17/02/2010
NEWS STORY
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Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets at Jerez de la Frontera today as the third, and penultimate, pre-season test got underway.
As expected, rain once again caused problems with one team describing the ever changing conditions as "horrid", what with gusting winds and intermittent heavy showers.
As well as the weather, teams and drivers who had already seen their programmes compromised here last week had to endure a number of red flag periods as some drivers span off and others stopped out on track. Furthermore, at one stage the official timing system shut down meaning that several drivers lost recorded lap times.
"We got a lot of laps done and the car has been good and reliable," said Ian Morgan, Red Bull's head of race engineering. "We've made a few small changes but we didn't get through as much as the programme as we'd hoped because of the weather. Sebastian and the car were consistent on the long runs in the dry which is promising.
"We're continuing to make steady progress; the car is better than it was last week and every time we turn a wheel we seem to be moving forward a little bit."
Despite the conditions McLaren continued with its development of the MP4-25, making solid progress with the car's balance and set-up, based largely on a thorough evaluation of and response to the data gathered at last week's running at Jerez.
Lewis Hamilton caused an early red flag during the morning's running when his car was stopped by a minor systems error. However, thereafter, he ran without problems and was able to achieve some encouraging times over several long runs. A late run with a fuel load saw the 2008 world champion move up to second on the timesheets just 0.424s off Vettel's pace.
Tomorrow, the Woking team will continue with its reactive programme, continuing to put miles on the car while simultaneously looking at improving performance.
Ferrari described today as a "day of hiccups", the Maranello outfit clearly having a difficult time of it. Already frustrated by the weather, the Maranello team's mood wasn't helped when Felipe Massa stopped out on track just before 13:30. Having brought the car back to the pits - during which time the Italian team went to extraordinary lengths to prevent anyone getting too close, especially to the rear - the team worked on the F10, carrying out various modifications and enabling the technicians to check the data relating to different set ups.
"This wasn't the best day of testing," said Massa, who drove the brand new 282 chassis today. "The track conditions changed all the time and then we might have lost the best moment in the early afternoon. We had to adapt to the situation, trying to make the best of it. We hope that the situation will improve tomorrow. Although the forecast is not really encouraging."
On the agenda for Toro Rosso camp was a brake system evaluation and fortunately, there were enough dry laps available for Sebastien Buemi to complete this. The STR5 encountered no major technical problems and the Swiss driver - who will be in action again tomorrow - completed 79 laps on his way to posting the fourth best time of the day.
Sauber continues to impress, Pedro de la Rosa finishing the day fifth quickest as the Swiss team used the day to try out all the different tyre specifications.
"The conditions were obviously not ideal today," said the Spaniard, "but overall things went well for us, and we were able to complete all the work we had on the programme for today. However, we hope to get in some more laps in dry conditions because we still have a lot of work to do. The weather forecast is not very good for tomorrow, so we have to make the most of every dry window we get."
"We were able to use all the tyre specifications wet, intermediate and dry," added test engineer, Thomas Hunsicker, "and worked on optimising the set-up for the various tyres as well as for different fuel levels. In addition, we completed some systems work. The car ran reliably all day."
Having had two relatively dry days last week, Michael Schumacher was back at the wheel of the MGP W01 today, the German team's programme constantly adapting to suit the conditions.
Schumacher began the day on wet tyres before switching to intermediates as a dry line began to emerge by late morning. He successfully completed a planned long run on dry tyres in the early afternoon before a further downpour soaked the track. Despite the numerous interruptions, the seven-time champion completed 111 laps.
"The weather was really changing all the time today," said the German, "which made it difficult to follow our planned programme and to have a clear picture of everyone's performance. From the laps that we achieved, we have again confirmed the reliability of the car, and from the impressions and data gathered, we can say that the pace and performance looks very good. We have a strong basis to keep up the development this week here in Jerez and next week at the final test in Barcelona."
New test and reserve driver Paul di Resta got his first taste of Force India's challenger this morning before Adrian Sutil took over for the afternoon's running.
Despite the conditions, the Silverstone-based outfit enjoyed a productive day working through set-up and control systems checks. di Resta completed over 300km while Sutil covered 120km, bringing the day's mileage to more than 450km.
"Today was my first run in the new car and it felt pretty good," said the Scot. "The objective was to get as much running as possible and we managed over 300km, which was a great effort, particularly given the bad weather conditions we had over the morning. It seemed to be drying out and then the rain would return again so you were in a sort of no man's land with the tyres. Even with this type of weather though I could get an impression of the car. It seems stable and good all round, a genuine improvement on the car I drove last year. I'll be back in the car in Barcelona and am looking forward to it already."
"It was a short session for me today," added Sutil. "I only started my first run just before 4pm when the track was drying in places but there were still a few damp patches on the racing line. We did two long runs on the slick tyres but in the mixed conditions it was hard to get a view on the car. But at this stage all running is good and we're ready to go out again tomorrow to get some more mileage and data on the car."
"Paul completed 76 laps today in unsettled conditions to get his first experience of the VJM03," said chief race engineer, Dominic Harlow. "He also carried out some control systems tests and ran wet, intermediate and dry tyres. During a very windy afternoon Adrian took over the car for a short programme in predominantly dry conditions continuing set-up development from last week's test. The VJM03 ran reliably all day, which gives a good basis for the remaining three days."
"Another wet day in Jerez," said Vitaly Petrov, who completed 55 laps for Renault. "The track conditions were constantly changing from wet to dry, which made it difficult to learn very much. We have to hope that tomorrow is better so that we can get a lot of laps on the car."
"It was a very frustrating day," added Alan Permane, "especially for Vitaly who has had very little dry running so far. The frequent showers meant that the track was wet for most of the day and we couldn't achieve a great deal of constructive work"
It was frustrating also for Rubens Barrichello who stopped out on track twice. Nonetheless, the Brazilian veteran completed 109 laps even though his best time was over 4s off the pace.
"Although we covered a good number of laps, we had a couple of small mechanical problems that cost us track time when the grip was at its
highest," admitted Sam Michael.
No matter the appalling conditions, Lotus enjoyed a successful first day of testing, with Fairuz Fauzy completing 76 laps without encountering any problems and completing the 300 kms needed to gain his Super Licence, subject to FIA approval.
The Malaysian team was among the first cars out on track in the wet conditions this morning, and, despite a lack of power steering, due to supplier issues, Fauzy successfully fulfilled all his and the team's objectives for the day.
"With the car we had no major reliability issues just a few niggles with overheating which were quickly solved and then the car ran pretty faultlessly," said Fauzy. "The power steering issue will be fixed for tomorrow so all in all a very successful first day and a busy evening ahead preparing the car for tomorrow.
The Malaysian driver was clearly delighted with his first day behind the wheel of the T127, adding: "I want to thank the team. To arrive here and complete 76 laps is fantastic. It was a big challenge, both to complete the 300kms I need for the Super Licence, and with no power steering it was difficult to drive in the dry, not so bad in the wet, so I was driving a bit conservatively but I am just very pleased."
"It's been an excellent day for the whole team," said Mike Gascoyne. "Firstly I want to say a big thank you to Fairuz who did an excellent job today with the first proper day of running. With so much going on, such as doing systems checks, it can be a pretty disjointed day for the driver. When you add into that the changeable conditions, and also the fact we were running without power steering today, it could have been a tricky day for Fairuz but he didn't put a foot wrong so well done to him and a big thank you."
Virgin Racing had Timo Glock on duty, the German completing just 10 laps as the British team suffered another frustrating day. After a successful conclusion to its testing debut here last week, the team experienced further misery today when a hydraulics problem proved hard to pin down. After dodging the wet running the team was forced to spend the afternoon in diagnostic mode conducting a series of out-laps to try to flush out the root cause through the hydraulic system. As a result, the team was unable to set a representative lap time.
"We have experienced a sequence of hydraulic problems which were tricky to diagnose on a new car," said Nick Wirth. "This caused us to suffer long and frustrating periods confined to the garage and when we did venture out on track it was purely to conduct a series of exploratory out-laps to try to understand if we had cured the problem. We eventually discovered the real issue, albeit rather late in the day. Nonetheless, having fully identified the problem, we can fix it tonight and look forward to what we hope will be a more constructive day of running for Timo and the team tomorrow."