28/02/2010
NEWS STORY
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Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets on the final day of pre-season testing, the session at the Circuit de Catalunya appearing to pose more questions than it answered.
Although the weather conditions weren't as good as those witnessed on the first two days, the fact that it was dry throughout, though at times just a little windy, allowed the eleven teams on duty to bring their programmes to a successful, and dry, conclusion.
With an eye on the new qualifying format that will see drivers running on low fuel for all three stages, today we witnessed the majority of drivers concentrating on these types of runs, hence the number of improvements.
Nonetheless, with just two weeks to go before the season kicks off in Bahrain, the fact that the top twelve drivers are covered by 0.501s means that fans are left guessing the true order of things.
Hamilton was back in the MP4-25 today, continuing the understanding, evaluation and development of the new components that Jenson Button had started yesterday. With a more innate understanding of the new package, the Englishman's engineers were able to spend the morning fine-tuning the car's set-up while also carrying out a number of pitstop practices.
At the end of the morning, the team undertook several simulated qualifying runs, thrilling the crowds by going head to head with Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher, who were also carrying out similar work.
For the final afternoon, the team ran another race simulation, carrying out three 22-lap stints. At the end of the day, Hamilton declared himself happy and comfortable with the new car and told his engineers that he's now looking forward to Bahrain. According to the Woking outfit, "the whole team keenly shares his sentiments".
Red Bull had both of its drivers on duty. Having had less time on track than expected yesterday, Sebastian Vettel started the test this morning with Mark Webber finishing the Austrian outfit's pre-season preparations in the afternoon.
It was a similar programme for both drivers which the team successfully completed; establishing the final set-ups for the start of the season with varying fuel loads.
"Losing a bit of time yesterday we didn't do everything we wanted to with Seb," admitted Ian Morgan, the team's head of race engineering, "so we got pretty much a day and half's testing into today, which is why we've done 137 laps. It's been busy but we've got a lot done.
"This final test was good for us. With our limited testing in the dry at the two Jerez tests, the four days of almost completely dry weather here meant that we got back on course and we've made a lot of progress this week. It's been a very good test."
Having driven the F10 on its track debut in Valencia a month ago, it fell to Felipe Massa to bring Ferrari's 2010 preparations to a close. The Brazilian had a packed programme, working on evaluating the handling of the car and the tyres under different fuel loads. He completed a total of 114 laps on his way to posting the third quickest time of the day, indeed, the week.
"We did what we had planned to do at the beginning of this month of testing and we're very happy with the work done," Massa told reporters at the end of the day's work. "We wanted a competitive car and I think we've achieved our goal. We've reached a good level of reliability, which is very important.
"It's difficult to say who worked best," he continued. "Today the timesheets say Hamilton, but we're all very close together, it's just tenths of a second. I am very satisfied with the car, when we simulated the qualifying and when we drove with lots of fuel on board. I think that we're part of the group, who did well in these tests, something you could see on this last day of testing, when many simulated the qualifying.
"I don't agree at all with those who say we're the strongest," he added. "I think we're there, together with some other teams. I can't say that we're going to Bahrain to win, but I know that we'll fight for it. We had several aerodynamic updates here, which improved the car's performance. We now have to continue working in this direction. It's important to be ahead at the end of the year, not now. The same thing is true regarding the car: I was lucky to be able to drive several very strong Ferrari single-seaters and if the F10 is the best I've ever driven I'll only know after the race in Abu Dhabi!
"The situation might be a little bit different, but during these sessions we got a good idea of how the tyres are working this year. Maybe a couple of times, like yesterday, it was a little too cold for a certain type of tyre, but we could still collect many useful information, which will help us during the championship. Their behaviour will also influence the strategies: if there is lots of wear, maybe there will be more stops, but we'll see that race after race. This year, because the fuel aspect has been liberalised, the moments of the pit stops will be even more unpredictable and will influence the results much more."
Adrian Sutil brought Force India's programme to a close, the German ending the testing on a high with the fourth quickest time of the day. He worked through a full race programme in anticipation of Bahrain, conducting a race simulation and qualifying runs, in addition to aero and brake work.
With a combined total of approximately 2,485 miles and 12 days of testing under its belt, the team will now head back to Silverstone to finalise it preparations for the season opener on 14 March.
"I feel like this was the first proper test day for me," said Sutil. "We did our long race simulation and I think we can be quite happy and confident. The pace was good, the tyre life was very good, and I was able to run a lot of laps on both the soft and the hard tyres without any problems so both compounds seem to be working really well for us. Also the qualifying sim went well. Speed-wise the car is competitive and we have to show it in Bahrain now."
"This morning was very windy, and it was affecting the balance of the car quite a lot," added Dominic Harlow. "We changed our programme because of this, completing some long run evaluations either side of lunch and some performance outings in the afternoon with Adrian. He also tested some different brake materials and some developments for the brake cooling. It was a good day to complete our 2010 winter testing programme, covering 100 laps and signing off our pre-season test objectives. The team has worked extremely hard these past four days and they deserve credit for a very intensive February of running."
Michael Schumacher was back at the wheel of the W01, spending the morning focusing on qualifying simulations and developing the set-up of the car before working on race procedures throughout the afternoon. The German completed 123 laps with a best time of 1:20.745.
"The four testing days here in Barcelona have helped us to make significant progress with the car1 and I am feeling quite confident for the start of the season," said the German. "It is always difficult to read too much into testing but knowing our programme, it is fair to say that the times did not always reflect the true picture. We have worked through many set-up and development evaluations this week and gained valuable information to study before Bahrain. We are heading the first race with a good feeling and we know that we will have our upgrades there. But most of all we know that our prospects for even the first races are looking very reasonable now."
"Today brings our pre-season testing programme to its conclusion and overall we are very pleased with the progress made with the integration of Michael and Nico into our team," added Ross Brawn. "In performance terms, we are not quite where we want to be yet but then again we are not far off. In testing, it is always difficult to be precise about your position relative to the competition, and we have our complete upgrade package due for the first race in Bahrain which should bring further improvements. Michael and Nico have both looked very good during the tests and they are working well together to improve the car."
Rubens Barrichello was on duty for Williams, the Brazilian completing 84 laps on his way to posting the seventh best time of the day. Once again, the Williams driver was the cause of a couple of red flag, the first being when he spun at Turn 4 an hour into the session, and the second when he stopped out on track - Turn 4 gain - with less than half-an-hour remaining.
A gear box problem cost Kamui Kobayashi around two hours of track time before lunch. In the afternoon the team tried to catch up with the programme, but had to contend with an early stop to its running following another technical problem.
"We didn't manage to achieve the expected mileage today because of technical issues," said the Japanese driver. "However, for me it was still a good day because we ran through several procedures for the first race weekend. As I said yesterday, these things are very important for me and I can see I'm improving. I feel ready for Bahrain."
"After the car ran smoothly during the earlier tests, unfortunately our final day of testing was hampered by reliability problems," added Willy Rampf. "In the morning it was a shifting problem, which needs to be analysed, and at the end it was a problem in the fuel system. Certainly both can be solved before Bahrain.
"In Barcelona we have been testing new aero parts, which confirmed the performance we expected after the wind tunnel tests," he continued. "We also concentrated further on getting the best out of the mechanical set-ups. We have defined the Bahrain package now and feel ready for the season to kick off. The team has four very busy weeks behind it and we are very much looking forward to finally going racing. We are happy with the overall performance of the car, considering the conditions under which the lap times were achieved."
Sebastien Buemi was in action for Toro Rosso again, the Italian team eager to point out that this was because Jaime Alguersuari had enjoyed more dry running in pre-season testing.
"I am pleased with my two days here in Barcelona," said the Swiss. "Today, we concentrated on doing a scan of various mechanical set-up options as well as some aero work. Overall, I think we are in good shape and now I'm looking forward to the first race to see where we stand compared to everyone else."
"Just two weeks from today, we will be racing in Bahrain," added Franz Tost. "It will be Scuderia Toro Rosso's first ever race with a car designed totally in-house. Thanks to an intensive and effective programme through 2009 and the enormous efforts of all our staff and suppliers we were able to get our car out on schedule and I want to thank them for a job well done. Because the car was ready on time, we have made the most of the 15 days of testing, during which STR5 has enjoyed excellent reliability.
"We have managed to complete a very respectable mileage with both our drivers, despite the bad weather at the two Jerez tests. It was also important that both Jaime and Sebastien completed a full race simulation here in Barcelona. It means we can arrive at the Sakhir circuit reasonably confident as far as reliability goes. We have also seen that our two relatively inexperienced drivers have learned a lot from these test days and that they have been diligent over the winter in their physical preparation.
"Never before, in its five year history has Scuderia Toro Rosso gone into a season so well prepared. It just leaves the big question - how fast will we be? And the answer to that will have to wait at least until after qualifying and the race in Bahrain."
It was a frustrating day for Renault, which had Robert Kubica on duty. The French team lost track time in the morning with a technical problem, but covered good mileage in the afternoon.
"In the morning we lost a lot of track time with a technical problem," said the Pole. "In the afternoon we tried to do a race distance, which was interrupted, but we did cover a lot of laps. Afterwards we just did a couple more runs for set-up work to try and improve the car a bit more."
"Our final day of testing was a mixed one," added Alan Permane, "as we suffered a problem with the gearbox on the installation lap, which limited our running. We managed to get back out at the end of the morning to evaluate some new aero parts and also worked on improving the set-up of the car. For the afternoon we tried to cover a race distance, and although it was interrupted, we did cover the desired number of laps. To end the day we returned to our set-up programme."
Heikki Kovalainen took over the Lotus T127 for its final test session, the Finn completing a total of 65 laps. After some developmental mechanical and weight balance changes, the team declared itself happy to see more improvement in the car's reliability and pace.
"It was a game of two halves as they say," said Mike Gascoyne, "we had a good morning where we were able to complete all our plans but a problem with the programme change on the gearbox delayed us in the afternoon, which meant we weren't able to do as much running as we wanted. Overall, however, the test has been extremely productive - in general we've had very good reliability, and the team is in very good shape going to the first race.
"Considering the length of time we've had to work on the project it's a fantastic effort from the whole team. Everyone has worked exceptionally hard over the two tests and we now have to work on the pace of the car and improve that, but it's been a tremendous effort from the whole team and I'm very proud of them."
According to the Malaysian team, the test has confirmed its belief that they have a reliable car, ready for its debut in Bahrain. Consistency and completion of races are the key goals for the first few Grand Prix, until further aero developments - scheduled for the Spanish GP - allow the team to begin to "flex their muscles" and "utilise their experience and talents in the season ahead".
Virgin concluded its pre-season programme with Lucas di Grassi at the wheel, the Brazilian completing 49 laps with a best time of 1:26.160.
"Once again, our running today has been heavily compromised by the reoccurrence of the hydraulic leak," admitted Nick Wirth. "We have new components designed to fix this issue on their way for the Bahrain race and we're looking forward to putting that particular story behind us. Lucas did manage to conduct some productive race work but we leave Barcelona having never run a qualifying simulation or the super soft tyres that all our competitors are likely to have set their times on.
"Now both Virgin Racing and Wirth Research have a busy two weeks preparing both race cars and spares for our debut in Bahrain," he added.