Alfa Romeo’s Kubica fastest as F1 preseason testing resumes

Associated PressFeb 26, 2020, 6:00 PM EST
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MONTMELO, Spain — Reserve Alfa Romeo driver Robert Kubica was fastest as Formula One preseason testing resumed Wednesday at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit.

Kubica had a time of 1 minute, 16.942 seconds in the morning session, becoming the first driver other than Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to go faster than 1:17.000 this year.

“It has been a positive morning in the car for me,” Kubica said. “Times don’t matter … what really counts is finishing the day having completed your testing program, and we did that.”

Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen had led one of the tests sessions last week.

Mercedes continued to show good reliability, with Hamilton’s 89 laps being the most among all 10 drivers who went to the track in the morning. The defending champion was fourth-fastest, while Bottas finished ninth after 90 laps in the afternoon.

“It’s been a good session and a good start to the second week of testing,” Hamilton said. “The car didn’t quite feel as good as the first week, but I’m sure that will change as the test progresses and the track conditions improve.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had the second-fastest time on Wednesday, four tenths of a second behind Kubica while using a slower tire compound. Sergio Perez was third with Racing Point, which also showed good pace last week.

Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri was second in the morning and ended fifth for the day, behind teammate Daniil Kvyat.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel was 10th after running 84 laps in the morning. Teammate Charles Leclerc finished 13th after 80 laps in the afternoon. Vettel caused the first red flag of the day after running wide.

Kubica also spun out early in the morning session, while Verstappen was among those to spin in the afternoon. One of Verstappen’s spins forced the late session to be cut short.

“We won’t know how good we are until we get to Melbourne (for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix),” Verstappen said. “Testing isn’t about setting lap times but trying new and different things. I stopped on track just before the end of the session but we’re not concerned and overall it was a positive day.”

Red Bull’s day was affected by some suspension issues, while Renault and Williams also were held back by problems.

Romain Grosjean drove both sessions for Haas, racking up 107 laps, the most of any driver.

Mercedes was dominant on the first three days of testing last week, setting the fastest times and running the most laps – 494. Bottas led the time charts with a lap of 1:15.732 seconds.

Mercedes also attracted attention last week by introducing a novel steering system in which drivers pull the steering wheel back and forth to adjust the angle of the front wheels on straights.

Some teams on Wednesday tested the prototype Pirelli tire which was being developed specifically for the banked corners that drivers will encounter at the Zandvoort track that will host the return of the Dutch GP in May.

The season begins with the Australian GP on March 15. It is the last before new regulations are put into place in 2021 to try to provide a more level playing field.

Preseason testing has been reduced from eight to six days to help compensate for the record 22 races on the calendar, including a new Vietnam GP and the Dutch GP. Midseason testing also has been eliminated.

The Barcelona-Catalunya track will host the Spanish GP on May 10.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”