car.

herminator (12:37) hulk, getting his mileage in - does anyone know if the williams is running heavy again today?

wrighty (12:37) blimey, nice to see the line about the crowds trying to get in to the circuit.....looks like we're not the only ones anticipating a biiiiig season :cool:

wewantourdarbyback (12:37) Afternoon guys... nice to see you're all dedicated to your jobs.,......

wrighty (12:38) darbeeeee :wave:

hey i've got an excuse m8, read back, im here with the boss's blessing :lol:

jonpollak (12:38) Hey Darbs :wave:

FlashMaster (12:38) heya darby

AndyW35 (12:38) I'm at work but as I'm only an air traffic controller I am allowed to browse the Internet Darby

herminator (12:38) hope to see some quicker times from jenson this arvo :drunk:

wrighty (12:39) omfg 'only an air traffic controller'?!?!?! there's me on the trains in future :lol:

wewantourdarbyback (12:39) I'm at uni and I'm only on here for 20 minutes during lunch... slackers the lot of you

Scotracer (12:39) Darby...I'm dedicated to being unemployed :clap:

jonpollak (12:40) Andy make sure you get the day off next Weds

wrighty (12:40) we're payign for you to be there darbs, watch the backchat.....blimmin militants etc

rad787 (12:40) Am at work and I don't do anything much when not busy but facebook, batracer and autosport :P

wrighty (12:40) *paying

wewantourdarbyback (12:40) lol JP

AndyW35 (12:40) I do have two screens wrighty .. damn, where did that 747 comes from .. brb

wewantourdarbyback (12:40) You're paying nothing bitch, this is a postgrad course all my moneh

wrighty (12:40) oi thats mister bitch to you

wrighty (12:41) lol andy *ducks for cover*

jonpollak (12:41) easy girls

Victor_RO (12:41) Oh come on guys/gals...

Scotracer (12:41) I was supposed to be doing a Masters in Aerospace (got an unconditional) but there's no way I'm paying all that money for one year

wrighty (12:41) i didnt realise there was a postgrad course for metalwork

wewantourdarbyback (12:41) en.wikipedia.org/sarcasm

jonpollak (12:42) tough room

FlashMaster (12:42) Rosberg just admitted they copied the redbull nose

wewantourdarbyback (12:42) It's a Primt Journo course, no more metal handling for this engineer

wrighty (12:42) (s'ok victor, barby

and i have a well-versed line in confrontational banter rooted in his bizarre affection for dodgy football teams)

wrighty (12:42) lol 'primt journo', classic typo there :lol:

AndyW35 (12:43) That's the problem with planes, so fast, one minute you are getting a coffee from the machine and then they are overshooting the runway. Man, it's crazy. Luckily the cannabis gets me through the day

Razgreez (12:43) they may have copied i but they made it look a bit better at least

Scotracer (12:43) 12:36 Ferrari reports there's a 4km line of cars to get into the circuit. Over 30,000 people at the track
:eek:

stormshadow (12:43) @ AndyW35 :lol:

Scotracer (12:43) It's not just us that's slacking off work!

FlashMaster (12:44) scot spanish unemployment rate is pretty high

rad787 (12:44) that long...

wrighty (12:44) hiya flash :wave:

FlashMaster (12:45) hey wrighty

Scotracer (12:45) Right I'm getting this out of the way: HI EVERYBODY

(now I know I've not missed anyone)

karlth (12:46) Ferrari - McLaren - Mercedes - Sauber - Renault - Williams - Toro Rosso

FlashMaster (12:46) damn f1 testing distracts me from learning

wrighty (12:47) (i realise this is 'just testing' of course but) you'd think williams would've been keen to be a little higher up that list eh karlth....

wewantourdarbyback (12:48) Hmmm, tried to show someone something and pulled the cable out of this piece of crap compy

wewantourdarbyback (12:48) No confirmation from Williams that their runnin g the engines on full yet though

wewantourdarbyback (12:48) (could be sandbagging

)

stormshadow (12:49) still early days mate....have a feeling Mercedes still havent put their definitive 2010 package on

Scotracer (12:49) Didn't Ross say they had a new package for Bahrain anyway?

wrighty (12:49) i think its fair to say that none of the teams have their 'definitive' car anywhere near the track like

stormshadow (12:49) yep

karlth (12:50) wrighty, it is not the officialy ranking of the teams but rather just my observation based on several factors. On the other hand I am almost always wrong.

herminator (12:50) flashmaster - distractions from learning i can deal with - distractions from work - if i get caught im fired!

stormshadow (12:50) But it seems like merc are still running with 2009 wings and stuff like that

wrighty (12:51) lol karlth, i'll not hold you to it then.....i was going to quibble about the ferrari-mclaren ranking but i'm no flamebaiter

karlth (12:51) Yes I think the Merc is slowly adding pieces to the puzzle like Brawn used to do when at Ferrari.

wrighty (12:51) (well, not very often anyway.....hehe)

Scotracer (12:51) The diffuser is just a modified 2009 one and is tiny compared to the Mclaren Diffuser of Doom

stevvy1986 (12:51) It'd be nice if the latest times bit on the right hand side of the page updated automatically, rather than having to refresh it.

karlth (12:51) Button into the 1.12.9s

FlashMaster (12:52) R.Brawn: long run speed is fine, but not short runs. the car is understeering a lot

Razgreez (12:53) So some of you guys are engineers, any good with making molds?

herminator (12:53) fred with a 1.11.4 !!

Scotracer (12:53) I'm rubbish at making everything.

Razgreez (12:53) how'd you graduate then?

wrighty (12:53) lol raz, go to the member list and type in 'plastercaster' (its a very bad joke, better google it).....

Scotracer (12:54) Winging it :lol:

Ramses1348 (12:54) jeez if it is a FA domination I am going to spend the season crying

wrighty (12:54) ah pigs nadgers, the cad servers are back up, have fun peeps :wave:

play nice

herminator (12:54) problems with Mec setup by the sounds of things - that black lid schumi wore this morning had opposite effect as it did with massa yesterday :stoned:

SchuOz (12:54) Schumi's stint

1:15.610

1:15.894

1:15.203

1:15.337

1:15.295

herminator (12:55) pigs nadgers - a classic :lol:

wewantourdarbyback (12:55) I graduated mostly due to procrastination and plagiarism....

herminator (12:56) gotta dash - later folks :clap:

Fudce (12:57) Wait, I look away for 30 minutes to watch Newswipe on iPlayer. come back, and you're still talking about balls?

AndyW35 (12:57) Any teams muttered any more about the diffusers on other cars since the test started? No outrage yet, or perhaps still discussing it.

Scotracer (12:57) It's come back again Fudce. They just couldn't suppress their need to talk about them.

Scotracer (12:57) Andy - it appears to be a non-issue now.

karlth (12:58) Andy, no just that the teams have started playing it down.

Fudce (12:58) They're waiting until Bahrain to kick up a fuss, clearly.

That's as long as they haven't developed their own by then though.

wewantourdarbyback (12:59) Balls?

Not Pork based produce?

Scotracer (13:00) Pork faggots?

karlth (13:00) Schumacher must be loving this. Sure beats falling on his a** riding motorcycles.

froggy22 (13:05) so ferrari still the only team to break under 72 seconds?

wewantourdarbyback (13:06) yes

Fudce (13:06) without shortcuts, yeah

Razgreez (13:06) its that expensive imported pasta luca d was talking about that's giving them the edge

AndyW35 (13:07) I wouldn't like to say who was quickest on this evidence but I will say the Ferrari is not slow. Talk of a B car sounds far fetched now I think.

Scotracer (13:09) Any car that gets with 0.3 of the 2008 testing record is not slow.

Zod100 (13:09) hi all

Zod100 (13:10) Sauber's the dark horse for this season

Youichi (13:11) Alonso 6 tenths quicker than the next car...

SchuOz (13:11) :lol:

SchuOz (13:11) Zod

Zod100 (13:12) I think we can clearly say that Hammy's gonna trouch Button this season if we compare his times with Buttion's...

Zod100 (13:12) trounch

SchuOz (13:12) mate its not a race weekend...take it easy

froggy22 (13:13) didnt take long for that Alonso joke to pop up :lol:

Zod100 (13:13) No worries, just chilling :lol:

stevvy1986 (13:13) You're talking about 2 1/2 days of testing though, different fuel loads, different plans for the testing day, etc. Doesn't mean ANYTHING yet.

Massa_f1 (13:14) Looks like Ferrari have the best car for the moment though both Alonso and Massa have done fast times

hobbes (13:14) Perhaps reliability is the only factor that we can derive from these tests

froggy22 (13:14) Woo Petrov in the 1:13

Zod100 (13:15) All 3 Ferrari engine powered cars in the top 4, that HAS to say something

FlashMaster (13:15) not really. we don't know revs and fuel loads

Fudce (13:15) And more to the point, we don't know fuel consumption

Scotracer (13:15) http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/up...

froggy22 (13:16) the Virgin car looks good

FlashMaster (13:16) virgin diffusor http://cdn.virginracing.com/1265200054/g...

stevvy1986 (13:16) True fudce, as it was mentioned alot last season that Ferrari didn't have the most economical engine when it came to fuel consumption.

hobbes (13:17) I am pretty sure their fuel consumption is much better compared to last year but it won't be the best in the field

Zod100 (13:18) True about the fuel consumption but I was commenting on the raw speed

Fudce (13:18) If it remains that way, what we could see is the Mercedes and McLaren starting off faster due to lighter fuel loads (better efficiency) but as the race continues the Ferrari and Sauber get faster quicker than the other two mentioned get faster

FlashMaster (13:18) Mac's topspeed is said to be the best

Scotracer (13:20) Is there anywhere we can get live timing data? Such as sector times and speed trap?

Razgreez (13:20) The vr1 does seem to have the least bulky sidepods at the moment

Mastah (13:20) i see i didn't miss anything besides 11.4 from fred, just imagine what felipe could do today

ImmortaL (13:20) 1:16.033 by Alonso now

Youichi (13:21) bur fudce, they heavier ferrari engined cars won't get faster, because the heavier fuel load destroys the tyres....possibly

Fudce (13:22) That's one of the more exciting things about this year. How different cars will react to the tyres and loads.

MadYarpen (13:22) hi there

AndyW35 (13:22) Will Buttons smooth style pay off more with the larger fuel load?

Fudce (13:24) Am I right in saying that the smaller front tyres will decrease grip at the front, meaning those who like pointy and twitchy cars will be disadvantaged?

karlth (13:25) I think what we have seen after Button's 8 seasons of F1 driving is that he needs a well handling car to perform. Oversteer or undsteer doesn't suit him, he needs neutral handling.

Scotracer (13:26) Button doesn't carry on in the face of adversity - something that Schumacher is the king of.

Scotracer (13:26) Fudce, there's a difference between a pointy car and the balance they had last year - they really were far too oversteery.

Fudce (13:28) makes sense

Scotracer (13:28) I've seen people complain about understeer on heavy fuel load though. I think we may see a real use of the moveable front wing this year.

Razgreez (13:29) i thought i understood the dynamics of f1 cars and cars in general till i found out that they often put balast up in the nose of cars...

froggy22 (13:30) Kubica said couple days ago that this years cars are gonna understeer badly in high speed corners

herminator (13:30) any sign of the green hi-fiz paint today?

Fudce (13:30) So Turn8 at Turkey and 130R will be more challenging again?

herminator (13:31) froggy - that would tie up with the maclaren being fatest in a straight line but not hoooking up for whole lap

Razgreez (13:31) and turn 1-2-3 in china

Scotracer (13:31) They'll just have to slow down more, I wouldn't say more challenging.

Razgreez (13:31) although that's not so high speed

Scotracer (13:31) Turn 1 at China is pretty fast

Fudce (13:31) We saw some images of Ron's blood earlier Herm, but it looked like it was from the day before. I've not really been looking at images from today

Mastah (13:32) Looks like Hulkeberg is doing a race simulation. Did a practice "warm-up" lap start, then came back round and did a full race start.

Hulkenberg is lapping in the high 16s and very low 17s right now

Scotracer (13:32) Ron's blood :lol:

Fudce (13:32) That's what we should call it now, rather than green paint or flowviz

Zod100 (13:32) If Alonso's doing 1min 16s with a heavy fuel load then the 1min 11 was on an empty tank. The difference between a full and empty tank is 4.5-5 seconds...Correct me if i'm wrong guys

herminator (13:32) :lol:

schuey100 (13:33) Alonso has definitely been doing a race simulation today, no doubt about it.

Scotracer (13:33) The predicted difference was 4 seconds so it's probably right.

Fudce (13:33) Has Button or Schumi done a race simulator today?

Mastah (13:33) you are right zod, felipe was doing similar times

karlth (13:34) Has Alonso been lapping in the 1.16s?

Scotracer (13:34) Fudce, Schumy was running heavy fuel not long ago.

herminator (13:34) lets hope not fudce

Fudce (13:34) it'd be interesting to compare the start of a simulator run (of similar length) to the end for both engines

Scotracer (13:34) Screw this, I'm going on rFactor and filling the tank and see what it does to the telemetry data. brb bitches

Zod100 (13:34) Cool so we now know that the 1min 11 was on a very low/near empty fuel tank. The question now is, were the other drivers on an empty fuel tank with their best times? Interesting...

ImmortaL (13:34) Alonso lapping in 1:15s last time I had some info

ImmortaL (13:35) Schumi lapping in 1:16s for abt 15 laps now...

karlth (13:36) Didn't Hamilton lap in the 1:13s for 26 laps yesterday?

Zod100 (13:37) Alonso 1.16.033

ImmortaL (13:38) empty fuel tank?
Alonso did that time in the middle of a 11 lap stint. I doubt thats empty tank...

Zod100 (13:39) Near empty fuel tank

SaintDean (13:39) @karlth you correct their

Mastah (13:39) and felipe did his 11.7 on first lap of 11 laps stint

Fudce (13:40) new tyres must have an effect then.

jonpollak (13:40) How do you lot know if tanks were empty?

wewantourdarbyback (13:41) guesswork

HoldenRT (13:41) blind hope

jonpollak (13:41) I will go with HRT's answer

Fudce (13:41) X-Ray vision

MadYarpen (13:41) :lol:

Mastah (13:43) transparent fuel cell?

jonpollak (13:43) I vote Sov for eviction

Fudce (13:44) Nah, that's just the new VR car, and the McLaren's fin

MadYarpen (13:44) Petrov 1.13.666 I already like him, hail satan!

jonpollak (13:44) honestly... :drunk:

Anyone got YouTube links to some video of yesterday?

Fudce (13:45) In Mother Russia, Pole Position sits on you.

Mastah (13:47) pedro is lapping in high 12s, jenson in mid 14s

SaintDean (13:49) Come on Button glory laps! :clap:

wewantourdarbyback (13:49) Chuck Norris does not believe in Germany

SaintDean (13:50) but if he did it would of been named ChuckLand

SaintDean (13:51) or if he did it would be the best damn country in the world.

Mastah (13:51) or manychucks

wewantourdarbyback (13:51) Chucks Norris is always on top, because Chuck Norris never f**ks up

AndyW35 (13:52) That's not personal experience there is it Darby?

wewantourdarbyback (13:52) That lot was about as productive as guessing the fuel loads

wewantourdarbyback (13:52) I couldn't sit down for weeks Andy

AndyW35 (13:52) Me neither

Zod100 (13:53) Watch out for Kobayashi this season..the new Montoya :lol:

SaintDean (13:57) oh i loved Kobayashi last season. Was chuffed he got a seat this year.

Scotracer (13:58) I have some rather crude data for you guys if you're interested:

This is the 2009 Force India with 3 laps of fuel on-board:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2ymtw8x.jpg

Same car but with 210 litres:
http://i47.tinypic.com/16jmq0o.jpg

4-5 second difference as predicted

wewantourdarbyback (13:58) I loved him.... till he tried to kill Kaz

wewantourdarbyback (13:58) I wish I was as cool as you Scot

Fudce (13:58) Ooooh, your droops are a bit droopier

Mastah (13:59) oh yeah, stefan for the grid, kaz ftw!

Scotracer (13:59) You're not alone there darby.

karlth (13:59) At Silverstone right?

Scotracer (14:00) Yup. Check out the difference in G under braking - it removes a whole one!

ImmortaL (14:03) Button driving around in the high 1:13s...

karlth (14:04) What about de la Rosa? In the 1:12s? Stint length?

SaintDean (14:08) Glory Laps!

Scotracer (14:08) Do they use the same fuel rigs as last year to put the stuff in the cars?

stormshadow (14:09) is it lunch time yet?

Fudce (14:12) looks like there wasn't a unified break today

SaintDean (14:13) 12:54 Some teams having their lunch break now

Zod100 (14:15) 30000 spectators for a private pre season test, that's a record :clap:

herminator (14:17) just shows the interest

froggy22 (14:17) i wonder who theyve all come to see

Fudce (14:17) Alonso in a Ferrari in Spain... not that surprising.

Fudce (14:18) alternatively, they're all fans of Petrov.

herminator (14:18) its petrov's dad and his mates :lol:

froggy22 (14:19) 3 spaniards in the top 4

herminator (14:19) in valencia ...surely not

BrendanMcF (14:20) Whoever is looking after the "Latest Times" bit has clearly had enough and is surfing Facebook...

The Big Guns (14:20) lol

stevvy1986 (14:20) Wrong Brendan, that doesn't update automatically (which is annoying), you have to refresh.

froggy22 (14:21) i just refreshed the page and it updated, was expecting it to do it automatically

froggy22 (14:22) so the fans are here to see Jaime, not Alonso :clap:

herminator (14:22) de la rosa !?!

BrendanMcF (14:23) Nice "feature", thx stevvy

herminator (14:25) anyone have buttons latest stint times?

herminator (14:26) williams showing better realiability today with hulk making a ton

karlth (14:29) Noble is watching the timing screen: Why on earth can't we get the live timing here??

SaintDean (14:29) Lewis was fastest in all sectors yesterday wasnt he? Just couldnt put it together.

Mastah (14:29) Button is on a long run and getting quicker. Just did a 1m13.180 - with a 'green' final sector and purple speed trap figure

SaintDean (14:30) Does the F1 timing system work then?

karlth (14:31) Yes, it is installed at the circuit.

Zod100 (14:31) Alonso's tyres graining. time 1:29s over the last couple of laps

herminator (14:31) staright line speed doesn't seem to be a problem for the MP4-25

SaintDean (14:31) lovely. jubly.

ImmortaL (14:32) Alonso drops to the 1:16s range now...

herminator (14:33) fred ust have been checking setup - tire grain wont give you 1.16s

herminator (14:33) *must

herminator (14:34) is pedro still out on track?

Zod100 (14:34) Pedro just went out on track

Zod100 (14:35) he was in the pits

herminator (14:35) thanks Zod

stormshadow (14:35) @ Mastah from where u getting the sector times mate ?

Mastah (14:36) noble tweeted it

/ the hulk did 112 laps

ImmortaL (14:37) maybe alonso was doing safety car pace to check out things?

herminator (14:38) have seen hulk and barrichello helmets - very similar - surely the hulk's should be green!

Mastah (14:38) he was doing lap - pits - lap - pits etc routine

herminator (14:42) confession! - ive become very attracted to BBC Sarah Holt :blush:

Zod100 (14:45) Shes's taken mate :lol:

herminator (14:48) doh :cry:

wewantourdarbyback (14:48) booo

herminator (14:49) still very attractive lady :blush:

MadYarpen (14:50) herminator - fan of alpine skiing?

Zod100 (14:50) If I'm not mistaken, she's got children too

karlth (14:51) She's a grandmother.

wewantourdarbyback (14:51) maybe she wants a youngster on the side? :cool:

herminator (14:52) milf :love:

wewantourdarbyback (14:52) gilf?

Zod100 (14:53) MILF..nice one :lol:

jonpollak (14:53) Grandmother?...
Jeez I'd prefer Stephanie Beechham

Mastah (14:54) an photos of her? i'm too lazy to search by myself :blush:

PompousJester (14:54) Go, Mr. Petrov, go! :clap:

Mastah (14:54) *any

jonpollak (14:55) He's kicking the Hulk's green bottom

Mastah (14:56) eddstrawF1

Wonder what Alonso could do with a proper low fuel load. That 1m11.470 was definitely not ultra-light

Fudce (14:56) Hulk has a green bottom? Has he been at Ron's blood too?

Mastah (14:59) media hour :clap:

jonpollak (15:01) So..with the stands empting my observation is as follows..
Schumi just failed to beat Lewis time of yesterday

whoisjohngalt (15:01) looks like the weather will be depriving us of media laps...

herminator (15:02) http://www.puntersrealm.com/assets/sarah...

herminator (15:02) too young surely for grandmother status

Fudce (15:02) ..no, that joke is too obvious. I wont say it.

MadYarpen (15:02) give her a rest herminator

The Big Guns (15:03) say it lol

Mastah (15:03) ClaireVWilliams

Our old Nico (Rosberg) stopped in our box by mistake yesterday - he must be missing us! :lol:

herminator (15:03) ok your right ...shes taken ...and I'm married

FlashMaster (15:03) NobleF1

Valencia official spectactor figures are in - 36, 400 fans today. A total of 59,100 over the three days. Wow

FlashMaster (15:04) Alonso & Schumi madness

The Big Guns (15:04) lol mastah, hilarious

herminator (15:05) poor nico - maybe he wants to go home already

Mastah (15:08) schu ended his day :confused:

TheF1PERSON (15:13) Just Button and Alonso on the track.

That Ferrari looks very fast. The drivers are just being optimistic.

ChrisMayhew (15:14) "It looks like no one will get close to Massa's total of 226 laps over his two days of testing" lol that's because Massa had two full days of testing....

TheF1PERSON (15:16) Hopefully Button can go quicker. Come on McLaren!

Mastah (15:17) fred in 12s, jens in 13s

TheF1PERSON (15:18) No-one's going to beat Alonso I think. So it's three out of three for Ferrari.

Mastah (15:18) Alonso is right underneath Button's rear wing - and there are fireworks being set off from the grandstands!

Mastah (15:20) Button still ahead as they complete another lap. I sense drivers with some pride at stake here

go fred, overtake jens

Razgreez (15:20) time for a brake test me thinks

TheF1PERSON (15:20) This should be interesting. Race practice.

herminator (15:20) :lol:

Fudce (15:20) It's a shame it's Button and not Hamilton

MadYarpen (15:20) I'd like to watch this

herminator (15:21) where's Schumi when you need him :lol:

Fudce (15:21) boo! Alonso chickened out

Scotracer (15:21) Let's hope Yossidlr has a video of this for later

Razgreez (15:21) where are you watching this?

TheF1PERSON (15:21) Hopefully yossi has recorded that race.

Razgreez (15:22) out of fuel maybe?

MadYarpen (15:22) one conclusion. alonso was empty. Therefore he can only drive at mcl speed almost without fuel :smoking:

herminator (15:22) anyone no of any footage on youtube or anywhere else for any of this test?

Scotracer (15:22) Type Yossidlr into Youtube, herminator

MadYarpen (15:22) yossidlr uploads vids sometimes

herminator (15:23) cool thanks madYarpen

Mastah (15:23) Sorry, Alonso didn't come into the pits - he just backed off to give himself some space -

herminator (15:23) scotracer

Razgreez (15:24) he chickened out in other words...

Fudce (15:24) As I said... :P

MadYarpen (15:25) spectators must be disappointed

Mastah (15:25) Alonso is closing in on Button again - he's about two seconds behind him now - he is catching jens again

herminator (15:26) could have been interesting if they had touched like hulk & pedro earlier this morning - slighlty more experience me thinks

Mastah (15:26) Fun over now as Alonso gets through - Button backed off and did a 1m16.992 hehe :clap:

TheF1PERSON (15:26) Ah, typical.

BrendanMcF (15:26) 60,000 watching live, Autosport and other sites brought to a standstill, n-tv closing their web-tv service because it's overloaded...

I anyone in FOM awake? How much more clues do you need that the fans want a better service!

TheF1PERSON (15:27) Any more red flags since the De La Rosa-Hulk clash?

Mastah (15:27) nope

Fudce (15:27) not that I saw

Mastah (15:27) And Alonso gets ahead of Button as the Briton backs off hell yeah, f10 rocks :clap:

TheF1PERSON (15:27) Ah well.

Fudce (15:28) They're all being good boys

Razgreez (15:28) schumacher should've done a lean run right at the end just for the heck of it. try to topple alonso's time

FlashMaster (15:28) For the press? Haha he doesn't need sth like this

FlashMaster (15:29) Spanish ppl at the track are happy, thats fine

Mastah (15:29) fred is preparing for media laps

FlashMaster (15:30) 1:10.6?

Mastah (15:31) hmm... felipe did 11.7 so it will be 11.1 or 6 tenths off his best time today,so 10.8

TheF1PERSON (15:32) That's DEFINATELY more than 6 10ths

Victor_RO (15:33) Hydraulic failure ended Schuey's test day.

Victor_RO (15:33) http://twitter.com/JAF1live/status/85917...

Mastah (15:33) he had to pee? :lol:

FlashMaster (15:33) ouch

TheF1PERSON (15:34) That explains Schumacher's retirement.

Fudce (15:34) Personally, I blame the weather

Mastah (15:38) http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9195/... is that kimi behind wheel?

Victor_RO (15:39) No, no, it's Makinen. :lol:

Victor_RO (15:40) Or Olivier Panis. :lol:

Victor_RO (15:41) They get cars sideways (on ice, admittedly...)

Mastah (15:42) vitaly 1m13.097

Fudce (15:43) Woah, is that a change in the times? Not in the running order though

Mastah (15:44) yep, it's media laps time :clap:

TheF1PERSON (15:46) In about 10 minutes time there will be a red flag

Mastah (15:48) you think vitaly will be driving wth soviet flag?

FlashMaster (15:48) CCCP

Mastah (15:48) sarahholtf1: Just survived another Michael Schumacher media melee. He says he doesn't expect to be winning races straight away but is pretty happy - ouch

Mastah (15:49) fred is in 12/13s

Rafo (15:49) looks like only Ferrari wil lap under the 1:12 :up:

FlashMaster (15:50) Ross Brawn told n-tv that their short run pace is pretty bad atm and the car is understeering too much

TheF1PERSON (15:50) Indeed. Unless the conditions suit their car.

FlashMaster (15:50) long runs seem to be good

MadYarpen (15:55) glory time now?

FlashMaster (15:56) Petrov

winst0n (15:57) Mastah - are you at the track? Where are you getting your timing data from?

Mastah (15:58) i am following about 10 people on twitter

FlashMaster (15:58) try these links

http://www.f1-direct.com/include/livegp/...
http://directo.thef1.es/
http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2010/0...
http://www.motor21.com/noticia.asp?dt=31...

MadYarpen (15:59) this twitter thing is great for tests :up:

FlashMaster (15:59) well session is over in 2min

TheF1PERSON (15:59) Shame Button couldn't go faster.

Mastah (15:59) yeah, it's almost like live timing

FlashMaster (15:59) I got 20 F1 ppl in twitter lolz

TheF1PERSON (15:59) And no late red flag. I would hav thought with more rookies there would have been more crashes.

Mastah (16:00) only FA can go FAster

FlashMaster (16:00) eddstrawF1

Speed trap fastest: Trap 1 De la Rosa 207.1kph; Trap 2 Alonso 204.0kph; Trap 4 Button 275.5kph

FlashMaster (16:00) haha button 70kph faster

Fudce (16:00) cmon, we need six tenths

FlashMaster (16:00) ah no dawn, theyre different traps

reason42 (16:00) diff trap

Mastah (16:00) no media laps, meh :cat:

reason42 (16:01) was fred faster than massa?

MadYarpen (16:01) shame...

Mastah (16:01) yes, by 3 tenths, but he is 11s again so let's wait and see

reason42 (16:02) thnxs

MadYarpen (16:02) C'mon it is 2 past 5, where is final table?

Mastah (16:03) it's over, ferrari domination :clap:

whoisjohngalt (16:03) How many laps for Alonso today?

FlashMaster (16:03) 127

Mastah (16:03) 120+

TheF1PERSON (16:03) Alonso

De La Rosa

Schumacher

Alguersuari

Button

Petrov

Hulkenburg

MadYarpen (16:03) waiting for QAs than

AnomanderRake (16:04) :wave:

Mastah (16:04) eddstrawF1

I reckon if they had really gone for it on a tiny fuel load there was a 1m10 in that Ferrari.

i think the same

FlashMaster (16:04) 126 for Hulk I think

TheF1PERSON (16:04) Not surprised that Petrov and Hulkenburg finished last.

herminator (16:04) only ferrari in 1.11s across all 3 days - cant wait for jerez with red bull appearing :clap:

AnomanderRake (16:04) Typical, finally get my approval for posting just as the session closes. Grrr.

MadYarpen (16:04) :wave:

see ya when jerez

whoisjohngalt (16:05) nice...reliability wise, that's good stuff right there from Ferrari.

Mastah (16:05) yeah, thanks for live commentary and great, gp-like atmosphere :up:

herminator (16:05) does this mean i actually have to do some work now :mad:

MadYarpen (16:06) mastah spot on!

whoisjohngalt (16:06) am excited for Red Bull as well...it's going to be a very long 4 days for me.

MadYarpen (16:06) herminator same here, so gotta go, bye

herminator (16:06) :up:

thanks autosport!

herminator (16:07) see you next time for jerez people :wave:

Mastah (16:08) yeah, bye people :wave:

AnomanderRake (16:09) See you guys next time! :wave:

TheF1PERSON (16:11) Goodbye. Next stop, Jerez, where Red Bull, FIFI, Lotus and Virgin will join the fun.

D.M.N. (16:13) :wave:

reason42 (16:24) Thanks to Autosport for this service. :clap:

reason42 (16:24) and to the people who make this place, erm, lively!

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