Catalunya, day 4: Hamilton tops rain-hit final day

Lewis Hamilton finished at the top of the timesheet in Barcelona on a day of intermittent downpours and frequent red flags.

As rain showers swept across the Circuit de Catalunya, the red flags came out eight times, with Hamilton himself being one of the culprits.

The Mercedes driver scored his best time of the day, a lap of 1:23.282, during the earlier dry part of the day, the Briton taking on the medium tyre for a medium length run. Afterwards Hamilton said he had been pleased with the run, though the cold temperatures made the time irrelevant.

“We have been working on our consistency over long runs and we managed one run this morning on dry tyres; the car felt okay but the conditions were also very cool, so we cannot draw too many conclusions,” he said. “Like I said in Jerez, I can feel that we have a good foundation with this car but there is still a lot to learn and we know that the name of the game is to improve our downforce.”

Former team-mate Jenson Button finished the day in second place, with a time of 1:23.633, with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne third and four tenths further back, the Frenchman enjoying the conditions, and the opportunity to try out the new Pirelli wet weather compounds.

“It was useful for me to drive on the extreme wet and intermediate Pirellis and I got a good understanding of how they behave, even if the conditions were extremely cold, so it was actually surprising we had rain and not snow,” he said. “Now I am looking forward to the final test, which will be very important for everyone.”

Force India’s Jules Bianchi was back at the wheel of the Force India VJM06 after Adrian Sutil was given a chance to show what he could yesterday and even though the conditions were tricky the French driver set about proving his worth in determined fashion eventually finishing an impressive fourth.

Elsewhere Felipe Massa returned to the cockpit of the Ferrari F138 following Fernando Alonso’s three days at the wheel and the Brazilian was the first to be caught out by the conditions, spinning on the cold surface after just two laps. He recovered to finish the day in seventh place.

Massa’s off-track moment set the tone for the day. As the rain began to fall more steadily Esteban Gutierrez was next off at Turn Five, followed soon after by Giedo van der Garde, the Dutchman spinning out on the approach to the pit straight. Vergne then brought out the flags for the fourth time, the Toro Rosso driver also losing it in Turn Five.

With Gutierrez fifth, van der Garde finished the day in sixth place, despite another spin, and the Dutchman profited from some front runners behind sticking to high fuel, long runs for most of the day.

Massa’s seventh place left eighth to Mark Webber. Despite more interruption in the afternoon, caused by spins for Gutierrez, Bianchi and Hamilton, the Red Bull Racing driver was delighted with his final outing of the week.

“It was cold out there today, I can’t remember having a full test day this cold,” he said Mark. “But actually it was reasonably consistent; the conditions were pretty stable all day, although not very representative of a grand prix weekend. So, unusual conditions but I was happy with what we got done today. The mechanics were incredible in getting through everything. We got a lot of good stuff done today.”

The teams will return to Barcelona next week for the final pre-season test, which will take place from February 28-March 3.

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton completed his fourth day of pre-season testing today at the Circuit de Catalunya in cold and wet conditions. His mileage today of 242 km takes his total to 1513 km with the new F1 W04.

— The morning programme focused on making the most of opportunities for dry running before the rain began in earnest

— Lewis was able to complete an 18-lap run (16 timed laps) on the medium tyre just before midday

— In the wet conditions in the afternoon, the team focused on systems checks and tyre evaluations

Testing will resume at the Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday 28 February for the final pre-season test of 2013.

Lewis Hamilton: The conditions today meant that we didn’t complete as many laps we would have done in the dry but we have gone through the test items that we wanted to achieve this week. We have been working on our consistency over long runs and we managed one run this morning on dry tyres; the car felt okay but the conditions were also very cool, so we cannot draw too many conclusions. Like I said in Jerez, I can feel that we have a good foundation with this car but there is still a lot to learn and we know that the name of the game is to improve our downforce. From a personal point of view, my relationship with the team is growing all the time and it’s going really well. I’m happy working with the guys, we are working in the right direction together and I’m pushing to extract the most from the team, just like they are with me.

Ross Brawn: Overall, we’ve had a good week in Barcelona and achieved the programme that we set ourselves for this second test. The rain today was a little unfortunate; however we made the best of the conditions and were still able to take some useful data out of the day. Nico and Lewis are becoming more familiar with the car and its behaviour as each day progresses, and Lewis is settling into the team very well. Both drivers are providing excellent feedback which is pushing the development of the car both here and at the factory, and it is very rewarding to see their enthusiasm and commitment. We now have just four days of testing left until the first race in Australia, and a lot of work will be done before we return to Barcelona next week.

Toro Rosso Ferrari

All week long, the weather forecast had predicted rain for today and unfortunately, it proved to be accurate. However, with only 12 days of pre-season testing in total, no opportunity to run the car can be missed and, even on the damp track, the Toro Rosso team got plenty done. In the morning, when there were some dry moments, Jean-Eric Vergne did some aero work, while the afternoon was given over to assessing the Pirelli wet weather tyres, which like the 2013 slicks, are different to those used last year. The final part of the afternoon was spent giving the race team some valuable pit stop practice.

Jean-Eric Vergne: “Another productive day, even with the rain. We had many things to test, especially on the aero side and I feel we got some good answers. Later, it was useful for me to drive on the Extreme and Intermediate Pirellis and I got a good understanding of how they behave, even if the conditions were extremely cold, so it was actually surprising we had rain and not snow! Now I am looking forward to the final test, which will be very important for everyone.”

The final pre-season test will take place at this track from Thursday 28 February to Sunday 3 March. Our drivers will run alternate days in the cockpit, with Vergne doing Thursday and Saturday and Ricciardo Friday and Sunday.

Williams Renault

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: The full race team joined us in Barcelona today for pitstop practice. The weather was wet as we expected which means we didn’t lose any dry running time with the FW35 in doing this. Overall, we’ve had a very encouraging week as the core reliability of the car has proved to be excellent. We are now looking forward to the next test in Barcelona where we can concentrate on the performance.

Valtteri Bottas: This morning we were focusing on pitstop practice and despite the weather we were able to achieve a lot. The key things to work on as a driver are breaking as late as possible for the pitlane speed limit to minimise the time lost, perfecting your positioning in the box and finally pulling away quickly and cleanly. It’s really interesting as there are a lot of things to think about, but the better I get, the more trust you build with the pit crew which means they are able to react even quicker. We’ll be doing a few more at the next test but then I feel I will be ready for Melbourne when it comes to pitstops.

Pastor Maldonado: Today was pitstop practice but it’s been good for me and the team to get some training in after the winter break. Overall, I am very happy with the last four days, as we’ve had no problems with the car and it is looking quite good. We achieved everything we wanted from this test so the whole team is happy. There is still plenty more work to do, but we have a good idea about what we need to do next so I’m looking forward to coming back here next week to continue developing the FW35.

The Williams F1 Team will be back on track next week, 28 February – 3 March, for the final pre-season test in Barcelona, Spain.

Caterham Renault

Giedo van der Garde: "Despite today’s weather it’s been another relatively productive day. It’s certainly been one of the coldest days I’ve had on track, but even with the cold track temps and the rain that stopped and started we were able to get through quite a bit of work.

"The cold weather meant it might not have been much fun for the fans in the stands, but it was useful to get some laps done on the intermediate tyres as it was my first time in an F1 car in the wet, and to experience the car in the wet/dry conditions we had today.
We also tried a couple more ideas to help improve the rear stability but, again, as the tyres weren’t really coming up to temperature we weren’t able to push too hard today.

"Even with the weather today, it’s been a fairly good test for us. We’re steadily working through the plan, making sure we’re covering everything we need to and now we have a lot of information to help us prepare for the final test back here in Barcelona next week."

Sauber Ferrari

With low temperatures, light rain in the morning and heavier rain, including hale, after mid-day , the final day of testing was far from ideal. However, Esteban used most of the time to gain experience with the Intermediate and Full Wet tyres. He was able to complete 96 laps.

Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: "As forecast, the final day of the test was dominated by intermittent rain showers. During the short dry spell in the morning we were able to complete an important aero test giving us useful data in preparation for next week’s test. For the rest of the day we gave Esteban plenty of running with the Intermediate and Full Wet tyres in preparation for the season ahead.”

Esteban Gutiérrez: "It was a very interesting day for me as well as for the team, because it was important to get some experience in wet conditions. For me it was the very first time I had driven a Formula One car in the wet. It was particularly interesting in the morning, when the track was wet to begin with and then started to dry out. I was able to drive with dry tyres in very tricky conditions, which was a situation I could experience in a race. It was important for me to feel this change in conditions. In the afternoon I got the opportunity to compare the Intermediate tyres with the Full Wets. I learned so much today. This was just what I needed.“

This was the final day of the first of two Barcelona tests. Testing will be resumed on February 28th. Esteban will run on days one and three, and Nico on days two and four.

Force India Mercedes

It was a damp day in Barcelona as Sahara Force India wrapped up its test with Jules Bianchi back in the VJM06 for another day of work during the week.

Jules Bianchi: “It was good to be back working with the team today and to feel the car in all conditions when the track was both dry and wet. It’s more useful experience for me. We did most of our dry running this morning and then did our aero work this afternoon when the track was wet. We didn’t manage to do the long runs we planned because it was so wet, but we still managed to look at a lot of things.”

Jakob Andreasen, Chief Race Engineer: “The mixed weather conditions today made it difficult to complete a massive amount of meaningful work, but it was useful to run Jules on the dry, intermediate and wet tyres at various points during the day. But with the track condition constantly changing, it was difficult to make comparisons from one run to the next. Also, the low track temperatures of about six degrees are not representative of the conditions we expect at the upcoming races. Even so, Jules did a good job for us once again and pushed on despite the damp conditions. Looking at the test as a whole, we leave here reasonably happy with our reliability and performance, and we know what we have do to next week to be ready for Melbourne.”

Marussia Cosworth

On Day 4 of the second of the pre-season tests, the forecast rain conspired with the very cold conditions to cause a disrupted day of running for our Team.

With the performance programme hampered, we used this opportunity to provide Max Chilton with his first experience of the Pirelli PZero wet weather tyres and to conduct some familiarisation running with the KERS system in these conditions.

Max Chilton: “We’ve had four important days of running here in Barcelona in which we ticked a lot of boxes and gathered some very useful data. We may not have had the mileage that some teams have achieved, but we’ve have worked through a lot of different items and the detail of this work will be vital in preparing us for the next test here with the new aero package and ensuring we’re in good shape for the opening race of the season. I’m looking forward to coming back next week and hopeful that we can achieve more mileage and explore the performance a little more. My thanks to the Team for a good week.”

John Booth, Team Principal, Marussia F1 Team: “Although the weather has intervened today, we’ve made the most of the situation by conducting some important wet weather work, which is all useful information for our development and for preparing Max. He has performed very well and his feedback, coupled with the data we have gathered, will be rolled back into the development cycle early next week ready for our final pre-season test starting Thursday. We are steadily stepping our way through the areas that need to be explored before the first race and looking forward to the arrival of our new aero package so that we can move to a more performance oriented programme.”

Red Bull Renault

The final day of Formula One’s second pre-season test might have seen the weather take a turn for the worse in Barcelona, but despite the intermittent downpours and a host of red flags as drivers were caught out by the conditions, Mark Webber managed to get through the full programme planned by Infiniti Red Bull Racing. At the end of 64 laps, he praised the team’s work during a tough day at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Mark Webber: “It was cold out there today, I can’t remember having a full test day this cold. But actually it was reasonably consistent; the conditions were pretty stable all day, although not very representative of a grand prix weekend. So, unusual conditions but I was happy with what we got done today. The mechanics were incredible in getting through everything. We got a lot of good stuff done today. The boys did a great job – the best I’ve seen them, I think, so all credit to them.

“We did a lot of housekeeping work today, whether it was pit stops or other race weekend elements and we did that really well – as a team. We’re back here next week and we’ll do more of the same for sure: ongoing investigations into how the tyres work, learning more about those, checking how they perform in different temperatures, all of that kind of thing. That will be right at the top of the list but also we’ll undoubtedly be doing some performance stuff, which you constantly need to keep putting on the car in order to stay close to the front.”

Lotus Renault

Romain Grosjean endured a cold and wet final day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, collecting and correlating data whilst getting to grips with Pirelli’s latest wet weather tyres in the inclement Barcelona weather.

Though no technical issues were encountered, a limited lap tally of 41 was the result of the day with the team not opting to set a representative lap time when the track was drier.

Romain Grosjean: “I spent a lot of time in the car again today, but this time it was in the garage and not out on track. It was certainly cold and slippery out on the circuit and the conditions were worse than we would expect during the season. This at least meant it was a good test of the performance of the wet and intermediate tyres. I’m happy that we had no issues and the balance of the car is good in these conditions. I’m really looking forward to getting more laps in the car next week and seeing the latest upgrade package as I’m feeling very positive with everything I’ve seen so far.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “Discretion was the better part of valour today and we took the opportunity to evaluate performance on the wet and intermediate tyres as well as running a collection of non-weather affected data correlation programmes. We were successful in both these objectives and are well placed heading into next week’s test back here. Romain reported the E21 to be a step forwards from its predecessor in terms of wet weather performance, which is another thing to be happy about. Being slowest of those who set times is not representative of where we are, as we didn’t run seriously when there were drier conditions. It’s nice to complete a test at a second circuit with only positive things to say about the car. We look forward to four more days testing here, starting next week when we will evaluate a package of new aero parts.”

The team returns to the Circuit de Catalunya for the final four days of pre-season testing, starting on Thursday 28th February.

McLaren Mercedes

Final day of the Barcelona test, and the second day in the cockpit for Jenson Button.

Despite temperamental weather – it started to spit with rain from first running this morning, meaning Jenson only conducted a single run on slicks – the team completed a full programme and was pleased with progress.

The rain also allowed the team to run Pirelli’s Intermediate and Full Wet compounds – another very useful opportunity ahead of the unpredictable weather often encountered at the opening races.

The team remains in Barcelona for a second session next week (Feb 28-Mar 3). Driving duties will be split Sergio-Jenson-Sergio-Jenson, and the car will run in Melbourne-spec for the first time.

Ferrari

This was the fourth and final day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari and the other ten Formula 1 teams at the Catalunya circuit, on the outskirts of Barcelona. The second test session ended with bad weather, which dominated Friday from first thing in the morning to late afternoon. The team’s work programme was adapted to the track conditions to allow Felipe Massa to get a taste of the behaviour of the F138 with wet tyres. In all the Brazilian completed 80 laps with a fastest time of 1:27.553.

Felipe Massa: “Today was a difficult day for everyone and it’s a pity that the weather conditions ruined the last day of testing. I would have preferred to continue the work on tyres and set-up that Fernando started yesterday but the unpredictable weather made it very difficult to make accurate judgements about the car’s behaviour. When the rain gave us a moment’s break I completed a long run on the medium tyre compound – but the track was very cold and still slippery so it was hard to warm up the tyres and make a clear comparison between performance and degradation. In the afternoon, the wet track didn’t allow us to return to slick tyres so we concentrated on some set-up tests with the intermediate tyres. I tried different aerodynamic configurations and I am satisfied with the behaviour of the car. Certainly I would have preferred to test with better conditions but it was still useful to get a reference point in the wet.”

Testing in preparation for the start of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship will take place at the same circuit from February 28 to March 3.