Magnussen: I am very happy

Kevin Magnussen is relishing what he has found with the Haas team which he moved to after a season with Renault, and admits that he is impressed with how the team goes about the business of racing.

Speaking to reporters after his two days in the cockpit of the team’s VF17 challenger, Magnussen said,  “Yeah, it’s a really well organized team, We have a good bunch of guys here, good engineers, designers, and Dallara is doing a good job. Really impressed with them. They stepped up their game.”

“I wasn’t here last year obviously so I cannot tell really how they did then, but you know the job they’ve done this year with the quality of the car and the component and the chassis is very nice. Completely up to any of my previous experiences [McLaren and Renault]. I am very happy.”

Magnussen was the only driver this week to do back-to-back days in the cockpit and admitted that the new cars were more physical to drive, “It’s tough. Especially I found under braking it’s pretty hard on your neck. But I got through it, and it’s good to know where we need to work on.”

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Ross Brawn moots non-championship F1 races to trial new formats

Formula 1's new managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn has mooted running annual non-championship F1 events to try out new race formats.

Speaking to Sky Sports during F1 testing at Barcelona on Tuesday, Brawn said such a plan would allow alternative formats to be evaluated without risking affecting a world championship battle.

The recent Liberty Media hire underlined he would only change the grand prix format if it was clear fans and competitors wanted it.

"My dream actually would be to have a non-championship race once a year," said Brawn.

"And in that non-championship race you could experiment.

"So you could try a different format for one race and see.

"It would enable us to vary the format and try something different and evolve it.

"Like everything else you'd tune it. Then you could make it better and say, 'actually now, this is better than what we have. The fans love it, everyone loves it. Let's swap.'"

Non-championship races used to be a regular part of the F1 calendar but none has been held since the 1983 'Race of Champions' at Brands Hatch. Keke Rosberg won that race for Williams.

"You can't take a risk in a championship of swapping the format and getting it wrong," said Brawn. "I'm a bit nervous about that.

"When we start changing the format, we have to be very sure that we've got it right.

"Because when you start a championship with one format, you can't change it during the year - or you shouldn't change it during the year."

Brawn also said that any changes would have to appeal to current F1 fans, as well as potential new followers.

"If we went to two races over a weekend and then realised it wasn't quite what we want, we can't change it," he said.

"What we don't want to lose is our classic fans - we want to maintain them. We want to give them an even better deal, and also encourage new enthusiasts.

"We need that balance."

Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport

Brawn ready to change Formula 1

New F1 supremo Ross Brawn has told Sky Sports he "dreams" of staging a non-championship race in F1 to experiment with different race formats.
Read the full story at SkySports | News

Vandoorne: We don’t know what the exact problem was

After the hype over the change to orange livery, much was expected from the new Honda powered McLaren MCL32, but it has been a disappointing two days of testing at Circuit de Catalunya for the Woking based outfit.

Honda, who have produced a totally revised power unit for 2017, appear to once again have their sums all wrong as engine issues have plagued Fernando Alonso on the first day of the test, while rookie Stoffel Vandoorne also endured a frustrating second day in Barcelona.

Both drivers have had to dig deep into their reserves of diplomacy to explain away the problems they are having, Vandoorne said this of his first day in the cockpit, “At the moment we don’t know what the exact problem was.”

“We lost some power during the morning and we decided to change the engine so I think tonight Honda will analyse exactly what went wrong and they will probably give you an answer about it. Everybody is keeping their head down. This is only the second day of testing.”

“It’s maybe not the start like we hoped to have, obviously we wanted to do more laps yesterday and do more laps today but we are a professional team, we’re working very hard to solve the issues we had yesterday and today.”

“There are still six days left, which is not a huge amount, so we need to make the most of every lap we get on track. At the moment the team is working hard to solve the issues and make sure we have better days.”

Vandoorne only managed 40 laps during the course of the day, ending tenth fastest and a whopping 5.6 seconds adrift of the top time set by Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari.

“It’s still very early days,” insisted Vandoorne. “But like I said the first feeling was quite positive when I got in the car, in terms of pushing and being able to drive the car, so that was positive. In terms of actual performance it’s still very early to say.”

“We had two difficult days with not a lot of running, a lot of background tests that went on. We need to have a proper full day with a lot of laps to finally understand what we have in terms of package,” added Vandoorne.

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McLaren: Disappointing to encounter further problems

The McLaren-Honda team experienced a second day of mixed fortunes on track during today’s testing.

While Stoffel took to the track shortly after 09:00 to commence his scheduled programme of installation laps, systems checks and set-up changes, he managed only to match Fernando’s tally of 29 laps from the previous day before he lost power.

To make the best use of time, the team elected to change the power unit in order to get the car back on track as soon as possible, enabling Honda to begin full investigations into the cause of the problem.

The team once again worked quickly and efficiently to get the MCL32 back up and running, and Stoffel was able to return to the track and continue the day’s run plan. He ended the day having completed 37 laps.

Stoffel Vandoorne: “It wasn’t the best day of running for us, but I’m pleased that despite the issue we still managed to get some laps on the board – I was very happy to get behind the wheel after four months without driving. It’s important with a new car and a new design that you can step into the cockpit for the first time and feel confident to push, and I immediately felt comfortable in the car, so that was definitely a positive for me.

“The initial feelings this morning were quite good, then unfortunately we had a loss of power, and we’re still investigating what the issues were. The first two days have been a bit difficult, but the team has done a great job to get the car up and running again so we could get back out on track.

“There are still more days of testing this week and every lap in the car is valuable; it’s my first season in F1, so during every lap I try to make the most of it. Hopefully tomorrow and Thursday Fernando and I will have a couple of better days.”

Eric Boullier, Racing Director: “It’s a shame we weren’t able to maximise the track time today due to the issue with the power unit, but it was encouraging once again that the team pulled together to replace the PU quickly in order to enable us to return to the track at the end of the afternoon session.

“When you design a new car and power unit under new regulations, it’s possible that there will be issues that arise that you cannot foresee in pre-season development. Of course, it’s unfortunate, but the important thing is that we learn from them, and there is already a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes by Honda to identify the issues and rectify them as soon as possible.

“Testing is just that: the prove-out of new components prior to the start of the season. We’ll continue with our planned test programme tomorrow with Fernando, and keep pushing to make the most of the day’s running.”

Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head Of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: “After completing 29 laps, we lost power to the PU. Our priority was to minimise the loss of track time and continue with our testing programme, so we took the decision to change it. We know we had a mechanical issue and we will not be reusing the power unit for this test, but we’ll have to investigate fully to identify the cause.

“Stoffel was back out on track by late afternoon and we were able to recover our schedule.

“Of course, it was disappointing to encounter further problems today, but tonight we’ll carry on our hard work to make further progress for Fernando’s session tomorrow.”

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Verstappen: We are not focused on lap times yet

After a stop start first day of testing with Daniel Riccirado, Red Bull finally got some serious mileage on their new RB13 with Max Verstappen in the cockpit, but are yet to give it full gas at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

Verstappen managed 89 laps on Tuesday, while his teammate was restricted to only 39 thanks to sensor and battery issues 24 hours earlier.

The 19 year old Dutchman was happy at the end of his first day back at the ‘office’ and told reporters, “For us at the moment it is not showing how quick we can be.”

“It is the first test week, the second day, I think it is much more important just to get the mileage to see if all the parts are okay, and then we will see in the next few days how fast we are.”

“We are not focused on lap times yet, it is still way too early. Everybody is doing their own programmes so you don’t really know where you are but we can be happy with the day as we’ve done a lot of mileage.”

“I think the reliability [of the power unit] was pretty good, we didn’t have any issues and I think it is important to get the mileage in first because it is a new engine again. It is too early to say where we are with the engine but they’ve made a step which is always positive,” added Verstappen.

Much is expected of Red Bull with the new regulations favouring aerodynamics, an area where their engineering guru Adrian Newey tends to excel. Time will tell if the TAG Heuer badged Renault engine can deliver the required horsepower and reliability to challenge the dominance of Mercedes.

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Renault: Everything from the power unit has been positive

Renault Sport Formula One Team completed its second day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Jolyon Palmer at the wheel of the R.S.17.

Jolyon ran exclusively in the afternoon, completing an installation lap immediately prior to lunch, then running through a complete programme after lunch. His best lap time was a 1:24.139secs.

What’s Next? Jolyon will remain in the car tomorrow morning, handing over the reins to Nico Hülkenberg for the afternoon.

Jolyon Palmer: “I’ve really enjoyed driving the car today. The downforce is a massive change; it’s completely different from last year. It takes a little bit of getting used to but it’s actually a lot more enjoyable to drive. For today, we had a productive afternoon with 53 laps. It’s just a shame not to have ran this morning but we learnt a lot regardless and we aim to have a fuller day tomorrow.”

Remi Taffin, Engine Technical Director: “We had a late start today but we were still able to complete set-up work on the chassis, gather data on the power unit side and give Jolyon a chance to evaluate the R.S.17. We completed just over 50 laps this afternoon and we were happy with how the car ran. Everything we’ve seen from the power unit perspective has been positive, and we’re looking forward to getting some bigger mileages under our belts in the coming days. We have a good amount of data from today and plenty of work to do overnight.”

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2017 Formula 1 cars on target to be fastest ever

The 2017 Formula 1 cars are on target to be the championship's fastest ever, with Pirelli predicting potential lap records by the end of pre-season testing next week
Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport

Haas: Very reliable no problems at all

Kevin Magnussen had another productive outing behind the wheel of the Haas VF-17 in the second day of preseason testing Tuesday at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya.

After taking to the 4.655-kilometer (2.892-mile), 16-turn track as soon as it opened at 9 a.m. local time, Magnussen ended the test nine hours later with 118 laps on the board to total 549.29 kilometers (341.313 miles), the most of any driver.

The result more than doubled Magnussen’s total from Monday when he ran 51 laps and it shattered Haas F1 Team’s mileage total from any previous test at Barcelona. Prior to Tuesday, the most laps Haas F1 Team ran in a single-day test at Barcelona was 105 on May 18, 2016.

In addition to logging the most laps, Magnussen remained fast. He set the fourth-quickest time with a 1:22.204 on his 103rd lap shod on a set of Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft tires.

Magnussen began the morning session with a series of reconnaissance laps, first using the Orange hard tire before optioning between the White medium tire and the Yellow soft. After five laps of systems checks, it was time for some outright running, first with White mediums and then on Yellow softs.

As the clock ticked closer to the mandatory lunch break, Magnussen’s times ticked downward too. His best time in the morning was a 1:23.200, secured with Yellow softs on his 36th and final lap of the session to put him fourth overall.

The afternoon segment saw Haas F1 Team sample nearly all of the tires in Pirelli’s lineup with the Orange hard, White medium, Yellow soft and Red supersoft each getting a workout. Magnussen made the most of the day’s second half, knocking out 82 laps.

The team practiced their pit stops, bolting on four new fresh tires to the Haas VF-17, and sending Magnussen back onto the track. The Red supersofts provided the most grip, and Magnussen unsurprisingly knocked down his quickest time in the day’s final 30 minutes.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen set the quickest time (1:20.960) and ran the second-most laps (108).

Kevin Magnussen: “A good day. I got the most laps of anyone, so that’s sums up our day pretty well, with lots of running. That’s what it’s all about here at winter testing. We want to put as many miles on the car as possible, to find all of these little problems that can creep up during the season, to catch them as early as possible. I’m very happy with the feeling I have in the car and in working with the team. It’s been good to get back in a car again.”

Guenther Steiner: “We have learned a lot from this test and it’s been good so far. We hope it continues like this over the next two days and into next week, as well. Today we ran our full program. This morning we had a small hiccup, nothing big, and in the afternoon we ran our full program. What we missed in the morning we got in the afternoon. We learned a lot about the behavior of the car. We did setup changes. We know that we still need to work on the car to get the best out of it, but that’s why we do testing. Now the guys will analyze the whole night, and tomorrow with Romain (Grosjean), we’ll put in what we learned today and try to make the car go quicker. It seems the car is very reliable. Ferrari has done a fantastic job with their engine package, gearbox, everything. It was very reliable today, no problems at all. Touch wood it stays like this for the rest of the test, but up to now we’re very satisfied.”

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Red Bull: We had a very positive day

After a stop-start opening day in Barcelona, the new RB13 got into its stride on day two of testing, with Max Verstappen posting 89 trouble-free laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Dutchman’s first taste of the new car resulted in a best time of 1:22.200 and also a thumbs up for the increased pace of the new cars.

Commenting, Max said: “We had a very positive day with not too many issues and we’ve done quite a lot of laps so we can be happy. For us it’s not about showing how quick we can be at the moment. It’s the first test week and the second day, so it’s much more important to get some mileage in and to check if all the parts are okay.”

“We’ll focus on lap time later on. The speed difference compared to the cars from last year is a good step; it’s definitely more enjoyable through the faster corners. You also have a lot more traction going through the slow corners and that was very difficult to find a good compromise with last year.”

“But with such wide tyres and such big cars that’s a lot better now. Of course it’s more demanding but that’s what we trained for in the winter so you have to be up for it.”

Head of Race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin added: “After clearing the niggles we had yesterday, today went very much according to plan. We were a little tentative in the morning as it was pretty chilly and a few people were sliding around a bit. Because of that we focused on short runs and aero mapping.”

“We then had a pretty long stop over lunch to make some changes to the car in preparation for what we wanted to achieve this afternoon. We knew it would mean taking a hit in terms of track time but we were willing to do that in order to get the information we wanted. And we did that. It’s an interesting process this year.”

“Obviously the new cars behave quite differently to the last generation and therefore you can only draw so much on historical reference. As such these first couple of days are really about establishing a platform of understanding and once you have that you can really start to build from there. It’s also been very interesting to work with the new tyres. The deg is good; they’re consistent, they’re a good step I think.”

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Sauber: It was a challenging second test day

It was a challenging second test day for the Sauber F1 Team on the Circuit de Catalunya. Antonio Giovinazzi, who is replacing Pascal Wehrlein during test one, missed the morning session due to power unit issues.

Although the engine needed to be changed, the mechanics were able to send the Italian out on track just before the lunch break for an installation lap.

In the afternoon Antonio Giovinazzi was able to get familiar with the Sauber C36-Ferrari running 67 laps in total.

Antonio Giovinazzi: “It was a positive day for me, despite the issues we had in the morning. In the afternoon I was able to get up to speed running a good amount of laps. I want to thank the Sauber F1 Team again for this opportunity. Now I am looking forward to being back in the car tomorrow.”

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Toro Rosso: We have taken a good step forwards

Toro Rosso report from day two of the first pre-season test of the 2017 Formula 1 season at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

Daniil Kvyat: “It was a decent first day in the car for me and we were able to complete a good number of laps, which is always the main objective with a new car. We lost a bit of track time after lunch, but this always happens in testing – it’s normal to carry out precaution checks in order to double-check everything before going out. My first impressions of the STR12 are positive – it’s fast but we obviously need to keep working hard to improve this package. There’s still a lot to discover and that’s what we will keep on doing during the test.”

Jody Egginton: “Overall we have taken a good step forwards in the learning process today and Daniil got his first opportunity to start working with the STR12. As we did yesterday, we started the day gathering aero data and conducting some background tests. After that, we moved on to baseline runs, combining what we learnt on Day 1 with some further tests, focusing on aero, tyre and mechanical characterisation. Overall, the results we have achieved so far are encouraging and we are working through our test programme adapting the run plans as required as we overcome the normal challenges associated with testing a new car. We have a huge amount of data to work through both trackside and at the factory overnight and from this we expect to take another step forwards in our learning tomorrow.”

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McLaren-Honda 'yet to do a proper run' in 2017 Formula 1 testing

Stoffel Vandoorne admits he and McLaren are still yet to do a "single proper run" in 2017 Formula 1 pre-season testing at Barcelona
Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport

Lewis Hamilton has 'bruises and bumps' from testing new F1 cars

Lewis Hamilton says he has got "bruises and bumps" after the second day of 2017 Formula 1 testing at Barcelona
Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport

F1 testing 2017: Max Verstappen's first day 'very positive'

Max Verstappen declared his first day in Red Bull's 2017 Formula 1 car in Barcelona pre-season testing "very positive"
Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport

What FIA's trick suspension warning means for Formula 1 teams

The row over trick suspension in Formula 1 took a new twist on Tuesday when the FIA issued a warning - GARY ANDERSON examines the potentially messy implications
Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport

'Red Bull can beat Mercedes'

Daniel Ricciardo insists Red Bull can beat Mercedes in 2017, despite the rival teams' contrasting first two days of Winter Testing.
Read the full story at SkySports | News

Ferrari faster than Mercedes

Kimi Raikkonen topped the timesheets on Day Two of pre-season testing at Barcelona from Lewis Hamilton despite running on slower tyres.
Read the full story at SkySports | News

Barcelona Day 2: Raikkonen quickest

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen topped the timing screens at the end of the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

Raikkonen’s best time of 1:20.960, set on Pirelli soft tyres during a 108 lap spell on the day, was a fraction quicker than Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s best set on Super Softs.

Max Verstappen was third fastest, although his best time on Soft tyres was ove 1.2 seconds down on Raikkonen’s best.

Report in progress…

Barcelona F1 Test Day 2, Tuesday – Best Lap Times

	Driver	Team	Time	Laps	Tyre
1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:20.960	108	S
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:20.983	66	SS
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1:22.200	89	S
4	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:22.204	118	SS
5	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	1:22.509	86	SS
6	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:22.956	68	S
7	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:22.986	101	S
8	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:24.139	53	S
9	Antonio Giovinazzi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:24.617	66	S
10	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Honda	1:25.600	40	S
11	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1:26.040	12	M

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Marchionne: We have taken a big step forward

While his team is keeping media in the dark with regards to official information from their progress during the first Formula 1 pre-season test in Barcelona, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has praised the new car and declared that it is a step forward for the Reds.

Amid silence from the Ferrari garage, which Italian media have reported is absurd (report here>>>), Marchionne said, “The new Ferrari SF70H, is more powerful than we expected, I’m happy, from what I’ve seen, the forecasts we had done have been met.”

“I do not know if we will be able to win the championship, but we know that we have taken a big step forward.”

Indeed the both Sebastian Vettel (on Monday) and Kimi Raikkonen (Tuesday) have enjoyed healthy track time and mileage, while spending most of both days at the sharp end of the timing screens.

Ferrari celebrate their 70th anniversary this year, hence the SF70H designation of their new F1 car.

When Marchionne was asked if the marque intended to celebrate the milestone, he replied, “In 2017 we have many events planned. But I also want to celebrate in Formula 1.”

Last year around this time, Marchionne made naive demands and predictions with regards to his team, and since admitted, “Intellectual honesty is important but I have to admit that I looked silly.”

“This year, I am not falling into that trap. Let’s see what happens when the lights go out on the track,” added the Ferrari boss.

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Kimi Raikkonen leads Barcelona Formula 1 testing for Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen led the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at Barcelona, putting Ferrari just 0.023 seconds clear of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes
Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport

Italian media offended by Ferrari news blackout

Ferrari are providing no official news on the team’s progress during the current Formula 1 pre-season testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, which of course has aggrieved the Italian media.

Last year it was quite the contrary as Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne was full of bluster and a quote a minute, as he made demands of his team and with it some pretty naive predictions which, of course, were widely reported.

Needless to say the big boss has admitted that his words have come back to haunt him and even embarrass him. he declared that the team would have a low key approach this time around, and it appears they have stuck to their word.

Perhaps the team have taken offence at the ridicule showered on them by media after a woeful season last year… and right now it’s all dead quiet from the Reds which is not going down well at all in Italy.

Gazzetta della Sport correspondent Luigi Pertna said, “Low profile is acceptable, but not complete silence. Journalists are like engineers. We should be able to give feedback to the fans, who have the right to hear the drivers.”

La Republicca wrote: “Starting the season with a news blackout is absurd. After the sad living nativity scene of the car launch comes this meaningless news blackout. A low profile asked by Marchionne is one thing, but this carelessness is quite another.”

Normally, during testing, the team provide a short write up of the day’s proceedings as well as quotes from the driver on duty and an engineer.

They also provide a photo service from the testing of their cars in action and occasional behind the scenes images by Studio Colombo and available from the media section of the Ferrari site.

This time around no reports, no quotes and no photos.

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Russia extends F1 grand prix contract to 2025

The Russian Grand Prix, scheduled for Sochi in April, will stay on the Formula One calendar until 2025 after organisers agreed a new contract.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told Tass that the contract had been extended. The original deal ran until 2020.

Race promoters last week announced the VTB financial group as new title partner for the race.

“VTB´s involvement will only add to the continued success of the event and we look forward to this being the start of a long and successful relationship,” Formula One chairman Chase Carey said at the time.

Sochi hosted the first Russian Grand Prix in 2014, with the race winding around some of the venues used for that year’s Winter Olympics.

President Vladimir Putin has attended all the races held there to date.

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