For the first time in offseason testing for the 2009 season, all 10 Formula One teams expected to put entries on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix on March 29 tested together Monday at Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, Spain.
Thanks to a morning unveiling of Scuderia Toro Rosso’s new car, the STR4, all hands were on deck with new cars. The week’s test is the final dress rehearsal for Ferrari, BMW Sauber and Toyota. The rest of the teams, Renault, McLaren Mercedes, Williams, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Force India and newly badged Brawn GP, test once more before Melbourne.
Perhaps their final week of testing explains why BMW Sauber, Ferrari and Toyota topped timesheets…. DetailsÂ
In the absence of a NASCAR Sprint Cup race this weekend, and with neither the Indy Racing League or Formula 1 seasons under way yet, a little more attention than usual may be focused on the nation’s best sports car race, the 12 Hours of Sebring.
While the Rolex 24 at Daytona (in a different sports car series than Sebring, the Grand Am Daytona Prototypes instead of the American Le Mans Series) is run on the relatively smooth Daytona tri-oval and infield circuit, Sebring is a bumpy, suspension- and gearbox-busting airport layout that is the best preparation automakers have for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France three months later.
Sebring has always been more about cars and manufacturers than drivers: Ford vs. Ferrari, Ferrari vs. Porsche, Porsche vs. Jaguar and so on. …Â Details
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An emotional Jenson Button on Monday spoke of how he feared being cast adrift from Formula One and left with what would have been an empty life.
With the new Brawn GP car underneath him, Button spent Monday morning at the top of the timesheets on the first day of four of the final group test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, but there were moments over the last few months when he wondered whether he would drive in F1 again…. Details