F1 Winter Testing / Driver Line-Ups for 2007

rpstewart · 30 Jan 2007 at 17:59

wonder_lander said:
Sorted, flying out the 26th September, and back on the 2nd October!

Good news! Hope you enjoy it you lucky wee ************** (j/k!). Shame that it's Fuji and not Suzuka though.

I almost got the chance to go to Japan with work (not to the GP mind), still annoyed that it fell through

wonder_lander · 30 Jan 2007 at 18:02

rpstewart said:
Good news! Hope you enjoy it you lucky wee ************** (j/k!). Shame that it's Fuji and not Suzuka though.

I almost got the chance to go to Japan with work (not to the GP mind), still annoyed that it fell through

Could have been an expensive mistake if we'd got there and it'd been the week before!

Duke · 31 Jan 2007 at 18:55

Little flash gadget on the Williams site -

Watch the car build over seven days until the launch on 02 February 2007
Move the slider to see elements of the car - click the hotspots for detailed information

http://www.attwilliams.com/

Test Times - 31/01/07

Code:

Name 	 	Team 	T 	Laps 	Time 	 	Gap 
Alonso  	McLaren B 	91 	1:12.581 	123.288 mph 
Fisichella  	Renault B 	40 	1:12.731 	0.150 
Kovalainen  	Renault B 	45 	1:12.769 	0.188 
Raikkonen  	Ferrari B 	51 	1:12.861 	0.280 
Heidfeld  	BMW B  	 	51 	1:13.024 	0.443 
Trulli  	Toyota B 	46 	1:13.297 	0.716 
Kubica  	BMW B 	 	38 	1:13.303 	0.722 
Massa  	 	Ferrari B 	48 	1:13.574 	0.993 
Barrichello  	Honda B 	72 	1:13.690 	1.109 
Rossiter  	Honda B 	28 	1:13.732 	1.151 
R Schumacher  	Toyota B 	31 	1:13.839 	1.258 
de la Rosa  	McLaren B 	42 	1:14.283 	1.702 
Nakajima  	WilliamsF1 B 	116 	1:14.401 	1.820 
Sato Super  	Aguri B 	37 	1:14.812 	2.231 
Coulthard  	Red Bull B 	26 	1:15.939 	3.358 
Van der Garde  	Super Aguri B 	4 	1:26.348 	13.767

rpstewart · 2 Feb 2007 at 13:08

New Williams has been launched, there are pics on Autosport.com.

It's difficult to see the true shape of the car with the poor lighting and dark background but one thing is very noticable - the team have a deal with AT&T to be their title sponsor but there is very little branding on the car. They've also announced a deal with PC manufacturer Lenovo which I could see going down really well in this part of the world considering Lenovo reduced their workforce here by 75% in the last quarter...

Duke · 2 Feb 2007 at 13:24

Thanks for the link, the ITV site is dire for decent photos. Looks okay - nothing radical.

tonyyeb · 2 Feb 2007 at 13:31

rpstewart said:
They've also announced a deal with PC manufacturer Lenovo which I could see going down really well in this part of the world considering Lenovo reduced their workforce here by 75% in the last quarter...

But will go down well at the Chinese GP.

rpstewart · 5 Feb 2007 at 13:35

The final part of the driver jigsaw is now in place with the launch of the new Spyker and it's a bit of a shocker to be honest. All the opinion was that it would be Tiago Montiero and Christijan Albers but Montiero has been dumped in favour of last year's Friday driver, German Adrian Sutil.

The new F8-VII is.... orange and can be seen here . The car itself looks pretty standard, no real innovations although there is something above or around the front suspension that I can't quite make out.

Ex Toyota, Renault and Jordan designer Mike Gascoyne is back in F1 as the team's Technical Director although he's not been able to influence the design of the car that much. Expect a lot of developments through the season though.

tonyyeb · 5 Feb 2007 at 14:31

When do Torro Rosso have to announce their drivers?

rpstewart · 5 Feb 2007 at 15:04

It's either the Thursday or Friday before the Australian GP, so either the 15th or 16th of March.

tonyyeb · 5 Feb 2007 at 17:09

rpstewart said:
It's either the Thursday or Friday before the Australian GP, so either the 15th or 16th of March.

Cheers.

1ofaKind · 5 Feb 2007 at 17:12

Hi All,

Stupid question alert - was watching the autosport program on motors tv the other day and my dad mentioned they said there will be 5 brits driving this seasons. Well I can only think of 4.

David Coults
Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton
Anthony Davidson

Who is the 5th - no doubt it will be painfully obvious when someone replies or have they made a mistake?

Cheers

Duke · 5 Feb 2007 at 17:12

rpstewart said:
The new F8-VII is.... orange and can be seen here . The car itself looks pretty standard, no real innovations although there is something above or around the front suspension that I can't quite make out.

Ex Toyota, Renault and Jordan designer Mike Gascoyne is back in F1 as the team's Technical Director although he's not been able to influence the design of the car that much. Expect a lot of developments through the season though.

Looks okay. Out of the back markers, I want them to do best as I used to support Jordan before BAR/Honda

Good to see Gascoyne back in a tidy team, which he usually works best for.

Duke · 5 Feb 2007 at 17:14

1ofaKind said:
Stupid question alert - was watching the autosport program on motors tv the other day and my dad mentioned they said there will be 5 brits driving this seasons. Well I can only think of 4.

David Coults
Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton
Anthony Davidson

There are only 4 race drivers from GBR in 2007

http://www.pitpass.com/src/seasons/2007/info/entrylist.php

Deathwish · 5 Feb 2007 at 19:01

rpstewart said:
The new F8-VII is.... orange and can be seen here .

That colour is hideous :eek:

el_dazza · 5 Feb 2007 at 19:04

I'm probably going to get slated to hell for saying this but my money's on button for this year.

/runs away

schumi84 · 9 Feb 2007 at 12:39

Very spirited Dazza, us brits alway want to see Jenson do well, never quite gets there tho, hopefully with the big driver shake up he might stand a chance.

Ferrari all the way, show that t***er alonso who is boss.

P.S Alonso, you might need your new tool kit u got for Crimbo

tonyyeb · 9 Feb 2007 at 13:08

Williams are looking good in testing so far. Hope they can carry this into the races. I like to see the brits do well, both teams as well as drivers. With four race drivers we should be looking for some success. I think that Hamilton stands the best chance tbo.

Fergie · 9 Feb 2007 at 13:32

el_dazza said:
I'm probably going to get slated to hell for saying this but my money's on button for this year.

/runs away

No need to run away, Brits all the way! He deserves it, and hopefully Honda will give him a good car.

J1nxy · 9 Feb 2007 at 16:21

tonyyeb said:
Williams are looking good in testing so far. Hope they can carry this into the races. I like to see the brits do well, both teams as well as drivers. With four race drivers we should be looking for some success. I think that Hamilton stands the best chance tbo.

Of what walking back to the pits as his car breaksdown again???

tonyyeb · 9 Feb 2007 at 17:15

J1nxy said:
Of what walking back to the pits as his car breaksdown again???

McLaren haven't done too bad with reliability so far from what ive read. Better than most (BMW, RBR, Ferrari). Just hope it isn't a repeat of last year, great in testing, pants in races.