Formula One teams have committed to the sport for the next three years after they agreed to put pen to paper and sign a new Concorde Agreement.

The agreement, the commercial protocol which teams enter into in exchange for a share of the sport’s revenues, comes after a period of deadlock because of previous grievances with the FIA.

The last agreement expired at the end of 2007; however, since the formation of the Formula One Teams’ Association - FOTA - last summer, organisation members have worked hard to put aside past differences and find common ground for the future.

Luca di Montezemolo, chairman of FOTA, has also provided a clear undertaking that the present manufacturers - Ferrari, Mercedes, Toyota, BMW and Renault - will remain in the sport for the same period.

Speaking at the announcement of FOTA’s ‘roadmap’ for the future of F1 on Thursday, Di Montezemolo had no written guarantees from the five car giants.

However, his tone was firm, suggesting no repeat of the situation that befell Honda in early December when they opted to withdraw from the sport due to the global economic crisis.

Beyond 2012, though, is unclear, in particular after it was put to Di Montezemolo that perhaps FOTA existed in order to one day take control of F1 from Bernie Ecclestone, who controls the sport’s commercial rights on behalf of partners CVC.

Although Di Montezemolo conceded talks were ongoing with regard to the teams gaining a larger slice of revenue, he was non-committal when it came to talking about a potential takeover.

“We have discussed the problems regarding revenues,” he confirmed.

“The dialogue is very open, and between now and 2012 there are a lot of things that can be improved in terms of increasing revenues.

“Bernie has done a fantastic job in developing Formula One until now, and we are committed through to 2012, and then we will see.”

Following yesterday’s rain, it was back to sunnier weather for Panasonic Toyota Racing and the seven other teams in action at Jerez today. The showers continued until shortly before the start of testing but the sun appeared soon afterwards.

The tarmac took two hours to dry out but after that there was dry running for the rest of the day. Timo Glock spent the morning putting in a race simulation in the TF109. He completed the run without any problems in the changing conditions before moving on to set-up work, setting the day’s fastest lap during a late qualifying simulation. Jarno Trulli is scheduled to take over for the next two days.

Timo Glock - Chassis TF109-03 Best lap time: 1min 19.814s Position: 1st out of 8 Total laps: 142

“That was a productive day. This morning we were again a bit unlucky with the conditions, which made the race simulation quite tough. But it was useful to find out when to change to slick tyres and our pace wasn’t bad. Then we got some dry running for the rest of the day.

We did a lot of set-up work and late on we did some shorter runs to make it through the programme. We’ve made it through a lot of miles over these two days and we’re making useful progress.”

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis

“This morning’s race simulation went very well. We just had to manage very transient weather and track conditions which brought us from full wet conditions at the beginning to slicks in the course of our race. Still, we went from wet tyres to slicks at exactly the right time and Timo made it through without major difficulty.

All in all it was fun, interesting and valuable mileage for the car in realistic race conditions. Because we were ahead with our schedule we spent the afternoon doing some set-up work.”

Location: Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Driver: Timo Glock
Track length: 4.423km

Adrian Sutil continued the Force India Formula One Team’s strong testing form on the third day of the four day test at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain. Today was Adrian’s first full day with the new car following its initial shakedown last week in Silverstone. The German completed 63 laps and was a promising fifth quickest of the eight man field.

With drier weather finally arriving over the Andalusian track, the team was able to complete some set-up work, tyre comparison and also evaluate some test items, including the ’shark’s fin’ engine cover used from the mid point of last year. A driveshaft issue at the end of the morning led to some downtime, however progress resumed in the afternoon with Adrian completing short and mid-length runs.

Adrian will bring the test to a conclusion tomorrow.

Adrian Sutil

I think today was a good day. It was important to get into the car again and to get confident. The car was OK; there is definitely potential, and we were able to do more mileage and find some reliability in the afternoon. In the morning we had a little problem but we could fix it over lunch and start to do our programme.

The tyres dominate a lot and the different compounds react differently: you have to find a good set up and get them to work and that is where we are concentrated now. We had some instability on the rear and oversteer, but we will see tomorrow. We are at least more reliable and can try and get some real mileage on the car now.

James Key, technical director

Adrian took over from Giancarlo today, really the first time he had driven the car in anger following the shakedown last week. As a result it was a learning experience for both him and us in many respects.

We also had some test items that we will continue to evaluate tomorrow. Every run we are learning something new, and if it’s as productive tomorrow as it was this afternoon we should be in for a very good day.

Testing data
Driver: Adrian Sutil
Track: Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Best lap time: 1min 20.621
Laps completed: 63
Kilometres completed 279km
Air temperature: High of 21C
Track temperature: High of 23C
Weather: Sunny periods, some rain in the morning

ING Renault F1 Team continues testing in Jerez with Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso, R29-03, 152 laps, 673 km, fastest lap 1:20.296

The ING Renault F1 Team enjoyed a productive day in Jerez as Fernando Alonso completed a mammoth 152 laps en route to setting the third fastest time of the day.

With yesterday’s session being washed out by heavy rain showers, the team was keen to make the most of the dry and sunny conditions today. Initially the track was damp, but by mid-morning conditions had improved enough to allow Fernando to get down to some valuable set-up work on slick tyres. The team also evaluated some new developments while continuing to add mileage to the car.

Fernando remains in the R29 tomorrow for the team’s final day of testing this week.

Fernando Alonso: “Today was a very productive day as I managed to complete 152 laps which gave us lots of useful data. At this stage of the season it’s important to have as much time in the car as possible to get used to the new rules such as the moveable wings and the KERS system and so I’m happy to have done so much today.

Everyday we keep learning new things and I’m feeling more and more comfortable in the car. Hopefully tomorrow we can have another dry day to build on the work we did today.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “The circuit was a bit wet to start off with and so we used the damp conditions just to put some miles on the car. Fortunately the circuit dried out by the middle of the morning which allowed us to get on and do some good work to make up for some of the ground we lost in the wet yesterday.

The car behaved very well and overall we’re pleased with the results as we managed to achieve our objectives for the day.”

The British-based F1 teams, including Red Bull Racing, must be thinking it’s time to return to “the good old days” and carry out winter testing at Silverstone. While England basked in unseasonably warm and sunny weather, Jerez circuit was hit by heavy and continuous rain.

The original plan had been for the team to carry out development testing of RB5 in the morning, before tackling a race simulation in the afternoon.

The wet track saw the morning programme replaced with a run through of pit lane procedures and pit stops, which proved very useful as this was the first time with the new car, that the pit crew due to be in action in Melbourne have worked through all the pit stop permutations together.

In the afternoon, Sebastian successfully completed the race distance.

Tomorrow, Mark Webber takes over behind the wheel, for the remaining three days of this five day session.

Driver: Sebastian Vettel
Car: RB5 – 02
Laps: 102
Best time: 1:32.220
Circuit length: 4.423 km
Fastest lap: T. Glock – 1:30.979

The weather hampered proceedings as Panasonic Toyota Racing continued this week’s test at Jerez. After a largely clear session of running yesterday, the heavens opened before the start of Monday’s action and the rain persisted for the whole of the day.

With temperatures only just making it into double figures it was a cool day’s work for Timo Glock. But the unusually consistent wet track conditions made it possible to run through a full program of wet weather work. Timo set the day’s fastest time and he will return to the cockpit tomorrow.

Timo Glock - Chassis TF109-03
Best lap time: 1min 30.979s
Position: 1st out of 7
Total laps: 89

“It tends to be difficult to carry out meaningful testing when there is so much rain. The conditions made things tricky again today but at least it stayed consistently wet so we were able to go through some work on set-up and tyres. It also gave me a chance to get used to pushing the TF109 in these conditions and we put more mileage on the car. It felt good again, just like in Portugal last month, so I’m happy with the day.”

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis

“Wet weather usually makes it hard to carry out comparative testing but today was a very interesting day because the track stayed consistently wet throughout the sessions. That allowed us to do some useful work on set-up and tyres so we made the most out of the running time. The TF109 continues to be reliable and we were able to carry out a full day’s work, collecting some helpful data.”

Location: Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Driver: Timo Glock
Track length: 4.423km

With the day washed out by heavy rain, the team’s programme was necessarily limited by the poor conditions. Heikki Kovalainen, who unfortunately seems to bring the wet weather with him whenever he tests MP4-24, spent the day evaluating different brakes and set-ups.

The rain allowed the team to sample Bridgestone’s new-compound wet (inter) tyre, but offered limited insight into its performance as the persistent rain meant the day was spent largely running on extremes. The team also spent time assessing optimum KERS deployment in the wet conditions, which proved highly productive.

river for day two Heikki Kovalainen

Duration of test Five days (March 1-5)

Driver Heikki Kovalainen
Location Circuito de Jerez
Track length 4.423km
Weather Cold and persistently wet. Maximum track temp 16.7°C; maximum ambient temp 12.9°C
Laps completed 91
Kilometres covered 402km
Best laptime 1m33.371 at 13:08

ING Renault F1 Team and Nelson Piquet begin testing in Jerez

Nelson Piquet, R29-03, 52 laps, 230 km, fastest lap 1:22.011

The ING Renault F1 Team was back in action today to begin the first of four days testing at the Jerez circuit in the south of Spain.

The team’s Brazilian race driver, Nelson Piquet, was behind the wheel of the R29 as the team continued with its development program. Conditions were cool and overcast with a light rain shower hitting the circuit after lunch, but overall the track remained dry for most of the day.

Despite losing track time with some technical issues, Nelson began evaluating new development items and worked on various set-up options, completing a total of 52 laps by the end of the day.

Nelson remains in the car for a second day of work tomorrow before Fernando joins the team for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Nelson Piquet: “We had a few issues with the car today which limited our mileage, but we still managed to evaluate some of the new parts we brought to this test. The track was improving throughout the day as we had a lot of cars running and so it should get better and better throughout the week. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the priority is to get more miles under our belt – the weather should be similar so hopefully we will get another dry day.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “It was quite a difficult day with limited mileage due to some small problems that we had on the car. As a result we didn’t get as much set-up work done as we would have liked, but the engineers still have some interesting data that they will go through this evening. The priority for the rest of the week is to continue adding mileage to the car and continuing with our set-up work.”

Giancarlo Fisichella says he was pleasantly ’surprised’ by his first impressions of Force India’s new VJM02 after its debut run at Jerez in Spain on Sunday.

This season will be your 14th in the championship. Are you still excited to be in F1? What keeps your motivation going?

It’s not a difficult question to answer - I still love this job, I like driving F1 cars and I am passionate about motorsport. Plus I am very confident in this new car and with the new partnership with McLaren and Mercedes. It is a very exciting opportunity for the team, and that in itself is enough to keep me motivated. Our car is ready quite late relative to the others, and I am looking forward to getting my hands on it. I want to drive the car as soon as possible.

What have you been doing over the winter?

I had some rest and obviously sent a lot of time with my family. I went to Kenya for the New Year, did a bit of skiing, but also a lot of training for this year. It has been a good break but quite long, after so many days out of the car I really want to get back in!

With a completely new set of regulations, is this interesting for you as a very experienced driver?

I think this year is maybe the biggest change for many years, with KERS, slick tyres, downforce and new aero rules, so it’s very exciting. It would be good to see all the teams mixed up and to be able to fight for points. If the car is good, why not even for the podium?

You’re one of the few drivers in the field who’ve raced on slicks. Do you think this will give you an advantage?

I don’t think so, to be honest. First of all, I drove with them back in 1997 and they were completely different compounds used with completely different cars and engines. In the 12 years since then the cars and the tyres have evolved so much you can’t really compare the two periods. I don’t think there will be much of an advantage having driven on them before.

What will be the biggest challenge for you out of the new regulations?

KERS. It’s a very complicated system that gives at least 60 - 70 horsepower for around six seconds. It could be for us to get the strategy right. It’s also a big challenge for every team to make sure it’s ready at the first race.

And within Force India there have been some changes in the team this year. Are you hopeful this will aid performance?

It’s positive for sure. With Ferrari last year we had a good partnership, they were very professional and the engine was very good, but with McLaren and Mercedes we have a fantastic opportunity to integrate the whole engine, gearbox, hydraulics and KERS system.

The VJM02 is only making its official debut on 1st March - is this a big disadvantage?

It is a disadvantage as it’s important to drive as much as you can before the start of the year to get a feeling with the car and try and establish a good set-up. It’s not easy in just four days, especially with the new rules coming in this year. We are just going to have to try and get as much as we can from these eight days before the season.

Without in-season testing, does this mean there will be a greater onus on Grands Prix Fridays now, especially for Force India with the limited pre-season testing?

I think so. We will try and do as much running as possible, but the problem is that we are limited on the number of engines this year, so you have to balance out putting in miles and keeping the engines.

You’re paired with Adrian for another season. How do you work together?

We work well together, he is a nice guy and very quick. He is focussed even though obviously last year we were struggling as the car was not quick enough. We did our best and in a few races we could have scored points. We will work on this direction together.

Are there any races you’re particularly looking forward to this season?

It’s always nice to discover a new country and city so Abu Dhabi will be good. Anywhere where the driver gets a chance to shine, for example Monte Carlo, which is one of my favourites, is also exciting, and Singapore was great last year. I think this year the first races will be good as for the first time no one really knows what will happen. Also I really like Australia as I won there, so I have great memories.

Can Force India surprise the grid this year?

I hope so, for sure it will be better than last year!

Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi clocked the fastest time in Formula One testing in Jerez, ahead of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull and Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg.

Buemi was markedly faster than the other drivers in a 104-lap spell, managing 1min 19.660sec, to Vettel’s 1:22.177 from 61 laps and Hulkenberg’s 1:22.443 from 82.

Tests continue until Friday with world champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Renault’s two-time former world champion Fernando Alonso set to be in action on Thursday and Friday.

Bahrain also had tests and Toyota driver Timo Glock was fastest, clocking 1:33.501 from 82 laps.

Best times at Jerez:

Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso/SUI) 1:19.660 (104 laps)
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull/GER) 1:22.177 (61)
Nico Hulkenberg (Williams/GER) 1:22.443 (82)
Heikki Kovalainen (Mclaren/FIN) 1:22.634 (60)
Nelson Piquet Jr (Renault/BRA) 1:23.313 (35)

Best times in Bahrain:
Timo Glock (GER/Toyota) 1:33.501 (82)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1:33.615 (98)
Robert Kubica (POL/Sauber) 1:33.702 (95)