Ferrari Test at Bahrain

Source: AFCA

Away from Jerez are Ferrari and Toyota tesing at the Bahrain circuit. Kimi Raikkonen and Luca Badoer begin the work today, while Felipe Massa will arrive on Wednesday to replace Badoer, with a two day break until continuing the test. Michael Schumacher will not be present at these tests, although he may turn up at Bahrain during the last test of the winter.

Almost being a private test, there is no media attention, photographs and regular timing.

The team will concentrate on the McLaren ECU, as Ferrari want to get things perfectly right with no other track interference. Some new solutions regarding the management of the engine will be introduced in order to improve the control of the car due to a greater sensitivity of the accelerator.

There will be new parts undergoing extra studying in this test, in particular those on the (rear) suspension – this should help bring the power of the engine to the road better. Optimising the ballast will also be part of the programme. Not much aerodynamic work will be done until the testing schedule moves back to Spain.

No third F2008 is scheduled to debut in Bahrain, as the two cars used so far have undergone a first class’ revision, with all the components (including the chassis) having been put through a structural analysis.

Test Report

The Ferrari and Toyota teams kicked off on Monday their three-day testing programme at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain.

Both teams had skipped last weekend’s test at Barcelona in order to
carry out two testing sessions at the Bahraini circuit, where they will
work until Wednesday and then again from Sunday to Tuesday next week.

World champion Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest man in today’s test,
finishing over a second ahead of Ferrari’s test driver Luca Badoer.
Both men were driving this year’s car.

Toyota had race driver Timo Glock and tester Kamui Kobayashi working
with the new TF108. German Glock finished less than a tenth behind
Badoer after setting his fastest lap with new tyres near the end of the
session.

"I
had quite a good day and we did a lot of useful work," said Glock. "In
the morning there was a lot of sand on the track and from lap to lap we
went quicker as the track got cleaner.

"It
was difficult to get consistent track conditions but towards the end of
the day it was better and we did some important tests. It has been a
pretty good session and it was important to do these mechanical set-up
changes. I hope tomorrow is less windy and we can continue this work."

Today’s times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:32.079   68
 2.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:33.323   72
 3.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:33.418   72
 4.  Kobayashi     Toyota               (B)  1:33.656   62

That seems like a pretty good time from Kimi, as it’s a few tenths up on Massa’s fastest lap at last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Even GrandPrix.com think that the F2008 is roughly around 0.4 seconds a lap quicker than the McLaren MP4/23, on same fuel loads:

And in other anticipated news, the weather isn’t too hot in Bahrain for Kimi to be out in just a t-shirt. Fans have been eager to see Kimi in a t-shirt as it would reveal his new Iceman tattoo on his left arm. But it’s okay, the Ice Age has come just in time! Watch this space…

Ferrari Boss – Kimi is Unbelievable
From MTV3.fi

Stefano Domenicali took the place of Jean Todt as Ferrari’s team boss, and has said that Kimi’s championship victory was one of the most unbelievable moments of F1 history.

"It was an unbelievable championship, we had many changes in the team. People like Brawn, Martinelli and Schumacher had left. It was difficult to keep up the same level."

When asked about the spy scandal, he commented: "My job is to look forwards. It is of course hard to forget what happened."

Even though Todt and Schumacher had lost all hope into Kimi’s chances, Domenicali says he was still confident.

"No, no! The season was amazing. But we never give up. It’s our strong point and philosophy. It has to be said also that Kimi is unbelievable. He’s so focused in his work. Nothing else than his work.

"That Sunday at Brazil must have been one of the most unbelievable Sundays not only in Ferrari’s history, but also in Formula 1 history."