Hello and welcome to ESPNF1's live coverage of first free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. It's a beautiful sunny morning in Barcelona and we're going to see just which updates the teams are rolling out following the Mugello test |
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We've had four different winners in the opening four grands prix, and they've all come from different teams. Lotus had marginally the quickest package in Bahrain and then backed that up with the fastest time at the in-season test, so the chances of it becoming five are fairly high. Who's excited? |
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Now, since we last spoke we've had a few goings on. Michael Schumacher has criticised the Pirelli tyres (or 'started a debate' as he put it yesterday), Fernando Alonso has said that drivers these days don't have enough respect for each other and there has, of course, been that test at Mugello. We'd be interested to hear your thoughts on all the topics, so get in touch with us either using the link above or via Twitter @ESPNF1 - with Laurence on hand to answer some questions from the sunny Barcelona paddock |
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The three days in Mugello last week allowed the teams to trial updates, and that means we're going to see a lot of new parts this weekend. Force India certainly isn't short of front wings...
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Wynie emails in to say: "I am very excited for this race, the technical side of things are getting interesting. Now my Team Ferrari must rise if not to the top at least close!!" It is indeed a crucial weekend for Ferrari, with major updates planned as the team plays catch-up following its poor start to the season. Fernando Alonso tried to downplay expectations in the press conference yesterday, but the team really does need to show progress |
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Driver changes for this first session of the weekend: Valtteri Bottas in for Bruno Senna at Williams, Jules Bianchi takes over Paul di Resta's car at Force India and we have two debuts in the form of Alexander Rossi for Caterham (replacing Heikki Kovalainen) and Dani Clos giving HRT an all-Spanish line-up as he drivers Narain Karthikeyan's car |
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One of the most obvious updates today is the new nose at McLaren. Jenson Button is running the higher solution that was tested at Mugello last week, while Lewis Hamilton keeps the original lower nose as the team carries out a back-to-back comparison |
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We are underway with the first session and Kobayashi is first to complete an installation lap |
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Rossi and Bottas return to the pits running nose to tail. It's never easy to predict how some careers will go but you get the feeling you're looking at the future of Formula One there, at least in the case of Bottas |
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Only Vettel, Alonso and Rosberg are yet to head out on track this morning |
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We've had an email in from Daniele that reads: "I'm an Italian Ferrari fan … I'm writing because I'm very disappointed about Schumacher criticism against Pirelli tyres, if he's not able anymore to be on top why do we have to change the rules to help him? Do we want to come back to use Bridgestone stone tyres and sleep on the sofa during the race? This is my opinion … congratulation I always follow you!" Thanks for joining us! And you've got the support of this commentator - I love the rules as they are |
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Update alert: Hamilton returns to the pits with an aerodynamic sensor on the rear of the car, while the McLarens also have a bar across the front of the chassis - around the d of a certain sponsor that runs the length of the nose - and Martin Whitmarsh tells Sky that it's to check visibility options for next year |
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Everyone has completed an installation lap - or two in Hamilton's case - and the track is quiet at present so back to some more of your emails... |
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Ian asks: "I hear that the hot aero guy at Lotus is moving to Mercedes. Will that affect them this season, or only on next season's car?" Well Ian, that's not a rumour that has been confirmed as far as I know, but moving at this stage would allow someone to work on the full development of next year's car. A few new ideas might make it on to this year's car later in the season, but part of the development program will already be mapped out |
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Timo Glock winds up to start a flying lap. Marussia didn't make it to Barcelona with its new car this pre-season so this will be brand new data for the team |
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And Glock's first lap is a 1:45.783 |
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Hamilton is back out with the sensors still on his car, while Button pits for a new nose (still the higher one) and rejoins |
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Pic now on a flying lap, and it looks like he'll set a more representative time than Glock |
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Indeed he does, a 1:31.011 from Pic. It must be said that Marussia has made good progress so far this season after missing testing with the new car and it will be interesting to see if its new updates take it closer to Caterham |
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Pic improves on his second lap to a 1:29.380 |
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Williams on Twitter: "More aero evaluations for us this morning following on from the work we did in Mugello" . |
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Ajay emails in: "Force India Front Wings seem to be sporting some Holes/Vents. You think they have attempted a copy of the Double DRS?" They will certainly be looking at such an innovation - as indeed will all the teams - but whether they will have been able to bring it to the car this quickly is another matter... |
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We're up to 23C air temperature now this morning, and Laurence describes conditions in the paddock as "perfect". I'm not jealous... |
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Rajeev emails in on the subject of Schumacher and Pirelli: "Good to see your response Daniele. Problem with the world is people don't see larger picture they do support local in F1 without any basic reasoning. Schumi wants fair amount durability from Pirelli. People want 20 winners from 20 races in the name of thrill and fun. Remember what happened to Kimi in China from Hero to Zero in a few laps." |
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Vergne goes quickest on a 1:25.620 ... and then improves to a 1:25.367 |
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Ricciardo is a second slower than his team-mate at present |
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Kobayashi goes second on a 1:25.746 |
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While we get emails about the Pirelli tyres I should tell you that we have the hard and the soft compounds available this weekend - the first time Pirelli has selected two compounds that are very different this season (so far it's only been soft and medium or medium and hard). All of the running in FP1 being done on the hard compound |
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Rossi completes his first flying lap in an official session - a 1:29.671 - he's working quite hard at the wheel as he took a couple of bites at turning in to turn 13, but then had the confidence to flick the car through the chicane |
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Kobayashi goes quickest with a 1:25.297 |
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Raikkonen's just done a flying lap for Lotus, and he's my romantic pick to win this weekend in our preview |
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Right on cue, he outbrakes himself in to turn ten so has lost time on this lap |
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Rossi has already improved his time by over a second - a 1:28.726 now |
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Speaking of Rossi, his shortened name on the graphics is showing up as RSI (because Rosberg is ROS). Let's hope his seat fit went well! |
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Clos has done a 1:31.909 for HRT |
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40 minutes in to the session and Massa, Alonso, Vettel, Grosjean, Perez and Webber are yet to rejoin the track since their installation laps |
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Of course, because I've said that Perez and Webber now head out! |
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Still no sign of either Ferrari. Perhaps they don't want their updates copied so will stay in the garage all day... |
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Raikkonen improves to a 1:25.285 and second quickest |
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Perez runs wide exiting turn eight in the Chelsea-badged Sauber |
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Massa and Alonso now on track, so Ferrari does actually want to do some running today |
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Schumacher with the fastest first sector, and he improves to second quickest - 0.275s slower than Kobayashi |
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Bottas up in fifth place for Williams |
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I mentioned the Chelsea-badged Sauber, and here it is on the car of current pace-setter Kobayashi
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Bottas goes second on a 1:25.120. Massa up to sixth in the updated F2012 |
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Lotus has a new front wing to trial this morning on Raikkonen's car |
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Webber locks up slightly in to turn ten as he passes Rossi who was staying wide to keep out of his way. No major dramas though and Webber improves to seventh quickest with a 1:25.539 |
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Our most recent winner is out on track as Vettel starts a flying lap |
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Lotus on Twitter: "Kimi's back and complains of a little understeer. Has a driver ever not complained of a little understeer?" |
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We've got a bit of debris down at turn one, it's a small aero device that has fallen off the updated HRT of de la Rosa |
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De la Rosa's first flying lap is a 1:29.107. It might be because he has a new load of gold paint on the sidepod that accentuates the shape but the HRT looks to have new rear bodywork this weekend |
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Vettel finally knocks Kobayashi off top spot with a 1:24.808 |
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Incidentally, Vettel set the quickest final sector on that lap. As that contains the slowest corners it would suggest he has good traction in the Red Bull at this stage |
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A swift marshal removes the debris from turn one |
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Hamilton now running the new McLaren nose on his car. Personally I think it looks better than the old one - although the on-board view doesn't look quite so good |
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As a direct result of my compliments on the look of his car, Hamilton improves to sixth quickest on a 1:25.252 |
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Alonso is the only man yet to complete a timed lap. The fans in the grandstands have just seen him cross the line to begin one though |
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Vettel hustling Raikkonen through turn five before passing him in to ten. Hopefully we'll see those two scrapping again on Sunday |
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Some good on-board cameras at HRT this weekend. De la Rosa has a helmet camera to give you the driver's view as well as one looking back from the front wing which just gave us a great shot of him locking his front right |
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I was wrong about Alonso starting a flying lap as he came through the pits at the end of it |
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Button is back in the pits after getting within 0.2s of Vettel. The busiest man so far today is Rossi with 15 laps |
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Danny asks: "What are the odds for Ferrari?" Alonso is the only realistic bet and he was at 11/1 before this session started. He's just done his first flying lap for 11th fastest |
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The test doesn't appear to have spread the field out at all - less than a second covers the first 14 cars |
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Colin emails in from Perth: "I heard that Ferrari is looking to have Webber in their car next year. What is the latest news about it?" The latest is that Webber has dismissed the speculation and says he won't talk about his future until later in the year, while Red Bull has said it wants to keep the same driver line-up for 2013. What appears to be certain though is that Ferrari has a seat to fill for next year |
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Stop the press: Alonso goes quickest in the updated Ferrari. OK, so it's practice, but it's in Spain and we all love a bit of hype... |
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Smiley emails in with his main problem with the tyres: "Its not the time difference between compounds thats an issue for me,but the amount of marbles that gets thrown off the racing line,that might get dangerous,and nobody will make an attempt to overtake on the outside." |
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Neville says: "The problem is that it seems everyone just nurses the car to get it home on its tyres. Teams seem to gain by trying to go far on a set. Maybe it is time to bolt on a set with 8 laps to go and go out a do a set of quali laps. The difference at the last race was over 5 secs if you compare the times. The Driver with the guts to try this can benefit greatly." While that's good in theory, you would lose track position with the late pit stop and then be unable to set the fastest laps as you tried to overtake others. Plus the tyres would not last for eight laps if pushed to the limit - the softs wouldn't last much more than three or four at that pace unfortunately |
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Deon emails in to ask: "What can you tell us about that Alonso lap is it good or as you said its just FP1?" It is a good lap, but it's only 0.05s quicker than Vettel. Ferrari rarely chases headline times but we're not seeing anywhere near the true pace of the whole field in this session. Alonso's improving though... |
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And Alonso lowers his best time to a 1:24.430 - now 0.378s quicker than the rest of the field after setting the fastest final sector |
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A problem for Dani Clos as he rolls slowly down the pit lane and comes to a halt at the entrance. His team are running the length of the pit lane to wheel him back to the garage |
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A shame for Clos as he is still 2.5s slower than de la Rosa but having completed 19 laps you'd think he had more time in hand |
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Though they will be running different schedules at Williams, Bottas is 1.2s quicker than Maldonado in this session |
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Only the two Force India's threatening to improve at the moment as they set personal best sector times |
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Sashi emails in: "Are the top teams all running on hard tyres?" Yes they are Sashi. In fact, all of the teams are running on hards in this session as usual |
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A busy track now as we get some heavier fuel runs |
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Both Hamilton and Button have been running the higher nose of late, which may suggest it is an improvement |
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Shijilal emails in to say: "Is it only me who feels Eric Boullier is too much biased towards Grosjean, because he worked with Grosjean previously and also he is trying to give an upper hand to Grosejean in the team just by ignoring Kimi,like the one happened in Mugello testing where Kimi was not even given a drive? Do you guys fell the same as me in this issue?" I can't say I agree, personally. I think there is the chance for some bias because of Boullier's previous management links with Grosjean, but the Mugello test you mention was actually a good move by Lotus. The team got more consistent data by just running one driver on the two dry days and Raikkonen is not a fan of testing anyway. In fact he said himself that he wasn't crying when he was told of the plans. |
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A few fastest sectors being set but no improvements over the lap. Grosjean has beaten the flag to start a late timed lap though |
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The chequered flag is out, with all of the top nine drivers still on track |
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Grosjean was a second off in the middle sector but seemed confident in the Lotus as he opened his DRS before straightening the car up out of the final corner |
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Practice pit stops going on at McLaren, and a smooth one for Hamilton. He'll hope for more of the same on Sunday |
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So Alonso pleases the home fans and Ferrari by setting the fastest time of the session, but again it was a very close FP1 with 1.1s covering first to 14th. Notable performances from Kobayashi in third and Bottas in fifth, but we'll have to wait until FP2 this afternoon to see who has the race pace. Make sure you join us then, and in between sessions get following @ESPNF1 on Twitter as Laurence will keep you up to date with all the talk and reaction in the paddock. Bye for now |