19/11/2008
NEWS STORY
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It was a case of Deja Vu at Barcelona today as Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets for the second successive day, with Toro Rosso being the main opposition.
Conditions were brighter than yesterday, with the sun shining, however, it remained cool, with temperatures just about hitting 18 degrees C.
Vettel worked on a programme that centred on the evaluation of the slick tyres to be used in 2009. The car ran throughout with the levels of downforce that can be expected next year.
"It was good to be back in a race car again, for the first time since Brazil," said the German. "Running the 2009 slick tyres was very interesting and very different to what Formula 1 has been used to for the past few years.
"It was also a useful couple of days for me from the point of view of getting to know the engineers and the rest of the team," he continued. "It is important to develop a common understanding between us and winter testing is the ideal opportunity to do just that."
"This was a successful three days for us and we completed all the high priority items on our job list," said the Austrian outfit's chief test engineer, Ian Morgan. "As for Sebastian, he settled in very quickly and it actually felt as though he'd been with us for a long time already, which is a good sign! We now have plenty of data, particularly on the tyre front, which we will put to good use at the next test session, at Jerez next month."
It was 'two Sebs' time again at Toro Rosso, however, this time the 'Sebs' were Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastien Buemi, as opposed to Sebastian Vettel. You get the picture.
"There was a two-fold purpose to these three days," said Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. "Firstly, evaluating drivers for next year and secondly assessing the 2009 slick tyres, while running with the level of downforce we expect to have next season. The high number of laps completed means we have been able to carry out both these tasks to our satisfaction.
"On the tyre front, we tried a variety of suspension and mechanical set-up options," he continued, "which means we have plenty of data to analyse, in preparation for our next test at Jerez in mid- December."
"Another positive day to round off this test session," said Buemi. I'm really happy with how testing went overall, the team did a good job and I think I did too, which could be important for my future!"
"It's been a useful one and a half days, trying various set-up options to find the right direction for next year's car," added Bourdais. "Of course, the 2008 car was not designed to run on the '09 slick tyres, which means you don't always have the necessary range of adjustment to exploit them fully, but it was an interesting experience nevertheless."
McLaren concluded what is describes a "very productive test", with Gary Paffett enjoying his second day in the KERS-equipped MP4-23K. The team had no issues today and is happy with the progress it has made understanding the slick tyres and new aero configurations. It was also encouraged by its increased understanding of the KERS device and its impact on car dynamics.
The Woking outfit's test team now begins to focus on next month's Jerez test, where the programme will continue with greater focus on the evaluation of 2009-spec aerodynamics.
On his second day of running, Jenson Button continued his set-up programme with the modified RA108 running on slick tyres. He worked through a series of aerodynamic and suspension evaluations to provide further feedback for the development of the team's 2009 car.
On the other side of the garage, Bruno Senna settled down for a full day of running today. His focus during the morning was to establish a good baseline set-up, however, traffic frustrated his new tyre runs. The Brazilian continued to work on improving the car in the afternoon completing two further new tyre runs and setting consistent lap times.
"The first test of the winter has seen us commence our on-track preparations for 2009, a season which will see the most significant change in Formula One's technical regulations for many years," said Ross Brawn. "We have been running two modified RA108 chassis with an aerodynamic package representative of the downforce levels required for next season.
"We have also conducted an intensive tyre programme with the Bridgestone Potenza slick tyres," he continued. "Having been sensible in the use of our tyre allocation so far this year, we are in the best possible position to gain information about the new slicks ahead of the launch of our new car. Whilst the temperatures have been quite cool this week, which has affected the behaviour of the tyres, both the team and drivers are happy to see Formula One back on slicks.
"In addition to our main test programme, we took the opportunity to evaluate the emerging talents of Lucas Di Grassi and Bruno Senna. Both drivers spent one and a half days in our car which has enabled the team to assess their performance and level of technical skill. Lucas and Bruno have both performed admirably over the course of the week and their evident enthusiasm and commitment has made them a pleasure to work with. We will now take some time to carefully consider our findings from this test before reaching any further conclusions."
BMW continued with its evaluation work with the F1.08B, a 2008 chassis with aerodynamic components complying with the 2009 regulations. The two cars ran for 106 and 88 laps respectively.
Christian Klien once again drove the car equipped with BMW's own KERS system, working on the setup of the system. Just before the end of the morning session he had a minor off caused by a hydraulic-related problem in the drivetrain. However, after repairs he was able to resume testing duties following the lunch break.
Nick Heidfeld was at the wheel of the BMW Sauber F1.08B without KERS, working on reliability as well as trying different solutions for the mechanical and aerodynamic setup with 2009 in mind. While getting used to the slick tyres he also had the chance to collect data on the all-new power-adjustable front wing.
"Definitely the slick tyres provide more grip than the 2008 grooved tyres," said Heidfeld. "On the other hand we have to start from zero by learning how the slick tyres heat up and for how many laps they deliver optimum performance."
Renault programme saw further continuation of slick tyre evaluation and R&D work with an R28 set up to simulate 2009 settings. Nelson Piquet, the French team's sole representative today, had a trouble-free day and completed a total of 94 laps to round off a positive test for the team.
"We had a busy morning," said the Brazilian, "continuing with the work we began earlier this week by evaluating the tyres and looking at some more development parts in preparation for next year. The car still feels strange running with settings to simulate 2009, but we now have lot of data to work through and so it has been a valuable few days for the team."
"It's been a good test for us and we were able to cover the main test items that we had scheduled," added Chief Test Engineer, Christian Silk, "which included a few R&D items that gave us some positive results. Working with the car on slick tyres has been very useful and the engineers now have some valuable data to take back to the factory and to look at before the next test in a couple of weeks time."
For Williams, Nico Hulkenberg was on duty once again, the Grove outfit's test driver completing 51 laps.
"I think we've had a pretty successful test this week with the interim car," said the German. "I ran for two days and covered lots of laps, and it was great for me to be a part of this test where we're trying out elements of the '09 configuration. We ran without any problems on day one which was really positive as we're testing so many new things for next year. Today, we lost sometime during the session but the track time we did get gave us some interesting information. The new aero package delivers significantly less downforce which means cornering speeds are much reduced. In all, it was a productive few days for the team."
"For this week's Barcelona test, we ran the interim FW30B car in order to continue our preparation work for 2009," added Sam Michael. "The car has a lower downforce level to the 30, and more closely represents what the teams expect to run next season. Obviously the aero components being run this week are not the latest specification versions as no one wants to reveal what they've been working on at this stage!
"We've covered some useful mileage over the past three days. It's been a particularly helpful exercise to put the miles on the engine and transmission which will have to last three races next season. We also made progress on various mechanical and aerodynamic components and, although we've used the slick tyres in previous tests, we are now focussing our full attention on them."
Ferrari had just one driver on duty today, Luca Badoer. The Italian veteran continued with the engine and gearbox reliability programme begun on Monday. He also continued with development of new components aimed at next season.
Bringing up the rear of the field, both over 3.7s off the pace was the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Pedro de la Rosa. Reliability was good, with the drivers completing 180 laps between them, however, with McLaren said to be having more and more influence with in the team as it looks ahead to 2009, this week's test is little more than an exercise, though de la Rosa appears to know something the rest of us don't.
The next test is at Jerez and get underway on December 9, while Toyota will be in action at Sakhir(Bahrain) from December 10.