Team reaction as Valencia tests conclude

Amid reports that the new F10 package may not actually be very good - and that Ferrari could be considering a complete overhaul of the design – the Italian team dominated the first pre-season tests in Valencia. While we do not know the fuel relative fuel loads, Fernando Alonso had his first run today in the Ferrari and recorded the fastest lap of the week while the remaining six teams also got to grips with the new challengers and driver combinations...

Ferrari

Wednesday marked the third and final day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari, working again today alongside six other times at the Cheste circuit, near Valencia.

In front of around 35,000 spectators, Fernando Alonso made his official debut at the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car. The Spanish driver worked mainly on finding the best set-up on the car and assessing its handling with various fuel loads. Fernando completed a total of 127 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.11.470, which was the best time overall at this test.

With the Valencia test ending today, Ferrari will be back on track on 10th February at Jerez de la Frontera, with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel.

Sauber

The Sauber team has drawn quite a positive conclusion after the first three days of testing in Valencia with the new car for the 2010 championship. Along with the F1 teams, an impressive total of 59,100 spectators enjoyed the bright sunshine over the three days of testing.

Pedro de la Rosa: “After the roll-out on Monday this was my second day of testing with the new car and I’m happy it was another positive one. We learned a lot about the set-up of the car with these tyres, and also about the direction we have to go in with our work for the future.”

Willy Rampf, technical director: “We are quite satisfied with the first test. We did exactly 1001 km in total. As well as being reliable, it was important to see that the car responded to changes in the way we expected. The drivers’ comments on the car basically were in line with that, which also helps the team to work in the right direction. In the morning we lost around one and a half hours of track time because of an incident with another car.

"We had to change the floor, the front wing and the engine cover and to prioritise our programme afterwards. But still it was a good day on the track. Again we were lucky with the weather, which gave us very good and consistent track conditions.”

This was the third and final day of the Valencia test. The BMW Sauber F1 Team will be testing next in Jerez. For the first two days Kamui Kobayashi will be on duty, and Pedro for the last two.

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher returned to the cockpit of the MGP W01 car in Valencia today for the third and final day of the first Formula One pre-season test session.

Following his first experience of the new 2010 car on Monday afternoon, Michael spent the early part of his first full day working on the set-up and developing the balance of the car. For the afternoon, the focus switched to long runs before a hydraulic problem on the car brought the day to a close one hour early. He completed 82 laps today and set the third fastest time - a 1:12.438. The next test for the team starts on Wednesday 10th February in Jerez, Spain.

Michael Schumacher: "I’m very happy to have been back in a Formula One car this week. We had a short run on Monday and then almost a full day today which has been good. The experience has been very positive and the car is running smoothly with just a small hydraulic leak which stopped us slightly early today. The main focus is on reliability and doing as many laps as we can so we’re not too worried about looking at the lap times right now.

“It’s a new challenge and a new experience for me this year but knowing Ross so well and working with him again has made it very easy and I feel at home in the team already. I’m feeling fresh and motivated and very positive about the season ahead. I can’t wait to be back in the car to continue the programme in Jerez next week."

Toro Rosso

After Sebastien Buemi drove for the past two days of this first winter test session, it was Jaime Alguersuari’s turn to get his hands on the STR5. A huge crowd of over 30,000 turned out to see our Spanish driver, although it’s possible they were also there for De La Rosa and Alonso!

Once Jaime’s installation in the car had been checked, he soon got down to quick and consistent lap times over long runs. The technical programme included a repeat of yesterday’s systems checks, an aero evaluation, scans of running on different fuel loads and an assessment of the Bridgestone soft and super-soft compounds.

Jaime Alguersuari: “It felt good to complete my first ever Formula One test session, as last season I was never able to do any testing. I was able to concentrate on understanding the car, without having to think about it in terms of a race weekend.

"Personally, I felt much stronger in the car, as I have been training hard in the three months since I last drove in Abu Dhabi. Today was a positive experience and I’m looking forward now to next week in Jerez. It’s too early to say much about the car’s performance, but it felt competitive.”

McLaren

Third and final day of testing at Valencia. Jenson took to the cockpit of a McLaren for the very first time, spending the morning finessing his seating position and sight-lines as he got used to the all-new cockpit of the MP4-25.

Into the afternoon, the team were able to concentrate on a series of longer runs, using the opportunity to find a balance and a set-up that suited Jenson.

After three days of testing, the McLaren Mercedes team leaves the opening test extremely satisfied with the performance and reliability of the new MP4-25.

The test team regroups in Jerez de la Frontera next week for the second of four pre-season sessions – a circuit that will enable all teams to begin a more meaningful assessment of relative pace.

Renault

Renault completed its final day of testing in Valencia today as Vitaly Petrov made his debut for the team. The 25-year-old Russian completed 75 laps as the team focussed on getting him acquainted with the car as he experienced F1 power for the first time.

The day went smoothly and Vitaly successfully completed the technical programme to round off a productive week. The team will remain in Spain and travel to Jerez next week to continue its winter testing programme.

Vitaly Petrov: “I really enjoyed my first day in the car and everything went well. The car is very impressive compared with a GP2 car and I enjoyed experiencing the power and braking performance. After about 30 laps I was starting to feel comfortable and understanding the limits of the car. It was also my first chance to work with my engineers and so far everything is going really well so I’m happy with the day.”

Alan Permane, chief race engineer: “This was Vitaly’s first day in the R30 and we concentrated on getting him comfortable and familiar with the car. There’s a lot for him to get used to in terms of the brakes, power and the extra downforce, but he adapted well and did a good job. Overall our first week with the car has been successful and we’ve come away with a lot of valuable knowledge about the car. We’re now looking forward to building on this work in Jerez next week.”

Williams

Sam Michael, technical director: "Today, with Nico, we worked on putting as much mileage as we could on the FW32 and achieved over 500kms at the end of the day, bringing us to a test total of 1,213.5kms. We spent the three days working on set-up and long runs; the main systems on the car are proving reliable and are cooling sufficiently. There are the inevitable minor teething problems to resolve between now and Jerez, but it’s been good to get out on track and start work with our new engine partner, Cosworth."

Nico Hulkenberg: "We covered a lot of mileage today, which is good and allowed me to get used to the car, and my first impressions are all positive. We did a lot of long runs on heavy fuel loads which have given us a good baseline, but we need to keep on working."