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Formula One
COOPER: F1 Form Book Too Close to Call
Grand prix racing's winter testing sessions have not yet produced a clear view of the season ahead, says RACER's Adam Cooper
Adam Cooper  | http://www.speedtv.com  |  Posted February 18, 2007   Baelen, Belgium


The Formula 1 teams and drivers are enjoying a short hiatus this week, and a welcome chance to catch their collective breaths before the final round of testing begins on Thursday in Bahrain. Perhaps when it concludes we will have a clearer picture of where things are going.

The winter test program has been more compact than ever before, thanks to Bridgestone's new position as sole tire supplier. Since there is no ongoing development, and the Japanese company wants to minimize its costs, the teams came to a very sensible agreement that seems to suit everybody. Each team is allowed a shakedown day and a couple of private days on its own, but after that they have to go everywhere together in three-day bites. In November/December there was a session at Barcelona and two at Jerez, and since the holidays the teams have been to the same two tracks, plus Valencia.
The miles of winter F1 testing have been run to a more compact schedule this year. (LAT photo)

Everyone agreed that some warm weather running would make a lot of sense, and after a successful foray there last year by Ferrari, Honda and Toro Rosso, a group test has been organized for Bahrain. It runs from Feb 22-24, and resumes after a two-day break on Feb 27-March 1. And that's pretty much it until Melbourne, since most teams will have used up their available allocation. One key exception will be Toyota, the team having kept its power dry for most of January in order to make use of those "solo" days in Europe as late as possible before the season, while Williams and Spyker chose to skip Bahrain and run in Europe this week and next.

It goes without saying that the marathon six-day Bahrain session will be of huge significance. All the teams will be a little closer to definitive Melbourne spec, as the first wave of performance and reliability developments will be coming through. The weather will be much more representative not just of the first three races in Melbourne, Malaysia and Bahrain, but also of what they will face in Europe. Remember, this year we don't have the potentially cool races in Imola in April or Nurburgring in May. Instead we kick of with Spain on May 13, and then go on to Monaco.

In theory, testing should be far more informative than it has been for years. Not only are all the teams in the same place instead of being spread across two or three venues in the same week, but they are all running on the same tires. In addition the engine freeze means that power levels throughout testing are more comparable than ever before, since nobody is trying out high-revving development engines. But still it's been hard to spot the real trend.

It is of course entirely up to the teams how they go about testing, and some will run day-in, day-out with significant fuel loads in the car, so that they are never seen to go for an out and out lap time. Others go out of their way to grab headlines. So no one is ever quite sure what the others are doing, although race runs of 20 or so laps tend to give a good idea. Rain at most of the recent tests has affected people's programs to varying degrees, and nearly everyone has lost track time to reliability problems.

Last Tuesday I made a one-day flying visit to Barcelona, ostensibly to see the new Toro Rosso. But it was also a chance to catch all the 2007 cars in action, with the sole exception of the Super Aguri, since the team still claims that its 2006 Honda copy is an interim machine. We await the definitive one with some interest…

The previous day Ferrari had endured a disaster, with both cars breaking down and little mileage achieved. But on the day I was there the two red cars ran like clockwork all day, setting the quickest times. Somebody said that Kimi Raikkonen was as happy as he'd been for a while, having run a huge amount of mileage. Anyone who had started to believe that the Scuderia has dropped the ball had to think again.

It was a relatively low-key Barcelona week for McLaren after the team had appeared to be significantly quicker than the rest in earlier tests, but it could well that current team policy is to play it cool, and run heavy. BMW and Williams have appeared to show genuine speed, while Honda – the team that so often led the winter charge in the past – hasn't really figured. Toyota is a big question mark, while double champions Renault don't seem to be quite where they want to be.

It's hard even for team insiders to work out exactly what's going on, and hopefully that's because it genuinely is close.

"It looks like unbelievable competition at the moment," said Tonio Liuzzi, who had plenty of time to watch while waiting for the Toro Rosso to be completed. "Everybody has improved, and the time difference between the quickest and the slowest is much tighter. I think it's going to be a really exciting season because you can see right now there won't be a leading team or let's say a strong team with a massive difference. I think the pace will be similarly for everybody, so I think qualifying will be quite exciting. It won't be last year.

"Every test is different, but looking at Barcelona it seems that BMW did a big step forward, and also Williams is very competitive and Red Bull did a big improvement. I think these are the three teams that did a great move forward, but in the end when you start the first race usually the strong teams are always there on top. I think until we go to Australia we won't really realize who has got something in the pocket."
Liuzzi: making the most of the opportunities in front of him. (LAT photo)

As ever, it will be all about the tires. But not in the same way as in past years, where we didn't know from one race to the next whether Bridgestone or Michelin had the advantage. The tires are the same for everyone now, but that doesn't mean that all teams will be able to use them as effectively as the others, certainly in terms of honing setups that work for a race duration. Some have adapted more easily than others to the harder tires, and have the experience and engineering depth to find an edge. And it won't necessarily only be teams that were on Bridgestone last year who make an easy transition to control rubber. Drivers too have to adapt.

"I think you need to be really smooth to drive the Bridgestone," said Liuzzi. "I'm used to being pretty aggressive in slow corners, and quite smooth in high speed, so I have to adapt myself a bit for the slow corners. But I can adjust myself to different styles, different cars, so I'm not worried about this."

Those six days in Bahrain are going to be fascinating. Will we really start to see a pattern?

Adam Cooper is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine. To learn more about RACER, click here for subscription information.
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