Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Fernando Alonso is not happy. After just 6 days of pre-season testing, McLaren-Honda has had more power unit failures, changes, and technical problems than any other Formula One team and he is laying the blame squarely on Honda. With echoes of his “GP2 engine” remarks, the two time champ berated Honda when he spoke to the media today. “We have only one problem: that is the power unit. There is no reliability and there is no power. I think we are 30 km/h down on every straight.Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Just as many began to doubt Mercedes’ pace, the silver arrows struck back with Valtteri Bottas who set a scorching 1:19.310 lap of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The new Mercedes man only used the super soft tires to set the best time of 2017 thus far, and looked very comfortable behind the wheel of the W08 where he stayed for 70 laps today. Williams man and yesterday’s pace setter Felipe Massa kept him honest with a strong 1:19.420 for the ultra soft shod FW40. Both of their timesRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Felipe Massa and Williams surprised the field by topping the time sheets for the opening day of the second pre-season test from Barcelona today. The Brazilian veteran clocked a solid 1:19.726 in his FW40 on the super soft tires and logged a massive 168 laps around Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Daniel Ricciardo got Red Bull close to Massa’s time with a 1:19.900, but had to run the ultra soft tires in order to do so. The Aussie ran 89 laps for a solid if most unspectacular dayRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor McLaren’s miserable start to the 2017 season continued this morning in Barcelona when Honda had to change the engine in Stoffel Vandoorne’s MCL32 after an electrical issue limited the Belgian to just 34 laps in the first session of the day. The power unit change has taken the place of the afternoon session. It is the third such unscheduled change for McLaren and Honda after only five days of pre-season testing. Last week the team suffered from an oil tank failure and a valve issue whichRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped today’s damp running from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the fourth and final day of the first pre-season test. The Finn ran a 1:20.872 on a drying track to top his Red Bull nemesis Max Verstappen by nearly a second on the time sheets. Raikkonen also ran 93 laps on the day, behind only Grosjean who racked up 188 laps in the Haas powered Ferrari. Pirelli brought in trucks which dumped water on the circuit before the first session. Early on all the teamsRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The much anticipated 2017 Formula One cars finally took to the track en masse today at Circuit de Bracelona-Catalunya in Spain. Unsurprisingly Lewis Hamilton set the day’s fastest time with a solid 1:21.765 on the soft tires. Somewhat surprisingly, Sebastian Vettel nearly matched him with a 1:21.878 on the mediums! The Mercedes looks good, but Ferrari’s risky new design seems to work well. Both teams performed flawlessly and racked up the mileage. The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and newcomer Valtteri Bottas covered 152 laps for theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The final team to launch their 2017 Formula 1 car, Scuderia Toro Rosso certainly did not disappoint. The Faenza-based outfit unveiled the STR12 on pit lane at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a new livery concept that features mostly blue and silver, complimented with a hint of red. One of the biggest changes for upcoming season at Toro Rosso is the power unit, which switches from Ferrari to Renault – similar to that of senior team Red Bull Racing. At first glance, the STR12 sees similarities toRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Readying for their sophomore campaign, Haas F1 Team have revealed their 2017 challenger to the Formula 1 grid with the VF-17. Electing to showcase their second ever car via online on Sunday following filming day at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya the day prior, the VF-17 features a darker livery than last year’s model. The chassis is built by Italian manufacturer Dallara and features a thumb-like nose with sidepods similar to that of Ferrari’s SF70H, but slightly less aggressive as the main opening doesn’t have as deep ofRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Renault took to the track for its filming day at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya ahead of the preseason test set to take place next week. The French outfit revealed the R.S.17 on Tuesday with an aggressive yellow and black livery to balance the changes to a challenger they hope can be among the top five teams in Formula 1. Jolyon Palmer was given the honor of giving the R.S.17 its first laps at the Spanish circuit. The only footage came from the team via Twitter and canRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Following renderings of its 2017 challenger, Williams has finally released the first images of the FW40. The famous Martini Racing stripes remain a part of the team for a fourth consecutive season and runs upward on a very pronounced sharkfin, similar to every team with the exception of Mercedes. The sidepods and airbox are also noticeably modified compared to last year’s car. The team welcomes the return of veteran Felipe Massa, whom came back from a brief retirement at the end of last season when ValtteriRead More