Day 4 of Jerez action. The pre-season testing ended yesterday for 8 teams, only McLaren and Williams were still in action today with Heikki Kovalainen and Kazuki Nakajima. The MP4-24 got quicker in Kovalainen’s hands today, he posted the best time of the week for McLaren. Tomorrow will be the last day of pre-season testing, McLaren will have the track all to themselves.

Test times Jerez, March 18, 2009:

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This is a very long post and a lot to digest… Further to the brand new way of deciding the Formula One Drivers’ Champion FIA made also decisions on testing, media and budget. FIA also approved Brawn GP F1 entry in place of Honda F1 Racing (treating the team as a new team but waiving the usual fees).

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In rather surprising move FIA today decided to reject the new point scoring system proposed by FOTA and go for the system similar to Bernie Ecclestone’s “medals” instead. The driver with most race wins will become the 2009 F1 champion. In case of a tie the bigger points total (as per the existing 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system) will determine the champ. The Constructors’ Championship is not affected by these changes.

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The Jerez test continued for 3rd day . The drivers in action today were Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Nelson Piquet. Nico Rosberg spent some time at the top of the table with 1:18.071s, but Jenson Button and his Brawn – 1:17.844s topped today’s timesheets … What a pace … Lewis Hamilton in the meantime is getting faster, his best time today 1:19.121. Nico Rosberg caused the only red flag of the day after crashing out in similar fashion as Fernando Alonso on Monday.

Today was the last day of pre-season testing for Renault and Brawn GP. Only Williams and McLaren are expected to run tomorrow.

Test times Jerez March 17, 2009:

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Ferrari was the first team to reveal the 2009 car

It has been a bit over 2 months since the first all new 2009 Formula 1 car was officially revealed to the public. While the 2009 F1 cars  seem to be quick, some very quick, the opinions on their esthetic qualities are rather divided. We probably expected them to look the way they look but do we also like what we see ? Some people find the cars looking great, some so so, some people believe we will get used to them, some still insist the class ’09 F1 cars are plain ugly. So, what is your opinion about the 2009 F1 cars, 2 months on ?
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The final test before the start of 2009 F1 season continued for the second day in Jerez. Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were in action today. For most of the day the fastest car on track was Brawn. First Rubens Barrichello smashed through the 1:19s barrier with 1:18.398, almost a second faster than his fastest time on Sunday. Jenson Button took over the Brawn GP car for the later in the afternoon and quickly set second fastest time of the day (at that time) – 1:18.892. But then with only minutes left on the clock Fernando Alonso ended his winter testing season with the quickest time of the day – 1:18.343 (qualifying simulation run). Where did that come from ?

Earlier Jenson Button caused a red flag, his day lasted for 12 laps only. Nico Rosberg was the busiest driver today with 123 laps.

The previous best lap time in Jerez this winter was Vettel’s 1:19.055s set two weeks ago.

Jerez test times March 16, 2008:

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It’s time for a little Monday F1 quiz again. There is not any special topic this week, just 10 random quiz questions.  So, go ahead, choose the answers or make your guess and have fun !

You will find all the answers after you complete all 10 questions. As usual please no googling for answers  . And again do not forget to share your result in comments ! If you missed the past quizzes you can also click here to see and try them.

The final test of 2009 pre-season kicked off today in Jerez. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Nico Hulkenberg (Williams), Fernando Alonso (Renault) and Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP) were to be in action today however McLaren chose to stay in garage. Fastest time of the day belongs to Rubens Barrichello who was also the busiest driver of the day (102 laps). Fernando Alonso crashed heavily early on today causing half an hour long red flag break.

Jerez test times – March 15, 2009:

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Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India VJM02 during Barcelona test

There is a bit of calm following the days of Barcelona testing. We will not have another chance to see all 10 teams on track together until the Friday practice for Australian GP (only Williams, Brawn, Renault and McLaren will test in Jerez next week) so let’s make an attempt to rank the teams ahead of 2009 season. Here is my ranking, how I see the teams at the moment:

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McLaren MP4-24

Many people believe that despite slow times posted by McLaren drivers during the recent tests the team still will be right there at the front once the season kicks off. That is of course very much possible. Even Ron Dennis said only few days ago that there is no need to worry and they will go to Australia with win on their minds.

Today however Martin Whitmarsh and Norbert Haug spoke a bit differently. Martin Whitmarsh:

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Brawn GP BGP001 - The fastest car out there, for now

When Ross Brawn and Nick Fry were talking up the future of their team following Honda’s withdrawal announcement many people had their doubts. Yes, Honda F1 Racing did sacrifice 2008 season and focused on 2009, yes, they had Ross Brawn at their helm. But over the years we got used to promises and words of high hopes coming out of Brackley whether it was during their BAR or Honda days. Most of the time however delivering on those promises was entirely different matter.

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Today was the last day of Barcelona test, also the last test for several of the F1 teams (some like McLaren and Brawn will test again in Jerez next week). The fog delayed the action this morning. Nico Rosberg has become the second driver this week to set the time below 1m20s (at the moment 1:19.774). Brawn GP continued showing their impressive pace, BGP001 was today in hands of Rubens Barrichello, who as the only one broke the 1m19s barrier with the time 1:18.926.

Here are the times at the end of the day, March 12, 2009:

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