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Barcelona fourth pre-season test Test day four
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Just two cars on track now: Barrichello and Sutil.
Alonso's pace ran 25.0, 24.7, 25.9, 25.6, 25.6, 26.0 before he backed off for the two slow laps.
Schumacher comes in too. He did a five lap run averaging 1m24.3s, with time progression as follows: 24.6, 23.9, 24.1, 24.4, 24.4
Alonso backed off for two data-gathering laps in 1m34s and 1m35s at the end of his stint before pitting.
Back to Williams and KERS, the team has had various problems with the device in testing so far, and yesterday Barrichello admitted that there was a possibility it might have to be removed for Melbourne. Not running it in the rest of the test makes that seem more probable.
Button does a practice pitstop.
Alonso backs right off with a 1m35s, as Schumacher does a 1m24.4s and Barrichello comes back out.
As usual, you can email live@autosport.com with any other questions you have for our testing coverage team as well as questions for Norbert Haug.
We do get a huge volume of queries, and a lot of them need more analysis and fact-hunting that we can do right away, but keep them coming and we'll get through as many as we can.
We do get a huge volume of queries, and a lot of them need more analysis and fact-hunting that we can do right away, but keep them coming and we'll get through as many as we can.
A 1m24.1s from Schumacher on his third lap, as Alonso goes up to a 1m26.0s.
Alonso has stayed out and his times are now in mid to high 1m25s.
Heidfeld goes quicker than before in the Renault with a 1m26.807s.
Schumacher then improves to 1m23.948s on his next lap.
And with very good timing, Mercedes goes fastest. Schumacher does a 1m24.676s to beat Alonso by 0.099s.
Now start getting your questions in for Mercedes' Norbert Haug - he'll be joining us on AUTOSPORT Live this afternoon.
Eric Boullier is getting back to work now. Thanks to him for giving us his time during this busy test, and to everyone who emailed us with questions for him.
Olsson Niklas asks: Do Lotus Cars support LRGP with more than money? Are Lotus Cars or Engineering and LRGP 'co-operating'? Are these connections planned for the future?
EB: It is more than money. It is co-operation at every level and on every aspect. We have actually a secondment programme with Proton bringing into the team a number of engineers. But we also have some strong support from Proton itself, and Malaysia, via Lotus. We hope to grow these links even further. We don't know yet this will go but definitely we are working more together. It is more like a partner rather than simply a sponsor.
EB: It is more than money. It is co-operation at every level and on every aspect. We have actually a secondment programme with Proton bringing into the team a number of engineers. But we also have some strong support from Proton itself, and Malaysia, via Lotus. We hope to grow these links even further. We don't know yet this will go but definitely we are working more together. It is more like a partner rather than simply a sponsor.
Heidfeld's first time is a 1m28.324s, appropriately enough as we talk to his boss.
Time for one last question to Eric Boullier before he has to go.
No improvement from Alonso on his third flying lap, the time goes up to 1m25.9s.
Button is out, as is Heidfeld, and the McLaren is the latest to do a constant speed aero test down the straight.
Kobayashi goes third with a 1m26.023s on his first flying lap.
Alonso improves the day's best time to a 1m24.775s.
Geoff Thomas asks: If RBR are THAT quick out of the box and the Renault appears to be pretty competitive too, have the French engine builders been able to do anything to their power plants over the winter, as both teams were complaining about a comparative lack of power last year?
EB: The rules are quite strict – so the engine units are frozen. They can only work on the integration of the engine and the chassis, so I would say that it is more or less thanks to the good integration of the engine/chassis, rather than just being the engine itself.
EB: The rules are quite strict – so the engine units are frozen. They can only work on the integration of the engine and the chassis, so I would say that it is more or less thanks to the good integration of the engine/chassis, rather than just being the engine itself.
Kovalainen and Schumacher are back out.
Gilbert asks: When will Enstone have a simulator similar to what McLaren and Ferrari are using – and do you believe it is vital for F1 teams to go down that route?
EB: The green light for this project was given last Christmas, so we should have it at the beginning of 2012. For me it is vital for an F1 team now because some drivers are more enthusiastic to use simulators, but even for the teams it is an important tool now.
EB: The green light for this project was given last Christmas, so we should have it at the beginning of 2012. For me it is vital for an F1 team now because some drivers are more enthusiastic to use simulators, but even for the teams it is an important tool now.
Kobayashi comes out to join the Ferrari. Kovalainen has pitted the Lotus.
Alonso goes straight to the top of the times with a 1m25.071s in the Ferrari on his first flying lap. That's half a second ahead of Barrichello.
Phil Carr asks: How do teams go about allocating testing time evenly to both of their cars, or don't they? I'd assume that they'd want to arrive in Australia with both cars having roughly the same amount of wear and set-up time.
EB: It is not very scientific to be honest with the drivers. With drivers is mainly due to PR commitments and their personal life commitments before the season starts. With the cars, we run most of the tests with one chassis, and we have run the second one here for a shakedown. So both drivers have shared both cars. These are the chassis that will go to Australia.
EB: It is not very scientific to be honest with the drivers. With drivers is mainly due to PR commitments and their personal life commitments before the season starts. With the cars, we run most of the tests with one chassis, and we have run the second one here for a shakedown. So both drivers have shared both cars. These are the chassis that will go to Australia.
Kovalainen improves to 1m28.754s to go second.
Peter T asks: With McLaren's form looking a bit down, how confident are you that Renault can slot into their gap and fight Red Bull Racing and Ferrari for victories this year?
EB: I am not the kind of guy who will publicly say I am confident. I know far too much how it can be tricky to do this. Let's see in Australia because here – even though teams have brought their final updates, some teams like McLaren or Mercedes – they have a huge resource potential and then can change dramatically between now and Australia. So let's see in Australia. But clearly we are in a better position than one year ago.
EB: I am not the kind of guy who will publicly say I am confident. I know far too much how it can be tricky to do this. Let's see in Australia because here – even though teams have brought their final updates, some teams like McLaren or Mercedes – they have a huge resource potential and then can change dramatically between now and Australia. So let's see in Australia. But clearly we are in a better position than one year ago.
Alonso sets out now too.
Kovalainen is the only car on the track at present.
Laurence Thorn asks Eric Boullier: Hi Eric, previously you've obviously worked for DAMS in GP2 and A1GP, where you had perhaps a dozen employees to manage and where everything (budgets, cars) are far more equal. Now you find yourself as team principal of an F1 team with hundreds of employees in an environment which is constantly changing. What would you say are the largest challenges you faced when you went from your managerial role with DAMS to your team principal role at Renault?
EB: The largest challenge is clearly to step into a very well organised, established organisation and get the trust of the people – because I have to lead them and represent them. That is definitely the biggest challenge.
EB: The largest challenge is clearly to step into a very well organised, established organisation and get the trust of the people – because I have to lead them and represent them. That is definitely the biggest challenge.
There's plenty of interest in the upgraded Mercedes among our readers, and we know it's carrying a package featuring a new wing and turning vanes.
Our vantage point is at the wrong end of the pits to get a close look and obviously details are hard to spot when the cars are at speed. But we'll try and get down there for a proper look if Schumacher does pitstop practice, and we're eagerly awaiting the first close-up images.
Our vantage point is at the wrong end of the pits to get a close look and obviously details are hard to spot when the cars are at speed. But we'll try and get down there for a proper look if Schumacher does pitstop practice, and we're eagerly awaiting the first close-up images.
EB: Hmmmm. No!
One of our readers asks Eric Boullier 'have you ever been mistaken for Ricky Gervais?'
Eric is now looking up who Ricky Gervais is on Google...
Eric is now looking up who Ricky Gervais is on Google...
Kovalainen improves to 1m29.249s.
Kovalainen starts with a 1m30.360s to go third fastest.
Barrichello is back in after that quick run, while D'Ambrosio is coming out in the Virgin.
By: Matt Beer, Jonathan Noble, Mark Glendenning, Pablo Elizalde
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