Pre-season testing round-up
I apologise for my lack of posting recently; work etc. has just taken over my life. I’ll attempt to post a bit more now, though!
So, while I’ve been inactive, one of the biggest things taking the spotlight has been the pre-season testing taking place in Jerez, Valencia and Barcelona. This is the first and only glimpse we’ve had (and will get) of the cars side-by-side before free practice in Bahrain on the 14th of March.
And what a test it has been! At the beginning, Ferrari and their new F10 looked to have the advantage over their rivals, but McLaren seem to have (unexpectedly) closed the gap, ending both the latter two tests on top of the timesheets. Other teams shining include (BMW) Sauber and Red Bull.
All of the teams tested in at least two of these tests, apart from Campos Meta and US F1. Campos were having funding problems, thus couldn’t sufficiently pay Dallara (who are manufacturing their chassis). This has now been solved by a takeover, but they are still yet to run their car.
US F1′s situation is far more precarious, however. An apparent lack of funding seems to have stunted the team’s progress, and even Chad Hurley’s (YouTube co-founder and primary sponsor of the team) best efforts to save the team, including trying to arrange a merger with Serbian loonies Stefan GP, have failed. The team’s 60 employees have no idea what is going on, but one blamed the situation on the management. The team remain optimistic of reaching the grid, but I have no idea what will happen to them. Will the Serbian loonies get the slot they want? I’ll post on that later.
