Post-season test: Barcelona, Nov. 13 - 15

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Ferrari:

Michael Schumacher will drive Ferrari's 2007 formula one car at the upcoming post-season test at Circuit de Catalunya. The retired seven time world champion has ruled out wild speculation that he might replace Fernando Alonso at McLaren next year. But it did emerge late on Monday that Schumacher, who raced for the Italian team between 1996 and last year, will emerge from the Ferrari garage early next week at the wheel of the championship-winning F2007 in Barcelona. At Valencia where the German impressively tested Ducati's MotoGP bike on Monday, Schumacher told the newspaper Bild-Zeitung that he would test the Ferrari not for fun but to contribute to the team's development programme ahead of the traction control ban in 2008. "I am glad that I can help the team," he said.

Kimi Raikkonen won't participate as he is still on vacation.

Red Bull:

Karun Chandhok, winner of a GP2 race at the demanding Spa Francorchamps circuit this year, will test for Red Bull Racing, when F1 testing resumes at the Circuit de Catalunya, on 13 and 14 November. The 23 year old Indian, who was born in Madras, will be standing in for regular tester, Sebastien Buemi, who is competing in the Macau Formula 3 race. Winning at Spa was the highlight of Chandhok’s season in GP2, having secured the drive after being crowned the 2006 Asian Formula Renault V6 Champion, with seven wins and nine pole positions. “This really is a dream come true for me,” said Chandhok. “Ever since I was four years old I’ve dreamed of being behind the wheel of a Formula One car and this is a day that not just myself, but my family and everyone who has supported me over the years, has thought about for a long time. Cliquez ici... I really have to thank everyone involved at Red Bull Racing for this opportunity; I’m really looking forward to it.” “Karun has been supported by Red Bull for a couple of years now and his progress in GP2 this year has been clearly evident, culminating in a win at Spa,” commented Team Principal Christian Horner. “Barcelona presents a good opportunity to put Karun in one of the cars for his first F1 drive.” Chandhok finished the 2007 GP2 series 15th overall.

Fernando Alonso will not participate as well.

[sameerrao]

From what I have read on the net, there are two reasons for the test: Firstly, Michael wants to do it for fun and Secondly Ferrari wants some critical input from Michael as they go into the 2008 season w/o the use of traction control.

Michael has lots of experience of cars w/o driver aids - from 1994-2001 - while Kimi and Massa have very limited experience of this.

[5vz-fe]

Too bad we will never see him race in F1 again. I would love to see he competes with the current field without TC.

[acmarttin]

Thank god for the TC ban. It'll be interesting to see what it does to the field.

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Renault:

Heikki Kovalainen will return to the Renault cockpit in testing at Barcelona next week, even though his future at the team remains uncertain amid speculation linking him with McLaren. The Finn has not yet had his 2008 deal with Renault confirmed, and there have been suggestions that he could be lined up to race alongside Lewis Hamilton next year if Fernando Alonso returns to the French car manufacturer. Despite the uncertainty about Kovalainen's future, Renault are not compromising their efforts to get back to the front of the field in 2008 and have drafted in the Finn for next week's first test of the winter at the Circuit de Catalunya. Nelson Piquet. Jr will also be present as reserve driver. Kovalainen is expected to remain at Renault if Alonso decides against moving to the team, and Kovalainen told autosport.com this week that all he was interested in for 2008 was a good chance at winning the championship. "All I know is my position is very good now," he said. "I think I have several options, and many teams are interested in me, and that's the most important thing. I just have to make sure that we make the correct choice for next year or the next few years. "Wherever we commit I would like to stay there for the next two or three years and try to win championships, try to win races. "For me the most important thing is to have equal status with my teammate and be in a car that is as competitive as possible. I'm very confident that I will be racing next year, I just have to make the correct choice now."

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Toro Rosso and Renault:

The upcoming test schedules of the Toro Rosso and Renault teams have poured cold water on 'silly season' speculation surrounding them. As Fernando Alonso's manager last week met with Red Bull chiefs in Madrid, it was suggested that they discussed how to make room for the McLaren refugee in 2008. One theory is that multiple Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais, who is due to switch to Toro Rosso next year, could be asked to spend one final season in the United States. That would allow contracted Red Bull driver David Coulthard to switch to Gerhard Berger's junior team, thus vacating a seat for Alonso. But it now emerges that Frenchman Bourdais, 28, is due to join Toro Rosso as scheduled as post-season testing kicks off next week in Barcelona. He will drive for three full days. Nelson Piquet Jr, strongly tipped to replace Giancarlo Fisichella at Renault next year, will also attend the test in Spain.

Force India:

With a distinctive new interim burgundy red and white livery, the newly-renamed Force India F1 Team will embark on a three-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, from 13-15 November. Using two of the Ferrari-powered former Spyker F8-VII chassis in their new colour scheme and fitted with the mandatory-for-2008 FIA electronic package, Force India will use contracted test drivers Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde to open the test while team driver Adrian Sutil will be joined by former Honda test driver Christian Klien and Toro Rosso race driver Tonio Liuzzi on the other two days. Rodriguez competed in the GP2 series this season with the Minardi Piquet Sports team. His season high point was a podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix in August. Prior to GP2, he competed for several seasons in Spanish Formula 3, finishing second in 2006, Euroseries 3000 and Italian F3000. He was also a test driver for the Minardi F1 Team in 2005. After a strong career in the junior formulae, Klien moved directly to Formula One with Jaguar Racing in 2004 and remained with the team under its new name of Red Bull Racing in 2006. This year he has been test and reserve driver for the Honda team. As a result the 24-year-old Austrian has a combined four years of F1 to his credit. Tonio Liuzzi raced for Toro Rosso in the FIA Formula One World Championship this year. The Italian secured his best finish of the season, sixth position, in China. He won the F3000 championship title in 2004, before moving to join the Red Bull Racing team in 2005 and moved over to Toro Rosso for 2006.

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Testing underway:

Formula One returned to action on Tuesday morning at the Barcelona circuit for the first test of the pre-season, less than a month after the end of the 2007 season. All teams got their preparations underway at the Spanish circuit, where seven-time champion Michael Schumacher stole the show as he returned to proper Formula One action for the first time since his retirement from the sport. The German took to the track early in the morning, carrying out testing work with the Ferrari F2007. Meanwhile, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais began life as an official Toro Rosso driver, while the new Force India squad made their track debut, with a revised livery, and with Giedo van der Garde and Roldan Rodriguez at the wheel. Andreas Zuber made his Formula One debut when he tested the 2007 Honda, with Briton James Rossiter taking to the track in an hybrid car from the Japanese squad. The Super Aguri team appear to be testing with Honda's 2007 car, with Anthony Davidson at the wheel of a mainly white machine. Kazuki Nakajima is in action for Williams, while BMW are using racing drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. McLaren are testing with Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett. Other drivers included Red Bull's David Coulthard and Karun Chandhok, Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, Toyota's Franck Montagny and Jarno Trulli, and Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer.

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November 13 test report: Schumacher is (still) the fastest! :good:
Times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:21.922 64
2. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:22.129 76
3. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.687 63
4. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:22.802 81
5. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:22.883 56
6. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.008 46
7. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.187 66
8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:23.332 55
9. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.624 46
10. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.671 75
11. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.847 58
12. Montagny Toyota (B) 1:23.861 61
13. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.048 77
14. Zuber Honda (B) 1:24.065 77
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.193 51
16. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:24.246 70
17. Rossiter Honda (B) 1:24.480 69
18. Chandhok Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:24.896 39
19. van der Garde Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:25.317 84
20. Rodriguez Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:26.973 87

All Timing Unofficial

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher made an impressive return to Formula One action by topping the times on the first day of testing at the Barcelona circuit. The German driver, who had not driven a Grand Prix car in anger since he retired from the sport a year ago, posted a best time of 1:21:922 in Ferrari's F2007 to edge the Italian squad's test driver Luca Badoer by over a two tenths of a second after 64 laps. Schumacher, 38, had driven the F2007 in a demonstration run at Ferrari's home track in Fiorano last month, but only for a handful of laps. The German showed early in the morning that he has lost none of his speed, immediately setting fast times. "I think there is a guy called Michael. It looks as though he's got a talent. He will make his way to F1," joked Red Bull's David Coulthard.

[saadie]

chandhok tested for redbull ... damn ... :\ ..

schumi did well ... these indian drivers are coming in hot 8)

[Bizi Jones]

[Bizi Jones]

new background

[5vz-fe]

^Holy Hi Res batman!!

Ah, good old TCless times

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November 14 test:

Schumacher stays on top in Barcelona Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher continued to steal the show at Barcelona, where he finished on top of the times for the second day in a row. Schumacher's best time of 1:21.486 put him nearly four tenths of a second ahead of McLaren's test driver Pedro de la Rosa, second fastest today. Schumacher was joined at Ferrari by Brazilian Felipe Massa, who took over from test driver Luca Badoer. Massa finished as fourth quickest, nearly six tenths behind Schumacher. The Ferraris were split by Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, while Briton Gary Paffett completed the top five with the second McLaren.

Today's times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1.21.486 90
2. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:21.857 60
3. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:21.894 65
4. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:22.044 56
5. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.293 57
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.333 64
7. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.555 74
8. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:22.946 102
9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.031 77
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.187 74
11. Chandhok Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:23.255 57
12. Button Honda (B) 1:23.358 79
13. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.465 54
14. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.488 37
15. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:23.547 80
16. Filippi Honda (B) 1:23.596 74
17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.753 72
18. Montagny Toyota (B) 1:23.977 45
19. Klien Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:24.446 56
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:23.537 105
21. Liuzzi Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:24.555 55

Q & A with Michael Schumacher Q. Were you surprised by your comeback? Michael Schumacher: Well, if you look at the past few weeks, there were some interesting times because I did quite a few things that I didn't know would I be doing because the MotoGP test. At Mugello during the Ferrari days I met Mauricio from Philip Morris, who's a friend of mine, and I just chatted and asked 'is there a chance I can have a little go on the motorbike?' and he called me back a few days later and said ¡You can have a go on Monday.' I said great and off I went, but it wasn't really planned beforehand - and neither was this test planned way ahead – probably two weeks ago I got confirmation that I was going to run here. It was great fun and I really like it a lot and I'm really happy about the way I'm able to run – because this is good enough to help the team. But obviously being out for so long raised some question marks for me. And of course now, it's good to see now that I'm still able to do that. Q. Have there been different stages in your life when you felt you needed a new challenge? MS: I also give myself new challenges. I do a lot of things like that – I was doing my parachuting licence at some point and things like that. I like exploring new things. And I'm kind of a restless guy. Q. How does car feel without traction control? MS: It feels worse than when we last ran without TC, it's not similar; it's worse. Because you have different engines compared to that time. Then you had 10-cylinder engines. Then you could change and play with the gears and now you cannot. Q. What's the hardest part now – slow corners? MS: Slow corners, but high speed stuff is exciting. Q. Do you have any plans to further develop the car? MS: The plan was just for me to further develop the car now and give as much input as I can during my time here. Q. How was it sitting in car and being quick? MS: It took me a bit of time, maybe two laps, and then I was back into the groove. And I have to say I surprised myself that I was so quickly on it again. Q. How did you feel in the morning? MS: Yeah, nervous; a bit nervous. It was probably a bit like a little kid, I felt like I did when I was 18 again... Being out on the track is still a very good feeling. Q. Will you receive offers after those times? MS: I don't think, there's not anything free at the moment! Q. What do you expect from tomorrow's hearing? MS: I would be very surprised if Kimi loses out. I heard that Max (Mosley) already said – even if you disqualify some cars, there's no need to change the classification. But I think there's plenty of option after this year – if you start to change again the classification, I think it would be bad for Formula 1 because it had been finished fair and square on the track and there's no need to carry on looking at it. Q. Does the FIA need to change stewards who are experts, drivers? MS: Honestly, it is the typical scenario. Something happens, then you hear the consequence but you haven't been involved with the detail about why it happened. And when you don't know all the details about how a decision was reached, then you can't comment on it. Q. What are your thought on Ross Brawn's move? MS: I think it's great for him. He called me before to tell me about it and I think it's a great opportunity for him and he did the same thing in Ferrari in '97 when he joined and 10 years later he does it with Honda and it's an interesting challenge for him.

[sameerrao]

Thanks for the interview details.

It is impressive that he gets on full chat mode within 2 laps after a year's absence.

I wonder what Michael is thinking about Ferrari now with his core team all gone - Brawn, Martinelli, Todt, traitor Stepney, Byrne. I hope Luca doesn't screw us with the re-Italianization of the Scuderia.

I dont think the Mugello demo counts as they mostly are cruising and doing donuts there.

[5vz-fe]

I am actually surprise at the generous comments DC gave to MS.

Red Bull's David Coulthard was mightily impressed by Michael Schumacher's performance in testing at Barcelona. The Scottish veteran joked: "It looks as though he's got talent. He will make his way to F1." "For those who doubted Michael's quality even for a moment, he has lost nothing." Coulthard, who at 36 is the oldest driver on the gird, explained that Schumacher's display proves there is more to racing than youthful exuberance. "It shows that age does not matter - if he was back in Formula One, he would be at the front." The former McLaren driver, who was in a jovial mood, also recommended the German to his former employers: "If McLaren is still looking for a driver, Michael would be a fantastic solution. "Just as Paul McCartney can never unlearn great music, Michael will never forget how to drive a car damn fast."

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,1895...881605,00.html

IMO, the reason why he tops the timesheets by a margin is down to TC (or without for the matter of fact)