Barcelona I, day 3: Team and driver quotes

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat

“A bit of a frustrating morning for me today because we lost some valuable track time due to a drivetrain issue. It’s a shame for myself and the team, because we should be using the time to add laps to our tally… But, on a positive note, when the car is running it feels good and there’s always something positive found by the engineers and myself. My feeling with the car is also improving lap after lap. We just need to keep our heads down and continue to work as hard as we are already doing.”

Carlos Sainz
“How annoying to have to finish the session early! Doing only half a day today, we were looking to maximize it, get into a good rhythm and add plenty of mileage to the car. Unfortunately, we suffered a drivetrain failure half way through the afternoon, which meant we had to stop and not run any more today. It’s frustrating, but this is what happens sometimes during testing. We need to stay positive and make a big push tomorrow and during next week’s test.”

Jody Egginton (Head of Vehicle Performance):

“A frustrating day as we were not able to complete our planned run programme. We started the morning with Daniil assessing some overnight changes and, subsequently, some further tyre and general set-up related tests. These yielded some useful data but, due to an issue with the drivetrain, we had to stop and as such were not able to complete the run plan. Carlos took over driving duties in the afternoon, picking up a few of the outstanding test items but also working on some control system test items. His running progressed well and we were at the point of moving to the soft compound when we suffered another more serious drivetrain issue, which resulted in the car stopping on track and our day ending early. The issues today, combined with not having had a perfect day 1 and day 2, leaves us with a lot of ground to cover between now and the end of the next test and we will need to adapt the remaining running to achieve our primary objectives before Australia. However, we are up for the challenge and feel confident that there is a lot of potential in the STR12; we just have to remain focused in the remaining test we have and we will unlock it.”

Sauber

The Sauber F1 Team had a positive third day of testing with an intensive programme for Marcus Ericsson. The Swede was able to complete 126 laps overall – making him the second busiest driver in terms of the amount of laps today. The Sauber F1 Team continued its extensive analysis of the Sauber C36-Ferrari by continuing with aero tests, set-up work and comparing different tyre compounds as well as focusing on short and long runs.

Marcus Ericsson:

“It was a very positive day. We had a trouble-free day in which I managed to run 126 laps overall. It was very important that we could work through the planned programme without having issues with the car. I tested several tyre compounds today, and it was interesting to compare them on different stint lengths – on short as well as long runs. We had an intensive programme today, during which we learned a lot. We have loads of data to analyse in order to get a better understanding of the car.”

What comes next:

Tomorrow, the final test day of this week, Antonio Giovinazzi will again be behind the wheel of the Sauber C36-Ferrari.

Renault F1

Jolyon Palmer and Nico Hülkenberg were both on duty today in the R.S.17 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Jolyon drove the morning session, completing 51 laps with a best time of 1min 21.396secs, the then third-fastest time. Nico drove in the afternoon, completing 42 laps with a best lap time of 1min 21.791secs, the fifth fastest of the day. Both drivers will be in action again tomorrow.

Interruptions: Removal of gravel from car, removal of aero-rake, bodywork fettling.

What’s Next?

The fourth and final day of the first test will see a wet track with Nico in action in the morning, Jolyon in action in the afternoon.

Jolyon Palmer:

“It wasn’t a perfect start on cold tyres first thing, but other than that we’ve made some really good progress throughout the week in terms of set-up. I feel happy with where we are as it feels like we’re making steps forward every time we go out. The car seems straight-forward to understand for the engineers and drivers, so that makes progress and development much easier than otherwise. I completed 51 laps this morning which is satisfying and we’re constantly learning. I think that’s showing in the performance.”

Nico Hülkenberg:

“It’s a positive that we could complete more laps today. My time in the afternoon was slightly limited with some minor issues, but they were a valuable 42 laps and with some quality work done. We are constantly improving our understanding of the car and I learnt a few bits and bobs myself. Tomorrow we’ll run on a wet track, which will be interesting. I’m open-minded with what to expect. It’s going to be interesting in the morning with a wet track and pretty cool conditions; it could be fun, I’m interested to see what it’s like.”

Alan Permane, Sporting Director:

“We had productive day with both drivers in the car and we’ve seen good feedback regarding every element assessed. The team has made strong progress with the set-up and managed a decent amount of long runs to assist with our data collection and understanding. We used Pirelli’s soft tyre properly for the first time and it offers a decent chunk of pace over the medium compound. We’re very happy with what we’ve seen today in terms of downforce and tyre usage so we have a good baseline to work from for next week’s test.”

Red Bull Racing

Daniel Ricciardo returned to the cockpit of the RB13 today for the third day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. While the Australian racer had a productive morning, completing 48 laps of the circuit as the team conducted aerodynamic tests, the afternoon session was more difficult, as an exhaust issue meant the team was only able to boost the day’s total by a further 22 laps. Despite the problems, Daniel’s work in the morning yielded the day’s third fastest time as he used the soft compound tyre to post lap of 1:21.153.

“Day two in the car for me and we got a few more laps in, which was good,” said Daniel. “I definitely learned more about the car and the tyres today and really started to feel the downforce. For example, Turns 3 and 9 are now pretty impressive. I think when we start doing
60 laps in the heat you’re going to see some physical limits being pushed for us drivers. This afternoon we found a problem with the exhaust. We had check that, which took some time, but before that we had a pretty good run of nearly 20 laps, which was important for understanding the tyres. For now we haven’t got too involved in performance runs. Hopefully next week we can push it a bit more and then see what we’ve got.”

Commenting on the day’s running, Head of Race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin said: “It’s obviously not ideal when you encounter the kind of issues we had today and on Monday, but that’s the nature of testing. This afternoon we had an exhaust issue that hampered progress and it meant another tricky day for Daniel. It’s unfortunate for him, as these issues manifested themselves on the days he was in the car, but he understands the nature of testing and he’s actually pretty upbeat about how the car feels and how it’s behaving. Ultimately it’s about what you learn from the laps you do get on the board rather than just running for the sake of it and so we’ve learned a lot so far.

Tomorrow we’ll learn even more as the track will be artificially wet, so plenty of work still to do before we head back to the factory.”

Force India

Sahara Force India test driver, Alfonso Celis, had a solid day behind the wheel of the VJM10 as the team continued its development plan ahead of the new season.

Alfonso Celis:

“It was a busy day in which we managed to complete nearly everything in our plan. These cars are completely different and I enjoyed my first experience of the new regulations – you can really feel the step up in performance. It took me a bit of time to get used to the car and the conditions, and the track had very low grip early on. I did a lot of aero passes in the morning and then we focussed on understanding the tyres in the afternoon. The most important objective of the day was to give the team as much data as possible so these 71 laps will hopefully be very useful for better understanding this car.”

Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer:

“Another solid day of work in Barcelona as Alfonso drove the VJM10 for the first time. Track temperatures were very low for the first couple of hours so we focussed on an aero mapping with various instruments fitted to the side of the car. We made a floor change during the lunch hour and worked through a set-up programme in the afternoon. Alfonso ran on several different tyre compounds - ultrasoft, supersoft and soft – giving us feedback and data on the new 2017 tyres.”

Haas F1

Haas F1 Team had a methodical day of testing Wednesday with Romain Grosjean at the wheel of its VF-17 at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya. The 30-year-old Frenchman collected 56 laps around the 4.655-kilometer (2.892-mile), 16-turn layout as he went through various systems checks in the morning and an array of setup configurations in the afternoon.

Grosjean’s quickest time was a 1:22.118, earned on his 49th lap while riding on a set of Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft tires. It placed him eighth among the 13 drivers taking to the track. Grosjean tallied 260.68 kilometers (161.979 miles) in his first day of testing. Teammate Kevin Magnussen drove the VF-17 Monday and Tuesday.

Grosjean began the morning session with reconnaissance laps on Yellow soft tires before transitioning to White medium tires for some timed laps until the mandatory lunch break. His best run of the morning was a 1:25.133 on his 22nd lap that put him 10th overall.

After logging 27 laps in the morning, Grosjean knocked out 29 laps in the afternoon. He began with White mediums and then switched to Yellow softs before a stint on Red supersofts in the last 15 minutes, which helped produce Grosjean’s quickest time. A brief, three-lap run on a used set of Yellow softs capped the day.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas set the quickest time (1:19.705) and Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ran the most laps (139).

Romain Grosjean:

“It hasn’t been an easy day as we had a few issues here and there. We didn’t do as many laps as we planned to. We didn’t complete our program. On the setup, I don’t think we’ve found where we want to be exactly, so there are a few things we need to work around and understand. Generally, these cars are going to be pretty cool to drive – going fast into the high speed, braking late and carrying quite a bit of speed through the corners, which is good. I think Pirelli has made a decent step with the tires, the way you can push three laps in a row. I’m just a bit disappointed we didn’t get more mileage, especially with tomorrow being the planned wet day.”

Gunther Steiner:

“Not a perfect day today. We expected more, but again, it’s testing. We need to keep our heads up and try to do better tomorrow. We know that we can do it, and that’s why we’re here to test. We had some various issues and we played a lot with the setup. We had a few electrical problems, with which we lost time. There’s always little gremlins which can cause you to stop for half an hour, an hour, and if that happens the day goes by quickly and you don’t do a lot of running. It can always be worse, and thankful we had a good day yesterday.”

Grosjean returns to the Haas VF-17 Thursday to finish out the first week of testing, which will feature simulated wet-weather conditions. Drivers will sample the Pirelli Cinturato Blue full wet tire and the Cinturato Green intermediate tire. After a four-day break, teams return to Barcelona for the second and final round of preseason testing March 7-10. Magnussen drives March 7 and March 9, and Grosjean drives March 8 and March 10.

Mercedes

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport completed 170 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday, as 2017 pre-season testing continued in Spain with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton taking turns at the wheel of the F1 W08 EQ Power+

Valtteri emerged for his first run as the track opened at 09:00, completing 75 laps before the hour-long lunch break at 13:00

Lewis took over in the cockpit for the afternoon session, completing 95 laps before the pit lane closed at 18:00

Valtteri kicked off today’s programme with aero data collection, moving on to analysis of the softer tyre compounds and setup work in preparation for Melbourne

In the afternoon session, Lewis completed his first race simulation of 2017 before rounding off the day with further aero setup tests and pit stop practice

Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 1,578km

Lewis will take the wheel of the W08 tomorrow morning, with Valtteri behind the wheel in the afternoon on the fourth day of pre-season testing in Barcelona

Valtteri Bottas:

I think it was another good session. We completed lots of mileage and the entire programme that we’d planned to do – including some long and short runs, collecting information on the different tyre compounds.

We did some aero work to start with in the morning when the conditions were cold, then moved onto testing different settings on the car. It was a pretty straightforward day again, so I think everyone has done a great job so far. The car is running well and it’s feeling better and better.

It was definitely easier today without the windy conditions and I was able to experience the new car a bit more. One more day of testing left this week, with the wet running on Thursday, so I’m looking forward to getting more laps in tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton:

It’s been a great test so far for the team. Everyone at the factory has worked so hard to build a car that goes the distance. As always on these test days we’re trying to get through as much as possible, in terms of reliability.

The main thing is I got my first race run done today with no problems at all. Everything’s worked well, which I’m happy about. The car is running smoothly and we’re just running through setup items to tick off boxes at this stage.

This is testing, so on the first week you never chase times. When you bring out a new car you don’t have all of the components to be able to switch and make changes and work through everything you want to do – that’s something that filters through over the days. Next week we should have a better opportunity to dial in the car, but for now we’re focusing on mileage.

Valtteri is doing a great job so far. His feedback seems solid, he’s working great with the team and transitioning in smoothly.

Ferrari

Three days of testing so far, with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel for two of them, therefore not enough for the driver to have a clear picture of the current situation. That will only happen in Melbourne. For now, Seb can take heart from some statistics: 139 laps completed today, to be added to the 129 from Monday, giving a total distance covered of 1247.54 kilometres in the cockpit of the SF70H at the Catalan track.

“A lot, but never enough. That’s what testing is for, to give you an idea. And the idea is that these cars, as a result of the new regulations, are very different to last year, in the way they look and in the way of driving them. We are more or less at the performance levels of ten years ago, with a lot of aerodynamic downforce, but also with quite a lot more weight. They are also more physical and at the end of the day, you feel tired, but this is normal for the first outing since the winter break. The tyres are also different and they behave more consistently. We have seen more or less what we expected: the cars are quicker in the corners and slower down the straights, because of the drag. But they are also great fun to drive.”

Conclusions? “It’s too early to understand the available potential: we focused on our programme, without paying the slightest attention to what the other teams were doing. All winter we have prepared so as to get here in the best possible shape. But there are still around four weeks to go to the first race and there is much work to do, so much in our programme. The stop towards the end doesn’t bother me: we were trying something that didn’t work, that’s all.”

Tomorrow, Thursday, it will once again be Kimi Raikkonen’s turn. The track will be watered so that the drivers can try the wet weather tyres.

McLaren

McLaren-Honda enjoyed a more fruitful and productive day of running on track at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday. The team was able to work through a number of set-up configurations, and completed various aero correlation tests using rakes and flow-vis paint.

Despite a cold start to the morning, track temperatures increased during the course of the day, enabling the team to carry out its scheduled run plan, although the wind picked up across the circuit during the afternoon.

The team made the most of the dry weather, clocking up 72 laps with no major issues, and successfully completed its scheduled test programme for the day.

FERNANDO ALONSO

“The most important thing we can take from today is that we were able to do many more laps than both Stoffel and I could complete on our first days in the car. I’m happy that we were able to push through our plan for the day, gather a lot of new information, and learn a lot about the car, which is very positive after the issues we faced earlier in the week.

“The car feels good, and we’ve already made a lot of tweaks to the handling and set-up of the car from the first day. So far, the car is responding well to our changes, and overall we are seeing small improvements here and there, day-by-day, in different areas.

“The team worked really hard today to make sure we completed a lot of work on our programme, and we covered a lot of ground, testing different elements and working on various set-up configurations. It’s definitely been a valuable day for us.”

ERIC BOULLIER

“Today has been a much more successful day, and we’re happy that we’ve been able to execute our testing programme proper with a full day of running. I’m pleased to report that there were no major issues, and the team completed our planned run programme for the day.

“We’re confident that the issues we’ve experienced so far are glitches and part of the usual challenges faced in testing. The problems on Monday and Tuesday meant we lost valuable track time, which means glitches that occur in day one can then spread into day three, simply because of the lack of mileage.

“The more we run, the more we learn, and, naturally, the more there is potential for issues to be discovered that we need to fix. However, there is a minimum mileage figure that we can do that allows us enough data to understand the car and how to set it up, and from there we can move forward.

“While we shouldn’t get carried away, today’s running has provided the team with a boost after a tricky couple of days, and I hope we continue collecting more mileage and data tomorrow to end the first week.”

YUSUKE HASEGAWA

“The past two days have been difficult for us due to the power unit issues we encountered. However, today we were able to make some progress and complete our programme, in which we tested the durability and deployment of the PU in accordance with our schedule.

“We have already found a solution to the oil tank issue we had on the first day with Fernando, and we will shortly receive clarification from Honda R&D in Sakura on the root cause of the power failure experienced in Stoffel’s car yesterday. We proved certain durability in today’s session and we hope to make further advances together with McLaren tomorrow.”

Williams

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering:

We’ve had a good day, learning about the car while also doing aerodynamic and mechanical testing. We’re still in the early stages, but things are looking promising and it’s been a good boost for the team to get some significant mileage under the belt. Unfortunately, Lance was an innocent victim today when he was caught out by cold tyres at the end of the session. The incident caused some damage and as a result we missed the final hour of running. The tyres being a little bit snappy has been something that both Felipe and Lance have commented on so I guess we’re all just acclimatising to them. We will thoroughly investigate how we as a team can help the drivers in this situation. Lance, however, has acclimatised well during his first day. It’s his first full day of F1 testing with the FW40 and we are comfortable with the progress he is making.

Lance Stroll:

It was a good day. We covered nearly a 100 laps and I was getting used to the car producing good short and long runs. Unfortunately, we had the incident at the end which prematurely stopped our running. It was still a good day - the team is happy and I am happy with the way it went with the car, and everybody is still positive. It was unfortunate what happened at the end but things like that happen and you have just got to move forward and make the best of it.