The latest KERS news, with supermodel Miranda Kerr
KERS is dull, Miranda Kerr is not
Ferrari have yet to test KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) on a real circuit. Everyone thought that the Scuderia had already begun circuit trials of the new energy recovery system at Barcelona last week, when its F2008K development car showed off a new bump on the top of its right sidepod.
But Auto Motor und Sport claims that the sidepod bump contained nothing more than ballast and a cooling mechanism for KERS. The German magazine also predicts that Ferrari will finally test KERS for real at Jerez next month.
Testing for Red Bull in Spain this week, Sebastien Loeb proved he has the skills to move from rallying to F1.
The Frenchman completed 82 laps in total. His best, a 1:22.503, placed him eighth on the timesheet, just two tenths slower than “Handsome Bob” Kubica and quicker than the likes of Nelson Piquet, Adrian Sutil and Christian Klein.
“I don’t think I’d like to take this much horsepower into the forests!” Loeb joked after the session.
“It was a great experience though and I had fun, although I have to say that driving one of these cars is tougher physically than driving my rally car.”
The test was a gift to Loeb from Red Bull - who also sponsor his Citroen rally team - for winning the World Rally drivers’ title for an unprecendented fifth time in a row.
Crasher bonus! Watch footage of Loeb’s Red Bull test below:
Seb Vettel topped the timesheets on the second day of testing in Barcelona, silencing those observers who believed the young German made a mistake by leaving Toro Rosso to take a seat in an apparently slower car.
However, as good as Vettel’s first day at the new office was, it’s still far too early to glean anything from testing, as each team is experimenting wildly with new aero parts ahead of the new season. For example, the two Ferraris, driven by Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, finished down in 12th and 13th.
The most interesting aspect of the Barcelona sessions is the Toro Rosso drive-off between Seb Buemi, Seb Bourdais (what is it with Toro Rosso and Sebs?) and Takuma Sato.
BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica is the ugliest F1 driver… and now he has the ugliest car to drive. BMW’s 2009 prototype, unveiled at Barcelona yesterday, is out of proportion, much like Polish Bob’s features.
A thumbs-up from Bruno Senna, who enjoyed his first full day of testing in F1 at Barcelona yesterday. Senna, the nephew of Ayrton, is hoping to impress Honda bosses enough to win a race seat for next season, probably at the expense of compatriot Rubens Barrichello.
Bruno set the 15th fastest time, and crucially was more than a second faster than Lucas di Grassi, another young Brazilian who is being evaluated by Honda as a possible Barrichello replacement. Senna enjoyed the experience, saying:
“The first day of my first Formula One test has been just as big a moment as I expected it to be. I have also had a lot of fun and really enjoyed myself.
“This morning I focused on doing as much as I could to prepare for my turn. I listened to the team radio and watched and learned how the team works. I was feeling quite calm but on my first lap out of the garage I realised the significance of the moment.
“This is a very special opportunity and one which has been a dream my whole life.”
McLaren are running the rule of 22-year-old Scot Paul Di Resta. The West Lothian youngster, cousin of Dario Franchitti, is testing today and tomorrow at Silverstone, and will be given a second bite of the cherry later this month. Di Resta will not be given a drive for next season given that Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have confirmed they will stay on, but he could become Di Testa (ho, ho!).
Di Resta has been brought into McLaren’s Young Driver programme which exempts him from the usual limits on team testing. He is currently racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series for Mercedes. He came fifth in 2007 in his debut season in the DTM despite not being given a 2007 spec car. He has previously raced in the Euroseries championship, where Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were also blooded.
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.
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…
