F1 teams go into the second race weekend of the 2007 season today after three weeks of feverish activity in the wake of the first race in Australia on March 18.
The first ever group test was held in Sepang last week with three days of running extended to four because of bad weather.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen gave notice that the Scuderia is not resting on its laurels, setting the best time of the test at 1:35.268s on the second day.
BMW Sauber topped the timesheets on the first day with 1:36.187s. but their focus was clearly on reliability, with Robert Kubica having been forced out of the opening race by a gearbox problem while gunning for a podium. The team lost four hours of track time on the third day of testing after marshals took their time to extinguish an oil fire on Nick Heidfield’s car.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton experiencing the stifling heat of Malaysia for the first time, topped the timesheets on day three in changeable conditions at 1:35.9, but McLaren will be concerned by failures on the last two days of testing through oil leaks.
World Champion Fernando Alonso missed the tests but spent a busy few days in the team’s simulator at Woking.
Many eyes were on Renault following their disappointment in Melbourne. Rookie Heikki Kovalainen was out to make amends for his mistake-ridden debut race and duly topped the timesheets on the final day with 1:35.757 although his running was interrupted by mechanical problems. Test driver Nelson Piquet Jr also had his running interrupted by a mechanical failure on the first day. Renault are understood to have made a setup breakthrough and will debut a new front wing for the race, helping them to finally crack problems with their Bridgestones.
"Within the team, we are hoping to show that we have taken a step forward relative to Melbourne. At this stage, it is unrealistic to talk about catching Ferrari – but we need to show that progress has been made, and that we are starting to close down the gap," technical director Bob Bell said.
All the teams except Spyker took part in the Sepang tests, with much focus being placed on tyre wear because of the abrasive nature of the track. Nonetheless Spyker Ferrari’s F8-VII cars are expected to feature revised bodywork for the race, including new sidepod inlets, bargeboards and a modified diffuser to increase aerodynamic efficiency.
The tests were actually the first for Super Aguri’s ‘new’ SA07, although many will still argue that the car, rather than being new, is actually a clone of last year’s Honda.
But it was not just the teams that were testing at Sepang last week. Bridgestone tested new markings for its softer compound on Alexander Wurz’s Williams and have since decided that the bottom of the second from inside groove will be marked white. The teams will be running medium and hard tyres for the race.
The first ever group test was held in Sepang last week with three days of running extended to four because of bad weather.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen gave notice that the Scuderia is not resting on its laurels, setting the best time of the test at 1:35.268s on the second day.
BMW Sauber topped the timesheets on the first day with 1:36.187s. but their focus was clearly on reliability, with Robert Kubica having been forced out of the opening race by a gearbox problem while gunning for a podium. The team lost four hours of track time on the third day of testing after marshals took their time to extinguish an oil fire on Nick Heidfield’s car.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton experiencing the stifling heat of Malaysia for the first time, topped the timesheets on day three in changeable conditions at 1:35.9, but McLaren will be concerned by failures on the last two days of testing through oil leaks.
World Champion Fernando Alonso missed the tests but spent a busy few days in the team’s simulator at Woking.
Many eyes were on Renault following their disappointment in Melbourne. Rookie Heikki Kovalainen was out to make amends for his mistake-ridden debut race and duly topped the timesheets on the final day with 1:35.757 although his running was interrupted by mechanical problems. Test driver Nelson Piquet Jr also had his running interrupted by a mechanical failure on the first day. Renault are understood to have made a setup breakthrough and will debut a new front wing for the race, helping them to finally crack problems with their Bridgestones.
"Within the team, we are hoping to show that we have taken a step forward relative to Melbourne. At this stage, it is unrealistic to talk about catching Ferrari – but we need to show that progress has been made, and that we are starting to close down the gap," technical director Bob Bell said.
All the teams except Spyker took part in the Sepang tests, with much focus being placed on tyre wear because of the abrasive nature of the track. Nonetheless Spyker Ferrari’s F8-VII cars are expected to feature revised bodywork for the race, including new sidepod inlets, bargeboards and a modified diffuser to increase aerodynamic efficiency.
The tests were actually the first for Super Aguri’s ‘new’ SA07, although many will still argue that the car, rather than being new, is actually a clone of last year’s Honda.
But it was not just the teams that were testing at Sepang last week. Bridgestone tested new markings for its softer compound on Alexander Wurz’s Williams and have since decided that the bottom of the second from inside groove will be marked white. The teams will be running medium and hard tyres for the race.