BrawnGP Continue to Stun Formula One
Even the cynics were astonished when Jenson Button tripped the timing lights on the Circuit de Catalunya pit straight this past week.
Low fuel run to impress potential sponsors or not, the Brawn GP had circulated the Barcelona layout in an unofficial time of 1min19.1.
By contrast last April at the same venue, Robert Kubica’s BMW was the fastest car in the low-fuel Q2 phase for the Spanish GP - a 1min20.5.
“If it stays like this, Brawn GP will be all by themselves at the front in Melbourne,” Sebastian Vettel marveled to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.
Rubens Barrichello maintained Brawn’s impressive testing form on Sunday at Jerez turning in the best time clocking in at 1:19.236.
As Barrichello sent tongues wagging in the paddock Spain’s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso crashed his Renault. The French team suspended their morning session as a result of the accident but Alonso returned to the track after lunch and completed a further 29 laps, recording a fastest time of 1:19.895.
Meanwhile, what is McLaren hiding?
World Champion Lewis Hamilton was originally scheduled to hit the track on Sunday but didn’t, and the team has decided it will run from Monday to Thursday instead of joining the other teams from Sunday to Wednesday.
Referring to the Mercedes-powered MP4-24, Ron Dennis told Reuters Television in London on Wednesday: “It is certainly not as fast as we would like it to be.
“But it’s early days and we’ve still got quite a bit of testing to do and quite a bit of development to reflect through into our pace.”
Ron Dennis, master of the understatement.
Related articles:
- Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren ‘not fast enough’ for new F1 season (telegraph.co.uk)
- McLaren hold crisis talks over poor pace (guardian.co.uk)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=df12f618-8756-48bc-8f65-6fe56dc63bd3)
Well I was predicting Brawn GP would struggle all year as they had launched to late & had not had the development time. While the car has pace I’m still not convinced that they can do more than run in the middle of the pack. Regardless, Ross must be some sort miracle worker, this is his first car since joining the team.
What of McLaren? In the past a team can start behind the leaders & then close the gap in the first few races before the return to Europe, this year the lack of testing may see that as impossible.
Has McLaren produced another engineering “bridge too far” (again).
Not sure what’s up with McLaren, could be nothing, could be everything.
One things for sure, with no testing you better be as close to “right” as possible or it could be a verrrry long year for those that are wrong.
Brawn’s pace may be due to the fact that they are running without the KERS device in testing, and probably won’t use it all year long.
Re-balancing that 60K of weight may be giving them the edge no one else has.
It’s the only theory I can put my limited intellect behind, and if Brawn show good pace in Melbourne (top 5 finish) it may give teams like BMW incentive to shed the novelty device for this year.
It will be an interesting first race of the year.