German legend puts Scud through its paces

More footage of Schumi - the ultimate Ferrari company man - at the wheel of the 430 Scud, this time with onboard shots as he dicks about on the Fiorano test track.

That brings the number of Schumacher/430 stories posted on Grid Crasher this week to three. What can we say? We heart Michael, whether he’s crashing/not crashing.

Schumi didn’t write off prototype, say Ferrari

We told you yesterday that Michael Schumacher crashed a 430 Scuderia proto (not pictured above) whilst testing at the Nurburgring. Looks like we were wrong.

Ferrari has come out and denied Schumi’s involvement in the incident. Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni claimed that Schumi was in the passenger seat, and that it was test driver Raffaele de Simone at the wheel.

However, Bild newspaper reports that eyewitnesses saw Schumacher in the driving seat. Could this be a Ferrari cover-up, with de Simone cast as the fall guy? Unless de Simone or Schumi tells the truth, we may never know who was at the wheel.

Either way, we’ve tracked down a video of Schumacher testing the 430 Scud. You can watch it after the jump…

Red Bull shine in Spain again

Mark Webber topped the timesheet at Jerez yesterday, to compete another strong day for the Red Bull team; Seb Vettel - who will team up with Webber in 2009 - set the pace for Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s junior team, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Steady Webbo was pleased with his team’s efforts in Spain:

“The car ran pretty reliably, and we’ve clocked up some good mileage. Today we were mostly getting ready for Budapest, as well as looking at developments for a little later in the season. Yesterday we were focusing more on ‘09, and it was quite a challenging day. Today was better in terms of what we learned mechanically and aerodynamically. It’s been a hot week for the guys working here, and they’ve done a good job.”

Full timesheet after the jump…

Toro Rosso runs with 2009 specs

In scorching conditions, Seb Vettel again was the man to beat in F1 testing at Jerez. He was the only driver to dip below the 1:19.00 mark, beating the likes of Kimi Raikkonen, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg.

In preparation for the new regulations in 2009, Vettel ran on slick tyres all day, and with reduced downforce. Red Bull, Honda, Williams and McLaren also sent thier drivers out on Bridgestone slicks.

Full timesheet below:

Toro Rosso’s rising star shines in Spain

Seb Vettel was quickest at Jerez yesterday, although he was one of only two grand prix drivers to test - Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was the other. Vettel and Trulli apart, Tuesday was a chance for the test drivers to do what they’re paid for.

Full timesheet below:

McLaren prodigy leads the pack for second day in a row

Lewis Hamilton can’t be touched at Hockenheim. He was the only driver to dip under 1:15.00 at the German track yesterday, in a McLaren that featured a new front-wing design. Nico Rosberg put in a solid stint for second place, perhaps a consequnce of Williams now placing more emphasis on this year’s car, rather than the 2009 development programme. World champ Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari, less than half a second off McLaren’s pace.

In a brief interview after Tuesday’s session, Lewis admitted that he was NOT thinking about sacking his dad (despite what Marca thinks), and that he believes the 2008 championship will go down to the last race of the season. The British driver also revealed that after his stunning win at Silverstone, he was in bed by 11pm after a celebration dinner with his family - not exactly the behaviour of F1’s greatest ever playboy.

Full timesheet below…

All the news from the first day of testing at Hockenheim

The biggest news from yesterday’s test session in Germany was McLaren’s new shark-fin style engine cover (see photo). Red Bull, Renault and Force India already use a similar cover, and clearly the designers at McLaren are keen to see first-hand if the fashionable fin can improve the aerodynamics of its MP4-23 car.

A wet grand prix makes it more difficult to judge the true pace of a car, but it was obvious from Silverstone that McLaren has closed the gap on Ferrari since Magny Cours. Aggressive aero developments like this will have Ferrari worried, no question.

Ferrari will also be worried by the form and confidence of Lewis Hamilton, who set the pace at Hockenheim on Tuesday. The British driver outpaced Kimi Raikkonen by almost half a second, with Williams’ Nico Rosberg in third place.

Full timesheet below:

McLaren quickest on day two, Force India star wrecks car

Heikki Kovalainen set the quickest time during the second day of testing at Silverstone. McLaren’s Finnish driver completed 72 laps, setting a best lap of 1:20.015, which beat Felipe Massa’s Tuesday time by 0.173secs.

Massa struggled in windy conditions, and could only manage seventh fastest out of the 10 drivers during a day in which there were several incidents. Giancarlo Fisichella was caught out at Becketts, one of the fastest corners of the circuit, and went into the barriers at high speed. His VJM01 suffered major damage and could not be repaired in time to run again. Fisi escaped serious injury in the accident, although he did keep his hands on the wheel and was taken to hospital for precautionary checks on his wrist.

Full timesheet below:

Brazilian sets pace on first day at British GP circuit

Ferrari’s in-form Felipe Massa was the quickest man at Silverstone yesterday, as a three-day test got underway. Massa clocked a best lap of 1:20:188 (he completed 71 laps in all) in fine conditions, just under three-tenths of a second ahead of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen.

Kovi completed 90 laps for McLaren, whose car featured some new aero parts, as well as testing a new fuel and lubricant formulation. Heikki will also be in action today (more on that later) before he hands over to team-mate Lewis Hamilton on Thursday.

Full timesheet below…