US F1's Ken Anderson revealed that he is in talks with the FIA over the possibility of missing the first four races.
Speculation has been rife this past week the team had collapsed in the wake of a number of sponsorship deals falling through.
Anderson has now finally broken his silence, admitting his team is struggling financially, with their only hope now coming via negotiations with motor sport's
world governing body.
"We're working with the FIA to clarify how many races we can miss," confirmed Anderson to the New York Times.
"In an ideal world, we can miss the first four races and show up in Barcelona (Spanish Grand Prix on May 9)."
If the FIA accede to US F1's request, it means the North Carolina- based team would sit out the races in Bahrain, Australia, Malaysia and China.
Only recently the FIA confirmed any team missing a race would be in breach of the Concorde Agreement - relating to the terms by which the teams compete in the series - and so would be penalised.
Anderson, however, believes it would not be in the FIA's interests to punish his team, and is hoping president Jean Todt will look on his outfit's troubles sympathetically.
"I guess anything's possible, but what would be the point of that?" remarked Anderson on the FIA's threat of sanctions.
"Why would they give us a franchise and just, the first time there's a bump in the road, yank it and put it out of business?
"That's definitely not the message I'm getting from them. They want to help us, not shut us down."
Anderson is hoping the FIA do not dither, adding: "We have a timeline in place that if we get a decision quickly, it triggers funding and we're good to go.
"If it takes another week or two to make a decision, it keeps backing up."
Although US F1 announced the signing of Argentinian driver Jose Maria Lopez just a few weeks ago and said he was under contract, Anderson has confirmed he could yet leave.
It is understood Lopez has spoken with Campos Meta, who have confirmed they would be on the grid in Bahrain after an internal takeover.
Campos has so far only Bruno Senna, the nephew of late three times world champion Ayrton, on their books, but had delayed the signing of a second driver due to their own financial issues.
As Lopez has sponsorship behind him from the Argentinian government he may yet switch teams as Campos still require additional funding.
One other rumour Anderson dismissed is that investor Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube, is still involved with the team.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Force India 7th fastest
Force India test driver Paul di Resta clocked the seventh fastest time at the Circuit de Jerez.
Paul di Resta clocked the seventh fastest time as, for the second day in row, inclement weather marred the Silverstone-based outfit's testing.
With heavy rain and high winds showing no signs of abating, Force India had to modify its testing schedule with di Resta getting another half day testing in the VJM03 before Vitantonio Liuzzi took over in the afternoon.
di Resta managed to get 33 laps under his belt and his best of 1:30.344 put him seventh in the 12-driver field, two places ahead of Liuzzi who made 24 laps with the best of 1:30.666, which put him just ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The team made the most of the amended programme on Thursday to run through further set-up evaluation, plus race preparation and fuel and hydraulic systems checks. With no major issues the drivers completed over 250km in total.
"Unfortunately the weather was again very bad, but at this stage any running gives me more experience of the car and how the team works," di Resta later said.
"I ran with the intermediate and wet tyres over the morning, which at least means I have got some solid experience of wet running and it won't be such a novelty when I am faced with similar conditions in places such as Malaysia," he added.
Liuzzi too was upset with the weather. "The weather was so difficult with the constantly changing conditions. It seemed to rain every hour and then dry, but it never reached a stable level. It was either too dry for wets or too wet for dry tyres so you couldn't get a consistent indicator of the performance," said the Italian.
"We did a few pit stop simulations and runs to get a bit more information and the car still seems to be responding well to changes. In these conditions though it's very difficult to get a good understanding of what's going on but everyone has the same weather, we just have to do what we can," he added.
Adrian Sutil will take over the car on Friday while Liuzzi will be back on Saturday to conclude the test.
Paul di Resta clocked the seventh fastest time as, for the second day in row, inclement weather marred the Silverstone-based outfit's testing.
With heavy rain and high winds showing no signs of abating, Force India had to modify its testing schedule with di Resta getting another half day testing in the VJM03 before Vitantonio Liuzzi took over in the afternoon.
di Resta managed to get 33 laps under his belt and his best of 1:30.344 put him seventh in the 12-driver field, two places ahead of Liuzzi who made 24 laps with the best of 1:30.666, which put him just ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The team made the most of the amended programme on Thursday to run through further set-up evaluation, plus race preparation and fuel and hydraulic systems checks. With no major issues the drivers completed over 250km in total.
"Unfortunately the weather was again very bad, but at this stage any running gives me more experience of the car and how the team works," di Resta later said.
"I ran with the intermediate and wet tyres over the morning, which at least means I have got some solid experience of wet running and it won't be such a novelty when I am faced with similar conditions in places such as Malaysia," he added.
Liuzzi too was upset with the weather. "The weather was so difficult with the constantly changing conditions. It seemed to rain every hour and then dry, but it never reached a stable level. It was either too dry for wets or too wet for dry tyres so you couldn't get a consistent indicator of the performance," said the Italian.
"We did a few pit stop simulations and runs to get a bit more information and the car still seems to be responding well to changes. In these conditions though it's very difficult to get a good understanding of what's going on but everyone has the same weather, we just have to do what we can," he added.
Adrian Sutil will take over the car on Friday while Liuzzi will be back on Saturday to conclude the test.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Politics In Tamil Cinema
Since the time that Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi and Bharat Ratna M.G. Ramachandran used their movies to propagate their ideals to the masses, Tamil films have always had a intertwined relationship with the politics in Tamil Nadu.
While there has been no dearth of actors in politics and politicians in movies in Tamizh Nadu, there have been very few movies dealing with Politics in Tamizh Movies. Here is a look at few of them (not exhaustive or based on any merit - just a few of the recent ones):
Iruvar - This is, in my opinion, one of the best bio-pics made in Tamizh Cinema. Mani Ratnam does an amazing job in picking two characters best known in Tamizh Arasiyal (politics) - that of MGR and Karunanidhi and has based his movie on their lives. (To be politically correct, lets just say they were based). The best thing that Mani Ratnam did was to avoid showing one of them as the villain or a negative character. Anandan's intentions behind politics (To eradicate poverty) and Tamizhselvan's Dravidian philosophy are shown countermanding from the first scene in which Anandan and TamizhSelvan meet. The weakness and insecurity that both these giants of TN Politics go through in the movie are brilliantly portrayed by Mohan Lal who plays Anandhan and Prakash Raj who plays Tamizhselvan. The scene where Anandan comes out on the terrace of Tamizhchelvan's house and sees the crowd is a perfect scene of movie making basics, and of course A.R. Rahman's awe-inspiring BGM. For many Tamizh Cinema fans who complain that Rahman does not do justice to BGMs, please see his works with Mani and you shall know the man's genius. The others in the cast, too, perform amply within the scope - with the pick of them being Gauthami and Rajesh.
Ayitha Ezhuthu - A populist story, Mani Ratnam deals with college politics and how rowdyism has come to play a ever present role in politics. This movie literally revealed two actors to Tamizh Cinema, who have gone places after this movie. First is the best performer in this movie, R. Madhavan, who playing Inbasekar, completely overwhelms you. He is not playing a likeable character - and being recognized as Alaipaayudhey Madhavan, it must have been difficult for him to convince the audience as a out and out moral-less and unscrupulous character. The real victory for Mani and of course, Madhavan is that by the end of the movie, you really hated Inbasekar, which was an accomplishment of sorts, for the public image of Madhavan at that point of time was that of a chocolate boy. The second winner in this movie was Surya - who played a populist, slightly-left student politician, Michael Vasanth. Surya, who had matured through Nandha, grown through Kaakha Kaakha, arrived through Ayitha Ezhuthu. It is interesting to note that R. Madhavan has scaled new heights in Indian cinema with varied and versatile roles in Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots, while Surya is now a frontline actor who, has carefully balanced mindless masala movies like Aaru and noteworthy, versatile movies like Vaaranam Aayiram. Inspired from Amerros Perros, Mani Ratnam crafted a screenplay wherein a shooting incident is the central spot of meeting for the the three characters in the movie. This movie though, was not one amongst Mani's best efforts and the third track involving Siddarth was not as well developed as one expects in a Mani movie. The other revelation in this movie was Bharathi Raja, who plays the corrupt minister, Selvanayagam who brings such realism to his character that it sometimes hurts! This was the first album where Rahman went all out with an international feel - Dol Dol, Hey Goodbye Nanba and Yakkai Thiri being new sounds for the Tamizh ears. And incidentally, Yakkai Thiri was one of those few songs in Tamizh music that does not have any verbs in it. (Trivia time?!)
Makkal-aatchchi - R.K. Selvamani's masterpiece tells about a the tale of Mamootty, who gets involved in politics purely by chance and rises to the position of a Chief Minister of a state. This movie put in solid scenes what people were till then assuming about the rich and powerful in politics then - that they had little to no ethics, no morals and would go to any lengths for money and power. The movie starts off well and the first half is as good as any other movie in Tamizh Cinema. The second half has lots of twists (some of them unneeded) and at the end of the movie you do not know whether you can believe what our leaders say in the media. Mamootty as expected, takes the honors in the acting department while the movie also boasts of some sharp editing work. The music, as can be expected of non-Ilayaraja or non-Rahman movies of those times is hardly note-worthy.
Mudhalvan - Shankar's take on current affairs and politics, this movie creates a fantasy genre in political movies. Originally supposed to have been scripted for none other than the Superstar Rajni Kanth, this movie, surprisingly has Arjun Sarja in the lead and ends up being one of Arjun's best works - apart from Gentleman and Ayudha Poojai. The movie has a very identifiable cause - that politicians are more concerned about their vote-bank and so resort to caste politics and of course Shankar's pet theme - Corruption. The screenplay is one of the best in TC - there is almost no sag in the story till the end. And the lines by Sujatha were brilliant, especially the interview scene between Pughazendhi (Arjun) and Aranganathan (Raghuvaran). The only complaint with this movie was the romantic angle, played by Manisha Koirala who pretty much comes only for duets. Coming to duets, this movie again has A.R. Rahman at the helm and he churns out delightful numbers and some terrific BGMs too - especially for the scenes when Arjun is the CM for a day.
Bharath Bandh - This was a movie I had seen when I was really young and I suspect is a Telugu dubbed movie. This movie again, is based on Political intrigue and as suggested by its title is based around a bandh organized by some politicians for their personal gains. This movie, though, not great in terms of acting or cast (the lone saviour being the national award winning actress, Archana), shows you a sample of how politicians make self centered and short sighted decisions, purely based on their and their kin's well being with little or no regard for the public who voted them to power. The movie also features some gruesome killings and violence.
The interesting thing has been that though the perceived ills of politics - namely, caste/religion based politics, pseudo-secularism, corruption, coercion and rowdyism have been graphically represented in movies like the ones listed above and many others, it is pitiable that nothing has changed. It is really disappointing to see even well educated people getting involved in caste wars and tax evasion issues, even as recently as yesterday!!
While there has been no dearth of actors in politics and politicians in movies in Tamizh Nadu, there have been very few movies dealing with Politics in Tamizh Movies. Here is a look at few of them (not exhaustive or based on any merit - just a few of the recent ones):
Iruvar - This is, in my opinion, one of the best bio-pics made in Tamizh Cinema. Mani Ratnam does an amazing job in picking two characters best known in Tamizh Arasiyal (politics) - that of MGR and Karunanidhi and has based his movie on their lives. (To be politically correct, lets just say they were based). The best thing that Mani Ratnam did was to avoid showing one of them as the villain or a negative character. Anandan's intentions behind politics (To eradicate poverty) and Tamizhselvan's Dravidian philosophy are shown countermanding from the first scene in which Anandan and TamizhSelvan meet. The weakness and insecurity that both these giants of TN Politics go through in the movie are brilliantly portrayed by Mohan Lal who plays Anandhan and Prakash Raj who plays Tamizhselvan. The scene where Anandan comes out on the terrace of Tamizhchelvan's house and sees the crowd is a perfect scene of movie making basics, and of course A.R. Rahman's awe-inspiring BGM. For many Tamizh Cinema fans who complain that Rahman does not do justice to BGMs, please see his works with Mani and you shall know the man's genius. The others in the cast, too, perform amply within the scope - with the pick of them being Gauthami and Rajesh.
Ayitha Ezhuthu - A populist story, Mani Ratnam deals with college politics and how rowdyism has come to play a ever present role in politics. This movie literally revealed two actors to Tamizh Cinema, who have gone places after this movie. First is the best performer in this movie, R. Madhavan, who playing Inbasekar, completely overwhelms you. He is not playing a likeable character - and being recognized as Alaipaayudhey Madhavan, it must have been difficult for him to convince the audience as a out and out moral-less and unscrupulous character. The real victory for Mani and of course, Madhavan is that by the end of the movie, you really hated Inbasekar, which was an accomplishment of sorts, for the public image of Madhavan at that point of time was that of a chocolate boy. The second winner in this movie was Surya - who played a populist, slightly-left student politician, Michael Vasanth. Surya, who had matured through Nandha, grown through Kaakha Kaakha, arrived through Ayitha Ezhuthu. It is interesting to note that R. Madhavan has scaled new heights in Indian cinema with varied and versatile roles in Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots, while Surya is now a frontline actor who, has carefully balanced mindless masala movies like Aaru and noteworthy, versatile movies like Vaaranam Aayiram. Inspired from Amerros Perros, Mani Ratnam crafted a screenplay wherein a shooting incident is the central spot of meeting for the the three characters in the movie. This movie though, was not one amongst Mani's best efforts and the third track involving Siddarth was not as well developed as one expects in a Mani movie. The other revelation in this movie was Bharathi Raja, who plays the corrupt minister, Selvanayagam who brings such realism to his character that it sometimes hurts! This was the first album where Rahman went all out with an international feel - Dol Dol, Hey Goodbye Nanba and Yakkai Thiri being new sounds for the Tamizh ears. And incidentally, Yakkai Thiri was one of those few songs in Tamizh music that does not have any verbs in it. (Trivia time?!)
Makkal-aatchchi - R.K. Selvamani's masterpiece tells about a the tale of Mamootty, who gets involved in politics purely by chance and rises to the position of a Chief Minister of a state. This movie put in solid scenes what people were till then assuming about the rich and powerful in politics then - that they had little to no ethics, no morals and would go to any lengths for money and power. The movie starts off well and the first half is as good as any other movie in Tamizh Cinema. The second half has lots of twists (some of them unneeded) and at the end of the movie you do not know whether you can believe what our leaders say in the media. Mamootty as expected, takes the honors in the acting department while the movie also boasts of some sharp editing work. The music, as can be expected of non-Ilayaraja or non-Rahman movies of those times is hardly note-worthy.
Mudhalvan - Shankar's take on current affairs and politics, this movie creates a fantasy genre in political movies. Originally supposed to have been scripted for none other than the Superstar Rajni Kanth, this movie, surprisingly has Arjun Sarja in the lead and ends up being one of Arjun's best works - apart from Gentleman and Ayudha Poojai. The movie has a very identifiable cause - that politicians are more concerned about their vote-bank and so resort to caste politics and of course Shankar's pet theme - Corruption. The screenplay is one of the best in TC - there is almost no sag in the story till the end. And the lines by Sujatha were brilliant, especially the interview scene between Pughazendhi (Arjun) and Aranganathan (Raghuvaran). The only complaint with this movie was the romantic angle, played by Manisha Koirala who pretty much comes only for duets. Coming to duets, this movie again has A.R. Rahman at the helm and he churns out delightful numbers and some terrific BGMs too - especially for the scenes when Arjun is the CM for a day.
Bharath Bandh - This was a movie I had seen when I was really young and I suspect is a Telugu dubbed movie. This movie again, is based on Political intrigue and as suggested by its title is based around a bandh organized by some politicians for their personal gains. This movie, though, not great in terms of acting or cast (the lone saviour being the national award winning actress, Archana), shows you a sample of how politicians make self centered and short sighted decisions, purely based on their and their kin's well being with little or no regard for the public who voted them to power. The movie also features some gruesome killings and violence.
The interesting thing has been that though the perceived ills of politics - namely, caste/religion based politics, pseudo-secularism, corruption, coercion and rowdyism have been graphically represented in movies like the ones listed above and many others, it is pitiable that nothing has changed. It is really disappointing to see even well educated people getting involved in caste wars and tax evasion issues, even as recently as yesterday!!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sutil Second Fastest in Final Day
Adrian Sutil clocked the second quickest time of the day to round off Force India's four-day testing at the Circuit de Jerez.
In between running through system checks, set-up evaluation and tyre comparisons, the youngster posted his best lap of 1:20.180 which was just half a second behind his pal and McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton.
"We did some really good runs, concentrating mainly on getting as much experience as we could with the new tyres," Sutil later said.
"Set-up wise, we were pretty good already and the car balance is not so far away. We also tried a couple of longer runs and saving the tyres seems to be the key point. We weren't going for a time, just trying to get as much information as possible at this stage to feed back into the programme for next week," explained the German.
Sutil completed 84 laps of the Spanish track on Saturday to bring Force India's total test mileage to more than 1,200km.
Chief race engineer Dominic Harlow said the testing went just as expected and there was no reason to complain.
"We completed the final day of the test with a greater mileage than the previous days despite some poor weather to begin with and a planned period of downtime, which is positive," he said.
"It's been a good first test with the VJM3 confirming the base characteristics of the car and the most prominent effects of the regulation changes for 2010," Harlow said.
Testing resumes next week again from February 17-20 and Paul di Resta will get his first outing in the VJM03 on Wednesday before Sutil and Antonio Liuzzi take over for the remainder of the test.
In between running through system checks, set-up evaluation and tyre comparisons, the youngster posted his best lap of 1:20.180 which was just half a second behind his pal and McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton.
"We did some really good runs, concentrating mainly on getting as much experience as we could with the new tyres," Sutil later said.
"Set-up wise, we were pretty good already and the car balance is not so far away. We also tried a couple of longer runs and saving the tyres seems to be the key point. We weren't going for a time, just trying to get as much information as possible at this stage to feed back into the programme for next week," explained the German.
Sutil completed 84 laps of the Spanish track on Saturday to bring Force India's total test mileage to more than 1,200km.
Chief race engineer Dominic Harlow said the testing went just as expected and there was no reason to complain.
"We completed the final day of the test with a greater mileage than the previous days despite some poor weather to begin with and a planned period of downtime, which is positive," he said.
"It's been a good first test with the VJM3 confirming the base characteristics of the car and the most prominent effects of the regulation changes for 2010," Harlow said.
Testing resumes next week again from February 17-20 and Paul di Resta will get his first outing in the VJM03 on Wednesday before Sutil and Antonio Liuzzi take over for the remainder of the test.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sachin Tendulkar Rewrites History
Milestone man Sachin Tendulkar re-wrote the record books on Wednesday, hammering the first double century in the history of one-day cricket to add another feather to his well-adorned cap.
The capacity crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium witnessed history on Wednesday as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game has ever seen, pushed a Charl Langeveldt delivery through the off-side and ran a single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved.
One-Day International cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman score 200. The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out) and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (194).
As the crowd erupted with unbridled joy, Tendulkar, tired but composed, took off his helmet, looked skyward, closed his eyes to offer a silent prayer.
His captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down from the striker's end to shake hands and hug him.
And as Tendulkar set on his way back to the pavilion after the completion of the Indian innings, a tumultuous celebration greeted him.
The crowd gave him a standing ovation as the entire stadium erupted in euphoria while his teammates were simply ecstatic as they clapped and hugged each other, basking in the glory of their senior teammates.
Tendulkar batted like a man with a mission today and the South African bowlers simply had no clue where to bowl.
Once he crossed the 150-mark, the crowd anticipated something special and Tendulkar did not let them down.
A six off Roelof van der Merwe took him past Kapil Dev's 175 not out and in the next over, he hit Jacques Kallis for a four to equal his previous best of 186 not out that had come against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 1999.
The crowd got restless as Tendulkar approached the 194-run mark and a couple off Wayne Parnell saw him eclipse it.
His teammates and spectators were on the edge of their seat with a double century round the corner but with Dhoni going berserk at the striker's end and facing most of the deliveries, it was an agonising wait for all.
Dhoni took singles off the final deliveries of the 47th-49th overs and Tendulkar finally took strike with four balls left in the innings.
The first ball he received from Langeveldt was steered past point and Tendulkar ran for a single to remain unbeaten after an unforgettable unbeaten 200 that came off just 147 balls with 25 fours and three sixes in it.
It was yet another milestone for the man, who has some 30,000 international runs under his belt, including 93 centuries (47 in Tests and 46 in ODIs).
The capacity crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium witnessed history on Wednesday as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game has ever seen, pushed a Charl Langeveldt delivery through the off-side and ran a single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved.
One-Day International cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman score 200. The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out) and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (194).
As the crowd erupted with unbridled joy, Tendulkar, tired but composed, took off his helmet, looked skyward, closed his eyes to offer a silent prayer.
His captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down from the striker's end to shake hands and hug him.
And as Tendulkar set on his way back to the pavilion after the completion of the Indian innings, a tumultuous celebration greeted him.
The crowd gave him a standing ovation as the entire stadium erupted in euphoria while his teammates were simply ecstatic as they clapped and hugged each other, basking in the glory of their senior teammates.
Tendulkar batted like a man with a mission today and the South African bowlers simply had no clue where to bowl.
Once he crossed the 150-mark, the crowd anticipated something special and Tendulkar did not let them down.
A six off Roelof van der Merwe took him past Kapil Dev's 175 not out and in the next over, he hit Jacques Kallis for a four to equal his previous best of 186 not out that had come against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 1999.
The crowd got restless as Tendulkar approached the 194-run mark and a couple off Wayne Parnell saw him eclipse it.
His teammates and spectators were on the edge of their seat with a double century round the corner but with Dhoni going berserk at the striker's end and facing most of the deliveries, it was an agonising wait for all.
Dhoni took singles off the final deliveries of the 47th-49th overs and Tendulkar finally took strike with four balls left in the innings.
The first ball he received from Langeveldt was steered past point and Tendulkar ran for a single to remain unbeaten after an unforgettable unbeaten 200 that came off just 147 balls with 25 fours and three sixes in it.
It was yet another milestone for the man, who has some 30,000 international runs under his belt, including 93 centuries (47 in Tests and 46 in ODIs).
Monday, February 22, 2010
Hamilton Fastest at jerez
Lewis Hamilton clinched the fastest time at Jerez on Wednesday morning as a drying track and interrupted running allowed for some serious laps.
Testing kicked off on a wet track and with the threat of rain looming. As such the drivers were quickly out on track with Michael Schumacher setting the fastest time of 1:30.549 while Pedro de la Rosa slotted his Sauber into second place.
However, the running was soon cut short as Lewis Hamilton stopped out on track with an as yet undisclosed problem. It took 16 minutes for the marshals to clear his car and return it the McLaren garage, after which the session was green-lighted.
That, though, didn't last long.
Four minutes later the red flags were once again being waved, this time for Force India test driver Paul di Resta. The Scot spun his VJM03, bringing the session to a temporary halt.
When the action resumed, Felipe Massa took advantage of the drying track, clocking a 1:30.327 to lead the way.
The Brazilian was soon overhauled by Sebsatian Vettel with the Red Bull racer posting a 1:29.053 while Rubens Barrichello moved up into second place.
Barrichello's morning programme focused on race stints, during which the Williams driver did an initial run of 14 laps, followed by one of 21 and another of 15.
De la Rosa was the next to take control of the session as the Spaniard put in a six-lap run that ended with him shaving 1.228s off Vettel's best as the track continued to dry out.
With a dry line now in the mix, Virgin Racing finally set Timo Glock out. The German, though, completed just one installation lap before returning to the pits.
Returning to the track a short while later, Glock posted a 1:34.453 on his first attempt, putting him just ahead of fellow newcomers Lotus.
Lotus, who were in action with test driver Fairuz Fauzy behind the wheel, didn't take Virgin's arrival lying down and Fauzy quickly moved ahead with a 1:34.3 as F1 experienced its first battle of the newbies.
Back at the front, Massa hit the P1 slot with a 1:27.665 while Vettel went third as he too broke into the 1:27s.
However, any chance they had of further improving as they burnt off fuel was lost when Barrichello brought out the day's third red flag when he stopped out on track.
And unfortunately for the drivers, during the break to clear the Williams off the track, the clouds began to gather yet again although that didn't stop Massa from extending his P1 time to a 1:26.867 only to be beaten moments later by a charging Hamilton. The Brit's P1 was an impressive 1.125s up on Massa's best.
Unofficial Times
. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-25 1:25.742 31 laps
2. F. Massa Ferrari F60 1:26.867 +1.125 44 laps
3. P. de la Rosa Sauber C29 1:27.825 +2.083 44 laps
4. S. Vettel Red Bull Racing RB6 1:27.871 +2.129 51 laps
5. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:28.256 +2.514 78 laps
6. P. di Resta Force India VJM-03 1:30.080 +4.338 61 laps
7. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP W01 1:30.273 +4.531 50 laps
8. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:31.555 +5.813 37 laps
9. V. Petrov Renault R30 1:32.752 +7.010 12 laps
10. F. Fauzy Lotus F1 T127 1:34.396 +8.654 46 laps
11. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:34.453 +8.711 4 laps
Testing kicked off on a wet track and with the threat of rain looming. As such the drivers were quickly out on track with Michael Schumacher setting the fastest time of 1:30.549 while Pedro de la Rosa slotted his Sauber into second place.
However, the running was soon cut short as Lewis Hamilton stopped out on track with an as yet undisclosed problem. It took 16 minutes for the marshals to clear his car and return it the McLaren garage, after which the session was green-lighted.
That, though, didn't last long.
Four minutes later the red flags were once again being waved, this time for Force India test driver Paul di Resta. The Scot spun his VJM03, bringing the session to a temporary halt.
When the action resumed, Felipe Massa took advantage of the drying track, clocking a 1:30.327 to lead the way.
The Brazilian was soon overhauled by Sebsatian Vettel with the Red Bull racer posting a 1:29.053 while Rubens Barrichello moved up into second place.
Barrichello's morning programme focused on race stints, during which the Williams driver did an initial run of 14 laps, followed by one of 21 and another of 15.
De la Rosa was the next to take control of the session as the Spaniard put in a six-lap run that ended with him shaving 1.228s off Vettel's best as the track continued to dry out.
With a dry line now in the mix, Virgin Racing finally set Timo Glock out. The German, though, completed just one installation lap before returning to the pits.
Returning to the track a short while later, Glock posted a 1:34.453 on his first attempt, putting him just ahead of fellow newcomers Lotus.
Lotus, who were in action with test driver Fairuz Fauzy behind the wheel, didn't take Virgin's arrival lying down and Fauzy quickly moved ahead with a 1:34.3 as F1 experienced its first battle of the newbies.
Back at the front, Massa hit the P1 slot with a 1:27.665 while Vettel went third as he too broke into the 1:27s.
However, any chance they had of further improving as they burnt off fuel was lost when Barrichello brought out the day's third red flag when he stopped out on track.
And unfortunately for the drivers, during the break to clear the Williams off the track, the clouds began to gather yet again although that didn't stop Massa from extending his P1 time to a 1:26.867 only to be beaten moments later by a charging Hamilton. The Brit's P1 was an impressive 1.125s up on Massa's best.
Unofficial Times
. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-25 1:25.742 31 laps
2. F. Massa Ferrari F60 1:26.867 +1.125 44 laps
3. P. de la Rosa Sauber C29 1:27.825 +2.083 44 laps
4. S. Vettel Red Bull Racing RB6 1:27.871 +2.129 51 laps
5. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:28.256 +2.514 78 laps
6. P. di Resta Force India VJM-03 1:30.080 +4.338 61 laps
7. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP W01 1:30.273 +4.531 50 laps
8. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:31.555 +5.813 37 laps
9. V. Petrov Renault R30 1:32.752 +7.010 12 laps
10. F. Fauzy Lotus F1 T127 1:34.396 +8.654 46 laps
11. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:34.453 +8.711 4 laps
Sunday, February 21, 2010
MCLaren Duo in gud pace
F1 world champion Jenson Button again raised McLaren hopes ahead of the new season with a test-best performance at Jerez.
As team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished last week's four-day session at the southern Spain venue with the best time on the final day, so Button followed suit at the culmination of this week's programme.
Executing a series of short runs in the morning, the 30-year-old posted the quickest lap of the eight days of testing overall with a time of one minute and 18.871 seconds.
That proved to be just over four tenths of a second quicker than the previous best set by Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber on Friday, and 0.7secs ahead of Hamilton's hot lap from last week.
Button finished the day 0.243secs clear of Renault's Robert Kubica as the Pole concluded the running in the Jerez with the second-best lap over the two weeks.
Kamui Kobayashi and Vitantonio Liuzzi underlined the potential of the Sauber and Force India respectively as they finished third and fourth on the day, 0.317secs and 0.779secs adrift of Button.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was fifth, just over a second down, with team principal Ross Brawn happy so far with his team's progress.
"The past two weeks in Jerez have seen an intensive period of testing for the team," said Brawn.
"It is very pleasing to have ended the test programme with two days of very valuable dry running for Nico and Michael (Schumacher).
"Although the conditions haven't been ideal over the two tests, we have been able to make good progress on the set-up of the car and completed a number of our systems evaluations.
"We still have a great deal of work ahead of us in Barcelona next week, but overall we're looking in good shape for the start of the season."
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, cheered on by a sizeable local crowd, was sixth in his Ferrari, followed by Jaime Alguersuari for Toro Rosso and then Webber, with Williams' Nico Hulkenberg ninth.
In the ongoing battle of the new teams, Virgin Racing again had the edge on Lotus Racing in terms of lap time, with Timo Glock a second quicker than Jarno Trulli on his maiden outing in the latter car.
But in terms of reliability, Lotus are comprehensively winning that fight as veteran Trulli managed a test-high for all the drivers with 141 laps.
In contrast, Glock was restricted to just 28 as a hydraulic issue that has dogged the team all week again compromised their running.
The teams conclude testing with a four-day run in Barcelona from Thursday through to Sunday of next week ahead of the opening grand prix in Bahrain on March 14.
As team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished last week's four-day session at the southern Spain venue with the best time on the final day, so Button followed suit at the culmination of this week's programme.
Executing a series of short runs in the morning, the 30-year-old posted the quickest lap of the eight days of testing overall with a time of one minute and 18.871 seconds.
That proved to be just over four tenths of a second quicker than the previous best set by Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber on Friday, and 0.7secs ahead of Hamilton's hot lap from last week.
Button finished the day 0.243secs clear of Renault's Robert Kubica as the Pole concluded the running in the Jerez with the second-best lap over the two weeks.
Kamui Kobayashi and Vitantonio Liuzzi underlined the potential of the Sauber and Force India respectively as they finished third and fourth on the day, 0.317secs and 0.779secs adrift of Button.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was fifth, just over a second down, with team principal Ross Brawn happy so far with his team's progress.
"The past two weeks in Jerez have seen an intensive period of testing for the team," said Brawn.
"It is very pleasing to have ended the test programme with two days of very valuable dry running for Nico and Michael (Schumacher).
"Although the conditions haven't been ideal over the two tests, we have been able to make good progress on the set-up of the car and completed a number of our systems evaluations.
"We still have a great deal of work ahead of us in Barcelona next week, but overall we're looking in good shape for the start of the season."
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, cheered on by a sizeable local crowd, was sixth in his Ferrari, followed by Jaime Alguersuari for Toro Rosso and then Webber, with Williams' Nico Hulkenberg ninth.
In the ongoing battle of the new teams, Virgin Racing again had the edge on Lotus Racing in terms of lap time, with Timo Glock a second quicker than Jarno Trulli on his maiden outing in the latter car.
But in terms of reliability, Lotus are comprehensively winning that fight as veteran Trulli managed a test-high for all the drivers with 141 laps.
In contrast, Glock was restricted to just 28 as a hydraulic issue that has dogged the team all week again compromised their running.
The teams conclude testing with a four-day run in Barcelona from Thursday through to Sunday of next week ahead of the opening grand prix in Bahrain on March 14.
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