[Fullrevs]

Final times after 1st days Testing:

1. Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:25.011 69 Laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:25.167 73 Laps
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:25.547 58 Laps
4. Sergio Perez Force India 1:26.636 39 laps
5. Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:27.307 78 Laps
6. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:27.900 93 Laps
7. Jenson Button McLaren 1:28.182 21 Laps
8. Pascal Wehrlein Force India 1:28.329 32 Laps
9. Pascal Wehrlein Mercedes 1:29.489 48 Laps
10. Susie Wolff Williams 1:28.906 83 laps
11. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.429 11 Laps

Lewis Hamilton pulled into the pits after just 11 laps due to high fever. Pascal Wehrlein took over testing duties at Mercedes in the afternoon after driving the 2014 Force India for 32 laps in the morning. Sergio Perez was called in early to run the Force India car in the afternoon.

It is reported that Nico Rosberg may be unable to run in the 2nd test due to a inflammed nerve in the neck.

[Hatari]

Exciting season shaping up. Ferrari and Red Bull are much closer to Merc.
Will be interesting to see where McLaren/Lotus/Williams are.

I think it will take McLaren till the Spanish GP to find their feet due to their limited testing.
Ferrari/Red Bull should be faster than Williams straight away.

[Fullrevs]

Yesterdays times were encouraging for Ferrari fans as Kimi set his time on Medium compounds while Maldonado, Ricciardo had set their best times on soft tyres.

The FIA have ruled that drivers will be allowed to race with only one single design helmet throughout the season. This puts an end to the one-off special designs that drivers use for example at Monaco or their home GP's. Quite disappointed I would say. Always looked forward to those special designs. Kimi's James Hunt tribute, the diamond encrusted helmets of Ferrari and Mclaren, Vettels LED helmet for singapore.
Here's a nice piece written by f1racing.net on the subject showing some famous one-off designs:
Background: One-off driver helmets

Times at the moment (Testing Day 2):
1.D. Ricciardo1:24:574
2.K. Raikkonen1:24:584
3.S. Perez1:24:702
4.N. Rosberg1:25:556
5.F. Alonso1:26:387
6.F. Massa1:27:204
7.M. Ericsson1:27:334
8.J. Palmer1:28:128
9.C. Sainz Jr.1:28:945

Mclaren have so far had a better day with Alonso running quite a few 7-8 lap stints and was on top of the time charts for some part in the morning.

[ecenandu]

Happy Kimi, lets hope that it will translate to better performance.

Or is all this just for PR??

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene believes Formula 1 will see a new, happier Kimi Raikkonen this year.

The 35-year-old endured the worst season of his F1 career in 2014 with a solitary fourth place in Belgium his best result.

The Finn, who was Ferrari's last world champion back in 2007, was well-beaten by team-mate Fernando Alonso, finishing 106 points and six places adrift in the drivers' standings.

He struggled with the handling of the Ferrari, which did not suit his style of being heavy on the front tyres and gentle on the rear.

But Raikkonen seemed happier during 2015's opening test at Jerez and has said that he is feeling more comfortable with the car.

And Arrivabene says he has noticed a change in Raikkonen's typically uncommunicative persona, joking that the Finn must be feeling "sick" because he's smiling so much.

"He had his problems [last year]," said Arrivabene. "Problems because he was not feeling the car, especially the front.

"It was not a car that was adapted to the style of Kimi.

"He is demonstrating that these days, he is feeling the car better and he is smiling.

"This is very, very strange. It is the real scoop of the weekend."

Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, F1 testing 2015
Arrivabene added that Raikkonen's behaviour in the garage has also been different to 2014 so far during testing.

"Kimi was also on the ground to move the car and try to adjust something," he said.

"I asked him: 'What are you doing?' He said 'I was a mechanic'.

"This is the atmosphere in the team, all the guys around him were surprised to look at him and to hear him talking and talking and talking.

"I thought he was sick but he is not. It is just enthusiasm and I am sure this year Kimi can demonstrate his level.

"Kimi is very motivated and he is getting very, very well with [new team-mate] Seb [Vettel] and this is great."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report...ce=mostpopular

[Fullrevs]

Arrivabene is a showman. A lot of it is just good PR and him establishing his relationship and stance with the media. He wasnt lying though. Kimi was having a good laugh in the pit box. The car does seem to have improved engine pace. Aerodynamics and so on yet to be fully tested I reckon.

What was encouraging to see was that Alonso had a good 60 laps in the car. The engine was turned down but nevertheless a productive day for Mclaren.

[treadmark]

McLaren's Fernando Alonso is making a solid recovery in hospital after crashing and getting a concussion on 22 February, 2015, the final day of pre-season testing at the Barcelona track.
The Spaniard, twice world champion, hit the wall on the exit of Turn Three at a speed of up to 240kph.
Alonso was taken to the circuit's medical center for initial treatment before being airlifted to hospital for precautionary checks.
McLaren said doctors had gone through a complete analysis of his condition, involving CT scans and MRI scans, all of which were completely normal.

Wish he recovers fast!

NEWS LINK

Cheers

[sajands]

Legendary designer Byrne back at Ferrari

Byrne helped design Benetton's title-winning car in 1995 before moving to Ferrari where he was part of the so called "Dream Team" that turned the Scuderia's floundering fortunes around with the outfit winning six Constructors' and five Drivers' Championships from 1999 to 2004.

http://planetf1.com/driver/55667788/...ack-at-Ferrari

Does this explain why kimi and vettle are happy with the 2015 car and the good results of the pre testing so far.

-Sajan

[myavu]

Tyre usage in Barcelona Test 1



Image Courtesy : http://www.grandprix247.com/wp-conte...e-Sets-ENG.jpg

Cheers!

Vinu

[anachronix]

Fernando Alonso will stay for another day in the ICU, that makes it 3 days for him at the hospital. Something is not right about this accident!

EDIT:
A tweet from Gazetta, source: AF1

Lorenzo De Luca @LorenzoDL83
#Gazzetta "#Alonso is scared, has severe headaches and back pain: certain his absence at last testing session"

[sajands]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Something is not right about this accident!

Vettel also expressed his doubt on the crash,

Sebastian Vettel has described Fernando Alonso's accident at Barcelona as "strange" while the Spaniard's manager has denied reports that he was unwell before the incident.

http://planetf1.com/driver/3213/3301...looked-strange

[Fullrevs]

Alonso was out of hospital yesterday and has returned to his family home in Spain. It is reported that he will miss the final winter test at Barcelona and third driver Kevin Magnussen will take over the testing duties.

FIA to investigate Alonso's crash

The line up for the final test starting 26th Feb to 1st March

Mercedes
Thursday: Lewis Hamilton
Friday: Nico Rosberg
Saturday: Lewis Hamilton
Sunday: Nico Rosberg

Red Bull
Thursday: Daniil Kvyat
Friday: Daniil Kvyat
Saturday: Daniel Ricciardo
Sunday: Daniel Ricciardo

Williams
Thursday: Felipe Massa
Friday: Valtteri Bottas
Saturday: Felipe Massa
Sunday: Valtteri Bottas

Ferrari
Thursday: Kimi Raikkonen
Friday: Sebastian Vettel
Saturday: Kimi Raikkonen
Sunday: Sebastian Vettel

McLaren
Thursday: Jenson Button
Friday: To Be Confirmed
Saturday: To Be Confirmed
Sunday: To Be Confirmed

Force India
Thursday: To Be Confirmed
Friday: To Be Confirmed
Saturday: To Be Confirmed
Sunday: To Be Confirmed

Toro Rosso
Thursday: Carlos Sainz Jr
Friday: Max Verstappen
Saturday: Carlos Sainz Jr
Sunday: Max Verstappen

Lotus
Thursday: Romain Grosjean
Friday: Pastor Maldonado
Saturday: Romain Grosjean
Sunday: Pastor Maldonado

Sauber
Thursday: Marcus Ericsson
Friday: Felipe Nasr
Saturday: Marcus Ericsson
Sunday: Felipe Nasr

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Something is not right about this accident!

Yes, indeed. The Guardian now reports that Alonso is not certain to race in Melbourne on 15 March.

Source

[Fullrevs]

Update from Ron Dennis:

Originally Posted by F1racing.net

McLaren boss Ron Dennis is confident that Fernando Alonso will be fit to take part in next month's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, as he continues to recover from his testing crash in Barcelona.

Alonso was airlifted to hospital after crashing into the inside wall between Turns 3 and 4 on the final day of last week's test at the Spanish Grand Prix venue.

Dennis, speaking at a press briefing in the McLaren hospitality unit on Thursday afternoon, revealed that Alonso was knocked unconscious "for a few seconds".

Precautionary checks, including CT and MRI scans, all came back clear, and Alonso was ultimately released from hospital – after a three-night stay – on Wednesday.

McLaren reserve Kevin Magnussen has been called up to replace Alonso at the final test, but Dennis sees no reason why the Spaniard cannot make the first race in a fortnight's time.

"There are reports of some inability for recall, which is normal when you are shaken like this. He's completely lucid, talking, wants to drive, wants to go testing and all the rest of it," said Dennis.

"The doctor said if you really want to be sure and you want to give him the best chance of going to Australia and there not being any conditions then the best thing to do is to rest him.

"We're not going to go against the wishes of the doctor, so it's as simple as that."

When pushed over Alonso's ability to compete in Australia, Dennis said: "I can't foresee any reason why not.

"I'm not the doctor… there will be some tests and processes laid down by the FIA. I can't see any reason why he won't sail through it."

Dennis again moved to quash rumours as to the cause of the incident, reiterating McLaren's belief that heavy gusts of wind destabilised the car.

"We have nothing that we can see that was abnormal," Dennis went on to explain.

"Jenson [Button] looked at the figures and said that was a bit strange, but what's a bit strange when you're wrestling with the car being destabilised by the wind? It's hard.

"The only thing we can make comment on is the absolute facts as we know them. That's what we're trying to do. I'm not protecting McLaren. I'm not protecting Fernando. I'm not trying to conceal anything.

"We can categorically say, he has no injury; he didn't have an electric shock; we believe the car did not fail. There are some things we can say, but everything after that becomes subjective."

Dennis added that McLaren will be discussing the incident with FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting on Friday.

I think its all precautionary at the moment. Over these days we have found that he was actually knocked unconscious. The FIA wont take that lightly and will ensure he is 110% fit for Australia. I am quite keen to know as to how it all happened. Looking forward to reading the FIA report.

Times from the final test - Day 1:
1. F. Massa Williams 01:23.500 103
2. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:24.276 122
3. L. Hamilton Mercedes Grand Prix 01:24.861 48
4. D. Kvyat Red Bull 01:25.947 75
5. R. Grosjean Lotus F1 Team 01:26.177 75
6. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:26.327 80
7. C. Sainz Jr. Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:26.962 86
8. J. Button McLaren 01:31.479 7


Mclaren still faultering, Ferrari's form unknown. Looks like the Scuderia have dropped a bit. Kimi is putting it down to lack of updates and too many evaluation runs. His tone seems to be a bit lower than it was at Jerez. Interesting!!

[DevilzzzzOwn]

Highly unlikely that McLaren will be able to make any impact on the racing this season.
Honda, at this stage, is as unreliable, if not more, as Renault was last year at similar time.
Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
Another Mercedes walkover this year I suppose, with some challenge from Red Bull and Williams.

[deetjohn]

The world champs finally showed their hand yesterday when Nico put in lap time of 1’22.792

That is 2.5 seconds faster than last year’s pole position time at Catalunya! Gulp!

JB also managed 101 laps in the McLaren.