A new year and a new Red Bull but still Sebastian Vettel stays on top.
The new world champion was the fastest driver in the first day of testing at Valencia.
His new car completed 93 laps straight out of the box, with only Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari completing more.
Alonso’s car stopped on track with one minute left to go in the session, bringing out the red flags and ending the day’s test.
Nico Rosberg hit trouble earlier in the test with a hydraulic failure limiting him to just nine laps.
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference |
| Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault RB7 | 73.769 | 93 | 0 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes VJM03 | 73.939 | 71 | 0.17 |
| Gary Paffett | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 | 74.292 | 91 | 0.523 |
| Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes VJM03 | 74.461 | 28 | 0.692 |
| Fernando Alonso | Ferrari F150 | 74.553 | 98 | 0.784 |
| Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari C30 | 75.621 | 68 | 1.852 |
| Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth VR-01 | 76.003 | 71 | 2.234 |
| Vitaly Petrov | Renault R31 | 76.351 | 28 | 2.582 |
| Michael Schumacher | Mercedes W02 | 76.45 | 16 | 2.681 |
| Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR6 | 77.214 | 20 | 3.445 |
| Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth FW33 | 77.335 | 78 | 3.566 |
| Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth F110 | 78.02 | 45 | 4.251 |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes W02 | 79.93 | 9 | 6.161 |
2011 F1 testing
Image © F1 Fanatic and Julien Leroy / firstlap.be. If you wish to use this image please contact F1 Fanatic to request permission
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
1st February 2011, 16:11
Did the most laps, too
sharmin. (@spartle)
1st February 2011, 16:15
Who Alonso? Because that’s what the table suggests…
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
1st February 2011, 18:21
I meant Vettel, actually. Sorry!! I misread Alonso as 88
the Edge
1st February 2011, 16:13
Keith, whats the chances any team went as fast as they could go today?
Why would they let Red Bull steal the head-lines today?
p.s had fun today?
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
1st February 2011, 18:22
I wouldn’t hedge any money on that. These three days, I suspect, will be more on reliability
Regis
1st February 2011, 21:15
No one is showing anything today, the real times will come in the first quali session of the first race
Mike
2nd February 2011, 8:30
I agree, the only teams that will show particular special performance are teams like Brawn and Sauber in the previous years, who were hunting for sponsors. (Noting that brawn’s pace genuine.)
DANK
1st February 2011, 21:32
What’s the point of a headline in the first day of first test session?
Everyone dedicated enough to follow F1 from the test sessions know that the times are meaningless at this point.
Julian
2nd February 2011, 2:20
So we know what article to click on to see the times.
The edge
2nd February 2011, 7:34
What I ment is why would the other teams not put in a final flying lap to knock red bull of the top at the last minute and steal the headlines for them selves, after all… Any publicity is good publicity
The new redbull could be a complete dog for all we know but once again the team are already in the limelite
dyslexicbunny
2nd February 2011, 16:14
Why show your hand now when teams have a month to look at what you’ve got?
Besides, McLaren, Force India, and Virgin are running last year’s car. HRT too but does anyone care? This test is likely more about learning everything you can about the tires and learning about car setup rather than showcasing anything.
The numbers are interesting for interesting’s sake. But it’s just like Friday practice.
sato113
1st February 2011, 16:21
keith whack this in the round up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgZStiMG5Iw
Dazed and Confused
1st February 2011, 16:28
Is already whacked up in an article!
https://www.racefans.net/2011/02/01/video-shows-adjustable-rear-wing-on-sauber-c30/
the Edge
1st February 2011, 16:25
does any body know what happened to Renault yet? 28 laps is NOT GOOD
henry
1st February 2011, 17:47
25 total for Mercedes is even worse! They can’t vbe gathering much data on the Pirellis with that running!
skodarap (@skodarap)
2nd February 2011, 10:01
gpupdate says they had mechanical issues
Dazed and Confused
1st February 2011, 16:27
who is Narain Karthikeyan?
the Edge
1st February 2011, 16:31
i dunno but with a name like Karthikeyan (car-thicky-an) he could be a bit of a liability…lol
Mike-e
1st February 2011, 22:29
Car-Thick-Ian
He’s a rubbish Driver who was also “the first Indian in F1” closely followed by “the first Indian out of F1”.
Ben N
1st February 2011, 16:33
Actually – considering he’s in an HRT – he’s done a fair job.
Leftie (@leftie)
1st February 2011, 16:35
He is a pizza delivery boy, obviously. A lot of folks in the grandstands and in the paddock ordered pizza so Narain took H(uge)R(ental)T(ruck) and drove it around the track while delivering. It just so happened that laptimes were recorded.
PJ
1st February 2011, 18:32
Unless that’s sarcasm he actually drove for Jordan a few years ago, finished 4th at that 6 car race in Indy 2005.
The Last Pope (@the-last-pope)
1st February 2011, 20:31
Yeah, Narain was very busy that day delivering many pizzas to all the fat americans. It was the packaging from Narain’s deliveries that got thrown at the Ferrais. He was so busy that he had to do the whole race and didn’t have time to entertain the people with any of his trademark high speed, straight line spins.
David A
1st February 2011, 23:38
The third best Indian driver in F1 history. Although there have only ever been 2.
rfs (@rfs)
1st February 2011, 16:36
Were any teams running KERS today?
Leftie (@leftie)
1st February 2011, 16:39
I think everybody that are expecting to use it since the start of the season tested it today, not sure about old-spec cars though.
At least Red Bull were for sure – you can see mechanics wearing rubber gloves.
Fixy (@)
1st February 2011, 17:05
Williams had the high-voltage symbo, so I guess so. But I didn’t notice it on any other cars.
glue
1st February 2011, 17:30
Sauber had it, I think
Adrian J (@adrian-j)
1st February 2011, 16:37
Someone do the maths…what is 107% of Vettel’s fastest time??
the Edge
1st February 2011, 16:43
78.932 (i think)
Leftie (@leftie)
1st February 2011, 16:44
73.769 + (73.769 х 0,01) х 7 = 78.933
Alexi (@)
1st February 2011, 16:54
Make it look cleaner dude.
73.769 x 1.07 = 78.933
sam3110 (@sam3110)
1st February 2011, 17:38
Does this mean Rosberg is not allowed to test tomorrow? :P
Leftie (@leftie)
1st February 2011, 18:03
You win :)
Eggry (@eggry)
1st February 2011, 16:57
it’s too early to predict. look at that cars from last year outpace new cars. and a bad day for Mercedes.
verstappen
1st February 2011, 17:20
I read somewhere that the double diffuser and other banned stuff was good for about 2 secs, so that might be a reason for the ‘sudden competitive’ times from the Virgin.
That and the fact that it’s testing, which doesn’t give a clue, especially on the first day.
DeadManWoking
1st February 2011, 17:49
At the end of the first day, Vettel is already within 2.3 seconds of last year’s best time (1’11.470 Fernando Alonso).
BBT
1st February 2011, 21:09
Well actually the best time on the 1st day of testing in 2010 1st Feb was 1:12.574 by Massa.
So the gap is less than 1.2 seconds to last years 1st day of testing and the track will get quicker (maybe this years cars will get into the low 1:12’s
US_Peter
1st February 2011, 19:15
For most of the new cars today was really just a shakedown to make sure everything works and nothing falls off the car. Last year’s cars are tried and true and were therefore probably pushed harder.
alexf1man
1st February 2011, 17:25
Who thinks that the top 5 drivers should be brought together again in Bahrain for another photo (like the one done in Korea) before the new season has too much of a bearing on their thoughts?
Rahim.RG
1st February 2011, 17:28
Renault looks interesting
TBone
1st February 2011, 18:32
Gary Paffett only half a second off in last year’s car?!
TBone
1st February 2011, 18:33
Actually, scrap that, its got an F-duct and a double diffuser so probably to be expected
US_Peter
1st February 2011, 19:16
Well the F-duct isn’t as efficient as the new rear wing, but the diffuser should be worth a lot.
Hallard
1st February 2011, 18:41
Interesting that Force India and McLaren have done so well here with last year’s cars, only being bested by red bull. I wonder why this is?
It’s my understanding that they are running “interim” cars in valencia. Does anyone know how close they are to 2011-spec at this point (i.e., double diffuser removed, 640kg minimum weight instead of 620kg, no moveable front wing)?
BBT
1st February 2011, 19:06
All I know is they stated that using the 2010 car they would use the down-force levels from the computer predictions for the 2011 car in the first test.
I assume they weren’t running the F-duct… why would they… but that is a guess.
Mads (@mads)
1st February 2011, 19:18
Sorry about this might be a little off topic here, but what does interim actually mean? I have tried Google translate, but that didn’t really help me much :)
DeadManWoking
1st February 2011, 19:22
A temporary replacement for the real 2011 car which will be at the next test in a week.
Mads (@mads)
1st February 2011, 19:33
aaah now i understand it. Thanks for the head up :)
Mike-e
1st February 2011, 22:36
Here’s what wikipedia says…
An interim is a temporary pause in a line of succession or event. It is frequently used as an appositive noun, in which case it serves as an adjective meaning “in between”, “transitional” or “temporary”.
The edge
1st February 2011, 19:20
I believe this best answers your question
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88954
Ral
1st February 2011, 19:23
2010 levels of downforce, which will have been bigger, so not such a big surprise to me. But then I may be misunderstanding things a tad :)
ozzy
1st February 2011, 20:05
Watch out for Mclaren this year. No one is talking about them, but they will be the team to beat this year. .5 secs off, in last year’s car.
rfs (@rfs)
1st February 2011, 20:34
Last year’s mclaren had the benefit of a double diffuser. If anything the MP4-25 should have been faster than the RB7, not half a second off.
BBT
1st February 2011, 21:14
Ozzy your comment doesn’t really make sense. Last years car will be quicker or should be but they weren’t….
Plus if as they said they ran last years car with this year projected downforce they are still slower than RBR.
But I think I know what you mean, they could come out with something stunning, but I won’t hold my breath.
We won’t get any idea until the 3rd test (based on last year) but I would be surprised if its RBR, Ferrari, Mclaren, Merc, Renault
BBT
1st February 2011, 21:24
that should of been NOT RBR, Ferrari, Mclaren, Merc, Renault
fran
1st February 2011, 21:18
Hi,
anyone can explain to me how is activated the redbull rear wing?
Mike-e
1st February 2011, 22:40
The driver presses a button…..
Gridlock
2nd February 2011, 1:29
I’ll tell you that if you tell me how they activated their drooping front wing last year ;)
Dev
2nd February 2011, 3:56
i think the front wing was not activated by them, it was the way suspension set up that allowed it to happen in high speed corners. this is my pure guess.
Gridlock
2nd February 2011, 1:28
Nico and Paul showing the boss the new guys are ok, and Vettel unable to do a slow lap even if he tries.
Ah, welcome back f1… I’ve missed ya.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
2nd February 2011, 2:19
Mercedes fails to have lap under them that may be a concern in the future.
Dev
2nd February 2011, 4:02
i don’t exactly the reasons of McLaren to use an old car. will that not put em on back put in terms of preparation if rain spoils other tests … like last year?
The edge
2nd February 2011, 7:55
They say 2 things
A. They want to get a bench mark test for new tyres
B. They don’t want every man and his dog looking at their new car yet
fran
2nd February 2011, 8:39
I meam, the Ferrari has a flat between the chasis and the rear wing, i thing trought that there is a kink of wire?
And the redbull, there is no contact, it is activate by bluetooth, wifi? XD