November 12, 2024

FF1M

Fantasy Formula 1 Management

The Notebook : Dubai Test

During the Dubai pre-season test Tobias Kravitz was prowling up and down the pitlane and gives us a team by team run down of the key points from the test.

We start off with FJR who got off to a rather subdued start to pre-season testing. Only 19th and 20th in the overall fastest lap times with test drivers Giedo van der Garde and Jolyon Palmer, the team will be concerned if these results are anything to go by. Although neither race driver took part in Dubai, FJR’s fastest time during testing was quite a sizeable 1.5 seconds slower than pacesetter Valtteri Bottas. To compound FJR’s issues, they were one of three teams that failed to achieve 200 laps over the course of the four days. An already tough uphill battle for reigning FF1M champion Lewis Hamilton perhaps?

Reigning constructors champions Tornado looked quite solid. Kevin Magnussen and Charles Pic both set the 5th and 8th respective fastest times over the four days. Again, like FJR, both the teams’ race drivers were sidelined. However, with Magnussen setting the fastest lap time for test drivers, early signs suggest Tornado’s 2013 challenger looks just as competitive as its championship winning predecessor.

The newly named Gui Racing outfit now known as Gojira looked very solid out on track. Sergio Perez topped days 3 and 4 along with young test driver Carlos Sainz looking impressive also. The works Ferrari outfit will undoubtedly be very happy with how testing panned out in Dubai and will be confident their rate of development will carry over to Bahrain and beyond.

Willows started testing where they pretty much left off in 2012. An incredibly powerful power unit. With one of the strongest driver lineups on the grid featuring last season’s championship contenders Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo, Willows topped the first day with a 1-2 before finishing 2nd and 3rd in the overall test times. It is looking good for team boss Joe Willows who will be hoping his team can take that next big step as the Mercedes works team despite being pipped by the customer Mercedes squad.

A fairly quiet opening run of tests for Pedersen. Race driver Bruno Senna setting only the 15th quickest time (11th theoretically with 22 runners). The team will have found it tough being the sole BMW in order to gain development versus their rivals.

Shake n’ Bake curtailed development quite early on in 2012 after a disappointing season. As a result, they have been able to make good progress on their 2013 car behind the scenes. This showed in Dubai with Pastor Maldonado setting the 6th fastest time. Additionally, the team racked up the 2nd highest number laps. Expect when a certain Sebastian Vettel takes the wheel, the team will be closer to the sharp end of the field.

AndrewF1’s opening run of pre-season testing can only be described as a week to forget. Both cars featuring rookie drivers of Antonio Felix da Costa and Robin Frijns who. The Renault looks really short on power compared to their rival manufacturers and perhaps two drivers out of their depth with da Costa and Frijns at the very bottom of time sheets on most days. Early indications are this could well be a long season ahead for the team where number 1 driver Robert Kubica may have to single-handedly carry the team going forward.

Their Renault engine counterparts, Mitchell, could well be in for another long season if Dubai was a precursor for the season ahead. Only beating the two AndrewF1 Renaults overall, Mitchell may well have inadvertently brought back their trait of featuring a ‘lawnmower engine’ from last year. On another note, tester and former race winner for Mitchell Sebastien Buemi outpaced race driver Jaime Alguersuari on all four days. Something that the still young and inexperienced Spaniard will be desperate to change. Especially in a team renowned for mid-season driver changes.

In terms of lap times, Horizon had a quiet time in Dubai. Setting the 17th and 18th fastest laps. However, the biggest talking point for this team was their distance covered. 224 laps amassed by Sam Bird and Alexander Rossi meant that Horizon covered more distance than any of the other 10 teams. With many laps set, expect this team to improve for Bahrain.

Without a shadow of doubt, the most surprising package of all the teams in Dubai was GRM. Reigning FF2M champion Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time of the entire test in Dubai during Day 2 with a lap time of 1:35.374. This being 15 thousandths of a second quicker than the works Mercedes package of Nico Rosberg in the Willows. Despite this however, they could only amass the second lowest number of laps from all the teams and this may slow their development compared with other teams. 224 laps amassed by Sam Bird and Alexander Rossi.

Returnees to FF1M Exolite got off to some teething problems in Dubai testing that set the Yorkshire-based team back in distance covered. Setting the lowest number of laps in the process at 178. Despite this, a helping hand from the competitive Ferrari engine meant some respectable times were set by test driver Jerome d’Ambrosio in particular. Despite the typical niggles faced with a new returning team, they look totally unfazed. It will be interesting to see what their vastly experienced race drivers of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button can extract from the car.

Finally, there was a surprise visitor to the Paddock during the test in the form of Michelin director of motorsport Pascal de Pompadour who was seen exiting the Tornado motorhome on Sunday evening. Whilst some may claim that Tornado’s french contingent of drivers and the hospitality unit’s cooking was his source of interest rumour has it that the french marque is considering a return to FF1M. FF1M bosses are known to be evaluating options for the future with regards to tyres and a return to the halcyon days of tyre wars past could inject some further intrigue.

PosDriverTeam – EngineOverall Fastest Laptime
1Valtteri BottasGRM – Mercedes1m 35.374s.45
2Nico RosbergWillows – Mercedes1m 35.389s0.01551
3Daniel RicciardoWillows – Mercedes1m 35.627s0.25360
4Sergio PerezGojira – Ferrari1m 35.657s0.283108
5Kevin MagnussenTornado – Ferrari1m 35.773s0.399107
6Pastor MaldonadoShake n’ Bake – Ferrari1m 35.977s0.603109
7Carlos SainzGojira – Ferrari1m 36.084s0.71109
8Charles PicTornado – Ferrari1m 36.089s0.71599
9Stoffel VandoorneWillows – Mercedes1m 36.129s0.75542
10Paul di RestaGRM – Mercedes1m 36.198s0.82448
11Fabio LeimerWillows – Mercedes1m 36.209s0.83554
12Tom DillmannGRM – Mercedes1m 36.256s0.88253
13Marcus EricssonShake n’ Bake – Ferrari1m 36.381s1.007110
14Felipe NasrGRM – Mercedes1m 36.495s1.12145
15Bruno SennaPedersen – BMW1m 36.552s1.17890
16Jerome d’AmbrosioExoliteF1 – Ferrari1m 36.605s1.23189
17Sam BirdHorizon – Honda1m 36.782s1.408119
18Alexander RossiHorizon – Honda1m 36.819s1.445105
19Giedo van der GardeFJR – Honda1m 36.824s1.45108
20Jolyon PalmerFJR – Honda1m 36.874s1.586
21Luca FilippiExoliteF1 – Ferrari1m 36.877s1.50389
22Rio HaryantoPedersen – BMW1m 37.079s1.705110
23Sebastien BuemiMitchell – Renault1m 37.173s1.799102
24Jaime AlguersuariMitchell – Renault1m 37.408s2.034108
25Antonio Felix da CostaAndrewF1 – Renault1m 37.583s2.209101
26Robin FrijnsAndrewF1 – Renault1m 37.733s2.359100

Total Laps

PositionTeamLaps
1Horizon224
2Shake n’ Bake219
3Gojira217
4Mitchell210
5Willows207
6Tornado206
7AndrewF1201
8Pedersen200
9FJR194
10GRM191
11ExoliteF1178

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