McLaren 2nd seat

[monkeyboy1976]

Seems like young Mr Hamilton did well on his first day in an F1 car. Will be interesting to see how he does today.

I find it amazing how these young drivers can get into an F1 car for the first time in their lives and be up to speed. Although who knows what settings they had (fuel etc..)? Either way it's impressive.

Silverstone 20 Sept 06

1 N. Piquet jr. Renault 01:19.565 73
2 H. Kovalainen Renault 01:19.700 119
3 P. de la Rosa McLaren 01:19.921 110
4 F. Montagny Toyota 01:20.616 87
5 A. Wurz Williams 01:20.822 68
6 L. Hamilton McLaren 01:20.864 64
7 R. Schumacher Toyota 01:21.130 55
8 T. Sato Super Aguri 01:21.981 39
9 A. Premat Spyker MF1 01:23.206 82
10 N. Karthikeyan Williams 01:24.031 39
11 S. Yamamoto Super Aguri 01:24.839 26
12 R. Quintarelli Spyker MF1 no time 6

[Tom]

Beat Ralfy anyway.
Although he is still 0.9s off De La Rosa. I suppose that's just experience though.

[EKE]

1.3 off NP Jnr. I hope it a setting thing and not a fair reflection of skills in an F1 car.
I really hope LW gets a drive in the McLaren and kicks arse.

[Ciro Pabón]

I do not want to appear biased. I know this is just a test.

However, Nelson Piquet beats everybody and Pedro shows he is better than Hamilton by a large margin (again, on that day, who knows what will happen later?) and your conclusion is that HAMILTON is good?

What if I conclude from the last couple of races that De La Rosa has beaten Mr. Raikkonen soundly?

You have to give thanks to the muses (repeatedly and humbly), praising them because Hugo Chávez is not a member in this forum... I smell of sulphur...

[Tom]

Ciro; I wondered what the rotten eggs were.

I must agree that it does look like Hamilton is struggling slightly but its his first day, and PDLR has sooo much experience in testing he is always going to fly, it his race craft which puts him behind Kimi, sometimes.

[Ciro Pabón]

Well, Chávez is not precisely an angel...

But, for the second day, Nelsinho was faster than Kovalainen, and Kovalainen faster than Hamilton. And the three of them were fast!

Code: Select all

Name          Team 	     T 	Laps 	Time 	    Gap
Piquet     	Renault 	  M 	  86 	1:19.510 	144.637 mph 
Kovalainen 	Renault 	  M 	 103 	1:19.571 	0.061 
Hamilton   	McLaren 	  M 	  47 	1:20.158 	0.648 
de la Rosa 	McLaren 	  M 	 107 	1:20.283 	0.773 
RSchumacher	Toyota  	  B 	  54 	1:21.391 	1.881 
Panis      	Toyota  	  B 	  82 	1:22.216 	2.706 
Wurz       	WilliamsF1	B 	  97 	1:22.958 	3.448 
Sato       	SuperAguri	B 	  85 	1:23.183 	3.673

The best times to date:

Code: Select all

Date   	Driver 	     Team 	       T 	Time 	  Gap 
27-Apr 	Fisichella  	Renault     	M 	01:18.5	146.464 mph 
26-Apr 	Alonso      	Renault     	M 	01:18.6	0.116
27-Apr 	Raikkonen   	McLaren     	M 	01:19.0	0.460
27-Apr 	Kovalainen  	Renault     	M 	01:19.1	0.585
19-Sep	 Zonta       	Toyota      	B 	01:19.4	0.859
26-Apr 	Button      	Honda       	M 	01:19.4	0.865
26-Apr 	Montoya     	McLaren     	M 	01:19.4	0.877
21-Sep	 Piquet      	Renault     	M 	01:19.5	0.992
27-Apr 	Klien       	Red Bull    	M 	01:19.6	1.032
27-Apr 	Barrichello 	Honda       	M 	01:19.6	1.096
26-Apr 	Rosberg     	WilliamsF1  	B 	01:19.6	1.125
19-Sep	 Montagny    	Toyota      	B 	01:19.7	1.141
27-Apr 	Davidson    	Honda       	M 	01:19.8	1.242
27-Apr 	Coulthard   	Red Bull    	M 	01:19.9	1.382
20-Sep	 de la Rosa  	McLaren     	M 	01:19.9	1.401
27-Apr 	Liuzzi      	Toro Rosso  	M 	01:20.0	1.462
26-Apr 	Speed       	Toro Rosso  	M 	01:20.1	1.605
21-Sep	 Hamilton    	McLaren     	M 	01:20.2	1.640
26-Apr 	Webber      	WilliamsF1  	B 	01:20.2	1.668
26-Apr 	Kubica      	BMW         	M 	01:20.6	2.050
26-Apr 	Villeneuve  	BMW         	M 	01:20.7	2.155
20-Sep	 Wurz        	WilliamsF1  	B 	01:20.8	2.300
27-Apr 	Albers      	Midland     	B 	01:21.0	2.469
26-Apr 	Liuzzi      	Red Bull    	M 	01:21.1	2.540
20-Sep	 RSchumacher 	Toyota      	B 	01:21.1	2.607
26-Apr 	Monteiro    	Midland     	B 	01:21.8	3.272
26-Apr 	Heidfeld    	BMW         	M 	01:21.9	3.360
20-Sep	 Sato        	Super Aguri 	B 	01:22.0	3.451
21-Sep	 Panis       	Toyota      	B 	01:22.2	3.698
20-Sep	 Premat      	Midland     	B 	01:23.2	4.682
25-Apr 	Jani        	Toro Rosso  	M 	01:23.4	4.832
15-Jun	 Mondini     	Midland     	B 	01:23.4	4.902
20-Sep	 Yamamoto    	Super Aguri 	B 	01:23.7	5.181
20-Sep 	Karthikeyan 	WilliamsF1  	B 	01:24.0	5.514
19-Sep	 Valles      	Midland     	B 	01:25.4	6.837
27-Apr 	Sutil       	Midland     	B 	01:25.4	6.882
07-Feb	 Doornbos    	Red Bull    	M 	01:25.6	7.082
13-Jun	 Del Monte   	Midland     	B 	01:26.1	7.532

[pRo]

Is it just me, or is it a bit pointless comparing these times knowing just the times?

For example Kovalainen was doing tyre tests with long stints. Piquet was learning how to set up the car for fast laps. Ie. Kovalainen had a heavy car with fresh tyres and worn tyres when the car got lighter. Piquet was going for the time all the time, getting new(?) tyres and fuel "all the time".

Apparently Hamilton was testing different tyres for the Japanese GP. Also with quite short stints making the most out of them (since they are also being used in qual these days). I haven't heard of what de la Rosa was doing, but guessing from his laps, long runs.


What I'm trying to say is that if someone trying to make fast laptimes and he barely gets to where the other is constantly running with a heavy car, is the first really that good? I'm not saying Hamilton is a bad driver. These are his first times with a F1. But I don't think the times really say that much. I hope he's a good one and we see him racing next year.

[monkeyboy1976]

agreed pRo. You can't make many conclusions from testing times as set-ups and test requirements all vary.
Generally, my point is that I find it amazing that these young guys can be on the pace in such a short space of time. Is this because of the cars, the team or the talent of the driver?

Anyhoo, I also agree with Ciro on Piquet, he certainly seems quick in testing so far. I can understand bias towards him as I am the same about Hamilton. All will become clear on the racetrack when Piquet and Hamilton are together again in a race. So far, Hamilton has the upper hand I think

The McLaren 2nd seat seems to be well and truly open although giving Hamilton his first taste of a race next weekend in China would be risky (see below).
It's not just the driving side of it that challenges the newbie, its all the other media crap that comes with it. There was a great article in F1 Racing magazine this month on this subject.
Personally, this story is just bluster to create some media attention.
I suspect all we will hear from ITV for the next week is Hamilton Hamilton Hamilton.
I suppose it gets JB out of the spotlight for a bit so he can concentrate on his racing and preparing for next year.

Lewis Hamilton could race McLaren in China
Fri 22 Sep, 8:01 AM

Lewis Hamilton could make his Formula One debut for McLaren at the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, according to the current occupant of the seat.


Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa told commercial television channel Tele 5 that he still has not been told whether he is going to be needed beyond this week's test at Silverstone.


In sunny Northamptonshire, de la Rosa was on Thursday narrowly outpaced for the first time by 21-year-old Hamilton as the Briton's maiden Formula One test concluded.


"The team will soon decide who they want for China," de la Rosa said.


A decision is expected early next week.

[Ciro Pabón]

Is it just me, or is it a bit pointless comparing these times knowing just the times?
...

Sure. These are tests, as we remarked previously. Anyway, sometimes, some of the pilots must have tried to run at top speed, don't you think? The complete "Silverstone ranking" look more or less good to me.

Besides, the consolidated data I provided is spread over 9 months of development. But I gave it to (perhaps) make people think about lap times, because some people (ehem... like me) believe some other people were jumping to big conclusions on insufficient data and a lot of hopes about Hamilton. I hope he delivers (really).

However, some other people might take things to the other extreme, by saying that the most important thing about lap times in F1 is that lap times are of no importance on F1. After all is said and done, you have to rely on strategy and car, they argue. Maybe they argue along that line when his favorite is overwhelmed by somebody. I do sometimes.

How we miss the times where refueling was forbidden and the qualy was on fumes!

At least, in these days we did not have to look for obstruse data: it was clear to everybody that Montoya ruled, as most Ferrari fans would agree... Don't they?

[Tom]

I'm pleased to note Zonta and Panis are still in F1 anyway, 2 of my favorite drivers, Zonta for his plaine bad luck with crashes and Panis for his steel determination to wrestle a Ligier/Prost to the finish.

[vyselegend]

There's another point which make the "best times to date" list irrelevant. Remember when Renault did lap the track under the 1'19", it was during the test in preparation for the forthcoming British GP. So teams were running the Silverstone set-up on the very track. (as the test for Monza was held at Monza).
But now they're running the set up and tyres for Suzuka, which is said to be similar, but still, it's not the same. In my opinion drivers testing this week had no chance to challenge times of the pre-British GP test.

[Ciro Pabón]

This leaves with Zonta, Piquet, Montagny, De la Rosa and Hamilton in the first five "Suzuka" test positions. Strange rooster.

I am a little surprised. How do you test the left-handers of Suzuka at Silverstone? Do you run counter-clockwise on the track?

Anyway, on thread, according to Martin Whitmarsh:

De la Rosa, who took the second seat alongside Kimi Raikkonen when Juan Pablo Montoya was put on hiatus by the team at midseason, was only confirmed through the Italian Grand Prix, but Whitmarsh said it made sense to keep him until the end of the season.

“In truth, we have not had that discussion but that is our planning assumption at the moment,” said Whitmarsh. “There are back-to-back races, Pedro has won three titles in Japan and knows Suzuka very well and that is a circuit where it really helps to know.

“That is a logical decision – we will sit down, we have no particular pressure, Pedro is a balanced individual, we are planning to race him as an organization we have not sat down and questioned that one. We will confirm it.”

Whitmarsh said that whoever partners new team leader Fernando Alonso next year will complete a strong-enough lineup that the team will not have cause to regret Raikkonen’s move to Ferrari.

I just want to see the first black Formula One driver in history. Azúcar!