20/02/2010
NEWS STORY
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Reigning world champion Jenson Button brought the Jerez test to a pleasing conclusion for McLaren today, posting the fastest overall time of the two week test.
The most consistent weather conditions of the entire test allowed Button and his team to work through a tyre compound evaluation programme, balancing aero and mechanical set-ups to the different types of tyre.
In the morning, the Englishman completed a number of shorter runs on three separate tyre compounds, evaluating set-ups before switching to longer runs in the afternoon, with a view to evaluating the tyres' durability. Following his third test with the Woking team, Button said that he feels very comfortable and confident in the car.
McLaren now heads to Barcelona for the fourth and final test of the winter. Both drivers will spend alternate days in the car evaluating the new bodywork and aerodynamic components ahead of the season-opener in Bahrain.
After evaluation of fuel loads in the morning, Renault's attention switched to long runs in the afternoon along with set-up work, Robert Kubica completing 117 laps on his way to posting the second quickest time of the day.
"It was a good day and we tried a lot of different things," said the Pole, "which has given us lots of useful information. To begin with we did some evaluation with different fuel loads to check the balance of the car and then in the afternoon we did long runs with heavy fuel to simulate a race distance. We completed most of the programme and I was pretty happy with the car."
"Another solid day of work as we made the most of the good weather," added Alan Permane. "We ran the car with varying fuel loads this morning to see how it reacted and we were pleased with the results. Then we attempted a race simulation and, although it was interrupted, we still managed to cover the required number of laps. Later in the afternoon we concentrated on some set-up work and found a good direction with the car."
Sauber had an altogether better day than yesterday when a fuel system problem restricted him to just 28 laps. Today, the Japanese youngster completed 117 laps on his way to posting the third quickest time of the day.
"I'm really happy with our final day of testing," said Kobayashi. "It was a perfect day for us. The conditions were ideal and the car ran trouble-free, so we were able to complete 117 laps and gather a lot of data. We made some progress with the set-up of the car. We will now analyse the data and draw the relevant conclusions for the next test in Barcelona."
"After a difficult day yesterday, I'm really pleased with what we achieved today," added test engineer, Thomas Hunsicker. "We worked on the set-up of the car, tested different tyre compounds and did some aerodynamic evaluations. Thanks to the good conditions and the reliability of the car, we were able to complete our overall testing programme for Jerez."
Tonio Liuzzi brought Force India's second test to a close, the Italian covering 80 laps of the Spanish track with a programme that included work on set-up and understanding the car's behaviour with the heavier fuel loads.
The team now moves to Barcelona where Liuzzi will drive for the first two days, with Adrian Sutil taking over for the final two days.
"Today was a really productive day for us," said the Italian. "We covered 80 laps without any issues and got through our programme of test items for this week. Everything went pretty well - we worked on understanding the car's performance with different fuel loads and ran through some set-up changes and the car is responding well. We still need to work on the tyres over the longer runs and will continue this at the next test in Barcelona. Overall I think we can be very satisfied with how this test has gone and can look forward to another good test next week."
"A good way to finish the eight days of testing in Jerez," added Dominic Harlow. "Tonio completed a broad programme of set-up tests and we are satisfied with what was learned. We've made good progress this week, having tidied up some reliability issues, and developed our set-up options with the VJM03. The team has begun its race preparation in earnest and we will head to Barcelona to continue this work over the final test before the first race of 2010."
At Mercedes, Nico Rosberg's programme concentrated on chassis set-up work over longer runs alongside a tyre comparison programme.
"We've had a very positive day today," said the German, "and we were able to complete a lot of valuable mileage which is a great way to end the tests here in Jerez. We've made some good progress on our set-up comparisons and learnt a lot which will be useful to prepare for the final test in Barcelona. Being able to get the laps in dry conditions has been very helpful for me to get used to the car and systems."
"The past two weeks have seen an intensive period of testing for the team," added Ross Brawn, "and it is very pleasing to have ended the test programme with two days of very valuable dry running for Nico and Michael. Although the conditions haven't been ideal over the two tests, we have been able to make good progress on the set-up of the car and completed a number of our systems evaluations. We still have a great deal of work ahead of us in Barcelona next week but overall we're looking in good shape for the start of the season."
Fernando Alonso was back in action for Ferrari, the Spaniard working mainly on trying out different set-up options on the car. The two-time world champion, who put another 138 laps on the clock of the F10, ended the Maranello outfit's test with a race simulation.
Asked about the 1.5s gap to Button, Alonso replied: "I think that someone showed his muscles today, while we didn't. We'll see in Barcelona - when we'll show up with the latest updates - where we are compared to the others.
"We can say that we're on the right way," he continued. "Over these two days on the dry I could drive many miles and I'm satisfied by the car's performance and reliability. The F10 is growing very well and there's nothing that should worry us. We worked on the long run today and the signs we got are really positive. Naturally we have to improve, because we're not at the max, but we're getting there. Where we have to improve? There's always something to do, but telling you would mean I'd be like a goalie telling you about his weak point so all the strikers would hit there!"
The other Italian team, Toro Rosso, finished the day seventh quickest, Jaime Alguersuari completing 139 laps as he carried out aero evaluation runs before tackling a race simulation in the afternoon. In fact, over the whole day, the STR5 completed the equivalent of over two race distances.
"These past two days in the car have been successful and it was good that the weather improved, so I could manage to drive in the dry," said the Spaniard. "The most important aspect is that the car ran reliably, which was our main target here in Jerez. It puts us in good shape to tackle the final test in Barcelona."
"That is encouraging on the reliability front," added chief engineer, Laurent Mekies. "Even with the rain interrupting our programme this week, it has been quite a useful test, working on both dry and wet weather basic set-up. However, there is still a fair amount of work to do before the first race in Bahrain and we hope to get a lot more testing miles under our belt, in Barcelona next week."
Friday's pace-setter Mark Webber began his day with a series of long runs as he evaluated three different tyre compounds. After three successful runs, the Australian's fourth was stopped late morning when the car suffered an engine failure.
The team lost around two and a half hours of running time while a replacement was fitted, but Webber was back out on track in the afternoon. After an installation lap, he completed one very long run, as the team continued its tyre testing.
"The weather was a lot kinder to us on the last two days," said Webber, "and we learned a hell of a lot, no question about it. We did a lot of stuff with Renault and also leaned about the aerodynamics and the chassis - there were lots of things we kept throwing into the fire and we kept learning, so that was good. We need a nice clear run in Barcelona and a little more reliability there and we're ready to go racing."
"It was frustrating test with the wet weather over the first two days," added Ian Morgan, "but having two dry days at the end was good and enabled us to get some good mileage on the car. Next week's test in Barcelona will concentrate on our final preparations before Bahrain, including some race simulations."
Nico Hulkenberg completed 137 laps on his way to posting the ninth quickest time of the day for williams.
Timo Glock had the intention of achieving much-needed dry track time in the improved conditions. However, in the absence of the new parts set to be introduced for next week's test in Barcelona, the team continued to endure a frustrating time addressing the current hydraulic issue. In another day of compromised running, the German completed just 28 laps.
"It has been a character-building week, that's for sure!" said Nick Wirth. "Despite our best efforts to cure the hydraulic problem which has beset our entire test, this was simply not achievable with the components that we had available in the field. The specific problem is that we have been losing hydraulic oil at a rate which has limited the number of laps we can achieve on each run and so we look forward to receiving updated parts for the Barcelona test, which we expect to fully resolve the problem. Having said that, we will now need to continue focusing on reliability work when we would have liked to introduce our Bahrain-specification aerodynamic updates. The revised programme means we will be reserving our full set of aero warpaint for the first race.
"On a positive note, despite these issues, we have actually completed a lot of good race preparation work," he continued, "and it is satisfying to see the car's potential with minimum set-up changes or development, bearing in mind that we have consistently run with a healthy amount of fuel. Indeed, none of our lap times have been achieved with anything close to qualifying fuel and therefore we are not letting the frustrations in one specific area overshadow what has generally been an encouraging start to our development programme."
Jarno Trulli made his Lotus debut, leaving the garage at precisely 9:00 to begin his first day behind the wheel. Aiming to complete 140 laps in total, the Italian finally pitted at 4.40 pm having run all day and completed 141 laps.
"It was a very positive day," he said. "I'm really happy about my first day testing with Lotus Racing and I was very lucky to have everything right on the car today with no major issues. We were able to put a lot of mileage on the car and get a lot of information out of it. I had the chance to start developing a real feel for the car and it's good to be here."
"An excellent day today," added Mike Gascoyne, "concentrating on reliability and race pace. 141 laps from Jarno is a great effort when you consider it's his first day driving this year and also a great effort from the team who worked all night to get the car prepared. Overall it's been a very encouraging four days. The main aim of the test was reliability and over the last two days of dry running we have found some directions in set up that will enable us to concentrate on the pace of the car in Barcelona."