Formula 1 sizzles at Jerez but Honda sounds sick.

As you read this, F1 teams are in the middle of the second day of pre season testing at Jerez.    Engine sounds for 2015 are perhaps even more alien than last year's.   All the sizzles and pops and whines are sure to be recorded and spectrum analyzed for clues by all manufacturers.

Day one saw Mercedes dominate in terms of trouble free milage and, unexpectedly, Ferrari in terms of single lap pace.

Mclaren had serious issues with their Honda power unit and got no meaningful running.

The first half of day two has Vettel again on top, setting a faster time than on day one, 1:20.984.

Mclaren is still in trouble with Jenson Button not able to do significant laps so far.

1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m20.984s
2 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1m21.867s +0.883
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m22.319s +1.335
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m22.490s +1.506
5 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1m24.167s +3.183
6 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1m25.802s +4.818
7 Jenson Button McLaren 1m54.655s +33.671

The new sounds of F1: give them your grades

Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas

Bernie does not like them and he's not alone, there is a big collective meh from fans across the world.

Of course there were some of same complaints when V12 and V10 got canned but the move to turbos and, more crucially the low,  close to road car low, redlines is what drastically changes the sound.

While the new engines can rev up to 15000 rpm,  the realities of torque curves and fuel regulations mean there will be little reason for engines to go much above 10000 rpm.   A modern F1 car revving just 1000 rpm faster than your cousin's old Honda S2000 will only excite those who like turbo induction sounds.

But, on the other hand, fans have been clamoring for more variety and the new rules certainly have given us that.   Have a listen to the clip below and tell us what you think of the different sounds.

Mercedes flies, Renault boils on day 3 at Jerez

Lap times may be six seconds slower than last year at Jerez but at least Formula One cars are now lapping faster than GP2s, something they did not accomplish in the first two days of testing.

Leading the times is Mclaren's Kevin Magnussen.  You get the sense that, never having driven a previous generation F1 car and having to "un-learn",  can actually be an advantage.  I'm sure that was part of the math in Mclaren's decision with the rookie.

Mercedes engined cars had no major issues,  Renault powered ones did.  In particular, Red Bull had serious overheating issues and managed to turn exactly 3 laps.    
There are reports of, pardon the pun, heated words between Adrian Newey and Renault's Rob White in the paddock, just before all of Red Bull's top brass, Newey, Horner, Marko and Dieter Mateschitz left Jerez, presumably in a huff.

Heat management, as predicted,  is already a thread to follow in 2014.  Mclaren have more room under the bodywork for cooling, Red Bull at the other extreme have the tightest packaging possible.

Ferrari seems to be somewhat in the middle and I think we can now safely presume that LaFerrari test mule really was all about testing cooling solutions.   Even so, Alonso was 2 seconds off Mclaren and Williams' pace (cue "Fernando, Felipe is faster than you " jokes).

Red Bull and Renault have a busy night ahead of the last session tomorrow.   Certainly the Renault engine did not sound perfectly happy in the video clip below (thanks Mike Humphrey!).

Check out the warbling sound coming from the Toro Rosso as it accelerates down the main straight.

Pos Driver             Team                  Time        Gap     Laps
 1. Kevin Magnussen    McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.276s            52
 2. Felipe Massa       Williams-Mercedes     1m23.700s   +0.424s  47
 3. Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes              1m23.952s   +0.676s  62
 4. Jenson Button      McLaren-Mercedes      1m25.030s   +1.754s  40
 5. Fernando Alonso    Ferrari               1m25.495s   +2.219s  58
 6. Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes  1m26.096s   +2.820s  17
 7. Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso-Renault    1m29.915s   +6.639s  30
 8. Adrian Sutil       Sauber-Ferrari        1m30.161s   +6.885s  34
 9. Robin Frijns       Caterham-Renault      No time           -  10
10. Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull-Renault      No time           -   3
11. Max Chilton        Marussia-Ferrari      No time           -   5

Hamilton first to crash a new era Turbo F1

Not Lewis' fault, the main element of his front wing failed and he was a passenger.  It was a sizable hit into the tires for the just presented Mercedes W05.

On the plus side for Mercedes, before the crash Hamilton had set a time of 1:27.620, fastest for the first session.

F1 teams hiding their private parts

More video from the first day of testing in Jerez, check out how the teams rush to put covers on whatever they are trying to hide from rivals.

Is it me or do I hear ratcheting coming from the Renault Lotus and an odd exhaust note from the RB8?

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First F1 sounds of 2012: Kimi on track

First festival of sandbagging testing day in Jerez saw Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time. Granted it's meaningless but his time shows the Kimster still has it in him to burn Pirelli rubber as well as everyone else in the field and that can only be good news.

Red Bull had the highest top speed and people are still talking about that nose slit which nobody quite believes is just for "driver cooling" like Newey has claimed.

1 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'19"670 - 75 laps
2 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'19"772 - 101
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP-W02) - 1'20"219 - 56
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'20"496 - 54
5 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'20"694 - 57
6 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP-W02) - 1'20"794 - 42
7 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'21"353 - 106
8 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'21"530 - 62
9 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1'22"815 - 69
10 - Heikki Kovalainen - (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'23"178 - 28
11 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Cosworth) - 1'23"371 - 25
12 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F111-Cosworth) - 1'23"676 - 44

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Lewis Hamilton still quite "popular" with Spanish fans

Listen to them "cheer"......

Hamilton has had a bad run at the Jerez test, braking an engine and later crashing the car.



Meanwhile it's quite a frenzy because of Alonso's fastest time and "Pa" Schumi dropped in on the Ferrari pits....






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Flying Felipe

Woah there Felipe, you almost pulled a Joey Hand on your first day back!

First look ar the cars from Jerez on 1/14/08. Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault Toyota, STR, Williams and Force India on track.

The cars look wonderfully twitchy and there is plenty of extra yaw and wheelspin.....it will be a fun season.

I see that one unfortunate side effect of the new cockpit sorround safety regulations (the Wurtz-Coulthard rule...) is that the side of the drivers helmet is no fully obscured by the car. I wonder if helmet decoration design will change in the future.

Winter testing wrap up.

We don't get much coverage of winter testing in the US but elsewhere it is covered like baseball spring training might be here.

That Michael Schumacher was testing again was eclipsed by news of the Renault-Mclaren spy case verdict and how that will affect Fernando Alonso's future. Massa says he does not follow the Alonso soap opera except to say that Mclaren will be a weaker team for losing a top driver. The now more fluent in Italian Schumacher smirks, Trulli and Kubica play coy and claim ignorance.

As to why he's there, Schumacher explained:

"You know, I have spent so much time in Formula 1, it's clear that I love the sport and there are many things I still enjoy about it, like driving. It is a great pleasure to be able to drive without further responsibility and pressure for the next season, I just enjoy it, it is quite nice!"

He goes on to warmly praise Kimi Raikkonen for stepping up for the team after he and Ross Brawn left. Of Lewis Hamilton, who recently declared his intention of eclipsing all of Schumacher's records, he says "a very good preparation combined with a natural talent and you see the results"

The second part of the Spanish language clip is raw footage of the cars testing, check out the extra large data aerial mounted on many of the cars and also the giant sensors on the Renault's left wheels. You can see how the various drivers are coping with not having electronic aids... Hamilton looks like he was torture testing the rear tires a bit, hopefully Mclaren was practicing figuring out the right time to bring him in and change them!



Jerez testing 1. from Axis on Vimeo.


Jerez winter testing 2. from Axis on Vimeo.