Jerez F1 test: team reaction after Day 3

Jerez de la Frontera, 9th February 2012 – Sergio Pérez completed his second day of pre-season testing with the new Sauber 31-Ferrari in Jerez today. The day had a promising start with Sergio getting in good lap times immediately on a then cold track and with medium compound tyres fitted. However, shortly before lunchtime it became clear that the gearbox oil filter needed changing which is a very time consuming procedure. Today’s mileage was limited but nevertheless, the Sauber F1 Team has good reason to stay positive.

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “We started the day with some set-up work in the morning, when we tested different ride heights and dampers. The car responded very well to the changes. It all looked promising. The fact that we later lost significant track time is a shame but on the other hand our achievements so far are very positive.”

Sergio Pérez - 1.19.770 - P6: “It was a difficult day for us but the important thing is that we are improving. Every step we took went in the right direction. Kamui has another day of testing here tomorrow. Obviously he will have an intense programme and I hope we can finish the Jerez test with a productive day.”

Kamui Kobayashi will take over driving duties tomorrow for the final day of pre-season testing in Jerez.

Three French drivers out on track today, including Jean-Eric Vergne, having his first run in the new STR7. The initial priority was getting Jean-Eric settled in the car for the first time, then the team worked through an extensive aero test programme, which is why the driver did a lot of short runs, collecting data for different aero configurations.
We got through the programme, while at the same time Jean-Eric was getting up to speed with the car. The conditions on track were much better today for aero work, as there was much less wind. A relatively long run was completed in the afternoon and the plan is to do an even longer one tomorrow.

Jean-Eric Vergne - 1.19.734 - P5: “My first feeling when I got in the cockpit was a positive one. The car seems to have a good base from which we can progress over the winter tests. In general, it was a positive day for me and the team and I am happy with the work we got through. I still need to work on my seating position in the car to make it perfect and I’m looking forward to making more progress tomorrow. Was it a special feeling knowing this is “my” Formula 1 car for the season? I preferred to concentrate on the work side of things and put the extraordinary aspects of the job to the back of my mind.”

After two days with Mark Webber at the wheel of the RB8, today it was team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s turn to get a feel for the team’s new car. After 96 laps, the reigning Formula One World Champion admitted it was a pleasure to get behind the wheel of an F1 car again after the winter break.

Sebastian Vettel - 1.19.297 - P3: “It’s been two months since we were in the car, so it does take a couple of laps to get back in the rhythm, but the car feels fine and as we expected. There’s quite a loss of grip due to the regulation changes, but you get used to it quickly and then start to explore how the new car feels. So far we can be happy, we had a couple of issues, but it’s normal when the car is new.“

Ian Morgan, Head of Race Engineering: “Sebastian’s first day in the car went almost perfectly. It was very cold this morning and hard to get temperature into the tyres. That meant that the first couple of hours weren’t too productive, but later on the conditions were great with less wind than yesterday, so we managed to get through almost everything we wanted, including two long runs, which went well. We would have done a third, but there were a couple of red flags at the end of the session so we missed a few laps. But we can’t complain, as it’s gone well.

“Tomorrow’s programme will be more of the same. We’re on course to tick off all the things we wanted to get done and we hope we can complete the list tomorrow.”

It was a day of limited running for Sahara Force India in Jerez following a small off for Jules Bianchi early in the session. The mechanics worked hard to repair the right rear corner of the car, but ultimately the team was missing one small brake component, which prevented the car from returning to the track. The replacement part is expected to arrive this evening to allow Nico Hulkenberg to get his first run in the car tomorrow morning.

Jules Bianchi - No time: “I made a small mistake on my second run. The tyres were a bit cold and I spun into the gravel and touched the wall with the right rear wheel. It was not a very big impact, but it caused some damage. I’m very sorry because my mistake has cost the team a lot of time and effort. Going away from here I want to focus on the positives because we had a very good day yesterday and I’ve really enjoyed working with the team this week.”

Andrew Green, Technical Director: “A bit frustrating to lose some track time today, but we will take it on the chin because we had two very productive days earlier in the week with plenty of mileage. The damage to the car was not that significant, but a lack of spares at this time of year meant we could not go back out in the afternoon. The car will be ready for tomorrow morning when Nico gets his test programme underway. We will resume the aero work we started this morning and make the most of the tyres that we saved from today’s limited running.”

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: I am very pleased with both Bruno’s first day in the car and the team’s performance today. We managed to finish the whole test programme without any issues, completing 125 laps in total. Bruno’s feedback has been very precise and we now look forward to continuing to understand and optimise the car set-up during the final day of testing here in Jerez tomorrow.

Bruno Senna - 1.21.293 - P8: It was a great day today. Although there is a lot of work to do outside the car as well as in it, it was very satisfying to finally get behind the wheel. We have had a very productive day and managed to cover all of the things we needed to. We found some interesting things out about the tyres in particular. I feel that there is a lot of potential in the FW34 and also in myself driving the car.
The team has done a great job and I’m happy we have had a trouble-free day. I’m now looking forward to continuing our test programme tomorrow to learn more about the car.

The Williams F1 Team will be back on track tomorrow, Friday 10 February, with Bruno Senna continuing in the FW34 for the final day of the test.

Lewis Hamilton stepped into MP4-27 for the first time today, taking over from Jenson Button, who had conducted the previous two days’
testing.

As with Jenson, the first day was about acclimatising Lewis to the new car, finding a workable set-up direction and ironing out a few minor issues following Lewis’s initial feedback.

After completing 80 laps, and setting a 1m19.464s best, Lewis declared himself happy and comfortable with the new car.

Lewis Hamilton - 1.19.464 - P4: "Today felt pretty good considering it was my first time in the new car. My initial feelings are pretty positive, despite going through a long, tough programme of initial tests - there were no nasty surprises, which is pleasing.

"This year’s car feels a bit different from last year’s: in 2011, we had so much stability from the rear-end, particularly in the high-speed corners - but we’re now having to find that grip elsewhere, or, at least, take grip off the front and somehow offload it at the rear.

"This car’s baseline is something we can really work with. I know the men and women back at the factory will take a lot from this test and translate it into something new and even better for the next test. The car feels reasonably quick - and that’s a nice feeling.

"Bringing Didier Coton onboard [with my management team] is one of the steps I’ve taking to keep myself 100 per cent focused on my main goal of winning the world championship. Didier’s got a huge amount of racing experience and will really strengthen my management team - he’s been a good friend of mine for many years, and has great experience with the team and the Formula 1 paddock. He’ll be there when I need him."

Mercedes AMG Petronas concluded its test programme in Jerez today with Nico Rosberg at the wheel of the MGP W02.
— Nico completed a programme aimed at furthering the team’s understanding of the 2012 Pirelli tyres, similar to Michael yesterday
— He completed 118 laps which also allowed the team to put more mileage on 2012 development items on the car
— The team completed 1541 kms this week, gathering comprehensive knowledge of the new tyres with varying set-ups and fuel loads
The team’s 2012 car, the F1 W03, will make its public test debut on Tuesday 21 February in Barcelona.

Nico Rosberg - 1.17.613 - P1: “I’m happy with the testing that we have achieved here in Jerez, and we learned a lot about the Pirelli tyres and a few other things for the new car. It seems that the tyres are closer performance-wise this year, with the rear tyres also looking a bit stronger. Pirelli have done a good job so far. You can’t really compare the lap times with other teams, but it was interesting to learn a lot with our 2011 car. Now I’m really looking forward to the two Barcelona tests with our new Silver Arrow.”

Ross Brawn: “We have had a productive and busy three days in Jerez this week running the MGP W02 car for the final time. Simultaneously the final preparations have been taking place back at the factory for the first test with our 2012 car in Barcelona. Michael and Nico have been able to complete some valuable mileage this week, and enhanced our understanding of the new season’s Pirelli tyres which will prove very useful once the new car in is on track.”

Giedo van der Garde - 1.23.324 - P9: “That was a good day. I’m happy because I put in a lot of time in the car and that was the first time I’ve been on track since Monza last year, so I had to spend a bit of time this morning getting back into the groove, but that came pretty quickly and
then we got down to work. I’m very pleased because by the end of the day I was getting starting to get used to all the new things about F1 – there’s a lot to learn but I know what I need to focus on so next time I’m in the car I’ll definitely be able to get on the pace more quickly.

“There are a couple of real areas that I know I can work on – the first being the brakes. I’m used to a stiffer pedal on the GP2 car so I
had to adapt my style a bit to get used to the F1 car, but that came quite early. The other area is getting the most out of the new tyres.
The quickest lap time is pretty much straight out of the box and that means being on it as soon as you leave the pits. We used both DRS and KERS today and I felt pretty comfortable with both. DRS started to come naturally by the end of the day and with KERS there’s more to come. Jarno will be working on maximising that tomorrow so I think the team will have more for me to work through on that system next time I’m in the car.

“Basically I enjoyed myself today. The team has been great with me – the engineers and the mechanics have all been working really
hard to help me acclimatise, so thanks to them for today and now I’m looking forward to my next run.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “Another useful day of testing, this time with Giedo in the car for his first runs with us. The
plan today was to acclimatise Giedo in the car this morning and then start running through more systems tests and KERS evaluation
and he did a very solid job for us, making sure we could get through the whole program. Reliability was again good for us today and
tomorrow we will give Jarno his first taste of KERS, run through tyre evaluations and start exploring more of the car’s performance
potential.”

Riad Asmat, Caterham Group CEO: “A good first day for Giedo and a decent way to introduce himself to the team. He had a lot to
take in on his first day with us on track and he acquitted himself well all day. He made a small mistake late on but every driver will
have an off sometime, so he’ll learn from that and next time he’s in the car he’ll be able to use the experience today to keep
progressing.”

Third day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in southern Spain.

Fernando Alonso made his debut at the wheel of the F2012 today. The Spanish driver continued with the task of gathering data on the behaviour of the new car, covering a total of 67 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.20.412. An hydraulic problem halfway through the morning cost him ninety minutes of track time, but this was the only hitch of the day.

Testing at this track ends tomorrow, when, once again, Fernando Alonso will be at the wheel of the F2012.

Romain Grosjean made his E20 debut on the third day of testing at Jerez, setting the fastest lap time in the morning, and second fastest of the day. Romain’s 1min 18.419secs lap was achieved during the course of a trouble-free 117 laps.
Fast facts:

Romain Grosjean - 1.18.419 - P2: "I am one of the happiest guys in the world right now. It’s been a really good day for me. We were fastest in the morning then we completed some longer runs in the afternoon. It’s great to finally drive the car which I have seen coming together and being built at Enstone. Working so well with all the mechanics and the engineers made it such a memorable first day in the E20. The car feels good on different fuel loads and tyre compounds we used. For sure there’s margin for improvement in the tests ahead, but it’s a great start to the year."

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "Another strong day with 117 laps and over 500 km completed. We ran a similar programme to the one we ran during the previous two days with Kimi. This gives us good data across a range of scenarios and valid comparisons between our drivers. Track conditions were better today, with more rubber down and less wind than yesterday. We conducted set-up work on the medium compound tyre in the morning. Some of these were set-ups we ran with Kimi, others were new. In the afternoon we focused on getting as many laps completed as possible to test the reliability of the E20, which proved to be faultless."