Skip advert
Advertisement

Formula 1 test update

Latest news from F1 as pre-season tests take place in Jerez. How's Lotus doing?

The F1 field is halfway through the third 4-day pre-season test, and despite being at Jerez they’ve been suffering constant damp conditions, which makes assessing the early pace setters very difficult. Reading between the lines and the fuel loads McLaren and Ferrari look to have the edge with Red Bull and Mercedes just behind. Of the new teams Virgin is now racking up laps and Lotus started well yesterday, running 76 laps on their its day. Unfortunately this morning’s running was curtailed early for the Malaysian-backed team when Kovalainen crashed out and broke the front wing. A new one is being fabricated and will be sent out tonight.  The returning Sauber team looks impressively strong, with Pedro De La Rosa turning lap times that are a match for Rosberg’s Mercedes, and the first post-Flav Renault is running consistently in the hands of debuting Russian Vitaly Petrov. There are constant rumours surrounding the viability of the other two new teams, as neither Campos nor USF1 are likely to have cars ready the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain on March 14th. The American team have seemingly lost their major sponsor and cancelled its crash testing and all press interviews, which doesn’t bode well. The Spanish Campos Meta outfit may be saved by a new investor, but suggestions that Volkswagen could be involved appear to be unfounded. If either of these teams fall by the wayside, Stefan GP are waiting in the wings. The Serbian team will run the defunct Toyota team’s 2010 chassis and engines, and according to reports they are close to signing up 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve. Schumacher vs Villeneuve - now that’s a battle no-one would have dared predict six months ago.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Click here for a gallery of some F1's 2010 star cars

Follow evo on Twitter and Facebook for the car latest

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Mercedes-AMG discounting its F1-inspired super saloon by £9500
Mercedes-AMG C63
News

Mercedes-AMG discounting its F1-inspired super saloon by £9500

The Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance is, to the surprise of very few, not selling well. So now there are deals to be had…
19 May 2025
Volkswagen XL1 (2013) review – Bugatti-level engineering aimed at MPG not MPH
Volkswagen XL1 – front
Reviews

Volkswagen XL1 (2013) review – Bugatti-level engineering aimed at MPG not MPH

Another hair-brained Piëch passion project, the XL1 is shot through with hypercar engineering, all to an end of saving fuel
16 May 2025
Driving ’80s performance car icons, from the Peugeot 205 GTI to the Ferrari Testarossa – car pictures of the week
evo's ’80s performance car test
Features

Driving ’80s performance car icons, from the Peugeot 205 GTI to the Ferrari Testarossa – car pictures of the week

In the latest issue of evo magazine, we revisit six staple performance cars of the 1980s on some of the best roads in the UK – these are our favourite…
18 May 2025