This Weeks Testing At The Paul Ricard Circuit

In this modern age of motor sport there truly is no rest for the stars of the show. Today all remaining ten Formula One teams (Super Aguri having dropped out) are descending on the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France in order to begin testing for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Although the last round of the championship in Turkey finished a mere seventy-two hours ago, the relentless pace at which the technology of this sport develops and the desperation all the teams have to gain any advantage over the rest of the paddock saw the teams begin testing this morning.

It is likely that the next few days of testing will be a somewhat star-studded affair, with several of the bigger teams, Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes included, keen to keep their race drivers at the wheel rather than deploy their test drivers. This move has been taken largely to keep the drivers at their peak in the run-up to Monaco, arguably the most testing circuit the drivers face all season.

Lewis Hamilton is expected to test for McLaren for the next two or three days whilst the Paul Ricard circuit is configured to simulate the tight street conditions of Monaco. Towards the end of the week it is likely that test driver Pedro de La Rosa will resume his usual testing duties when the track is re-arranged to resemble the high-speed, hard braking layout of Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal on Friday.

Reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen is expected to spearhead Ferrari’s testing programme, Nelson Piquet Junior likewise for Renault, whilst both Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld are expected to get plenty of time behind the wheel over the course of the week.
However, despite all the big names on show it is likely to be Toro Ross which attract the most attention. The sister team of Red Bull Racing have been putting the finishing touches to their new STR3 car for the last few weeks and ready to debut it in Monaco. The team had intended to unveil the new car in Istanbul, but instead opted to give the STR2 model a final swansong in Turkey. This week will see the drivers’ first laps in the new cars, no doubt the team will be hoping for a turn around in their fortunes in eleven days time in Monte Carlo when the STR3 makes its competitive debut.