Williams FW32
Williams FW32 back
The Williams team along with their drivers – R Barrichello and N Hulkenberg (former test driver) gave their new car a debut on Thursday, the FW32 is taking to the track at Silverstone.
Williams, who will field reigning GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg alongside Barrichello, are out to improve on their seventh place of last year.
Another positive day for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro working at the test sessions held on the “Ricardo Tormo” circuit in Cheste near Valencia. Felipe Massa was again the fastest driver on the track.
Lewis Hamilton declared himself happy after his first drive in McLaren’s new car despite lagging behind Felipe Massa’s Ferrari in Valencia testing.
“It’s a different feeling compared to the first lap of the first test day of 2009,” said the 2008 champion.
“It’s a positive feeling. I’ve kept a close eye on the development of this car. I’ve seen it evolve and had input into it which is very exciting.
“I got out smiling. The problems I had [last year] I don’t have in this car.”
Flaws in Hamilton’s 2009 McLaren left him well off the pace last season. Although they were eventually resolved, allowing him to win two races, he was unable to defend his title.
| Driver | Time |
|---|---|
| Massa | 1:11.722 |
| Kobayashi | 1:12.056 |
| Hamilton | 1:12.256 |
| Kubica | 1:12.426 |
| Rosberg | 1:12.899 |
| Barrichello | 1:13.377 |
Alanso will be on the track tomorrow so more excitement to come.
The sports governing body (FIA) and the teams reached an agreement to use a new points system for the 2010 Formula 1 season.
With the field increasing in size from 20 to 26 cars for 2010, teams have agreed that World Championship points should now be offered down to tenth place for the first time in the sport’s history, replacing the previous top eight system which was introduced for the start of 2003.
The new system is meant to encourage racing and winning with the top 10 finishers rewarded in a 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 sequence.
Tyre rules will also be modified so drivers will have to start the race on the same set of tyres with which their grid time was set in qualifying.
Another interesting news is that double diffusers will be banned from 2011. Diffusers improve downforce by channelling the flow of air smoothly under the car, but caused a lot of controversy in 2009 because of the way Brawn, Toyota and Williams used them.
Massa in the new Ferrari
Michael Schumacher got most of the attention from the press during the first test of the season in Valencia, Spain, but Massa with his new Ferrari F10 proved to be the fastest man on the track.
When asked how he felt about the new car, Massa said:
“It has more grip than the 2009 car. When you have more grip you also have much more fun driving.”
Massa led the seven-car field with a best lap time of one minute 12.574 seconds from 102 laps at Valencia’s Cheste Circuit. That left him just over two-tenths of a second faster than Pedro De la Rosa of Sauber.
Massa will also drive tomorrow before giving way to new team-mate Fernando Alonso on Wednesday.
Mercedes MGP W01
Mercedes MGP W01 front
Mercedes say they will give equal treatment to drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg in 2010.
Schumacher said: “The main reason (I’m back) is that I feel thrilled about it – I feel an excitement to drive at the highest level of motorsport. Now I feel again, why not something at the high level?”
Rosberg said: “Of course there is this little bit of doubt within me but I’m confident and comfortable we’ll have the same car, chances, everything.”
