Team reaction following day four at Jerez

Lewis Hamilton took the testing honours this week for McLaren Mercedes as he recorded the fastest time of the week today at Jerez. Much of the testing at the Spanish test facility has however been compromised by rain, but today at least, the ten teams were able to enjoy an afternoon of dry running. Testing resumes at the same circuit next Wednesday...

McLaren

Fourth and final day of testing at Jerez. With rain in the morning, the team spent the early part of the day once again running through an aero mapping programme, fitting distinctive measuring rakes to the car.

Waiting until the conditions improved, Lewis ventured out to begin running at around 10:40. He was able to complete a 29-lap long run, and began a second long run, which was curtailed by red flags at the 25-lap mark.

The team continued yesterday’s programme, evaluating brake and brake materials while also working on weight distribution.

At the end of the day, when the circuit became completely dry, Lewis was able to complete one final run, fitting a fresh set of tyres to set three fast laps in the 1m19s bracket. His time of 1m19.583s was the fastest of this week’s four-day test.

Lewis is scheduled to kick off proceedings at the start of next week’s test on Wednesday February 17, before Jenson takes over for the final two days.

Force India

The Force India Formula One Team has finished the VJM03’s maiden test in Jerez on a positive note, with Adrian Sutil posting the second quickest time of the day, a 1:20.180 behind McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Conditions today remained dry from mid morning, allowing the team to run through systems checks, set-up evaluation and tyre comparisons. Adrian completed 84 laps of the Spanish track to bring the total test mileage to more than 1,200km.

Testing resumes next week, again at Jerez, from 17 - 20 February. New test and reserve driver Paul di Resta will get his first outing in the VJM03 on 17 February before Adrian and Tonio take over for the remainder of the test.

Adrian Sutil: "In the end we did some really good runs, concentraing mainly on getting as much experience as we could with the new tyres. Set-up wise, we were pretty good already and the car balance is not so far away. We also tried a couple of longer runs and saving the tyres seems to be the key point as we could set some quick times on the early laps but then the tyres dropped off towards the end of the runs. We weren’t going for a time, just trying to get as much information as possible at this stage to feed back into the programme for next week."

Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: "We completed the final day of the test with a greater mileage than the previous days despite some poor weather to begin with and a planned period of downtime, which is positive. Overall our objectives today were completed, meaning some mechanical and bodywork test items and tyre comparisons. It’s been a good first test with the VJM3 confirming the base characteristics of the car and the most prominent effects of the regulation changes for 2010."

Williams

Sam Michael, Technical Director: "After a damp start to the day, we went through some set-up work with Rubens during the afternoon run and made good progress understanding the car. We also worked on systems in the background. Unfortunately, we had to stop earlier than planned due to an issue with the gearbox. The parts were quite high mileage, so we are understanding where those limits are now. Overall, the test has been quite useful for putting mileage on the car, sorting out reliability issues and making progress on set-up."

Rubens Barrichello: "We concentrated on set-ups today and completed 90 laps before we had the problem which the team are investigating now. The car has performed well these past two days and we’ve discovered some interesting things which will help us move it forward. I was hoping to go for a performance run at the end of the day because the car felt good, but unfortunately my session was cut short. There’s work to do in terms of improving performance, but I’m happy with the results that are coming out."

Renault

The first half of the day was damp, causing the team to complete limited running. Conditions improved in the afternoon allowing Robert to complete some long runs and set-up work.

Robert Kubica: “We were unlucky again with the weather this morning but it was dry in the afternoon and we managed to improve the car quite a bit. Each day of testing the car feels better and the progress we have made this week confirms that we are moving in the right direction.”

Alan Permane, Chief Engineer: “It was a slow start to the day as there was quite a bit of rain so we didn’t do too much running in the morning. We did a few runs on wet tyres to check the car out and then waited for the track to dry. As soon as the track was ready for slicks we went out and worked through a set-up programme and made really good progress. We’ve managed to improve the performance and the drivability, and Robert’s finished the day very happy with things.”

Mercedes

The final day of this week’s test in Jerez saw Michael Schumacher back at the wheel of the MGP W01.

The day started slowly with early morning rain leaving the track still very wet for the start of the session. Michael completed a few exploratory laps before returning to the garage to wait for a dry line to emerge.

Michael went back out once the track had dried sufficiently to run on slick tyres and made full use of the remaining track time to further develop the set-up of the car. Michael completed 84 laps over the course of the day setting a quickest time of 1:20.613.

The next test for Mercedes GP will start in Jerez on Wednesday 17 February.

Michael Schumacher: "We had a good day today to end this week’s test programme. The weather affected us a little in the early part of the day but we were able to use our time very effectively once we could run on dry tyres. We completed everything that we wanted and were able to increase our understanding of the car a step further so overall it’s been positive. It’s very tough to understand the order of the teams just yet as everyone can play so much with the fuel loads. So there is a lot of speculation going on but it’s very interesting!"

Ross Brawn: "It’s been a difficult week weather-wise for all of the teams out in Jerez however we have achieved a significant amount of mileage in both the wet and dry conditions and completed some important test items on our pre-season testing programme. This week has enabled us to increase our understanding of both the car and the tyres and our focus for the final two tests will be to continue to develop the performance of the MGP W01 and ensure the team and our drivers are fully prepared for the first race."

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel was at the wheel of Red Bull Racing’s RB6 today for the final day of the current Jerez test. It was his second day of testing, as Mark Webber had driven on days one and two.

The team’s plan was to focus on set-up work and aero testing, although the weather once again played a part and damp conditions in the morning meant Sebastian began the day on intermediate tyres.

Conditions dried by lunchtime, but a fuel pump failure in the afternoon cost the team around three hours of dry running time. Sebastian ended the day with a final long run on dry tyres.

At the end of the RB6’s first week of testing, Ian Morgan, Head of Race Engineering said: “It’s been a productive first week with the RB6, despite the weather and lack of dry conditions. We’re pleased with the car overall, it’s showing a lot of promise.”

The next test will take place at the Jerez Circuit, starting on Wednesday 17 February.

Ferrari

Fourth and final day of testing this week, for Scuderia Ferrari and nine other teams at the Jerez circuit, in Andalusia.

The day began with bad weather, as intermittent drizzle and high humidity levels made for a wet track. Then, after a few hours, the racing line gradually dried out, so that slick tyres could be used.

Felipe Massa was again on duty for Scuderia Ferrari. Having run with both types of rain tyre, the Brazilian did a long run which took up the rest of the morning. In the afternoon, Felipe concentrated on a comparison of the various types of tyre brought here by Bridgestone. A total of 160 laps was completed, with the quickest being a 1.21.485.

The third test session of the season takes place from 17 to 20 February, again at this track. The Scuderia’s programme has Massa driving for the first two days, then Alonso for the final two.

Sauber

With the weather conditions improving a lot in the course of the day, Pedro de la Rosa completed 105 laps on which was the fourth and final day of the first Jerez test. Despite changing track conditions the BMW Sauber F1 Team is quite satisfied with what was achieved this week. The overall mileage for the C29 in Jerez was 1,421 km.

Giampaolo Dall’Ara (Head of Track Engineering) : “In the morning we started with a long-run of 20 laps on intermediate tyres. We then worked on the mechanical set- up of the car. Around half past two we swap into a tyre comparison programme and in the end we carried out some aero tests. Because of the difficult weather situation this week in Jerez we are a little below expectations in terms of mileage but we still managed to cover all our topics and had no major technical problems.”

The next pre-season test for the BMW Sauber F1 Team will start on Wednesday next week in Jerez. Pedro de la Rosa is scheduled to drive on Wednesday and Thursday (17th/18th of February). Kamui Kobayashi will take over for Friday and Saturday (19th/20th of February.

Virgin

Virgin Racing brought its debut test with the VR-01 to a successful conclusion in Jerez today. Lucas di Grassi completed 63 laps of the 4.5km circuit and posted the 9th fastest time of the 10 cars out on track today - a 1:22.912. Although this was the fourth and final day of running for the team, it was the first real opportunity to gauge the relative performance of the VR-01 having only achieved very limited wet running during the previous three days of the test.

Nick Wirth, Technical Director of Virgin Racing, commented: “It is very pleasing to end our first test on such a positive note, having finally achieved some solid running in dry conditions. We have remained focused on the job list in hand and given that we have been working with a representative fuel load to evaluate various set-ups, our lap time and rate of progress is encouraging at this very early stage.”

Team Principal John Booth commented: “This is a great reward for the team. They have all worked so hard over the past few days to achieve such positive running on our final day here. Everyone is extremely buoyant and looking forward to being back here in Jerez next week.”

Lucas di Grassi said: “After three days of very little running, in the space of one day we have completed lots of mileage in the dry and we were able to work through lots of important items on our programme. The car was behaving much better after the work we did since yesterday and I think what we have achieved today is a very good start for our team. I would like to thank the guys for working some unbelievable hours this week. The way they have come together is fantastic and generally I am very happy with where we are.”

Toro Rosso

After a slightly damp track in the morning, the weather improved for the final day of this test session, allowing Jaime Alguersuari to get some dry running under his belt in the new STR5. On the technical agenda today, race set-up work, using the Soft and Medium Bridgestone tyres and a back-to-back comparison of some aero parts.

“I’m pleased with how these two days of testing went,” said Jaime Alguersuari. “It was very useful to drive the car with different fuel loads and in different track conditions, in the dry, in the wet and “intermediate” conditions. Overall, it has been a positive week for me and also for the team.”

“With another 98 laps completed today, we got through all our programme this week and have acquired plenty of data to study in preparation for the next test,” commented Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. “The past four days have been satisfactory, as the car never once stopped out on track and the two drivers didn’t make any mistakes, which always helps!”

The team now stays in Jerez to prepare the car for the next test session, which runs from 17 to 20 February at this same circuit. Buemi drives the first two days, followed by Alguersuari for the last two.