F2: Jokinen fastest in testing again

Denmark’s Johan Jokinen was again fastest in the second day of Formula Two winter testing in Valencia, his morning time of 1min 26.106sec outpacing Britons Jolyon Palmer and Dan Clarke.

Clarke was fastest at the start of the session but slipped back as it continued, before grabbing second towards the end ahead of Palmer with a 1min 26.839sec that was one of only three laps inside 1min 27sec all day.

German teenager Kevin Mirocha, who contested six races in F3 Euroseries this year with a top finish of 13th, joined testing for its second day and leapt to the top of the afternoon timesheet with a lap of 1min 26.633sec after running only 10th in the morning.

It was more than enough to outpace Palmer, whose encouraging end to the season has continued into strong testing performances across the two days, and Clarke as the pair again filled out the top three.

Clarke, a veteran of British F3, Champ Car and A1GP, said on Twitter afterwards: “It’s been a good two days in the F2 car – P3 today. I’m impressed with this operation.”

Jokinen was fourth in the afternoon with Briton Jack Clarke again fifth.

The next stop for Formula Two will be Portimão, Portugal on 11-12 December for the second official winter test.

Formula Two Test, Valencia, day two:

Morning session

1. Johan Jokinen (DEN), 1:26.106
2. Dan Clarke (GBR), 1:26.839
3. Jolyon Palmer (GBR), 1:27.073
4. Benjamin Bailly (BEL), 1:27.121
5. Jack Clarke (GBR), 1:27.290
6. David Rotar (SLO), 1:27.531
7. Ricardo Teixeira (ANG), 1:27.676
8. Benjamin Lariche (FRA), 1:28.021
9. Jordan King (GBR), 1:28.057
10. Kevin Mirocha (GER), 1:28.374
11. Ramón Piñeiro (ESP), 1:28.400
12. Richard Plant (GBR), 1:28.592
13. Natalia Kowalska (POL), 1:28.870

Afternoon session

1. Kevin Mirocha (GER), 1:26.633
2. Jolyon Palmer (GBR), 1:27.128
3. Dan Clarke (GBR), 1:27.183
4. Johan Jokinen (DEN), 1:27.226
5. Jack Clarke (GBR), 1:27.272
6. Benjamin Lariche (FRA), 1:27.316
7. Benjamin Bailly (BEL), 1:27.739
8. Ricardo Teixeira (ANG), 1:27.991
9. David Rotar (SLO), 1:28.007
10. Jordan King (GBR), 1:28.470
11. Richard Plant (GBR), 1:28.836
12. Natalia Kowalska (POL), 1:29.868

Coulthard: BRDC award is still as important as ever

The first-ever winner of the McLaren Autosport BRDC young driver award has been reflecting on its 20 years of promoting British talent.

David Coulthard, who took the award in 1989 when he had just graduated from karting to Formula Ford, says that he remains proud to this day to be a member of what he calls “an extremely select club”.

He went on to race in Formula Three (after taking a year out thanks to a broken leg) before being talent-spotted by Williams and making the move into Formula One.

Other winners to drive at the highest level include Coulthard’s fellow Scot and double IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, and F1 world champion Jenson Button. Formula One drivers Anthony Davidson and Ralph Firman, as well as McLaren tester Gary Paffett and up-and-coming stars of the future Paul di Resta and Oliver Turvey were all winners.

But there is one glaring omission from the list – Lewis Hamilton was never even nominated.

Coulthard said: “You only have to look at the winners since [his 1989 victory] to see that it has proven very successful in spotting talent. The award boasts champions in Formula 1, IRL, and both sports and touring cars.

“Even now, it’s an award that carries with it a huge amount of importance, honour and prestige – and which is still prized above all others by every young driver competing in the junior ranks of British motorsport.

“I’m tremendously proud to be a member of a very select club that reads like a Who’s Who of British motor racing talent.

“And I’m proud that, although I personally represent the award’s roots, it’s not something that causes us to look back at the past: the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award has always represented motorsport’s future – and that’s why it remains so vital.”

Sunday’s Autosport Awards ceremony, held annually at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, will celebrate the great and the good of the motorsport year. But for the six BRDC nominees it will be one of the most important nights of their careers so far.

The winner, who will have gone through a lengthy testing and evaluation process including driving a selection of cars in front of the award’s judging panel, will be in line for a prize that includes race funding and a test with McLaren. Both Stefan Wilson and Oliver Turvey, winners in 2006 and 2007, have just completed their tests.

Entered in the 2009 competition are Racing Steps Foundation driver James Calado, Star Mazda champion Adam Christodoulou who is nominated for the second time, James Cole, Callum McLeod, Chrissy Palmer and Dean Smith.

F1: Rookie Ricciardo rockets to testing triumph

Formula One’s young driver testing ended today with the familiar sight of an Australian topping the time-sheets in a Red Bull as Daniel Ricciardo signalled his intention to follow in Mark Webber’s footsteps.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo: quick in the wet

The 20-year-old from Perth, who is the reigning British F3 champion, saw his day end early after 77 laps when his engine gave way, but still managed to set by far the fastest time of the three days – a full 1.3sec ahead of Gary Paffett’s fastest run yesterday.

At the other end of the scale, the best of Ho-Pin Tung’s four laps for Renault was 15 seconds slower than the Australian’s 1min 17.418sec – but the team said this was because they had sent him out in the rain for a few minutes so he could sample wet-weather F1 driving.

Paffett and Paul di Resta were again up among the leaders for McLaren and Force India, with the latter a tenth faster in second overall on a day when his team struggled with reliability and other interruptions.

Di Resta suffered a minor off during his laps, while America’s JR Hildebrand lost his fastest lap to a red flag and was also affected by his car’s engine-saving mode kicking in unexpectedly.

Nico Hulkenberg was unable to maintain Williams’ record of finishing in the top four each day, slipping to fifth behind Mike Conway for Brawn. The highly-rated German, who will debut with the team next year, was unable to beat F2 champion Andy Soucek’s time in the same car on day one.

Conway, by contrast, finally put some clean air between himself and fellow Brawn tester Marcus Ericsson who managed only eighth behind Bertrand Baguette for Sauber and Oliver Turvey for McLaren, who had been third-fastest in the morning session.

Lucas di Grassi was ninth for Renault, ahead of Hildebrand, and then came the trio of drivers who shared duties for Ferrari as their prize for their performance in Italian F3. Pablo Sanchez Lopez took the honours ahead of Daniel Zampieri and Marco Zipoli.

Finally, ahead only of the tentatively aquaplaning Tung, came the Toro Rosso pair of Brendon Hartley and Mirko Bortolotti. New Zealander Hartley is Australian Ricciardo’s flat-mate while they have been racing in the UK – and will also be his team-mate in World Series by Renault in 2010. He’ll be hoping to be a little closer to his Antipodean rival next year than he was today.

Day three timings

1. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Red Bull: 1m17.418s (77 laps)
2. Paul Di Resta (GBR), Force India: 1m18.736s (53)
3. Gary Paffett (GBR), McLaren: 1m18.746s (59)
4. Mike Conway (GBR), Brawn: 1m19.096s (77)
5. Nico Hulkenberg (GER), Williams: 1m19.226s (106)
6. Bertrand Baguette (BEL), Sauber: 1m19.356s (70)
7. Oliver Turvey (GBR), McLaren: 1m19.358s (32)
8. Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Brawn: 1m19.382s (49)
9. Lucas di Grassi (BRZ), Renault: 1m19.602s (123)
10. JR Hildebrand (USA), Force India: 1m19.873s (41)
11. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Ferrari: 1m21.147s (39)
12. Daniel Zampieri (ITA), Ferrari: 1m21.279s (42)
13. Marco Zipoli (ITA), Ferrari: 1m21.725s (41)
14. Brendon Hartley (NZL), Toro Rosso: 1m22.493s (50)
15. Mirko Bortolotti (ITA), Toro Rosso: 1m23.271s (34)
16. Ho-Pin Tung (CHN), Renault: 1m32.477s (4)

F2: Winter testing kicks off in Valencia

Denmark’s Johan Jokinen topped the timesheets on the first day of Formula Two’s winter test in Valencia as the only driver able to get under the 1:27 mark.

He recorded a faster time than last season’s champion Andy Soucek, attending the event to provide a benchmark and help develop next year’s car, as well as 2009 competitors Jack Clarke and Jolyon Palmer, and British Champ Car and A1GP racer Dan Clarke.

Jokinen, 19, who drove for the Kolles and Heinz team in F3 Euroseries this year, finished fastest in the afternoon session and ended the day just under three tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the field.

Palmer recorded the second-fastest time with Soucek third, Jack Clarke fourth and Dan Clarke fifth.

Dan Clarke, whose highest position on the timesheets was fourth, said on his Twitter feed: “Not so bad for a rusty old hammer.”

When the list of drivers testing was announced, he said: ” I’ve been watching F2 closely this year and the cars look exciting and challenging to drive. My long-term sponsors Ticketmaster are also keen to investigate F2, so hopefully we may be able to put a deal together.”

All five drivers went faster than Robert Wickens’ pole time of 1:27.488 seconds set when Formula Two visited Valencia in May for the opening two rounds of the 2009 season.

Jokinen said: “It is always great to finish first – that’s what I came here for. Learning the new car was the greatest feeling, and using the boost was an enormous kick.

“The car demands a different style of driving to the F3 Euroseries, but it is really fun. I think the whole Formula Two concept is a really good idea, and since I like the car it’s a real bonus.”

Elsewhere in the field, Benjamin Lariche improved steadily throughout the day to end sixth fastest ahead of GP2 pilot Ricardo Teixeira.

Steven Kane, working with Soucek to develop the car for 2010, finished eighth fastest, with Adam Foster and Richard Plant, both testing as part of their prize for their performances in the 2009 Formula Palmer Audi Championship, rounding out the top ten.

The final session was red-flagged twice after first 15-year-old Jordan King and then Ramón Piñeiro spun. King was 11th-fastest overall, while Piñeiro finished 13th, having topped the morning session.

MotorSport Vision Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer said: “Johan did a great job today, and I think he surprised everybody with just how quick he was.

“He’s certainly showed a great deal of ability after just one day in the car, and I’m sure he could be a real title challenger in 2010 with the target of being Denmark’s first Formula One driver since Nicolas Kiesa in 2003.”

Formula Two Test, Valencia, day one:

1. Johan Jokinen (DEN): 1:26. 736
2. Jolyon Palmer (GBR): 1:27.019
3. Andy Soucek (ESP): 1:27.317
4. Jack Clarke (GBR): 1:27.329
5. Dan Clarke (GBR): 1:27.360
6. Benjamin Lariche (FRA): 1:27.709
7. Ricardo Teixeira (ANG): 1:28.107
8. Steven Kane (GBR): 1:28.208
9. Adam Foster (GBR): 1:28.522
10. Richard Plant (GBR): 1:28.543
11. Jordan King (GBR): 1:28.721
12. Benjamin Bailly (BEL): 1:29.030
13. Ramón Piñeiro (ESP): 1:29.074
14. David Rotar (SLO): 1:29.094
15. Parthiva Sureshwaren (IND): 1:29.400
16. Natalia Kowalski (POL): 1:29.641

F1: Hamilton drives Prost’s McLaren MP4-2C

Lewis Hamilton may have missed his chance to drive Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4-4 at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed after it developed a problem while in the hands of the great man’s nephew Bruno.

Bruno Senna in the MP4-4

But luckily his employers have a number of iconic Formula One cars at their disposal. And instead he has taken a brief ride in the MP4-2C – as driven by Alain Prost to the drivers’ championship in 1986.

Prost spent the season duelling with Williams’ Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet only to take the title in the final race, the Australian Grand Prix, after Mansell blew a tyre and the team brought in Piquet from the lead to stop the same thing happening to him. Prost’s team-mate at McLaren that season was Keke Rosberg.

The car has been restored to working order by the team’s engineers and was driven by Hamilton around the lakeside entrance to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking as part of a sponsors’ event.

The team was announcing the renewal of its nearly 25-year relationship with watchmaker Tag Heuer, continuing a partnership with McLaren that was launched in 1985, making it one of the most enduring sporting deals in history. It is also celebrating its 150th anniversary with the launch of a new special-edition watch.

Prost on track in the car's immediate predecessor, the MP4-2B, at the Nurburgring in 1985. Pic: Lothar Spurzem.

Hamilton said: “To be able to sit in the very car driven by one of the team’s greatest champions, Alain Prost, is a great honour; it was incredible to get to drive such a piece of history, and to experience a little taste of Formula 1’s, McLaren’s and TAG Heuer’s glorious past.

“Last night’s event really showcased the perfectionism and dedication that TAG Heuer has always shown the team, and it was an honour to be invited.”

The picture of Alain Prost in the MP4-2B was taken by Lothar Spurzem and is licenced under the Creative Commons. Please click through for details.

F1: Is Renault selling out to Prodrive?

Renault’s exit plan from F1 competition could involve selling its Enstone operation to Prodrive, according to a report in a French newspaper.

An article in L’Equipe, penned by the wife of a former Renault team director, suggests the team is looking for a way to get out of the sport before 2010.

It says Prodrive boss David Richards is working with what it calls “a second-order” car manufacturer to acquire the Enstone chassis-building operation and relocate from the company’s present premises in nearby Banbury.

The company already has an association with Aston Martin, with which it has competed very successfully in sportscar racing.

However, Prodrive has refused to comment on the story, saying: “We will make an announcement the day we have something interesting to announce.

“The truth is that Prodrive, whose candidacy was not accepted by the FIA for 2010, will be ready to take part in F1, on the condition of being able to be competitive and that the company be viable.”

It is thought that Renault will continue to supply engines, most likely to Red Bull, but is waiting to see what regulations will cover the 2010 powerplants before making a definite commitment.

Dan Clarke targets Formula Two in search for 2010 drive

Former Champ Car and A1GP driver Dan Clarke has widened his search for a 2010 drive by signing up for the Formula Two testing taking place this week at Valencia.

He said: “I’m excited that Jonathan [F2 boss Palmer] has invited me to the tests. I’ve been watching F2 closely this year and the cars look exciting and challenging to drive.

Dan Clarke - heading for F2?

“My long-term sponsors Ticketmaster are also keen to investigate F2, so hopefully we may be able to put a deal together.”

Clarke, who told Brits on Pole in August that “anywhere else besides IndyCar is not really what we want to do”, has been US-based since he drove in the Champ Car World Series in 2006 and 2007 and was seeking the funding to return to full-time racing there.

He told us then: “I was at Mid-Ohio at the weekend, got to watch that race in the pit lane and meet a lot of people again and catch up. There were a lot of fans at Mid-Ohio that remembered me and everybody was well-wishing me to get into IndyCar. That’s the place that I want to go to. The goal right now is to raise that sponsorship.”

But he has also stayed on the look-out for other opportunities, driving for Team GBR in A1GP during the 2008-09 season, attending Superleague Formula’s pre-season testing, and maintaining the contacts necessary to step back into A1GP contention should the troubled series continue.

Now he is investigating the prospects on offer at the re-launched Formula Two series, which is designed to be a low-cost alternative to GP2 and where three F1 superlicences and a Formula One test in a Williams are available to the winners.

2009’s champion was Spain’s Andy Soucek, who gambled correctly that he stood more chance of being noticed by dominating the comparatively weak F2 line-up than by jostling for attention in a crowded GP2 field. His Williams test was this week and resulted in the team singing his praises as a legitimate Formula One prospect.

According to the F2 website, a day’s testing at Valencia this week or at Portimao on December 11th or 12th is costing each driver €9,500 plus VAT, while participation in all four days – which Clarke is reportedly considering – will cost €30,000 plus VAT. A full season’s racing will cost 10 times that.

So far few other names of drivers taking part in the tests have been released. Those known include Denmark’s Johan Jokinen, Benjamin Bailly from Belgium, and Angolan GP2 driver Ricardo Teixeira.

F1: Paffett shows the kids a thing or two in Jerez

Veteran McLaren driver Gary Paffett may seem like a dad at a disco compared with some of the youngsters at the Jerez Formula One rookie test this week, but he proved he could still bust out some moves by topping the timesheets on day two.

McLaren tester Gary Paffett

Many of the drivers in action are getting their first taste of F1 machinery, having never driven anything more powerful than an F3 or Formula BMW car – but Paffett, although a DTM champion and a long-time McLaren tester, is also eligible to take part because he has not yet raced in the top flight.

And he made the most of the opportunity to demonstrate his experience by improving on his third place yesterday and outpacing Williams’ new signing Nico Hulkenberg by almost half a second.

The German replaced Andy Soucek as he builds up experience for his F1 debut, but could not repeat the F2 champion’s feat of running fastest as the same four cars again came out top.

British F3 International champion Daniel Ricciardo and Paffett’s touring car colleague Paul di Resta again put in impressive performances to set the third and fourth best times for Red Bull and Force India respectively.

Di Resta’s rival JR Hildebrand, sharing duties with him in the hope of securing a spot as reserve driver with the Silverstone-based team, again drew the short straw with weather conditions and finished more than a second slower than the Scotsman.

California’s Hildebrand went out in the afternoon session, which was struck by rain and saw times up to six seconds slower than the morning until conditions improved in the final hour.

Mexico’s Esteban Gutierrez set the fifth-best time for Sauber, ahead of Mike Conway and Marcus Ericsson for Brawn. Hildebrand was eighth, with Ferrari’s Jules Bianchi next.

The Frenchman completed 113 laps as the team tested for stamina rather than speed, and was delighted to be signed to a long-term development contract. “This is the first step on a journey that could turn out very nicely,” he said.

Neither Lucas di Grassi nor Ho-Pin Tung could get much speed out of their Renault, beating only Mirko Bortolotti in the Toro Rosso. Some indication that the problem lies with the car and not the drivers came from Sauber’s decision to offer Bertrand Baguette a test tomorrow despite his uninspiring ninth place yesterday for Renault.

Unlike Brendon Hartley yesterday, Bortolotti didn’t crash the car – but he did bring it to a halt on the circuit by pressing the wrong button on his steering wheel, causing the session to be suspended.

Tomorrow sees the final day of the test, with Oliver Turvey returning to action for McLaren alongside Paffet and Ferrari splitting time between the top three finishers in the Italian F3 championship.

Day two timings

1. Gary Paffett (GBR), McLaren: 1m18.718s (80 laps)
2. Nico Hulkenberg (GER), Williams: 1m19.184s (94)
3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Red Bull: 1m19.243s (93)
4. Paul Di Resta (GBR), Force India: 1m19.411s (58)
5. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX), Sauber: 1m20.190s (68)
6. Mike Conway (GBR), Brawn: 1m20.222s (83)
7. Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Brawn: 1m20.440s (37)
8. JR Hildebrand (USA), Force India: 1m20.517s (50)
9. Jules Bianchi (FRA), Ferrari: 1m20.585s (113)
10. Lucas di Grassi (BRZ), Renault: 1m20.898s (55)
11. Ho-Pin Tung (CHN), Renault: 1m21.492s (67)
12. Mirko Bortolotti (ITA), Toro Rosso: 1m21.761s (69)

F1: Carroll still chasing a Virgin drive

A1GP champion Adam Carroll is unlikely to be able to defend his World Cup of Motorsport title for Ireland next year after financial troubles floored the series – but its loss could still be F1’s gain.

The Portadown driver has told a Northern Irish newspaper that he is in negotiations for an F1 drive and is confident of stepping up to open wheel racing’s top flight next year.

He is thought to be chasing a vacancy at the Virgin F1 squad, set to be run by Manor Motorsport, although he did not confirm which team he was talking to.

The Belfast Telegraph caught up with Carroll during the annual annual Champions of Motorsport dinner in Belfast, which raised more than £25,000 for a children’s medical research charity.

He told the paper: “We’re in the middle of negotiations with one of the new teams coming into F1 and I’m hopeful of winning a drive and making the final step to the top of the sport.”

But Carroll faces stiff competition for the remaining Manor/Virgin seat. The team has already signed Toyota refugee Timo Glock and is thought to be talking to hotly-fancied GP2 graduate Lucas di Grassi.

• And Carroll is not the only A1GP veteran heading to pastures new. Status GP, the squad that ran the Team Ireland entry, is working on its preparations for the upcoming GP3 feeder series with new personnel and team HQ.

Former A1 Team Ireland boss Mark Gallagher is working with partners David Kennedy and John Hynes to ensure their team is in the best possible shape to enter the series.

Designer Gary Anderson and former A1 Team Canada principal Simon Cayzer will join Status GP at its new Silverstone headquarters.

It will be competing alongside teams including Manor, Carlin and Hitech, as well as the GP2 front-runners ART and a team born out of a partnership between Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Mark Webber which aims to boost racing opportunities for young Australians.

Kennedy told the Irish Independent newspaper: “The GP3 Series is a fantastic way for Status GP to expand its activities, and we firmly believe this category will quickly establish itself as an essential stepping-stone to Formula 1.”

F1: Di Resta best of the rest as Soucek is quickest

Andy Soucek’s gamble of entering Formula Two as a backdoor route into F1 took a step closer to paying off today as he topped the timesheets for Williams in rookie testing at Jerez.

British drivers Paul di Resta for Force India and Gary Paffett for McLaren came second and third, with IndyCar driver Mike Conway sixth for Brawn and Oliver Turvey 11th of 12 after running for just 90 minutes as his prize for winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver award.

Andy Soucek after another F2 victory

The F2 champion’s 1m19.158s was almost a quarter of a second faster than the best time set by di Resta, who is in a battle with American JR Hildebrand to be considered for the reserve driver spot at Force India. The Scotsman ran in the faster afternoon session and outpaced his rival by nearly 1.2sec.

Di Resta said the day had been constructive: “We achieved what we wanted to achieve, which was to get familiar with the car and build up to speed slowly to fully prepare for the rest of the test. We tried a few different things, worked on a few set-up items and certainly went forward – that was the main goal.

“I wasn’t trying to go for a time as such, just to get the most out of the car and myself to set up for the coming two days. We were quite fortunate in that we got a lot of time and there weren’t many stoppages. In the end I could set a good time, but this wasn’t the overall goal for today.

Gary Paffett: juggling F1 testing and DTM racing

“The VJM02 is certainly impressive and, although I am still learning, I felt I could get to grips with it fairly quickly. I’ve driven a McLaren twice before and the experience helped me today, but there’s a lot of difference. It’s obviously a new circuit and the car is built to the new regulations with slick tyres and less downforce but it behaved as I expected and we didn’t have any issues at all.”

Hildebrand was happy to be fifth-fastest at the end of the morning despite some small errors, and said he was impressed by his first taste of F1 machinery: “It is different in every way to what I’m used to, both in terms of the outright speed, but also in terms of the characteristics of the car and how it behaves, brakes and drives through corners.

“Having raced on ovals I’m used to a high top speed, so that wasn’t too much of a shock, but the amount of load it runs and how much speed you can carry through the corner took some getting used to.”

Mike Conway was racing in the US this year

Soucek left GP2 to enter the first season of the re-launched Formula Two after a 2005 Toyota test and some ordinary seasons in the official F1 feader series had failed to land him a promotion to the main championship.

He told Autosport that he knew in advance whoever won the title would be pushed towards F1 by figures such as series organiser Jonathan Palmer and car designers Williams.

He said: “I went in thinking that if I won the championship, it was going to be good. If I didn’t, I could retire. When you take everything in a pack, I won the title by 50 points and led an F1 test, so logic says I should have a seat in F1. Of course, motorsport is not logical at all, so we will have to wait and see to the last minute with what happens.”

Behind DTM team-mates di Resta and Paffett were a pair of Formula Three champions. Red Bull’s British F3 International winner Daniel Ricciardo, from Australia, ran the most laps of anyone on the day and used them to outpace the hotly-tipped Jules Bianchi in a Ferrari.

Conway, who admitted in an interview before the test that he’d been surprised to get the call-up from Brawn, was next. He spent the morning evaluating aerodynamics for the team before handing the car over to Japanese F3 champion Marcus Ericsson.

The pair were split in the final timesheets by American Alexander Rossi in a Sauber, with World Series by Renault champion Bertrand Baguette took his Renault to ninth, ahead of Hildebrand.

Brendon Hartley (left) and Oliver Turvey celebrate in F3

Turvey spent his 27 laps acclimatising to the car and circuit, but has been promised more time during the next two days. He improved his times during his run and was faster than former Red Bull reserve driver Brendon Hartley, who was slowest of all in a Toro Rosso after crashing early on.

The New Zealander may draw some hope from the official FIA entry list, which failed to name his WSR rival Jaime Alguersuari as the team’s second driver – an omission that was described as “very surprising” by the Spaniard’s management team who insist he’s all signed up and in training for the season.

Day one timings

1. Andy Soucek (ESP), Williams: 1m19.158s (87 Laps)
2. Paul di Resta (GBR), Force India: 1m19.369s (46)
3. Gary Paffett (GBR), McLaren: 1m19.426s (54)
4. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Red Bull: 1m19.534s (112)
5. Jules Bianchi (FRA), Ferrari: 1m19.626s (90)
6. Mike Conway (GBR), Brawn: 1m19.920s (58)
7. Alexander Rossi (USA), Sauber: 1m20.227s (82)
8. Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Brawn: 1m20.333s (49)
9. Bertrand Baguette (BEL), Renault: 1m20.511s (105)
10. JR Hildebrand (USA), Force India: 1m20.537s (49)
11. Oliver Turvey (GBR), McLaren: 1m20.856s (27)
12. Brendon Hartley (NZL), Toro Rosso: 1m21.325s (69)