Team reaction after day three in Jerez tests

Toro Rosso Ferrari

Today, it was Sebastien Buemi’s turn to return to the STR6 cockpit for the first time since last week’s Valencia test. In the morning, he worked on a tyre comparison, trying the modified Pirelli Medium compound and also for the first time, the Hard. The afternoon programme featured two elements: first of all, some aerodynamic testing and secondly a long run, although the latter was compromised by some red flags and the fact that the car stopped with around ten minutes of the session remaining. By then, Sebastien’s lap total had already exceeded that required for a Grand Prix distance.

Sebastien Buemi: “The team has done a good job moving on with the development of the car since I last drove it in Valencia. It is definitely better, although at the moment there is no point in talking about its performance level, as we are still working mainly on understanding everything about it. So I am happy with what we did today, when I also tried the Hard compound Pirelli, which worked well and that means I have now run with all four compounds. We have one more day here, which we will use to work through many other elements.”

Sebastien will continue to drive tomorrow, the final day of this test session and, at the moment, the weather forecast is for continued good weather, rather than the rain that had been expected. Will next week’s Barcelona test provide an opportunity to evaluate the rain tyres prior to the start of the season?

Ferrari

Third day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari and ten other Formula 1 teams, working again today and up to the end of Sunday at the Jerez de la Frontera track, in southern Spain.

Today, Fernando Alonso was at the wheel of the F150th Italia. The Spanish driver worked through a similar programme to the one that team-mate Felipe Massa completed yesterday. Fernando ran with an image of his friend Robert Kubica’s helmet on his own one and in the morning, he worked on a comparison between the four types of tyre that Pirelli had brought for this test. Then, in the afternoon he concentrated on a long run. He completed a total of 131 laps, with a best lap time on the clock of 1.20.493.

Testing continues at this circuit tomorrow, again with Fernando Alonso on track.

Williams Cosworth

Sam Michael, Technical Director: After a couple of setup runs this morning we had a problem with the KERS onboard cooling system. We had to stop and remove some components to ensure the car was safe, and that cost us three hours. In the afternoon we made good progress with the aero setup of the FW33 on long runs, with Rubens generating some good data for the wind tunnel.

Williams will be back on track tomorrow, Sunday 13 February, with Rubens Barrichello continuing to drive the FW33 for the final day of the test.

Michael Schumacher was in action again today for the third day of this week’s test in Jerez.

The team’s programme included systems checks with the adjustable rear wing, tyre evaluations with the different Pirelli compounds and development work on the balance of the car over longer runs. Another positive day in terms of reliability saw Michael complete 114 laps.

Nico Rosberg will take over at the wheel of the MGP W02 for the fourth and final day of the test tomorrow.

Michael Schumacher: “At the end of my two test days in Jerez, I can only be happy with what we have achieved here. Once again today, we completed a lot of mileage, and with the exception of some smaller issues, we ran very well which enables us to steadily progress with our testing programme. This is exactly what you want at this period of time. I am now looking forward to continuing the development at the next test in Barcelona starting on Friday.”

Paul di Resta got his first-ever run in the VJM04 today as the Force India F1 Team continued its preparations ahead of the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship season. Picking up from Adrian Sutil’s programme yesterday, Paul concentrated on tyre evaluation and establishing baseline set-ups for the remainder of the testing programme.
Paul completed 64 laps in total, bringing the VJM04 total mileage to almost 700km since its debut on Thursday.

Paul di Resta: Today was really about me getting used to the new car, plus getting as much information about the new tyres and set-up options as possible. We’ve still got a bit of work to do, but today was about determining the right way to go. We did find that there were a couple of issues with getting temperature in the brakes on some set-ups, and on the final run of the day I locked up into turn nine and went off into the gravel. Overall I think we can be fairly positive with the progress we’ve made over the past couple of days and have a good idea of where we can go tomorrow.

Dominic Harlow, circuit engineering director: Today was Paul’s first opportunity to drive the VJM04 so was very much about acclimatisation to the car and looking at various set-up options. We continued to learn about the car, and found some good and some bad directions. Unfortunately Paul locked the brakes at T9 on his final outing and had a small spin. There wasn’t any damage but with another red flag almost immediately afterwards there wasn’t time to continue so we missed a few laps. Tomorrow Paul will conclude the test, taking the opportunity to try the DRS [drag reduction system] rear wing in simulated race mode during the morning and further set-up work planned for the afternoon.

The Sauber F1 Team enjoyed another day of productive testing in ideal track conditions in Southern Spain. Kamui Kobayashi was at the wheel of the Sauber C30-Ferrari and completed 84 laps.

James Key, Technical Director: “After not having been at the wheel in Valencia for a long time, today was Kamui’s first day of proper testing with the C30 and the latest Pirelli tyres. We have been running on used tyres and did some general set up work, but actually not a huge amount of performance work. In the morning we did general mechanical work and set up changes, checking directions we found when Sergio was driving. In the afternoon we also tested some new development items and concentrated on longer runs, which in the end were cut short due to an engine problem. We are also looking forward to a full test programme for tomorrow.”

Kamui Kobayashi will continue to drive tomorrow, Sunday, which will the fourth and final day of this year’s pre-season test in Jerez.

A shortage of spares meant Lewis was only able to record 36 laps during the third day of this week’s Jerez test. While this hampered running, on-the-spot repairs were effected, and the relevant new components will be delivered overnight ahead of tomorrow’s running.

Despite the lack of mileage, the team was pleased with the progress made: Lewis and the engineers made some positive new steps with car set-up and understanding tyre performance, and also re-confirmed some concepts we’d previously tested.

The team conducted some running with the new-for-2011 drag reduction system – but will fully focus on the adjustable rear wing at next week’s Barcelona test.

Jenson concludes the four-day programme tomorrow, carrying on from where Lewis left off, focusing on confirmation of today’s set-up direction and, hopefully, some long-run tyre comparison work on the Pirellis.

Lotus Renault GP

Nick Heidfeld got his first taste of the R31 today in Jerez and ended session at the top of the timesheets.

The team evaluated a new floor upgrade. Pressure tapping and flow viz paint allowed the engineers to verify its aero characteristics. The team ran back-to-back tests on all four Pirelli tyre compounds for the first time. This confirmed the different degradation rates and variations in new tyre performance.

Nick Heidfeld: “I really enjoyed the day. It was fun driving the car, although it obviously takes time to get used to things when it’s your first time in a car and working with a new team. We had a good day, without too many problems, and luckily all the changes we made to the car went in the right direction and improved things, so I was able to push harder and harder. In terms of the lap times, it’s very difficult for me to compare with the other teams because we don’t know the fuel levels or what the others were doing. My first impressions of the car were positive, although there are always areas where you can improve.”

Eric Boullier: “Today we had the chance to give Nick time in the car and we carried out a big evaluation. Our first feelings are very positive: he worked well with the team, gave good feedback and improved the car during the day. We managed to cover 86 laps and the times are encouraging, which is also thanks to Robert and Vitaly’s early feedback and the hard work of everybody in the team.”

Alan Permane: "The day was based around getting Nick comfortable in the car and giving him as much mileage as possible. He adapted to the car and the systems quickly. We played around with the set-up early on and changed a few things during the day – this included the weight distribution and the toes and cambers for the Pirelli tyres. Unfortunately the afternoon was disrupted by several red flags, so we were not able to complete the long runs we had planned."

2010 World Champion Sebastian Vettel took over from Mark Webber in the RB7 cockpit today, for day three of the current four-day test session in Jerez.
The team’s schedule was similar to the one it ran yesterday, as today was the first chance Sebastian had had to try some of the different Pirelli compounds on longer runs.

Ian Morgan Head of Race Engineering: “It was
another good day today and we managed to get through our full programme, despite a number of red flags towards the end of the session. Fortunately we were up on our schedule at that point, so we didn’t lose too much time. The car ran reliably all day.”

Sebastian Vettel: “Testing has gone well today. It’s quite tricky with the rear wing; it acts in a similar manner to the f-duct last year, so naturally, as a driver, you want to use it as much as you can. When the tyres go off, it’s not as easy to use as when the tyres are fresh,
but you get used to it. KERS is not so easy to use, but again it’s a case of getting used to it – its practice in the end.”

Sebastian will be back in the car tomorrow, for the final day of the test.

Heikki Kovalainen: "Today was very encouraging and I really enjoyed driving the car. I still have the same feeling that I had in Valencia - it’s fundamentally a good car and there’s a lot more to come from it. We managed to make very good progress today, even though we had a problem with the exhaust we still managed to get through most of the programme. The guys worked well to fix the problem, and by the end of the day we had made a number of setup changes, run through all the tyre compounds and had run on a variety of fuel loads. This morning we tried the DRS in race mode and even though I had thought the procedure to initiate it might be pretty complicated it actually all worked easily. Once you get used to it the system is pretty simple. I used it in both race and practice mode and it returns to position well so I have no problems under braking and am very happy with how it all works. By the time the day ended we finished right in the mix so we’re all pretty happy with the day’s work."

Dieter Grass, Sporting Director: "I think we are all quite pleased with how the day went. The morning and late afternoon sessions were good and even though we lost some time on track around the middle of the day with the exhaust problem we were still able to learn a lot more about the car and complete most of the programme. One of the key learnings from today is with the tyres. I think there we have a lot more work to do to really understand how to get the best out of the tyres but we have definitely taken a step forward with Pirelli today. We also tested the DRS in race conditions today and it was our first chance to try the proximity sensor - that worked very well and it was good to see that in action as it will be used in race scenarios."

Following Timo Glock’s first two days of testing in Jerez, today came Jérôme’s long-awaited turn in the MVR-02 to get a first feeling of the new car and provide more valuable information to the team. He was able to start understanding the behaviour of the car and the consistency of the tyres by working up to some long stints as well as simulating pitstops and formation laps. The team was also able to continue its evaluation of the new moveable rear wing. It was a very positive third day of running at the Circuito de Velocidad and Jérôme completed a total of 72 laps.

Jérôme will be back in the car tomorrow during the fourth and final day of testing in Jerez before heading to Barcelona for the third test of the 2011 season.

Jérôme D’Ambrosio: “I was really looking forward to today and it’s fantastic to finally be driving the new car. I was able to complete many laps and spend a lot of time in the car, which is what testing is all about. I am quickly getting used to driving the MVR-02 and tomorrow I hope we can continue to gather plenty of useful data to help us to continue moving forward.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “Today has been a very productive day as the time we spent confined to the garage was limited and we were therefore able to get plenty of track time and useful mileage under our belts. Jérôme has done a great job in his debut run in the MVR-02 and it is great to see him developing with each time out in the car. We hope for more of the same tomorrow to ensure we end a very good first test on a high.”