Team reaction after day four in Barcelona Test

Sauber Ferrari

On the final day of testing in Barcelona Sergio Pérez completed 74 laps at the wheel of the Sauber C30-Ferrari in dry conditions. His main focus was working on the set up of the car.

James Key, technical director: “It was the final day of quite a long test in Barcelona. It’s always good to use this track as a reference. You get a far better idea about what your car is doing and where its strong and weak points are. Today we spent most of the time working on the set-up of the car, and we tried some new test items. We have to look at the data, but certainly we found some new directions. We also found some useful directions with the different compounds of tyres between the start in the morning, which was cold, and the afternoon when it was quite warm. The temperatures, the set up and the tyre compound are all very closely linked. There are a lot of factors to consider, and we were able to learn more about all of them. Now we head off to the next test where we will introduce onto the car the first part of the update for the start of the season.”

Sergio Pérez:“It was another positive day. I learnt a lot, in particular about the tyres. They kept changing, but now we have the final spec for the beginning of the season, so it was good I was able to run them today to learn how to maximise their potential. We did a lot of work over the two days, so I’m quite happy.”

Red Bull Renault

After spending yesterday on race simulation work, it was back to business as usual for Red Bull Racing today, with Mark Webber completing 69 laps as the team evaluated development components on the RB07.

“Today we got through quite a lot of work in evaluating some development components on the suspension, brakes and aero package,” explained Head of Race Engineering Ian Morgan. “We got through the whole programme without any difficulties so, all in all, a useful day’s work.”

Summing up the Barcelona test, he added: “We set out a pretty ambitious schedule for this test and I’m pleased to say that we managed to get through almost all of it. Obviously, the weather yesterday hampered us a little but even then we got some wet weather running in, which helps us understand the tyres a bit better. Overall, I think we are quite pleased with the progress we’ve made here.”

Mark Webber said “Not too bad today. We had a few niggles here and there but we did well and that’s been the case over the whole weekend. We had a very productive test, no question about it. We have a whole raft of data to go through, so we’ll see where the next test is and get ready for that.”

Learning of the news that the first race of the season in Bahrain will not take place, Webber commented: “I think the right decision was made, in light of what is going on, so we look forward to Melbourne instead. It would have been nice to go to Bahrain, but hopefully it can stage the race again. As for starting in Melbourne, it’s my home race and, as always, I’m looking forward to it. It is a sensational event, we’re in good shape as a team, so I hope to go there and get a very good result.”

Toro Rosso Ferrari

The third pre-season test session finished today at the Catalunya circuit, with Sebastien Buemi bringing the fourth day to an end with ninety laps and the third fastest time to his name.

His programme was similar to the one followed with Jaime Alguersuari, with a mix of short and long runs today, using all the types of Pirelli tyre with the exception of the Medium. In addition, the Swiss driver also worked on car set-up work and brakes.

Giorgio Ascanelli: “This has definitely been a productive four days for us with a good number of laps completed. We addressed all the technical issues that came to our attention at the previous test in Jerez, although as you move forward and make progress, you always discover new problems. But 90 trouble-free laps today means that this is a positive end to our time in Barcelona.”

Sebastien Buemi: “Today went well and I am happy with what we achieved. We got through the entire programme we had planned and did enough laps to improve our understanding of the various types of Pirelli tyre. Along with the two other drivers, we gathered a lot of data over the past four days here in Barcelona and it will be important to analyse everything very carefully to find the right way to move forward in terms of reliability and performance, when we tackle the final pre-season test session. The team, at the track and back at the factory worked well to deliver a car reliable enough to do plenty of laps, which is always the most important thing at this point in the year.”

Williams Cosworth

Sam Michael, Technical Director: “It has been another productive day but it certainly didn’t start out like that! We had a problem with the KERS cooling system just before the session opened, so we had to disable KERS for the day. Pastor then spent the morning doing some mapping runs for Cosworth and running some new exhaust components for aero to check temperatures for the last test aero upgrade that is coming - all of that worked okay. In the afternoon we completed a race simulation with no problems. Overall it has been a productive test although we still have some reliability issues to work on. The final winter test will now be held back at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona from 8 – 11 March and we will be bringing our first race upgrade package.”

Pastor Maldonado: “We did 121 laps so it’s been a great day. We tried lots of things on the car this morning and this afternoon we did a race simulation. The car felt great. We need to work to understand a little bit more about the balance on the longer runs but I am happy as the car is getting better each time we go out.”

Lewis wrapped up four days of running at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, spending the day focusing on tyre development over a series of long runs.

Clocking up an impressive 107 laps – MP4-26’s biggest single-day mileage – the team worked through a lengthy tyre development programme, eschewing outright lap times in order to more fully understand how the Pirellis behave throughout a race stint.

Test team manager Indy Lall: “It was very encouraging to log over 100 laps with MP4-26 today – an impressive conclusion to our four days in Barcelona. We’re still working through a very lengthy development programme – today wasn’t about pure performance, it was about conducting a disciplined series of long-runs – but it’s been a positive end to our test here.”

The third test session in preparation for the World Championship, for Scuderia Ferrari and the other Formula 1 teams, came to an end today at the Catalunya Circuit, on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Felipe Massa was on track at the wheel of the Ferrari F150th Italia for the second consecutive day. The Brazilian worked mainly on a comparison of the various types of tyre Pirelli brought here, running with different fuel loads and with different car set-ups. Felipe covered a total of 121 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.22.625.

With the Bahrain test having been cancelled, along with the first round of the championship, both of these events scheduled to take place at the Sakhir circuit, the pre-season test programme will now be modified.

Lotus Renault GP

The final day in Barcelona saw Nick Heidfeld back in the R31 as the team wrapped up its third pre-season test session.

A new front wing was fitted on the car and the team carried out some aero mapping to assess its effectiveness. First impressions were positive. The team completed its first race distance simulation and was pleased with the feel of the car on high fuel.

Nick Heidfeld: “In the morning we were not able to do most of our programme because we had an issue with the KERS. It’s a shame because track time is so limited, but it’s obviously better to have problems during testing before the season starts. In the afternoon we started the race simulation, which went reasonably well. We were using different tyre compounds and tried both scrubbed and new sets. We learned a lot by running the car on high fuel and have lots of useful data about the degradation rates. Then, at the end of the day, we returned to the set-up work.”

Alan Permane: "It was a difficult morning because we lost time with a KERS problem. We managed to resolve the issue before lunch and started with our set-up programme
— For the afternoon our target was a race distance. We pretty much completed the mileage we needed to, apart from a couple of laps due to a red flag. We ended the day with further set-up work and found some good directions.

Bahrain withdraws from first race

Today the Bahrain International Circuit announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain would withdraw from hosting this year’s Formula 1 Grand Prix so that the country and focus on its “process of national dialogue.”

Eric Boullier: “The recent situation in Bahrain has been very difficult for the country. We feel the decision taken by the Crown Prince is wise and we fully support it. The Bahrain Grand Prix has always been welcomed with enthusiasm from the Bahraini people, and we’re looking forward to going back there when they have healed their country. We will now amend our logistics accordingly and will get ready for Australia."

Michael Schumacher completed the four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya for MERCEDES GP PETRONAS today.

Michael’s programme over the day included aerodynamic evaluations, further race weekend preparation work and set-up development, particularly focusing on longer runs. Michael also continued his familiarisation with the KERS system.

Michael completed 114 laps today, bringing the team’s total mileage for this test to 1988 kms.

Michael Schumacher: “We’ve had another busy day, focusing on set-up work and improving our understanding of the car. The reliability was good, which gave us a solid platform to work from, and we made progress in terms of finding set-up directions. On the performance side, this isn’t the package we will start the season with, so we are not drawing too many firm conclusions. Overall it has been a productive test for us in Barcelona as we continue our pre-season preparations.”

Ross Brawn: “We have had a good test in Barcelona this week and made significant progress with our testing programme. Michael and Nico have both completed race weekend simulations, which have been extremely valuable to develop our understanding of the behaviour of the car and tyres on different fuel loads, and to use KERS and the adjustable rear wing in realistic situations. The reliability of the MGP W02 has been encouraging at this test which now allows us to turn our focus to the performance developments we have to come.”

Marussia Virgin Racing concluded four days of pre-season testing in Barcelona today, having amassed a wealth of crucial data to feed back into the MVR-02 development programme.

The fourth and final day of running at the Circuit de Catalunya got underway today in cool but sunny conditions. Jérôme D’Ambrosio was back to complete the second day of his programme, having opened the test for Marussia Virgin Racing on Friday.

This morning the team got off to a positive start as Jérôme and the team focused on set-up runs, pitstop practice and practice starts. Late morning a gearbox problem surfaced which confined the MVR-02 to the garage, but a big effort by the team saw the car back on track mid-afternoon in order to continue the good work from earlier today.

Jérôme completed 50 laps in total. Whilst the lap tally was less than previous days, the team is encouraged by what has been a very productive test overall with very positive mileage achieved.

Jérôme D’Ambrosio: “It was a shame not to have more time in the car today, but I have to say that I’m happy with my last test day in Barcelona. The car has improved a lot if we compare it to the first day of testing, and that is a good sign. The immediate focus will be working through all the data we have gathered and I’ll be spending time in the simulator later this week to ensure we keep moving forward.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “We lost a bit of running today but we have to be happy with what we’ve achieved at this test. It has been extremely productive and the lessons learned will improve our performance significantly in readiness for the first race of the season. What we take away from this test most of all is how far we’ve come as a team in the space of just 12 months. This time last year, a problem like the one we encountered today would have brought us to our knees, but it’s a measure of the strength of our operation now that we came back from this setback and got ourselves out on track again in such a short space of time to bank crucial development mileage. We have gathered an enormous amount of information to review and feed back into the development cycle. With the landscape having changed significantly with regard to the season opener, we will use the extra time to review every aspect of our racing operation to ensure that we are fully prepared and ready for when the lights do go green.”

Adrian Sutil brought the second test of the Force India F1 Team’s VJM04 to a close at the Circuit de Catalunya today. Following on from yesterday’s programme Adrian worked on tyre evaluation, running the supersoft Pirelli tyre for the first time this test, and further fine-tuned the set-up and balance of the 2011 car. The German also used the KERS system for the first time and covered 64 laps in total.
The team will now return to its base in the UK to regroup ahead of the final all-team test, which will now take place in Barcelona from 8 - 11 March.

Adrian Sutil: A very productive day in general for us. We made some good progress with the balance and we’ve now got a basic set-up that feels smooth and easy to drive. I also got a run on the supersoft tyres, which we didn’t manage to do yesterday. Of course we also put the KERS on the car. It ran reliably and allowed us to complete the full test programme: very promising for this point in testing. It’s still early days for the system but we have got ourselves into a good rhythm and can feed this back into the factory to get some more performance for the next test.

Dominic Harlow, circuit engineering director: A good final day’s testing concentrating on KERS set-up, reliability and also some aero tests that remained on our programme. Adrian also looked at some ride height sweeps and a few procedural checks. It’s been a productive four days for the team and overall the car seems to be performing reliably and according to expectations in all the major areas.

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