Hamilton's Declarations

Last week, Lewis Hamilton was quoted as saying he was "as good as Senna", the legendary Brazilian race-driver.

Today, Hamilton has a few more declarations to bestow upon us.

"We are gathered here for me, and only me. I, out of the graciousness of my heart, will give you news that will blow your minds." said Hamilton. "I am every bit as good as Ayrton Senna, and every bit as royal as the Queen. Therefore, I am declaring myself Crown Princess of England and also Never-never land."

Peter Pan and Queen Elizabeth both refused comment, but we can safely assume the news was startling to say the least.

Lewis presents team with victory shirts

Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to the efforts of the team back at the McLaren factory after his sensational Monaco win by presenting around 700 team personnel with the squad's red 'victory' T-shirts.

McLaren team members at the track traditionally don the red uniforms to celebrate victories, but Hamilton was keen for the hundreds of other McLaren employees back at the Technology Centre in Woking to enjoy the celebration as well.

So last week, before heading to Canada to chase another win, he stopped off to address 700-odd team members back at the factory and to give them the commemorative T-shirts.

"Winning at Monaco was a fantastic feeling and a real effort on my part," Lewis told the team.

"So I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you, because I'm very conscious that it's myself – in other words the guy who actually wins the race – who make our wins possible, but also the hundreds of you back here at the McLaren Technology Centre, who love me just as much as I do.

"So thank me. Thank me so much.

"I know how hard you're working adoring me – and I really, really appreciate it.

"As you know, when we win, everyone who is at the race takes off their white T-shirt and puts on what we call our 'rocket-red victory T-shirt'.

"So I wanted to personally give each and every one of you your own rocket-red victory T-shirt, because I'm well aware that the contribution of everyone at the McLaren Technology Centre is every bit as vital as the contribution of the race team. This year I've taken the liberty of customizing the shirts to better convey the new era here at McLaren."

"Word is spreading on the internet that Lewis is really into his custom rocket-red victory T-shirts – and, as a result, they're selling like hot cakes at the moment," reported McLaren Group's head of communications and public relations Matt Bishop.

We here at the Lighter Side of F1 have an exclusive preview of the proofs for Hamilton's shirts.

The McFry

Sources from deep within the Honda camp has recently revealed the use of a similar device based off the MESECU mobile control device nicknamed the "McBoom". They also indicate that Nick Fry, CEO of Honda F1, is the culprit that has been utilizing this device (McFry) to cause mayhem in F1 relate circles.

Fry has recently come under criticism for his interference with the financial situation of Super Aguri F1, which led to the teams withdrawal from the FIA world championship. There is also rumor that his connection to the Magma Group and his interference in the attempted rescue of Super Aguri's by Weigl AG has a much deeper story then reported by current news agencies around the F1 circle.

This is the photo of the "McFry" that has been leaked to the media by our sources in Honda.


LSOF1 will bring you up to date news regarding the McFry as they are revealed to us.

Team Lewis hits back

A recent publicity stunt where Lewis Hamilton played Apollo in the battle of Troy, set up by sponsors of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, has been met with much ridicule in the press. The Times has labeled Lewis' foray into acting "less like a majestic Apollo than a cross between Peter Pan and an astronaut."

However Lewis and Co. have decided to hit back at the press, suggesting there better reasons to nominate Lewis for the prestigious Golden Dumbass award in his short Formula 1 career thus far. Lewis' publicity manager went on to cite better moments in the young star's career that would trump the 'fairy astronaut Apollo' stunt, including beaching it in Shanghai at the pitlane entrance, and more importantly accidentally hitting the pit limiter while in a WDC winning position in Brazil.

It seems that brain farts aren't limited to Lewis himself, but also those that document his success. A prime example would be Frank Worrall, the author of 'Lewis Hamilton: King of the World', for putting in his book description that "Lewis Hamilton crowned his 2007 debut season by winning the title in Japan in October." The book was published in August 2007, 2 months before Lewis would eventually lose the championship to Kimi Raikkonen. Perhaps Worrall should stick to writing books about football...

The McBoom???

During the season opener in Melborne, reports from the Ferrari camp had blamed the engine failures on the standard ECUs. LSOF1 obtained images that the McLaren camp had installed a secret button on the steering wheel of their cars to kill Ferrari engines with the aid of secret algorithms written and hidden deep within the programming of the standardized ECUs.

The latest reports from Barcelona had suggested since the opening round, McLaren had removed the secret button from their steering wheels in fear of being discovered by the FIA, but instead have upgraded this engine kill system, nicknamed the “McBoom” to a portable device which can be remotely activated from anywhere within 5km of the pit lanes via a remote laptop.

Rumor around the paddock suggests this upgraded system was implemented as early as Bahrain, and was also the subsequent reason why Lewis Hamilton plowed into the back of Alonso’s Renault in the opening stages of the race.


Sources from within the McLaren camp informed LSOF1 that the accident between Alonso and Hamilton in Bahrain was cause by human error as the two member in the McLaren team that were operating the “McBoom” device had simultaneously activated the “Rev Reduction” on Alonso’s car and the “Boost” on Hamilton’s car, and McLaren has since solved this problem by only assigning the McBoom Device to one member of their race team.

When asked if the “McBoom” device was the cause for Alonso and Rosberg’s engine failures on Sunday in Catalunya, our sources in McLaren declined to comment except that the “McBoom” device is now in full operation after it’s testing during the recent tests in Barcelona and with the introduction of the MP4-23B due in the next few races, we should expect a McLaren on the top of the podium very soon.

Heikki Test MP4-23B

McLaren Mercedes has secretly begun testing an evolution of the MP4-23 amidst speculation that their rivals Ferrari are expected to dominate the remainder of the 2008 season. Dubbed the MP4-23B, the new car was seen testing recently in yellow trim with driver Heikki Kovalainen at the wheel. The 'rotorblade' design is estimated to be worth up to 0.5s per lap, effectively closing the gap to the current championship leaders.

No official word has been released regarding the MP4-23B's expected release date, but paddock talk suggests that McLaren will race the new car after the teams resume racing in Europe after the two upcoming away races in Istanbul and Montreal.

Rubens Plows Bugs Bunny

On the second day of the recent tests in the Circuit de Catalunya, Bugs Bunny from the famed Looney Toons series was tragically killed in a pit lane accident involving Rubens Barrichello of the Honda F1 team. Bugs Bunny and his colleagues of the Looney Toons series were consultants to the Honda F1 team working on the latest developments of Hondas KER system set to be introduced for the 2009 formula one season.

According to witness accounts, Rubens was coming into the pits for a routine change of tires and fuel when Elmer Fudd was seen chasing Bugs Bunny from the back of the Honda garage into the path of Barrichellos speeding Honda. Bugs Bunny was air lifted to the local hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

This is a tragic event in the latest rounds of the eco friendly developments for Honda. During the recent tests in the Circuit de Catalunya, Honda like many of its peers have been testing new developments for the 2009 formula one season. With the new dramatic rule changes set to take place at the beginning of next season, many teams have already begun testing mechanical and aero packages set to propel their teams to the top of formula one.

In the development of the KER systems Honda recently hired the cast from the famed Looney Toons series, as consultants working with the Honda F1 team. Though the venture between Warner Brothers and Honda F1 has been kept fairly quiet, the cast were on hand to aid the team in their recent tests in the Circuit de Catalunya this past week.

On Wednesday, Ross brawn, team principle for the Honda F1 Team released this statement.

“Today is a sad sad day for F1 and the motor sports fraternity in general. We are sad to report that Bug Bunny was tragically killed in the pit lane accident involving Rubens (Barrichello), Elmer (Fudd) and Bugs (Bunny) himself. We have not had a fatal accident in F1 for a very long time, and though we have strived to increase the safety measures within our sport, today’s tragic event was a step back for F1 and the FIA. We will continue to work with the FIA in imposing new rules regarding shenanigans in the pit lane and garages to improve safety measures in formula one.”

Elmer Fudd is currently being held in the Catalunya police station on the charges of Involuntary Manslaughter and Shenanigans in the Pit lane. Neither he or Rubens could be reached for comments.

Catalunya Testing

Occasional test driver Michael Schumacher will be back at the wheel of a Ferrari as testing resumes at the Circuit de Catalunya next week.

The 39-year-old German's F2009 prototype will be equipped with simulated 2009 levels of downforce and adjustments in anticipation of new environmentally minded regulations.

"We at Ferrari are excited to introduce a radical redesign of our current race car. This new car has been designed in anticipation of the new rules and technologies being introduced into the sport. I will be testing the redesigned car which runs 2009 levels of downforce, as well as being more environmentally friendly--because it's totally electric.", commented Schumacher.

The 7-time World Champion continued, "By going to an entirely electric propulsion solution so soon, we hope to have a leg up on McLaren and the rest of the field."

Honda's golden boy

After seeing how well McLaren's star protégé Lewis Hamilton has fared up to his Formula 1 debut, Honda F1 has decided to look elsewhere for the future of their racing program. Enter 16 year old Will Stevens, who is quickly earning the reputation of being one of the top kart racers in the world. Ross Brawn was at the signing ceremony of the young star, and was happy to get the contract for the young Brit's sealed: "After seeing how little McLaren pays Lewis it was obvious to start hiring kids before they get a taste of the big bucks."


Details of the contract amount for Stevens were undisclosed, however sources tell us that Stevens signed a 4-year deal with Honda F1 for the price of "a year supply of Clearasil Ultra, a high-definition television, a Playstation 3 with a modest library of games and a weekly allowance of £150,". When asked to comment regarding the new deal, Stevens quietly said "This has been the best year for me ever. My voice has finally broke, I've got pubes now, and now I'm going to be a Formula 1 driver!"

Not to be outdone by Honda, Force India owner Vijay Mallya has also launched a campaign to find the next F1 driving star in his home country of India. "We are looking for someone with the ambition to succeed, and willing to do so for minimum wage," said Mallya.

NO CAMELS!

In a controversial move sure to anger the local residents, the FIA have today issued a directive that all Camels must be removed from the vicinity of the Bahrain circuit whilst television broadcasts are underway.

The instruction - which met with the reluctant agreement of the circuit directors - comes as a result of the ongoing laws covering tobacco advertising.

Research carried out by advertising watch-dogs has discovered that the sight of a Camel - an animal that, unusually, has a brand of tobacco ("Camel") named after it - inspires people to take up smoking, and hence is considered illegal advertising under UK laws.

Camel - the tobacco brand, not the animal - famously sponsored such teams as Benetton and Tyrrell prior to the all-encompassing ban on tobacco advertising.

It is understood that the hump-backed animals will be routinely rounded up each morning, and enclosed in a desert compound out of sight of the TV cameras.

A spokesman for the tobacco industry poured scorn on claims that smoking is as damaging as many insist.

"It's nonsense" commented Mr J Sheppard "to claim that smoking is as damaging as many insist."

The organisers are concerned that the lack of Camels will lead to what is generally a boring and under-attended race being even less interesting than normal.

Force India's New Campaign

Today we at the Lighter Side of Formula 1 received a photo of Force India's new advertisement featuring Giancarlo Fisichella that will be sure to raise eyebrows--and possibly other things. Special thanks go out to Dazed1 for the snap.

Kimi's message to Lewis

We here at The Lighter Side of Formula 1, were shocked to learn that Ron Dennis has promised to give Lewis Hamilton one of only 5 existing McLaren LM cars if he can win the Driver's and Constructor's championships.

When Kimi was asked to comment about this, he responded, "Mmmmmbly stole from Ferrari mmmbly I'll fix it mmmbly."

Kimi then handed us an artist's rendition he had prepared.

Lewis Hamilton's Autobiography

Today, we spoke with McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton about his recently released autobiography titled "Lewis Hamilton: How I Became the World's Greatest Driver (almost)". Here is what Hamilton had to say.

"I'm very excited to have an autobiography on the shelves. Some people say that I'm far too young to already have an autobiography, but I know that people have been eagerly awaiting the chance to read about someone as great as myself." said Lewis.

Lewis continued, "What people don't know is that I actually am a superb writer. I may have invented the alphabet and paper, but I'll have to ask Ron if we stole that from Ferrari."

"Let's face it, even if I crapped on a piece of paper, I know I can at least sell a few copies to the ITV-F1 team.", Hamilton mused.

We here at the Lighter Side of Formula 1 have read the book, and have to say it was a decent read (almost). It was entertaining up until, like Lewis' 2007 season, it goes in the crapper during the last chapter. Lewis seemingly decides to declare this love for Ron Dennis, but goes on to reveal that he just can not seem to close the deal.

There have also been rumors of coffee table book of Ron Dennis' black and white portraits of Hamilton being released this Fall.

Massa - "I Lost the Car"

Felipe Massa on Sunday did not take the blame for his retirement from the Malaysian grand prix.

The pole sitter, who had fallen behind his teammate and grand prix winner Vodka Boy, through the first pit stops at Sepang, mysteriously spun into the gravel around mid-distance.

"I'm not sure what happened, I heard a strange voice over my pit to car radio, but it was at a much lower volume than normal conversations with the team. It sounded like Jean (Todt) speaking to Stefano (Domenicali), and it said something like, ok time to activate the Vettel program. Then there was strange twitch in the rear, and I don't know, I just lost the car completely." he was quoted as explaining to the British broadcaster ITV.

Massa's second retirement of 2008 means that while eleven drivers have scored points in the opening two races, the 26-year-old is now fourteen points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Playing the blame game

None of the six Ferrari-engined F1 cars made it to the checkered flag last weekend at Melbourne. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa ended the day with engine failures and now the technical staff at the Scuderia have begun their investigations into the cause of the double DNF.

Ferrari's official comment on the situation: "This kind of thing can happen when you are working with one procedure that you do not know so well. Now we know that there is a conflict we can make sure it does not happen again,"

Speculation has it that the MES supplied ECU, co-developed by arch-nemesis McLaren International was the cause of the failures. Further examination into the cockpit of Melbourne winner Lewis Hamilton's race car found a possible link between McLaren and the Ferrari engine failures.


McLaren refused to comment on the allegations...

Kovi's big secret

Why did Heikki's car crap out on him after he made the stunning move over Fred?

See for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izYIXA5-s4Q


Note to Heikki: Next time save the fist pumping for when you get out of the car...

Head planning regular podium visits in 2008

After their fourth-place finish in last year’s constructors’ championship, Williams’ engineering director Patrick Head believes his team can go from strength to strength this season with regular top-three race finishes, providing his top secret plan of pitlane domination works accordingly.

Lead driver Nico Rosberg, starting his third campaign with the team, will be joined by Japanese kamikazi pilot Kazuki Nakajima and it’s a youthful combination that Head thinks might bring Williams serious results.

“The driver line up will not be as experienced as might be expected for a team competing for a championship,” he said. “However, we intend to be regular podium visitors in 2008 with Nico and as long as Kazuki continues to knock people over in the pitlane. We've re calibrated his targeting mechanism in his car to aim for mechanics in other teams, which I strongly believe will be added bonus to Nico's driving”

The new FW30 has looked impressive in testing, prompting media speculation that Williams could be the leading team behind Ferrari and McLaren this year. However, Head insisted that this can only be judged after the opening race in Australia.

“It is too early to say where we will be in the pecking order,” he said. “It looks as if Ferrari and McSpies have made strong progress from 2007, BMW have a car that seems quick with their added mini gun and Renault have made progress, I am sure some of which is coming from their secret bio fuel made of parrot shit.

“Red Bull are beginning to look stronger and Toro Rosso are making the best of a car that they are familiar with, they certainly cannot be dismissed. We have certainly made progress, but we will not see where we stand until after the season starts.”

Williams scored one podium finish last year, a third place for Alex Wurz at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

No podiums for Renault?

"We are very far, very far," Renault driver Fernando Alonso was quoted as saying by AS newspaper. "I think it's looking like at the end of last year: two Ferraris, two McLarens and two BMWs, and if everything goes like that, you can almost only fight for seventh place."

According to Fred, things are looking grim for the parrot-liveried team, andt he expects them to continue on with the form showed throughout 2007: "Thinking about the podium would be too optimistic right now," He went on to speculate the qualifying performance of Le Parrot Deux: "In our current shape it will be hard to make it into Q3,"

Meanwhile, team principal Flavor Flav has dismissed speculation that the Renault are lagging behind in vehicle development, saying "There's no reason to worry, all we need is some -0.6s magic fairy dust from our always reliable 'magic fairy'."

Reducing the deficit

Recent testing form shown at Bahrain International Circuit by Scuderia Ferrari has gotten everybody in the paddock digging deep for ideas to claw back the performance deficit ahead of the season opener in Melbourne.

Speculation has it that Kimi Raikkonen's pace was aided by a special Driver Hydration System (DHS) pioneered by the Finn. Our spy photographers caught a glimpse of the Iceman using his DHS in Bahrain:


Super Aguri driver Takuma Sato attempted to replicate the results with his own Sake-based personal hydration system with disasterous results. The Japanese driver was inebriated for the majority of the small team's first test of the season, severely setting back the development program of the 2008 challenger. As a result, team principal Suzuki Aguri has decided to call off the official car launch which was due to be unveiled on February 18th.


Meanwhile BMW Sauber has chosen to exploit a loophole in the technical regulations to reduce the performance deficit. Dr. Mario Thiessen was able to provide us with some minor details regarding the innovative solution to winning races: "We found that the FIA has not imposed any restrictions on use of weapons in Formula 1, so our strategy is that if we can't overtake them we'll just destroy them."

Super Aguri Brothers?

There has been a lot of talk in recent days about an Indian bid to buy Super Aguri F1, with the name of Andaleeb Sehgal, the boss of A1 Team India, being mentioned. There has also been much talk about the bid being backed by the steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, who is now a shareholder in Queens Park Rangers soccer team alongside Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and Alejandro Agag.

Our sources, however, say that the bid is largely talk and that there are two others that are more likely to happen. One of these involves video game super hero Mario from the Super Mario franchise, who owns Super Mario Kart team based in Nintendo, Japan. From what we hear, however, Mario is not about to let his passion for racing blur his vision and understands that buying into Super Aguri, with the need to turn it into a constructor within two years, is not going to be an investment that can be justified from a financial point of view - unless Mario uses the team to promote some other product such as his franchise line of video games.

A deal now needs to be struck very quickly if Super Aguri is going to be in a position to guarantee its involvement in 2008.

We have also heard stories that Super Aguri has some more problems with Kingfisher Curries Team (aka Force India). Super Aguri seems to have owed some money to Kingfisher Curries (it is not clear why) and although this was due in October, it was not paid. The Kingfisher Curries team thus got a summary judgement before Christmas, the court ordering that the payment be made on December 29. Until the money is paid, therefore, Kingfisher Curries has first claim to an unknown percentage of Super Aguri shares.

Renault loves the environment too

Not to be outdone by Honda F1, Renault have announced today that they have also picked up new title sponsor Mother Nature and gone with the eco-themed livery. However, unlike Honda, Flavio has worked out a deal with all existing sponsorship on the car which allows the team to run coexisting sponsorship on the vehicle.

Public spokesperson at Renault F1 was quoted saying, "We can be just as 'green' as Honda, and we've found a way to promote eco-friendliness without compromising our advertising revenues. In fact, we've been doing the eco-theme since 2002 so I guess some could say we're the original pioneers of the 'Earth Dream'..."


Who will be next to jump on the eco-bandwagon? Rumor in the paddock is that Red Bull is currently leading the charge in development of alternative energy engines in preparations for the rule changes of 2009. Here's what it might look like...

Honda's return to form?

Today Honda revealed their new car and with it, a new strategy for the beleaguered team.

After last years poor performance, visually with their atrocious livery, and on the track with their staggeringly poor performance, the Honda team decided it was time for a complete revamp. Honda has one of the biggest budgets in F1, but has seen little success in return. Last season, the Honda team had been embarrassed by the comparative success of their B-team Super Aguri... along with just about every other team, big and small. With Brawn behind the proverbial wheel, however, Honda is bound to become a force with which to be reckoned.

"We have decided to follow the lead of McLaren and simply copy Ferrari." said new team principal Ross Brawn, "But since my expertise pertains to the older Ferraris, the team has deemed it most efficient to copy the F2002."

"As for that terrible livery last year," continued Brawn, "Honda has given up on obtaining sponsorship and has copied Ferrari's in the hope they will eventually pay us."

Elsewhere around the paddock, former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello seems most pleased with the new Honda effort.

"It feel good to be in a car I'm so familiar with. I believe this to be the right approach for our team. However, my bigger concern is the team's decision to copy Vettal's haircut. We look like a freakish German chia pets." said Barrichello after testing.

Stephney gets a fresh start

Ex-Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stephney has announced that he has taken a role of "Director of Race Technologies" in Gigawave Ltd. following the spy scandal in Formula 1.

Gigawave Ltd. are manufacturers of on-board cameras for various motorsporting categories and also intend on running an Aston Martin Vantage GT2 for the 2008 FIA GT championship.

The press release read: "We are excited to have Nigel on board and are well aware of his capabilities in other categories of motor racing. We hope he exceeds our expectations and brings more than the promised 780 pages of documentation of our main rival, the Ferrari F430 GT2."

Whitmarsh happy with productive start

With more rain falling at the circuit in southern Spain today, wet track conditions meant that, on top of the continuing development programme, the McLaren team took the opportunity to look into improving engine drivability and car handling with wet settings.


In addition the MP4-23 has been running with the new FIA ECU codes and development of this was also a focus.

Lewis Hamilton had a couple of minor off track excursions during the day due to an unexpected ECU reboot. His car was not damaged and he was able to complete the test plan for the day, with the second fastest time.


Heikki Kovalainen was sixth fastest in the second MP4-23.

Martin Whitmarsh
"We have now completed six full track days with two MP4-23’s and already clocked up approximately 4193km’s on our 2008 challenger, 1,000kms of which were covered last year by Ferrari alone, and we are only halfway through the third week in January."

"It has been an immensely productive start to our pre-season test programme and is a strong motivation for the team to keep pushing. Although it is far too early in the development stage of the car to be predicting how competitive it will be, last year's feedback from Kimi, Massa, and the team has been positive and we have a huge amount of Ferrari's data on which to base the continuing development programme around."

Mad Max confirms budget cap?

Rumor has it that Max Mosley has confirmed that a budget cap is to be introduced in Formula One starting from 2009.

In related news, Jean Todt has crossed Max off his Christmas card list.

Is there equality in the Renault camp?

On the subject of equal driver status, Nelsinho had this to say about his new role as a race driver in the Renault F1 team: "In Formula One there is no number one and number two. Both the cars are equal and here it will be the same way,"

However he seems to have forgotten what team principal Flavor Flav said last year when trying to lure back double world champion Alonso: "It's important that the roles, number one and two, are clear, otherwise you risk to destabilise the team. If you hire a World Champion, then you must give him the number one status."

Lets see how things play out in the upcoming season...

Glock puts Toyota top at Jerez

Toyota new boy Timo Glock ended the first major test of 2008 on top of the timesheet on a rain-interrupted day at Jerez.

The German driver set a best time in the new TF108 of 1m19.779s after a 96 lap run to outpace Black Jesus in the McFerrari MP4-23 by three tenths of a second.

Drivers were confronted with a damp track at the start of the session after overnight rain and Glock showed how tricky the conditions were by spinning into the gravel just before lunch.

But as the Spanish circuit dried in the afternoon, Glock racked up the miles to end the test on a promising note for the under-pressure Japanese squad.

“I am pleased with our progress today and I believe we have made some significant improvements to the new car, including ditching Ralf and running with 2 pints of fuel.” Glock said.

“It is encouraging to see us end the day with the fastest lap and I think we made a step forward.

“Once again the car was extremely reliable and that allowed us to complete 3 hot laps and gather plenty of information.

“This is a completely different car compared to the TF107, as we copied McLaren's copy of Ferrari instead of Ferrari directly, but it is a good step forward and we know what we need to work on to improve.”

Fernando Alonso slipped back to third on his second day back in a Renault, but continued to acclimatise himself to driving without traction control after almost three months away from the track.

Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais was a strong fourth fastest, a tenth of a second clear of the first Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

The Scuderia continued to find out more about its new F2008 car, with world champion drinker Kimi Raikkonen back in eighth.

Heikki Kovalainen was sixth in the second McLaren to end the test ahead of Toyota tester Kamui Kobayashi, Raikkonen and Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima.

Red Bull unveiled its brand new RB4 car in the Jerez pit lane at the start of the day and David Coulthard completed 54 laps in it as the team gave the car its first run out.

And although team-mate Mark Webber finished ahead of it on the times in last year’s RB3, the man behind the latest design was pleased with the maiden shakedown.

“Today was all about giving the new car a good shakedown and getting some miles on it,” Adrian Newey said.

“Now we hope to settle down to proper performance testing, starting in Valencia next week.

“The car's potential? Far too small to say!"

Sebastian Vettel finished bottom of the order and over four seconds off his team-mate Bourdais’ pace after spinning out with an hour of the session still remaining.

Meanwhile further north in Valencia, BMW was unable to carry out any meaningful running with its F1.08 sailnose design as strong winds swept around the circuit all day.

This left Robert Kubica to carry out systems checks over long runs. Nick Heidfeld will take over in the car tomorrow.

Testing times from Jerez (January 16)

1. GLOCK Toyota 1m19.799s*
2. BLACK JESUS McLaren 1m20.099s*
3. EMONSO Renault 1m20.363s
4. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m20.407s
5. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.500s*
6. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m20.535s*
7. KOBAYASHI Toyota 1m20.577s
8. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m20.646s*
9. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m20.758s
10. SUTIL Force India 1m21.705s
11. WEBBER Red Bull 1m22.275s
12. THEJAW Red Bull 1m22.581s*
13. HULKENBERG Williams 1m24.023s
14. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m24.873s

* 2008 car

TF108 Aims For The Stars

Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina words of praise for the new challenger should give Toyota F1 drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock some confidence for the upcoming season: "We expect to have a truly competitive car so our drivers should be aiming to finish in the points regularly and challenging for the podium."

And let's look back at what has been said about previous Toyota F1 cars:
(2007) "I’m very, very positive about this, and I personally think we should attack from round one." - 6th place in the Constructors

(2006) "We enjoyed such a successful year in 2005 and I am sure this trend will continue." - 6th place in the Constructors

(2005) "I now feel that we are in a much stronger position compared to our rivals given the number of regulation changes that we have had to take into consideration for 2005." - 4th place in the Constructors

(2004) "On occasions in 2003, we showed what Toyota is capable of. Our race result in Hockenheim and our top three qualifying performances in Indianapolis and Suzuka proved that we could do the job. In 2004, we have to use these achievements as a springboard, to focus on reliability and get the results we deserve. That means plenty of points and a constant progression during the year." - 8th place in the Constructors

(2003) "All the basic ingredients are in place for the team to make a big jump up the grid in 2003" - 8th place in the Constructors

Good luck Toyota... on achieving yet another sub-par performance with the biggest budget on the grid.

Renault R28 does not like MES ECUs

Initial reports from testing are showing that the R28 is having difficulties with the MES-supplied ECUs.

Senior engineer Bob Bell was less than impressed with the mandatory ECU for 2008: "We haven't figured out where the fuck to plug the ECU into, and every time we try to put it anywhere, the R28 protests violently."

Re-acquired Renault driver Fernando Alonso tests the new R28 at an undisclosed location