Jerez Test Report

Although I haven't been fortunate enough to be at Jerez to see the class of 2012 take to the track for the first time, I have compiled a report based on the information I have at hand.

Before I start, I would like to mention timings. There is a common mistake that fans, like myself have about the lap times at pre season tests, they read far to much into them. I've read on Facebook, Twitter and some forums that people have concerns about certain teams times. Tests are, as the name suggests, just tests. Cars run with differing fuel loads, different set ups, different parts and too many other variables to mention. What that means, is that testing should be regarded as nothing more than the opportunity for fans to see the new cars for the first time. For the teams though, it is so much more.

All but one team ran at the first test in Jerez, the only absentee was Marrusia, who hope to take part in Barcelona. Mercedes and HRT ran with their 2011 cars, whereas the remainder of the teams tested their 2012 challengers.

Following a few weeks of car reveals, the beginning of the week saw a glut of launches as we got a first glimpse of the Red Bull RB8, the Williams FW34, the Sauber C31 and the Toro Rosso STR7.

On day one, Kimi Raikkonen finished top of the pile, whilst the time doesn't matter, what it did show is that he's quickly got himself back up to speed in an F1 car, despite only having a few days running last week in a 2010 Renault. Paul Di Resta , meanwhile was pleased with his first outing in the VJM05 commenting, “A good start to our winter test programme with 101 laps completed, which allowed us to get through all our objectives and a bit more." He then went on to add, "The baseline balance felt pretty good and the car performed consistently over the longer runs, which was useful for collecting the data we need. So I think we can be positive heading forward and the next three days will be interesting as we have more test items to evaluate.”

Going into day two, Michael Schumacher topped the time sheets in a 2011 Mercedes. The top 2012 spec car was the Red Bull of Mark Webber who completed 97 laps. The key milestone of the day was the first use of KERS by the Caterham at the hands of Heikki Kovalainen. Paul Di Resta, yet again impressed in the VJM05. On day two, Adrian Newey was already fielding questions about the RB8, this time it was a question as to whether the slot in the step was a clever aero part. Needless to say, he claimed it was just for cooling.

Day three saw a change of drivers. This time Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets, so it was obvious that second place was more of a guide. This time it was Lotus again, with a lap a second faster than 3rd place. The Lotus was at the hands of Romain Grojsean. Even in testing, this has to go down as impressive. This time last season, Lotus were impressing with some great times and started the season in great fashion, then fell away as their front facing exhaust caused update limitations.

On day four, Fernando Alonso put some distance behind Ferrari's disappointing first test by topping the time sheets. Hamilton, Kobayshi and Grojsean all got within a second of Alonso. All in all, the times don't really matter. What does matter is that Formula One is back. I'm assured that the cars may be ugly, but the still go like stink and sound like an F1 car should. We have no idea what fuel runs everyone was using but Lotus, in particular can feel confident they had a good run out. The first test is over, now it's off to Barcelona where I hope to have someone in place to bring me exclusive news.