Team reaction as Jerez tests conclude

Jenson Button set the pace today in the final pre-season test at Jerez in his McLaren Mercedes from Robert Kubica and Kamui Kobayashi.

Elsewhere there were plenty of small problems stopping many of the teams at various points during the day, not least at the new Virgin team that could only manage 27 laps over the day...

McLaren

The most consistent weather conditions of the entire test allowed Jenson Button and the team to power through a tyre compound evaluation programme, balancing aero and mechanical set-ups to the different types of tyre.

In the morning, Button completed a number of shorter runs on three separate tyre compounds, evaluating set-ups before switching to longer runs in the afternoon, with a view to evaluating the tyres’ durability.

Following his third test with the team, Button reported that he feels very comfortable and confident in the car. The team decamps to Barcelona next week for the fourth and final test of the winter. Both drivers will spend alternate days in the car evaluating the new bodywork and aerodynamic components ahead of the season-opener in Bahrain on March 14.

Renault

Dry and sunny conditions allowed the team to make good progress with its technical programme. After evaluation of fuel loads in the morning, attention switched to long runs in the afternoon along with set-up work. Robert Kubica completed 117 laps and set the second quickest time of the day.

Robert Kubica: “It was a good day and we tried a lot of different things, which has given us lots of useful information. To begin with we did some evaluation with different fuel loads to check the balance of the car and then in the afternoon we did long runs with heavy fuel to simulate a race distance. We completed most of the programme and I was pretty happy with the car.”

Alan Permane, chief engineer: “Another solid day of work as we made the most of the good weather. We ran the car with varying fuel loads this morning to see how it reacted and we were pleased with the results. Then we attempted a race simulation and, although it was interrupted, we still managed to cover the required number of laps. Later in the afternoon we concentrated on some set-up work and found a good direction with the car.”

Sauber

The final day of testing in Jerez took place in good weather conditions and was very productive for the Sauber team. Kamui Kobayashi completed a total of 117 laps.

Kamui Kobayashi: “I’m really happy with our final day of testing in Jerez. It was a perfect day for us. The conditions were ideal and the car ran trouble-free, so we were able to complete 117 laps and gather a lot of data. We made some progress with the setup of the car. We will now analyse the data and draw the relevant conclusions for the next test in Barcelona.”

Thomas Hunsicker, test engineer: “After a difficult day yesterday, I’m really pleased with what we achieved today. We worked on the set-up of the car, tested different tyre compounds and did some aerodynamic evaluations. Thanks to the good conditions and the reliability of the car, we were able to complete our overall testing programme for Jerez.”

Force India

Tonio Liuzzi brought the VJM03’s second test to a close today at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit. The Italian covered 80 laps of the Spanish track with a programme that included work on set-up and understanding the car’s behaviour with the heavier fuel loads necessitated by the race refuelling ban this year. His fastest lap of 1:19.650 was the fourth quickest of the day.

The team’s testing programme will now move to Barcelona next week from 25 - 28 February. Liuzzi will drive for the first two days, with Adrian Sutil taking over for the final two days.

Tonio Liuzzi: "Today was a really productive day for us. We covered 80 laps without any issues and got through our programme of test items for this week. Everything went pretty well - we worked on understanding the car’s performance with different fuel loads and ran through some set-up changes and the car is responding well. We still need to work on the tyres over the longer runs and will continue this at the next test in Barcelona. Overall I think we can be very satisfied with how this test has gone and can look forward to another good test next week."

Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: "A good day to finish the eight days of testing in Jerez. Tonio completed a broad programme of set-up tests and we are satisfied with what was learned. We’ve made good progress this week, having tidied up some reliability issues, and developed our set-up options with the VJM03. The team has begun its race preparation in earnest and we will head to Barcelona to continue this work over the final test before the first race of 2010."

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg was at the wheel of the MGP W01 today for the team’s final day of testing in Jerez which brings the eight-day programme at the Spanish circuit to its conclusion.

Rosberg’s programme for today concentrated on chassis set-up work over longer runs alongside a tyre comparison programme. The weather stayed dry throughout enabling a very productive day for the team with Rosberg completing 130 laps with a quickest lap time of 1:20.061.

Nico Rosberg: "We’ve had a very positive day today and were able to complete a lot of valuable mileage which is a great way to end the tests here in Jerez. We’ve made some good progress on our set-up comparisons and learnt a lot which will be useful to prepare for the final test in Barcelona. Being able to get the laps in dry conditions has been very helpful for me to get used to the car and systems."

Ross Brawn: "The past two weeks in Jerez have seen an intensive period of testing for the team and it is very pleasing to have ended the test programme with two days of very valuable dry running for Nico and Michael. Although the conditions haven’t been ideal over the two tests, we have been able to make good progress on the set-up of the car and completed a number of our systems evaluations. We still have a great deal of work ahead of us in Barcelona next week but overall we’re looking in good shape for the start of the season."

Ferrari

Once again today, Fernando Alonso was on track. The Spanish driver worked mainly on trying out different set-up options on the car and, at the end of the afternoon, he completed a race simulation. In total, Alonso did 137 laps, the quickest in a time of 1:20.436, sixth fastest.

"It was a good testing and we are looking forward to Barcelona," said Alonso.

Toro Rosso

This was the fourth and final day of the penultimate test of the winter. In the morning, Jaime Alguersuari did some aero evaluation runs and in the afternoon, the team tackled a race simulation. Over the whole day, the STR5 completed the equivalent of over two race distances.

Jaime Alguersuari: “These past two days in the car have been successful and it was good that the weather improved, so I could manage to drive in the dry. The most important aspect is that the car ran reliably, which was our main target here in Jerez. It puts us in good shape to tackle the final test in Barcelona.”

Laurent Mekies, chief engineer: “That is encouraging on the reliability front, even with the rain interrupting our programme this week, it has been quite a useful test, working on both dry and wet weather basic set-up. However, there is still a fair amount of work to do before the first race in Bahrain and we hope to get a lot more testing miles under our belt, in Barcelona next week.”

Red Bull

With more sunshine in Jerez today and a dry race circuit, Mark Webber began testing the RB6 this morning with a series of long runs to evaluate three different Bridgestone tyre compounds. After three successful runs, Webber’s fourth was stopped late morning when the car had an engine failure.

The team lost around two and a half hours of running time while a replacement was fitted, but Webber was back out on track in the afternoon. After an installation lap, he completed one very long run, as the team continued its tyre testing.

Mark Webber: “The weather was a lot kinder to us on the last two days and we learned a hell of a lot, no question about it. We did a lot of stuff with Renault and also leaned about the aerodynamics and the chassis – there were lots of things we kept throwing into the fire and we kept learning, so that was good. We need a nice clear run in Barcelona and a little more reliability there and we’re ready to go racing.”

Ian Morgan, head of race engineering: “It was frustrating test with the wet weather over the first two days, but having two dry days at the end was good and enabled us to get some good mileage on the car. Next week’s test in Barcelona will concentrate on our final preparations before Bahrain, including some race simulations.”

Williams

No Williams test summary sent today.

Virgin

Virgin Racing concluded its second full pre-season test in Jerez today. Timo Glock climbed back into the cockpit of the VR-01 with the intention of achieving much-needed dry track time in the improved conditions.

In the absence of the new parts set to be introduced for next week’s test in Barcelona, the team continued to endure a frustrating time addressing the current hydraulic issue. In another day of compromised running, Glock completed just 28 laps and his best time was a 1:22.433s.

Nick Wirth, technical director: “It has been a character-building week, that’s for sure! Despite our best efforts to cure the hydraulic problem which has beset our entire test, this was simply not achievable with the components that we had available in the field.

"The specific problem is that we have been losing hydraulic oil at a rate which has limited the number of laps we can achieve on each run and so we look forward to receiving updated parts for the Barcelona test, which we expect to fully resolve the problem. Having said that, we will now need to continue focusing on reliability work when we would have liked to introduce our Bahrain-specification aerodynamic updates. The revised programme means we will be reserving our full set of aero warpaint for the first race.

“On a positive note, despite these issues, we have actually completed a lot of good race preparation work and it is satisfying to see the car’s potential with minimum set-up changes or development, bearing in mind that we have consistently run with a healthy amount of fuel. Indeed, none of our lap times have been achieved with anything close to qualifying fuel and therefore we are not letting the frustrations in one specific area overshadow what has generally been an encouraging start to our development programme.”

Lotus

The sun shone early on in Jerez as Italy’s Jarno Trulli made his Lotus Racing debut, leaving the garage at precisely 9am to begin his day behind the wheel. Aiming to complete 140 laps in total, Jarno finally pitted at 4.40 pm having run all day and actually completing 141 laps.

Jarno Trulli: “It was a very positive day. I’m really happy about my first day testing with Lotus Racing and I was very lucky to have everything right on the car today with no major issues. We were able to put a lot of mileage on the car and get a lot of information out of it. I had the chance to start developing a real feel for the car and it’s good to be here.”

Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: “An excellent day today, concentrating on reliability and race pace. 141 laps from Jarno is a great effort when you consider it’s his first day driving this year and also a great effort from the team who worked all night to get the car prepared. Overall it’s been a very encouraging four days. The main aim of the test was reliability and over the last two days of dry running we have found some directions in set up that will enable us to concentrate on the pace of the car in Barcelona.”