It’s beginning to look more and more as if Sebastian Vettel will move from Toro Rosso to parent team Red Bull Racing next year. Vettel has been linked to a possible move to Ferrari if Massa were to be let go, but for now, Red bull appear to have him.

Just recently we found out that Vettel’s contract lasting another 2 years is with Red Bull.

Linked to replace vettel is a Kiwi Brendon Hartley who is currently racing in British F3 with Red Bull sponsorship.

Hartley (’Hartley the hair’ as they call him) tested the new Toro Rosso STR3 in a shakedown last week at Vairano circuit in Italy in what was kept secret until just recently.

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The goal for [tag]Red Bull[/tag] has to be to gain some race pace and definitely make a more reliable car than the 2007 RB3. Too many problems and too many dnfs sealed the season for Red Bull.
Talking about reliability, the [tag]RB4[/tag] seems so far throughout February to be a much more reliable car. Balance and stability under braking have been one thorn in their side that they haven’t been able to solve, hence a strange looking fin has sprouted over the engine cover. The fin has stayed on the car and it appears we will see it for Australia at least.

Both [tag]David Coulthard[/tag] and [tag]Mark Webber[/tag] were regulars in the top 10 on most of the pre-season testing time sheets which leaves them some work to do, but the pace for Australia is ok.

Neither drivers are very exciting to watch, but Mark Webber is the faster in qualifying with David Coulthard easily faster in the race. I don’t see any reason for this to change in 2008.

It is hard to believe that a team with as much in resources as they do don’t do better than they have and will do this year.

I can give them points most races, but never a podium.

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Ok, now that testing is just about over, I can make my [tag]F1 drivers championship predictions[/tag]. Testing has been pretty informative, a little surprising, but not too surprising.

Originally I had thought [tag]Honda[/tag] would show better, but they haven’t given me any reason to keep that prediction. [tag]Red Bull[/tag] and [tag]Toro Rosso[/tag] are just about the same as last year, but [tag]Williams[/tag] have improved like I thought they would. I’ve been more than impressed with [tag]Force India[/tag], but the learning curve is pretty steep so the rear of the train in front of [tag]Super Aguri[/tag] is where I place them.

I’m not sure [tag]Ferrari[/tag] is really in front of [tag]McLaren[/tag] as much as testing has shown. They have been quick out of the box, but McLaren have tweaked their car enough for me to put them right up there. I anticipate a good battle there.

[tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] has had issues with their car that certainly weren’t expected and despite what Fernando Alonso says, I don’t believe they are as close to McLaren as he suggests they are, but I will go out and put them ahead of [tag]Renault[/tag]. I think there will be a pretty good battle between Renault and BMW-Sauber with Williams in there too.

Originally I would have put [tag]Toyota[/tag] up a place, but after erratic testing, NOT.

1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. BMW-Sauber
4. Renault
5. Williams
6. Red Bull
7. Toyota
8. Honda
9. Toro Rosso
10. Force India
11. Super Aguri (if they show up)

My predictions are not that far off many others I’ve seen. I would like to see Honda in 6th position and Force India in 9th position, but that isn’t a prediction.
I do think there will be a great battle between Ferrari and McLaren, and a good battle between BMW-Sauber and Renault.

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Yesterday, the second last test session closed out leaving just Barcelona left before the start of the 2008 season. It is now pretty clear where teams will stack up come the season start and despite hours and hours of work some teams just haven’t accomplished their goals while others like say Ferrari have caused frustration for just about everyone.

[tag]Giancarlo Fisichella[/tag] echoes this with his stunning statement that Ferrari are the best and probably will dominate through the early part of the season with [tag]McLaren[/tag] close behind, and then the rest.

He is pleased with the progress and performance of his car and is predicting a faster car after a new update in Barcelona.

“At the beginning of the season it will be hard to stay out of the bottom (of the field), but we hope that we can gradually improve.”

[tag]Toyota[/tag] sat near the bottom of time sheets through most of testing, but pulled out something good in the last week with some pretty respectable times and are one of the few that have closed gaps to teams previously ahead of them. Their senior general chassis manager is now predicting serious gains between now and season start.

[tag]David Coulthard[/tag] has decided to lift spirits of [tag]Red Bull[/tag] fans by telling them not to believe too much in the test times Red Bull are pulling off. He says not to expect Red Bull to be front runners just yet.

[tag]Jenson Button[/tag], up and down with his feelings on his car says Honda made ‘good progress’ in Jerez, but more work is still needed and they are moving in the right direction.

Over 2 seconds off the pace with only a month to go? Yes, a lot more work is needed.

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3 posts in one day is a little off for me, but today, well…it happened.

Another good weather day at [tag]Jerez[/tag] except for the wind. 16 driver were out today and some because of wind ended their day early not expecting to get the data they needed. [tag]Lewis Hamilton[/tag] was one of them, quiting early at 15:00.

Even though wind was a factor, [tag]Mark Webber[/tag] in the [tag]Red Bull[/tag] came out on top with a 1:18.628 in 72 laps and had both [tag]Williams[/tag] right behind. Fuel loads were probably pretty good to achieve those times and clearly Williams has solved their wing mounting problem. [tag]Honda[/tag] continue to struggle with not much difference in their time from yesterday, but at least they weren’t last.
[tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] with [tag]Nick Heidfeld[/tag] and [tag]Robert Kubica[/tag] piled on the laps today, but initially had long runs scheduled, but again, wind prevented any clear results and they abandoned that idea.

A few incidents on trace disrupted things a little. Coulthard parked unexpectedly on track and Nelson Piquet jr. copied later with an engine failure, and then Sebastien Bourdais caused a stoppage right near the end of the session.

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1min 18.628secs 72 laps
2. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1min 19.091secs 98 laps
3. Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1min 19.215secs 91 laps
4. Fernando Alonso Renault 1min 19.710secs 104 laps
5. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1min 19.829secs 116 laps
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1min 19.857secs 68 laps
7. David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1min 19.883secs 97 laps
8. Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 19.889secs 114 laps
9. Nelson Piquet Renault 1min 20.014secs 110 laps
10. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 20.152secs 84 laps
11. Nick Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1min 20.201secs 109 laps
12. Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 20.536secs 76 laps
13. Jenson Button Honda 1min 21.147secs 85 laps
14. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1min 21.376secs 101 laps
15. Rubens Barrichello Honda 1min 21.710secs 58 laps
16. Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1min 22.244secs 86 laps

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Day 2 at Jerez is over and the times all in.

[tag]McLaren[/tag] are continuing to improve and are an easy 2nd behind Ferrari. It would have been cool to see Ferrari today so we could see what kind of gaps are left for Mclaren.

I see [tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] are finally coming to grips (literally) with their car and now posting some respectable times. [tag]Robert Kubica[/tag] up in 3rd, off 4 10ths, that’s 4 10ths behind Lewis in the McLaren, not Ferrari. [tag]Nick Heidfeld[/tag] quite a bit slower than Kubica.

[tag]Renault[/tag] not far off. A great fight is shaping up between BMW-Sauber and Renault.
[tag]Force India[/tag] behind [tag]Super Aguri[/tag]? They did evaluate a number of chassis set-ups in the SA07B interim car. I still expect more from Liuzzi.

[tag]Honda[/tag] Honda Honda, what is happening there. Ross Brawn must be tearing his hair out. Alex Wurz only pulling out a 1:21.950 in 86 laps.

Nick Fry:

“I’m very much enjoying myself, and going home with a sense of achievement as opposed to going home with a sense of frustration that no matter how hard we tried, progress was slow.”

Jenson Button

“The RA108 is completely new which means we are starting from zero in terms of developing the set-up,” he told the official Formula One website. “We are also working on driveability as we adapt to the new ECU.

“These challenges were reflected in our speed at our debut test in Barcelona, especially on single fast laps, but our long-run consistency improved. We have a good basic car with new opportunities for aerodynamics and other areas and a clear plan for addressing any issues in the coming tests.”

Basic car? Honda has so much experience in F1 it’s amazing they can’t come up better by now.

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In keeping with the radical and not to be left out, Red Bull showed up at Cirquit de Catalunya with a shark. Yes, a shark. We’ve seen some different looks so far in testing the new cars, but hmmm. Remember 1995 when McLaren fashioned something like that on their car?

It was Mark Webber who swam around the track with this rudder-like fin that runs horizontally on top of the engine compartment from the top of the roll hoop all the way to the rear wing.

This fin is suppose to improve lateral stability when entering corners as their is no more engine braking making the car less stable.

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A departure from the fanfare of an official launch, Red Bull reveiled their car during testing at Jerez today. A pit lane show off to the media went well just before a wet track greeted it.

This new RB4 is the second car to be designed by Adrian Newey and everyone hopes it will be fast and more reliable than last years car which was plagued with reliablilty issues, especially the hydraulics systems, but it did have speed.

Chris Horner said recently:

“For the first time in our short history, there is continuity within the design group, with our engine partner and with the drivers.”

“It’s always a key moment to see a new car run for the first time,” he said.

“And particularly in the case of RB4, that first lap represents a monumental amount of work from the entire workforce.

“Over the last few weeks, all the departments have made Herculean efforts to get the car ready for this shakedown today.”

Red Bull had an announcement today that Sebastien Buemi has been signed as the team’s official test and reserve driver for 2008. Buemi also drives in GP2 so will have a busy season coming up.

“This appointment is a big step forward for me,” commented Buemi. “I am delighted and thank Red Bull, which has supported me in the lower formulas since 2005. I will do my best to concentrate on combining my GP2 racing commitment with my duties for Red Bull Racing and I am looking forward to the year ahead.”

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Testing at jerez. 2008 testing got underway today with 9 of the 11 teams on track. Weather was a bit of a story in the morning with a wet track to start things off, but it certainly didn’t faze Ferrari as Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa turned in the fastest times on the day. McLaren, Ferrari and Toyota had their flashy new cars churning up the track, but Felipe Massa’s new F2008 showed a first bug when he lost track time with an unspecified mechanical problem. A relatively quick fix and Massa was off again and turned out the second fastest lap on the day.

It was a good showing for Toro Rosso with Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais finishing the day with Vettel grabbing the 4th fastest time and Bourdais taking 6th fastest time.

McLaren representatives today were Pedro de la Rosa and Heikki Kovalainen both driving the MP4-23. de la Rossa had an inspiring day finishing with a best lap time of 1:20.548 placing third on the day. Kovalainen faired a little worse finishing the day with a 5th best time at 1:20.936.

Nico rosberg in the FW29 fell short today with a 7th fastest time.

Toyota drivers worked hard today with Jarno trulli driving the new TF108 a leading 86 laps and finishing with the 8th fastest time. Timo Glock wasn’t as lucky and spun off track early losing valuable time and finished with the 13th fastest (or slowest) time of the 14 drivers in action today.

Jarno Trulli

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Two more teams announced launch dates for their 2008 cars. Honda Racing and Red Bull, with Honda being one of the last to launch their car.

Honda Racing will have its unveiling on Jan 29 at their Brackley, UK headquarters. It is also rumored that the ‘Earth’ livery covering the ill performing RA107 will be gone. Maybe a little superstition or just to close the book with few reminders of 2007.
Attending this launch will be CEO Nick Fry, Ross Brawn, and both drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.

Red Bull won’t be waiting quit that late and will reveal it’s 2008 RB4 at testing January 16 at Jerez
They put together a short time lapse promo video featuring their headquarters and ‘Red Bull Racing is Working Night and Day to Bring You the RB4″

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