Barcelona Day 1: McLaren in 3rd


By Emma Aitken
April 14 2008

The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes formula one team have completed the first day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona in eastern Spain. McLarens test and reserve driver, Pedro de la Rosa, completed McLaren’s development program for today. Pedro focused on 2009 tyre testing, while running with 2009 spec of aerodynamics, causing him to be 3.2 seconds behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

Massa came out in testing today and, not to put too fine a point on it, thrashed the pants off everybody else. Bridgestone brought in nine sets of groove-less rubber slicks and Massa set his best times using them. The Ferrari was sporting a new look at Barcelona, with a new front end design. The upgraded nose section has two large slots cut in to it’s top surface just above the front suspension which are intended to create additional downforce. Pedro de la Rosa was flying the flag for McLaren in Spain. He came in third fastest but was 3s off Massa’s pace. The car had been adjusted to an approximation of the very different 2009 aerodynamic regulations. The top three all used slicks for their best times. Heidfeld came in fourth on the 2008 tyres. He also halted on track when a warning light came on, causing a red flag. Piquet, Glock and Nakajima also caused red flags with all of them having spins. 

Out of the eleven Formula 1 teams nine tested today. Toro Rosso are not planning on testing until tomorrow and Super Aguri is sitting out this weeks test while its deal with new buyer the Magma Group is finalised.

 
Pos.DriverTeamTimeLaps
1F. MassaFerrari01:18.33977
2A. WurzHonda01:21.05975
3P. de la RosaMcLaren01:21.566113
4N. HeidfeldBMW01:21.679105
5N. Piquet jr.Renault01:22.12569
6D. CoulthardRed Bull01:22.19759
7K. NakajimaWilliams01:22.43172
8T. GlockToyota01:22.59092
9V. LiuzziForce India F101:22.84691

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