If Red Bull has wings, McLaren has horns… Juan-Pablo Montoya set the pace at Jerez on Wednesday after McLaren-Mercedes fitted radical horn-shaped winglets to his MP4-20.
If Red Bull has wings, McLaren has horns… Juan-Pablo Montoya set the pace at Jerez on Wednesday after McLaren-Mercedes fitted radical horn-shaped wingslets to his MP4-20.
The Colombian was half a second quicker than his replacement at Williams-BMW, Nick Heidfeld. The pair of wings on the air box of the McLaren is yet another innovation in a string of aerodynamic tricks teams have come up with during the off season, including Ferrari’s lower front wing addition, the two-storey Sauber front wing, and Jordan’s newly-displayed sidepod wing pair.
The timesheets proved that new regulations – supposed to make Formula One cars a lot slower in 2005 – were not really working. The only drivers testing with a 2004 car were Luca Badoer (Ferrari) and Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren) – both drivers were not as quick as their team-mates in 2005-specification cars.
Testing was stopped numerous times due to red flags caused by drivers spinning off. Ricardo Zonta (Toyota), Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso (both Renault) and Jarno Trulli had to stop with car trouble.
And for the second day running, Japan’s Takuma Sato crashed at the Jerez track during testing. Following Tuesday’s rear wing failure and a visit to the medical centre, it’s understood that the BAR driver – who also had a morning gearbox failure – experienced an as-yet-unknown technical problem.
Heidfeld’s team-mate, Mark Webber, spent more time in the garage than on the track, and completed only 31 laps. The Australian had a technical problem in the morning and went off the track in the afternoon, ruining most of his day.
Jerez timesheets
1. J.P. Montoya – McLaren Mercedes MP4-20 – 1:16,774 – 98 laps
2. N. Heidfeld – BMW Williams FW27 – 1:17,345 – 0,571 – 115 laps
3. F. Massa – Sauber Petronas C24 – 1:17,399 – 0,625 – 98 laps
4. R. Barrichello – Ferrari F2004M – 1:17,433 – 0,659 – 68 laps
5. G. Fisichella – Renault R25 – 1:17,505 – 0,731 – 56 laps
6. C. Klien – Red Bull Racing RB1 – 1:17,571 – 0,797 – 105 laps
7. F. Alonso – Renault R25 – 1:17,600 – 0,826 – 27 laps
8. R. Zonta – Toyota TF105 – 1:17,687 – 0,913 – 71 laps
9. D. Coulthard – Red Bull Racing RB1 – 1:17,911 – 1,137 – 80 laps
10. M. Webber – BMW Williams FW27 – 1:17,913 – 1,139 – 31 laps
11. P. de la Rosa – McLaren Mercedes MP4-20 – 1:17,959 – 1,185 – 88 laps
12. A. Davidson – BAR Honda 006 – 1:18,238 – 1,464 – 154 laps
13. J. Villeneuve – Sauber Petronas C24 – 1:18,598 – 1,824 – 95 laps
14. L. Badoer – Ferrari F2004M – 1:18,616 – 1,842 – 69 laps
15. J. Trulli – Toyota TF105 – 1:19,022 – 2,248 – 87 laps
16. T. Sato – BAR Honda 007 – 1:20,050 – 3,276 – 12 laps