Engine Start.... The V8's Are Back!

February 1st, 2011 is a day to behold.  There were team launches, and pre-season testing. 

As the sun rose over the paddock in Valencia, pit garage doors were slowly opened to reveal only what could be a blanketed formula one car. First to launch was Sauber with Kobayashi and one of the new kids, Perez. Sitting there mid track was a grey mass. The new Sauber C30. All the pictures found online for the Sauber launch shows teeth as white as the car he was launching from Sergio Perez. 


Shortly there after was a trio of launches. Defending Constructor's Title holder Red Bull racing, also known as the play boys of the paddock.  RBR maintained their two drivers, Vettel and Webber for the 2011 season. Willing to let them duke it out again for Driver Title.  Fans delighted at the chance to see the RB7's cover be removed.


Mercedes also launched their W02 in the paddock prior to the begin of testing.  A pair of German's unveiled the German manufacturer's car.  Seems like a team that will push themselves to the limit to gain glory and success at nearly any cost.  Between simulator sickness and fighting the media on his failed to many (but not to me) comeback, Michael Schumacher has a lot that he wants to prove.

Testing came right after the launches and the cars looked good.  Well most of them as Ferrari had stopped on track before the red flag fell. Final test times as follows.





F1 Testing Day One: Circuito Ricardo Tormo. Final Times.

1.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	01:13.769	93
2.	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India F1	01:13.938	71
3.	Gary Paffett	McLaren	01:14.292	91
4.	Paul di Resta	Force India F1	01:14.461	28
5.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	01:14.553	97
6.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	01:15.621	68
7.	Jerome d` Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	01:16.003	69
8.	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	01:16.351	28
9.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	01:16.450	15
10.	Jaime Alguersuari	Scuderia Toro Rosso	01:17.214	20
11.	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	01:17.335	78
12.	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT F1 Team	01:18.020	45
13.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	01:19.930	9