Words by David Lee
Photos by Ruddiee Khaw
The three day F1 Team Official Testing at Sepang International Circuit (SIC) in Malaysia, kicked off with a real blast on 27th March 2007. Ten F1 teams took the opportunity to test their machines in order to be better prepared for battle the upcoming Formula One Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix on 8th April 2007.
Scuderia Ferrari, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, BMW Sauber F1 Team, AT&T Williams, Panasonic Toyota Racing, Honda Racing F1 Team, ING Renault F1 Team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Super Aguri F1 Team and Red Bull Racing were at SIC to get their cars set-up and get their drivers ready for “The World’s Hottest Race”, which is regarded as one of the toughest legs in the F1 world championship.
The competition amongst the teams during the testing was fierce. There was no particular team clearly dominating all the days of testing.
On day one, 27th March, BMW Sauber F1 Team dominated the day’s testing with the fastest time despite facing gearbox problems in the morning. The final classification was Robert Kubica from BMW Sauber F1 Team being the fastest driver at 1:36.187s. This was followed by Kimi Raikkonen of Scuderia Ferrari with a time of 1:36.302s, and Alexander Wurz of AT&T Williams finished third with a time of 1:36.334s.
Day Two, 28th March started with the morning session being red-flagged as a result of Rubens Barichello blowing his Honda engine 34 minutes into testing, which left a long trail of oil on the SIC track. When testing resumed in the afternoon, the fastest for the day and entire testing period went to Kimi Raikkonen of Scuderia Ferrari with a time of 1:35.258s. Second fastest was Alexander Wurz of AT&T Williams with a time of 1:35.702s. The third fastest for day two was David Coulthard of Red Bull Racing with a time of 1:35.712s.
The third day, 29th March saw the teams facing more challenging conditions than the first two days. The wet day dampen the track for the drivers, but this did not deter rookie Lewis Hamilton to take the limelight of being the fastest despite blowing his engine earlier. The final classification for the day was, Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes clocking the fastest time of 1:35.918s, second fastest was Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing with the time of 1:36.138s, and third being Ralf Schumacher of Panasonic Toyota Racing with a time of 1:36.700s. The day finished off with the ten participating teams opting for an additional day of testing.
Day Four, 30th March, the extended test day saw another rookie, Heikki Kovalainen clocked the fastest time. Final classification for the day saw, Heikki Kovalainen of ING Renault F1 Team finished with the fastest time of 1:35.757s. Second fastest time came from Felipe Massa of Scruderia Ferrari clocking in at 1:35.808s. The third fastest time of the final day was secured by Anthony Davidson of Super Aguri F1 Team with a time of 1:36.787s.
The testing turned out to be a successful event for all. The teams certainly got the opportunity to test and prepare their cars for the upcoming race. Drivers got their opportunity to get familiar with the track and prepare themselves for the coming Malaysian F1 GP. However, the test could not provide a full picture to the upcoming GP race, due to the absence of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Spyker Ferrari Team and the fact that no one team or driver dominating the entire testing.
The more than a thousand motoring fans that came over the testing period motoring got to watch all the great action for free.
This F1 Team Official Testing is courtesy of F1 organizers and SIC, in their effort to bring fans closer to the circuit and promote F1 to Malaysians. Thanks and well done guys.
