Romain Grosjean, Lotus, Barcelona, 2012

In the round-up: Lotus have approached rival teams for permission to reschedule the testing days they have lost this week due to their chassis problems.

F1 links

Oskari Saari via Twitter

“Lotus just confirmed to me that the team is seeking permission from other teams to use three days they wont drive in Barcelona in a private test.”

Caterham satisfied with Petrov

Mike Gascoyne: “A very reasonable first day with Vitaly in the car. We spent some time this morning getting him acclimatised, focusing particularly on the brakes, but he has settled in well and did exactly what we asked of him today.”

FOTA split ‘short-sighted’ – Brawn (ESPN)

“We are very committed to FOTA and we think it’s a great shame that we’ve lost the members from FOTA because I think we may live to regret that. I think when there was a crisis and outside pressure it pushed FOTA together, now that there’s not so much outside pressure the natural competitiveness of the teams is pushing us apart a bit.”

Button sets sights on second world title

“There are no excuses this year. I feel that we have everything. There’s nothing to fall back on and say, ‘this is the reason why we didn’t win in 2012′.”

Force India says F1 costs still too high (Autosport)

Robert Fernley: “I believe very strongly that when you cannot make profit based on your television income and your sponsorship income, then there is something wrong with the sport, and I still believe that is the case today. Our costs are too high.”

Barcelona test notebook (Speed)

“Among the top three teams Red Bull seems to be effortlessly fast, McLaren is quietly confident and in much better shape than a year ago, and Ferrari still has a lot of work to do with the F2012, which is such a radical departure from previous designs.”

2011 season video edit (F1)

Official highlights video of last season.

Why I am going to Bahrain (Joe Saward)

“If things do go wrong and Formula 1 finds itself in a mess then I think that those responsible for the decisions should resign their positions. In any case, there will be little confidence left in their judgement. They are taking a risk that they do not need to take, and they should be held accountable for their decisions.”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

It’s between two games for the title of best F1 game ever.

I voted for Geoff Crammond’s series. The number of days spent playing GP2 tells me how playable it was.
Scoobiesnoop

F1 2010 was near perfection for me, save the fuel issues but F1 2011 really upped its game. There’s still room for improvement of course but for a truly immersive game that can be both simulator or arcade and every shade in between with countless options and great realism, for me there is no competition!
Spankythewondermonkey

If you’ve not voted for greatest F1 game yet, add your vote here now:

• Vote for the best F1 racing game series

From the forum

• Your thoughts on the F1.com race edits
• Are you watching the Daytona 500 this weekend?

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

One story which surfaced from five years ago seemed rather innocuous at first: Ferrari announced Nigel Stepney had moved from a track- to factory-based role within the team.

But Stepney dissatisfaction with his job prospects set in motion the chain of events that led to ‘Spygate’, and McLaren’s ejection from the 2007 constructors’ championship.

Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT

Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, Barcelona, 2012

Force India headed the times sheets at the end of the second day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya thanks to Nico Hulkenberg.

The team’s new recruit for 2012 lapped the Spanish track in 1’22.608 – over half a second fastest than Sebastian Vettel’s best time for yesterday.

The world champion completed his week’s testing with the third-fastest time, but spent a long time in the pits during the middle of the day. Mark Webber will take over from him tomorrow.

Between the pair was Sauber’s Sergio Perez, despite suffering an exhaust problem late in the session.

Fernando Alonso moved up to fourth late in the session with a lap of 1’23.180.

Fifth-fastest Daniel Ricciardo stopped twice on the track, causing two red flag interruptions. He did not return to the track following the second which was caused by a driveshaft problem.

Lewis Hamilton was sixth-quickest and was the busiest driver of the day, completing 120 laps.

Williams test driver Valtteri Bottas had his first run in the FW34 but ended the day eighth, over a second off the next-slowest car. Behind him were Caterham debutant Vitaly Petrov and Charles Pic in Marussia’s 2011 car.

2012 F1 season

• Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends
• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day six – Circuit de Catalunya
• Lotus withdraw from Barcelona test after chassis problems
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona
• Ross Brawn explains how F1's ugly noses could have been avoided
• Lotus abandon test of second E20 chassis
• Rosberg says Mercedes are "working much better" now
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain

Image © Force India F1 Team

Pictures from the second day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

F1 pictures

• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain
• Picture: Mercedes W03 spied at Silverstone
• Jerez test day four in pictures
• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Toro Rosso STR7 - first pictures and video of Toro Rosso's 2012 F1 car

View more F1 pictures

Images © Jamey Price/F1 Fanatic, Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Caterham

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Barcelona, 2012

Follow the second day of F1 testing on F1 Fanatic Live.

The test is due to start at 9am local time, which is 8am UK time. You can follow test on F1 Fanatic Live via the link below.

Please be aware there is no live video feed from the test and there is no official live timing service.

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F1 Fanatic Live Guide

More information on the 2012 F1 season.

2012 F1 season

• Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends
• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day six – Circuit de Catalunya
• Lotus withdraw from Barcelona test after chassis problems
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona
• Ross Brawn explains how F1's ugly noses could have been avoided
• Lotus abandon test of second E20 chassis
• Rosberg says Mercedes are "working much better" now
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Jerez, 2012

In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel is impressed by McLaren’s long-run pace in testing.

F1 links

Vettel impressed by McLaren pace (Autosport)

“I think McLaren looked very strong today. For the rest it is too early. I haven’t seen all the lap times yet, I have only had a couple of looks on the long runs that Lewis did today – they seemed to be quite interesting.”

Bahrain Grand Prix should go ahead, says independent commissioner (The Guardian)

“[Cherif] Bassiouni – who was appointed by the Bahrain royal family but has been critical of the authorities after last year’s disturbances – has written to the chairman of the Bahrain GP, Zayed Alzayani, and also to the Formula One principal rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, giving his support for the race to go ahead, despite the ongoing protests from pro-democracy groups.”

Analysis – McLaren MP4-27 sidepods (F1)

“The sidepods are very high off the ground, with a much wider, more dramatic undercut, an arrangement similar to the double floor solution seen on Toro Rosso’s 2011 car.”

Rates for many hotels skyrocket on F1 weekend (Austin-American Statesman)

“Hotel operators’ decision to dramatically increase room rates during the F1 race is not a violation of the state’s price-gouging laws. Those laws go into effect only when a state of emergency or disaster is declared by the governor, according to the Texas attorney general’s office.”

American F1 Sponsorship: An Interview with SunCore Solar (F1 in America)

“Our involvement was limited to five races due to budgetary restrictions although we had hoped for a much longer involvement. We found [Lotus] to be of the highest caliber in every aspect and we had a great experience with them before, during and after the races.”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

Bendanarama’s l33t verdict on Mercedes’ new F1 car:

Hopefully its performance won’t be W03ful.
Bendanarama

From the forum

• Don a pair of sunglasses and check out Tony Kanaan’s KV Racing IndyCar livery
• The 2012 Sebring 12 hours entry list has been announced including Nick Heidfeld and Karun Chandhok
• First pictures of the 2012 BTCC Team Dynamics Honda Civic

Site updates

The last Jerez testing gallery has been updated with pictures of Lewis Hamilton driving for McLaren:

• Jerez test day four in pictures

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Rich!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Happy birthday to thrice-champion Niki Lauda, who is 63 today.

Image © McLaren

Lotus hit trouble with their second E20 chassis

Lotus have announced they will take no further part in this week’s four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The team curtailed its testing today after discovering a problem with its second E20 chassis.

Romain Grosjean completed just seven laps before pulling into the pits. He later said the car “wasn’t responding as it should”.

Despite having completed 404 laps – more than any other team – at Jerez two weeks ago with its original chassis, Lotus say the problem discovered today will require changes to both E20s.

Grosjean was due to test tomorrow with Kimi Raikkonen taking over from him in the final two days.

Technical director James Allison said: “Before we were due to fly chassis E20-01 out to Barcelona in replacement of chassis E20-02 – damaged this morning – we ran a series of simulations at the factory based on the data provided by our brief running on track today.

“As a result, we were able to identify an area which requires some additional work. It will be more productive for us to carry out these modifications to both chassis at Enstone rather than send E20-01 out to this week’s test. We’ll put the right measures in place and we will be able to fix the problem before next week.”

Team principal Eric Boullier added: “Not running this week has been a tough decision to take, but we feel that our choice is the right one.

“On the positive side, we have quickly identified the issue with the chassis and our design office has already devised a solution. We will be present at next week’s test in Barcelona. We draw faith from the fact that the E20 was quick out of the box in Jerez and showed its reliability there. We have a lot of work ahead of us over the next week but everyone at Enstone is ready for this challenge.”

The loss of almost four days of testing could be a major blow for the team. After the current test there are only four further days of running scheduled before the season begins.

2012 F1 season

• Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends
• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day six – Circuit de Catalunya
• Lotus withdraw from Barcelona test after chassis problems
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona
• Ross Brawn explains how F1's ugly noses could have been avoided
• Lotus abandon test of second E20 chassis
• Rosberg says Mercedes are "working much better" now
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain

Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT

Pictures from the fifth day of testing ahead of the 2012 season, at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

F1 pictures

• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain
• Picture: Mercedes W03 spied at Silverstone
• Jerez test day four in pictures
• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Toro Rosso STR7 - first pictures and video of Toro Rosso's 2012 F1 car

View more F1 pictures

Images © Jamey Price/F1 Fanatic, Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Lotus F1 Team/LAT, Williams/LAT, Getty Images/Red Bull, Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Caterham

Sebastian Vettel was quickest at the Circuit de Catalunya

Sebastian Vettel led the way for Red Bull in the first day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya today.

The world champion set a best time of 1’23.265 – two seconds slower than the fastest lap of the circuit in testing last year, set by Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher was at the wheel of the new Mercedes W03 for the first time at a public test and was one of six drivers to lap within a second of Vettel’s best time. The others were Nico Hulkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez.

Charles Pic had his first run for Marussia after being confirmed as the team’s second driver this year. He drove the team’s 2011 car and was slowest of the day’s runners.

Heikki Kovalainen brought out the red flags early on in the day when he spun his Caterham. The team blamed a problem with the rear suspension and Kovalainen spent several hours in the pits while it was sorted out, before returning to the track.

Sauber also lost time with a problem on their C31 requiring them to remove its gearbox for repairs. And Daniel Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso came to a stop with an hour to go, bringing out the red flags once more.

But Lotus were hardest hit by technical problems. The team had to scrap the day’s testing entirely after running into a problem with their second E20 chassis.

2012 F1 season

• Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends
• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day six – Circuit de Catalunya
• Lotus withdraw from Barcelona test after chassis problems
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona
• Ross Brawn explains how F1's ugly noses could have been avoided
• Lotus abandon test of second E20 chassis
• Rosberg says Mercedes are "working much better" now
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

HRT published an image of a car labelled the ‘F112′ on their website today.

However the team later confirmed the car in question was actually a F111 – the 2011 model.

Here is the image which was published today:

2012 F1 season

• Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends
• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day six – Circuit de Catalunya
• Lotus withdraw from Barcelona test after chassis problems
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona
• Ross Brawn explains how F1's ugly noses could have been avoided
• Lotus abandon test of second E20 chassis
• Rosberg says Mercedes are "working much better" now
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain

Image © Motioncompany

Mercedes W03 nose, 2012

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn says F1 could have been spared the awkward look of 2012-style noses.

Brawn said the ‘step’ – which features on all of the 2012 cars launched so far apart from the McLaren MP4-27 – is due to a compromise made to allow teams to continue using 2011 chassis this year.

Speaking after the launch of the Mercedes W03, Brawn said: “The high chassis and high noses evolved to get the air under the car, and to improve the flow in what we call the keel are and out into the sidepods and under the car.

“We don’t want to put the chassis higher because obviously that’s weight up higher and there’s no advantage to that. But we put it up high for aerodynamic reasons.

“So when the noses were brought down low we wanted to see how we could retain some of the advantage that we had with the high chassis. And that’s why you see these stepped noses – because the height of the nose is constrained up to a certain point, the chassis is constrained after that and the dimensions are different.

“This extra height of the chassis was retained because there were a few teams who said ‘we want to continue with our 2011 chassis, and we want to be able to match the new nose up to it’. So the FIA agreed, at least for now, to let that pass.”

Brawn added he is sceptical whether the compromise was needed: “I doubt, quite frankly, whether there’s going to be many people who are going to carry over their new chassis from last year.

“So I think it may well be a detail which will improve in the future.”

2012 F1 season

• Hulkenberg on top as second day of Barcelona test ends
• 2012 F1 testing day 6 in pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day six – Circuit de Catalunya
• Lotus withdraw from Barcelona test after chassis problems
• 2012 F1 testing day 5 in pictures
• Vettel fastest on day one in Barcelona
• Ross Brawn explains how F1's ugly noses could have been avoided
• Lotus abandon test of second E20 chassis
• Rosberg says Mercedes are "working much better" now
• Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain

Image © Daimler