13/02/2010
NEWS STORY
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Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets on the final day of testing this week at Jerez de la Frontera as the rain finally eased off allowing teams to get in some serious mileage.
At first it appeared that today's programme would be ruined, much like Wednesday and Friday, as the session got underway in wet conditions. However, the rain finally eased off and the blustery winds soon had the track dry enough for some serious running.
Waiting until the conditions improved, Lewis Hamilton 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 Woking 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, the 2008 world champion was able to complete one final run, fitting a fresh set of tyres to set three fast laps in the 1:19s bracket. His time of 1:19.583s was the fastest of this week's four-day test.
Hamilton is scheduled to kick off proceedings at the start of next week's test on Wednesday, before Jenson Button takes over for the final two days.
Force India finished the VJM03's maiden test on a positive note, with Adrian Sutil posting the second quickest time of the day, just 0.597s behind Hamilton.
In the improved conditions from mid-morning, the team ran through systems checks, set-up evaluation and tyre comparisons. Sutil completed 84 laps of the Spanish track to bring the total test mileage to more than 1,200km.
"In the end we did some really good runs," said the German, "concentrating 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."
"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," added Dominic Harlow. "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.
Rubens Barrichello was back on duty for Williams as the Grove outfit continued its preparations with further set-up work on the FW32. The Brazilian set the third fastest time of the day with a 1:20.341 and completed 90 before a gearbox issue forced him into the garage at approximately 16.00.
"We concentrated on set-ups today and completed 90 laps before we had the problem which the team are investigating now," said Barrichello. "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," he continued, "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."
"After a damp start to the day, we went through some set-up work during the afternoon run and made good progress understanding the car," added Sam Michael. "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."
For Renault, Robert Kubica was back on duty, the Pole completing 85 laps on his way to posting the fourth best time of the day.
"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," said the Pole. "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."
"It was a slow start to the day," added Alan Permane, "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. "
The day started slowly for Mercedes with Michael Schumacher completing a few exploratory laps before returning to the garage to wait for a dry line to emerge.
The German 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. He completed 84 laps over the course of the day setting a quickest time of 1:20.613.
"We had a good day today to end this week's test programme," said the German. "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!"
"It's been a difficult week weather-wise for all of the teams," added cRoss Brawn, "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."
Sebastian Vettel was back at the wheel of the RB6, his second day of testing this year. The team's plan was to focus on set-up work and aero testing, although the damp conditions in the morning meant the German 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. Vettel ended the day with a final long run on dry tyres posting the sixth best time of the day.
At the end of the day, 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."
Without doubt, the busiest man today was Felipe Massa who completed 160 laps of the Spanish track, more than any other driver this week.
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, he concentrated on a comparison of the various types of tyre brought here by Bridgestone.
"We've never driven 700 kilometres in just one day," said Massa at the end of the session. "Physically I feel well, I actually thought that I might be more tired than I am.
"I'm pleased by the work we've done today," he continued, "because we could test the car under all conditions. I'm happy for myself and the team: we concluded the foreseen programme and there is lots of data to analyse over the upcoming days, so we can prepare ourselves the best possible way for the next test session, without any particular problems. The only stop I had doesn't worry me at all, because we know what caused it. I think we're heading in the right direction, but we're aware of the fact that there's still lots of work ahead of us."
Asked if he would dare venture an opinion regarding his chances in this year's championship, the Brazilian replied: "For sure we can say that we've got a reliable car, but it's much too early for the rest, although I really hope so. The one who does the best work, day after day on the track and at home, wins the title. I'm not the most important thing here. What counts is that we know that we've got a fast and constant car."
For Sauber, Pedro de la Rosa completed 105 laps, the Swiss outfit proclaiming itself "quite satisfied" with what it has achieved this week.
"In the morning we started with a long-run of 20 laps on intermediate tyres," said Giampaolo Dall'Ara. "We then worked on the mechanical set-up of the car. Around half past two we switched to 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."
After three highly frustrating days, Virgin was finally able to get to work, Lucas di Grassi completing 63 laps and finishing ahead of yesterday's pace-setter, Jaime Alguersuari.
"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," said the Brazilian. "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."
"It is very pleasing to end our first test on such a positive note," added Nick Wirth, "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."
"This is a great reward for the team," said team principal, John Booth. "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."
The improved conditions allowed yesterday's pace-setter Jaime Alguersuari to get some dry running under his belt in the new STR5. On the technical agenda today was race set-up work, using the soft and medium tyres and a back-to-back comparison of some aero parts.
"I'm pleased with how these two days of testing went," said 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," said 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!"
A couple of hours after the teams had finished packing away, Pitpass snapper Joanne Burnett was still at the circuit when the first of the Lotus transporters arrived to begin preparations for next week's test.