Jerez, day 3: Team and driver quotes

Red Bull Renault

Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s third day of testing at the Circuit de Jerez in Spain got off to a slow start this morning when the team detected an issue and elected to change the power unit in Daniel’s RB11. Once complete, the team was able to get him back out on track where the RB11 ran reliably for the rest of the session, with Daniel registering a series of useful long runs.

“Although we were limited with running today, we got some long runs together and that was encouraging,” said Daniel. “I was happy to do some 10-15 lap runs as that’s always where you get a better understanding of the car. Every lap we do we understand something more about the car or the driveablility of the Renault power unit. So it was a decent afternoon. In terms of where we’re at, it’s impossible to know about the pace because we don’t know what people are running, but I think the consistency today was good, we put a few laps together in the end, so a few positives to take away from today.”

Head of Race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin commented: “A day of two halves really. The engine issue arrived very early – I think Daniel had about five laps on the board at that point. We knew what the issue was and so we decided to change the power unit and that took some time. However, when we got Daniel back out the car ran without any problems and we were able to put together a couple of longer runs, which were good. In the end we managed a decent total of laps given the restricted running and we’re happy with how the car performed.”

Toro Rosso Renault

The third day of four here in Jerez began with a damp track that dried out during the morning. Carlos Sainz was having his second day at the wheel of STR10.

Tomorrow, Max Verstappen takes over for the final day of the session.

Phil Charles (Chief Race Engineer)

“A very productive day, during which we completed a lot of laps. Everything went smoothly, which was good for Carlos, as it meant he was able to do long enough runs to learn valuable lessons about tyre management. That was part of our chassis programme, as well as working on its performance during the morning. We were also able to get Carlos doing practice starts, including some on a wet track, which will be another useful lesson for the coming season. All in all, a good day’s work.”

Carlos Sainz

“It’s been a really nice day for me and I enjoyed what I consider my first real day of Formula 1 testing. Hitting a target of 137 laps was quite an achievement. The fact we managed to do such a big distance is down to all the hard work of everyone in the team, the mechanics working day and night here at the track and also everyone back in the factory. They did a brilliant job and, thanks to them, I was able to learn a lot. All these laps also meant I was able to evaluate my physical condition and, on this front, I am quite pleased, as it seems the work we did over the winter has paid off.”

Lotus Renault

Lotus F1 Team enjoyed a productive day of testing at the Circuito de Jerez with Pastor Maldonado completing 96 laps, setting a best time of 1min 22.713secs. The team continued with installation and functionality checks with the E23 Hybrid as well as initial performance assessments. Romain Grosjean will get his first taste of the E23 tomorrow.

Romain Grosjean will drive tomorrow to conclude the team’s Jerez test programme.

Pastor Maldonado:

“It was a good day and we’ve learnt a lot more about the E23. The car feels strong and we know there’s more to come. We’re still checking all the systems and learning how everything works, but I’m very happy with progress over the last two days. We were able to run with different tyre compounds today so there’s a good basis for knowing where we need to look in terms of set-up. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the car in Barcelona.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“We’ve completed a solid programme today and been able to log a lot of data as we begin our initial understanding of the E23. Yesterday’s issues were quickly diagnosed and rectified and today we’ve run very reliably with only a connection issue to delay our first run this morning. Pastor’s jumped straight back into the car after the winter break and has given us everything we’ve needed over the last two days, now we’re looking forward to Romain getting his first taste of the car tomorrow.”

Williams Mercedes

Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer: It’s been another good day and good to have Felipe get his first drive of the FW37 today. We have started to do a little more chassis work as we continue to work through our plan. Felipe gave us very much the same feedback as Valtteri did, so it’s pleasing that they share the same views and characteristics as each other on the FW37. Overall it’s been a positive day.

Felipe Massa: I am happy after a good first day in the car. The FW37 is another step forward from where we left the FW36, which is promising. I am also confident in the car set-up. The feeling in the car was good even for a first impression and it’s well balanced. We lost a bit of time in the morning due to the wet weather so hopefully tomorrow we can continue to get the miles in and head to Barcelona well prepared.

Mercedes

MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS continued its 2015 winter testing programme today at the Circuito de Jerez, with Nico Rosberg taking the wheel of the F1 W06 Hybrid for the third day of pre-season testing. Nico’s best time of 1:21.982 from 151 laps put him third on the time sheets.

— Today’s programme comprised long runs and practice pit stops
— Nico emerged for his first run at precisely 09:00 CET, completing 93 laps before lunch and a further 58 in the afternoon
— Running was briefly interrupted after the F1 W06 Hybrid was brought to a halt by an engine cut at Turn 10 just before 13:00 CET
— Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 1408.104 km between the three teams present
— Lewis Hamilton will take the wheel for the fourth and final day of running tomorrow in Jerez

Nico Rosberg

Reliability was our main issue over the last year, so our goal for 2015 is to sort this out. That is why I can be happy with my first pre-season test as I did a lot of mileage on both days. A big thank you to the team for a reliable Silver Arrow so far. They did a really good job over the winter. Performance wise I don’t know where we are but the Ferrari times look very encouraging for them, so it will be an interesting year for Formula One, I guess.

However, I recently heard about the discussions concerning the German Grand Prix and it’s really sad for me and the German fans to hear that nothing is confirmed yet for 2015. For as long as I can remember, the German Grand Prix was part of the Formula One World Championship, so I really hope our Grand Prix will be held this year and beyond that. The fans deserve to have a great show every year because there are so many great supporters out there. Also there is plenty of Germany in F1, with us German drivers like Sebastian, Hulk and myself, plus of course Mercedes-Benz. So I really hope that Bernie and the promoters find a good solution for everybody.

McLaren Honda

After two tricky days, the team turned a corner this morning, managing 32 trouble-free laps around Jerez, which enabled us to put our first serious miles on both the MP4-30 and the RA615H power unit.

Some fantastic work from the night-shift mechanics ensured Fernando was able to take to the track as soon as the session started; and, after a couple of exploratory installation laps and aero checks, we were able to ramp up his programme, extending the length of each run.

Despite only running on a damp track, and using Pirelli’s Intermediate tyres, Fernando put in a decent number of laps until he was side-lined before lunch.

He had just begun a timed run when he felt something awry with the car – he returned the car to the garage, where we discovered a loss of cooling water pressure. Fixing the issue required the removal of the power unit – a lengthy change that we couldn’t have completed in time for the car to return to the track today.

Nevertheless, it’s a fixable problem, and we’ll get things replaced ahead of Jenson’s final run in the car tomorrow.

Eric Boullier

“Jenson’s final lap last night made us all feel happier, because we felt we’d cured the issues that had affected us on Sunday and Monday. This morning, it was a relief to see the car get out of the garage at 9am, and run without problems for several hours.

“Fernando’s comments were very positive, too: he said the car was reacting well to changes, and felt stable. Operationally, we’ve already covered everything in our programme, but what’s even more positive is that we’ve been able to carry out a number of longer runs. They’ve shown us that the car doesn’t have any conceptual or architectural issues.

“It’s good to see that the car is effectively able to run straight out of the box, without any major issues. That’s the most positive point of the day.”

Sauber Ferrari

Jerez de la Frontera. On day three of the test in Jerez it was again Felipe Nasr behind the wheel of the Sauber C34. With the track damp in the morning, he ran on wet tyres as well as on slicks to make some comparisons. With dry conditions in the course of the afternoon he used different dry compounds and set a best time of 1:21.545 min, which was the fastest of the day overall.

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering:

“The day was a bit more complicated than the previous two. In the morning it was mainly down to the weather conditions. When the track was still damp we decided to test different wet tyres, and make some comparisons. In the afternoon we continued with the set-up work and some additional scans. We lost a little bit of time with a minor technical issue, but, nevertheless, we were able to complete more than 100 laps. In the end we can be satisfied with the day.”

Felipe Nasr:

“It was another positive day. We did a lot of mileage, and we were able to get a better understanding of the car. On top of that, we used different tyres in different conditions, and we played with the set-up. In the end I had the chance to do some long-runs to get a feeling for the car with high fuel loads like they would be in race conditions. It was important for me to get used to all these different things. Overall they were two very positive days. I’m glad that I already feel comfortable in the new environment, and I’m really happy with everything I’ve seen so far with the team. I’m already looking forward to Barcelona.”

Tomorrow, for the last day of the Jerez test, it will be Marcus Ericsson behind the wheel of the Sauber C34-Ferrari.

Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen: “It’s too early to talk about results, but we are going in the right direction. There is still a great deal to do, however this has been a positive start, very different to a year ago. A good job has been done on the car with a lot of improvements. Even though these are only early days for testing, we have done plenty of laps, after Sebastian got through two good days of work.”

James Allison: “We had a better day in terms of reliability and with Kimi we managed a good number of tests. It was interesting to get his feedback on the handling characteristics of the SF15-T, when compared to last year’s car.”