27/02/2015
NEWS STORY
Nico Rosberg gave a glimpse of what Mercedes is truly capable of this season, without even needing to resort to the softest rubber.
Just over an hour before the end of today's running, Mercedes switched to the soft compound for the first time this year. Shortly afterwards, Rosberg stopped the clock at 1:22.792, 1.203s quicker than the time posted by Williams' Valtteri Bottas earlier, and 0.708 quicker than Felipe Massa's stunner yesterday.
Today's third fastest time, posted by Felipe Nasr in the Sauber, was 1.279s off Rosberg's pace, the Brazilian running super-softs compared to the German's softs.
Whilst the opposition will be wondering what it can possibly to do take the fight to Mercedes, McLaren finally got its pre-season preparations underway, Jenson Button completing 101 laps in the MP4-30. However, shortly after reaching the magic figure, the car ground to a halt between turns 7 and 8, thereby bringing out the second red flag of the day and also reminding the Woking outfit that there is a long way to go.
Following an incident free morning, there were three red flag this afternoon, the first when Daniil Kvyat stopped on track, Button's breakdown and the third when Pastor Maldonado stopped in the pitlane twenty minutes before the end of the session.
Nonetheless, it was a busy day, the nine drivers on duty completing over a thousand laps, only three, Bottas, Kvyat and Hulkenberg, completing less than a hundred.
Whilst McLaren has cause for celebration, so too does Force India. The Silverstone outfit's 2015 contender finally made its track debut just before lunch, Nico Hulkenberg going on to complete 77 laps.
Williams and Toro Rosso both packed up early. The Faenza outfit due to an electrical problem, though insisting that Max Verstappen was happy with his 139 laps, whilst Williams simply called it a day having completed its programme.
With two days of testing remaining, there are bound to be a few surprises however, the sheers pace and reliability of the Mercedes, and Williams, suggests the early stages of the coming season is going to be all about catch-up as far as the opposition is concerned.
Pictures, team reports and quotes to follow.
Other than sending shivers down the spine of the opposition, Mercedes schedule consisted of aero analysis work in the morning, followed by setup evaluation in the afternoon. Rosberg completed 65 laps before lunch and a further 41 in the afternoon.
"Today was a difficult day to start with but ended on a positive," said the German. "During the early runs, even though the numbers looked like they were in the right place with the setup, it was actually very far away from where it needed to be, which was unusual and caught us off guard a little bit. We didn't really understand why, so a big part of the day has been chasing the setup and finding the right direction.
"It was really difficult to understand where to go," he continued. "I had a lot of oversteer in the car, so the rear was just all over the place with no traction. But eventually, towards the end especially, it was feeling more and more decent. Then, putting the soft tyres on, that gives you the grip anyway so it doesn't really matter what the balance is - more or less it will be possible to do a good lap. I'm pleased with my two laps at the end - I nailed them pretty well and they were both identical, so a good ending to the day.
"We're confident that we have a good car and I'm starting to feel good in it. At the same time, of course, we're well aware that the others have been posting some quick times and we can take nothing for granted. We have a great team who are doing a fantastic job and always want better and better, so we will keep our heads down and keep working.
"It's a work in progress," he warned.
"It was nice to focus on performance today and work to get the lap times lower," said Bottas, who completed 90 laps as he focussed on aero work and race procedure. "We are working hard and still have two days left of the test so there is more still to do. The day was busy and we know there is still more to come, I feel positive and the balance was good. We still need to make sure we look at the longer runs and not just the one lap qualifying pace."
"We started the day doing some aero work comparing data and driver feel," added Rod Nelson, the team's Chief Test & Support Engineer. "We then moved onto a few performance based runs. Later in the day we worked on race procedure including some longer runs and grid simulations. We have had some new components that have performed as expected which has been productive. We have a busy final two days of the test as we optimise the time left until the first race.
It was another positive day for Sauber where Felipe Nasr behind the wheel of the C34 as the team went through a similar programme to yesterday, focusing on aero measurements, set-up work, race simulation and short-runs. In total, the Brazilian completed 141 laps on his way to posting the third best time of the day.
"Today was very productive as we went through the whole programme," said Nasr. "In the morning I was able to get a feeling for the car during the short-runs on the soft and medium compounds, which was quite positive. After the lunch break, I went through a race simulation on different tyres. It was a good experience, and I now have a better understanding for the car during the long-runs. I am also quite happy with the balance of the car. Again today we made another step forward, and we have to keep pushing in this direction."
"It was another good day for us," added Head of Track Engineering, Giampaolo Dall'Ara. "The programme was more or less the same as yesterday, with aero measurements and race starts in the morning. Later on Felipe went through a race simulation, and we were also able to test a different rear wing at the end of the day."
On a busy day for all, Sebastian Vettel was the busiest, the German completing 143 laps on his way to the fourth best time as the Maranello outfit worked on aerodynamic testing and long runs.
"I drove more than two Grands Prix today, but I don't know if I won one," admitted Vettel, "that depends on what the others did! Jokes apart, it's nice that at the final test we could cover more and more mileage. Today we didn't have any problem, we know there is still a lot of work we can do as a team, but so far I feel very good. If I had to pinpoint one thing, I'd rather be a bit quicker, but it's difficult to evaluate how quick we are, because some people tried more of a qualifying trim and others did less so.
"I never drove the 2014 Ferrari," he added, "but I think this one it's a massive step forward. That doesn't mean that we are satisfied as it's clear that if you want to win, you have to beat Mercedes. It's exciting to see what's going on behind them, which I think it's not clear judging from the lap times we've seen so far."
"Today was a much, much better day, with almost flawless reliability, and it's much more encouraging, as we get close to Melbourne, to have that," said technical director, James Allison. "We did a lot of setup work as well, were very conservative for outright performance, but were able to get good direction for the start of the season."
After yesterday's disappointing start, today was McLaren's most productive and promising day of the winter. The team replaced the power-unit overnight so it was ready to go when the track opened at 09:00.
The morning was spent carrying out front-wing work and corresponding set-up changes. In the afternoon, the team switched to a long-run programme, evaluating mechanical balance while also carrying out a number of pitstop rehearsals with the race crew.
Shortly before the end of the day, Button stopped out on track with an unspecified electrical issue, but had already completed 101 laps - comfortably the team's longest daily mileage this year.
"We've still got a lot of work still do to, but we had a good day today," said Button. "It's never easy when you've missed out on so much testing, but we're making good progress, and we got lots of really useful information today.
"We know we're not the quickest guys out there, but you'll certainly see a lot of improvement by the time we get to Australia."
Test and reserve driver Kevin Magnussen gets his first taste of MP4-30 tomorrow, with Button wrapping up the winter programme on Sunday.
At Lotus, Pastor Maldonado was one of three drivers to complete 140 laps – the distance of two Grands Prix – as he ran an extensive programme including a race simulation, clocking a best lap time of 1:26.705.
"We ran the car for a long time today," said the Venezuelan, "which has been a good endorsement of my winter training programme as I still feel fresh after 140 laps! We did a lot of different assessments so I had plenty to think about and it was good to do the race simulation as we'll soon be heading to Melbourne. There's a lot of information to digest from today and I can't wait to get back in the car on Sunday."
"We've completed a high tally of laps today and the E23 has run reliably throughout," added technical director, Nick Chester. "This is great for us as we've been able to try a number of different set-up and aero configurations to enable us to get as much data as possible to make further progress in our understanding of our new car. Pastor did a great job despite driving the equivalent distance of more than two Grands Prix and we're looking forward to Romain jumping back into the car tomorrow."
"We can be pleased with what we achieved today," said Toro Rosso's chief race engineer, Phil Charles, "even if we had to stop running with around an hour to go, due to an electrical problem.
"In the morning, we continued the programme we began yesterday, acquiring useful data relating to the new aero package, with plenty of "in and out" laps. Towards the end of the morning, we did some decent running, looking at chassis work. Then, after the lunch break, Max set off to do a race distance, until towards the end of the run, the car stopped. Nevertheless, another day with plenty of laps to learn from."
"Another good day as we did a lot of laps," added Verstappen. "From my perspective, the most important part was this afternoon's race distance, when the pace looked very promising. It was my first time driving the car with the latest updates and they seemed to be working very well and I felt very comfortable with it. On Sunday, I get my last chance to drive before Melbourne, so it will be important to get in as many miles as possible, try to improve the car and increase our understanding of the overall package."
Daniil Kvyat's pre-season testing programme drew to a close today, with the Russian completing 84 laps on his way to a best time of 1:26.965. In the morning, while preparing new parts for the car, the Austrian team elected to concentrate on aerodynamic work and shorter runs. With the new elements installed over the lunch break, the team switched its focus to long runs. A sensor problem led to a spell in the garage in mid-afternoon but thereafter Kvyat ran without problem.
"We had a couple of issues today but nothing too serious," said Kvyat. "So, while it would have been nice to do a few more laps, we did get a lot done today. You always want more and we're always looking for improvement but overall I'm happy," he said. "Today was my last day of testing and I'm happy with the level I reached with my group of guys over the past few weeks. I think we're heading in the right direction, we have a good understanding between us, we're not lost anywhere and we know what we need to do for Melbourne."
"It doesn't sound very exciting but aside from a couple of minor glitches it was a very normal day of testing," added Head of Race Engineering, Guillaume Rocquelin, "exactly the type of day you're looking for.
"We had some parts arrive overnight as a fix for the problem we had yesterday afternoon and while we were waiting for those to be prepped we spent the morning doing aero work, which was part of the plan anyway. By the time we got through that, we were ready to run the new parts in the afternoon. We were focused on long runs but then we had a problem with a sensor, which stopped us briefly.
"After that though it was business as usual. It was Daniil's final day of testing and he has been excellent throughout. His ability in the car was never in doubt but it is a big ask for a driver to start with a new team and to familiarise yourself with everything in just six days of testing. However, he integrated into the set-up very quickly, got to know his guys well and got to grips with all the systems and procedures in double quick time. He's been very impressive and I think he's well prepared for the first race."
The VJM08 finally made its bow, Nico Hülkenberg completing an impressive 77 laps.
"It has been a real big effort from all the staff back at the factory to get the car ready and out here for this test," said Chief Race Engineer, Tom McCullough. "Managing to run our installation laps before the lunch break was very useful and helped us achieve a solid first day with the VJM08.
"These are the very early stages of the VJM08's running and it is encouraging to get 77 laps on the board: we could have got even more mileage hadn't it been for the red flags at the end of the day. Today was all about achieving a first understanding of the new car and to run this long allowed us to collect a sizeable amount of very valuable data. We will go through it tonight and it will help us prepare for what is hopefully going to be another productive day tomorrow."
"It was a very good day," said Hulkenberg, "at least in terms of the running we managed to do. We were able to run reliably straight out of the box and that is very encouraging. The boys and girls at the factory and here at the track have been pushing really hard in the last couple of weeks and to do 77 laps in little more than one afternoon is a remarkable job by the team. Obviously we still have a big task ahead of us and we are playing catch-up in certain aspects, but I am quite satisfied so far.
"The car feels pretty good, although making a direct comparison with our 2014 car is not easy as the conditions in winter testing are always very particular. One of our team's strengths is to learn about the car quickly, so we will need to get as much data as possible to get in a good position for Melbourne. Tomorrow we will be looking at doing more long runs, working with the various tyre compounds and putting more mileage on the car."
Check out our Friday gallery, here.