While the smiles in the Lotus pits are obvious at Jerez, the same cannot be said of ‘grandee’ outfits Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton had his first try of the MP4-27 on Thursday and said the new McLaren felt “pretty good”.<\/p>\n
“My initial feelings are pretty positive,” he added.\u00a0 “The car feels reasonably quick.”<\/p>\n
But with every other 2012 car featuring a radical ‘step’ in its front nose, some reports believe McLaren may have missed a trick by opting for a conservative solution.<\/p>\n
“It is not a trick or a loophole that we did not spot,” said McLaren’s technical director Paddy Lowe.<\/p>\n
“Some people have some interesting ideas around the use of that step, and we are looking with interest at all of that stuff,” he told the Mirror.<\/p>\n
Actually, the McLaren was not far off the pace of Sebastian Vettel’s new Red Bull, but the pair were a long way from Romain Grosjean’s impressive Lotus E20, and the 2011 Mercedes driven by Nico Rosberg.<\/p>\n
Vettel, also getting his first taste of his 2012 machinery on Thursday, admitted there are “question marks” about all of F1’s regular pacesetters.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, “We are where we want to be,” the reigning world champion smiled.\u00a0 “It feels fine and as we expected.”<\/p>\n
Agreed team owner Dietrich Mateschitz on a rare paddock visit: “It looks quite good but anything else would have been a surprise as the car is a development.”<\/p>\n
Much more worried is Ferrari, after the aggressive 2012 Ferrari on Thursday looked no more impressive in Fernando Alonso’s hands than it had under Felipe Massa’s control earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Britain’s Daily Mail said the F2012 is “ugly in more ways than one”.<\/p>\n
“I can only say that it is going to take a lot of analysis to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together,” said Ferrari’s British technical director Pat Fry.<\/p>\n
“I am not happy with where we are at the moment.”<\/p>\n
Arguably even less happy on Thursday were Force India’s Jules Bianchi and Nico Hulkenberg, after the French test driver crashed the new VJM05 before setting a laptime.<\/p>\n
There were not enough parts to repair the car and so Hulkenberg’s scheduled track debut was postponed.<\/p>\n
“I’m very sorry,” said Bianchi, “because my mistake has cost the team a lot of time and effort.”<\/p>\n
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