07/12/2007
NEWS STORY
Sebastian Vettel - the other rookie to take F1 by storm this season - ended 2007 on another high when he topped the timesheets on the final day of testing at Jerez.
With McLaren and Renault having ended their 2007 programmes yesterday, the other nine teams continued today, running fifteen drivers.
Having set the fastest time of the week in today's final day of testing for 2007, Vettel has the honour of seeing his name stay at the top of the Formula 1 timesheets until at least 14 January 2008.
Naturally, Vettel's quickest lap was set during an afternoon spent evaluating the 2009 spec Bridgestone slick tyres. In the morning, the German concentrated on rear suspension work, when he also managed a respectable 1:18.7.
Running on 2007 grooved tyres all day, Sebastien Bourdais spent the morning evaluating dampers and the afternoon assessing different mechanical set-ups. Both drivers also worked on launches under next year's conditions and gearbox control.
"This has been a very productive test, the longest of the year for us, with two cars running for four days," said Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. "During that time there were no driver errors, we completed a high mileage - a total of 577 laps, equivalent to 2552 kilometres - and made good progress with the 2008 systems."
Second quickest was yesterday's pace-setter, Robert Kubica, who was partnered by Marko Asmer. Before the Pole went out for his first run of the day, members of the team stood in front of his car in the garage and sang Happy Birthday, as this was his 23rd birthday. For his third day of testing his programme included more running on slicks, set-up work for the 2008 electronics and also some interesting development on the mechanical side.
After being in the car for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, Asmer was back for a full day. The team gave him set-up work, which produced some positive feed back. The test team finished its tyre and mileage allocation for the season and over the four days in Jerez completed 3,425 kilometres.
Once again, Williams has Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima on duty, both drivers running on slicks. "Between them, Nico Rosberg,
Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Hulkenberg managed to complete all the development work on our agenda over the four days," said Test Team Manager, Dickie Stanford, "and covered 2,085kms. We also had a successful first outing on the slick tyres today." Rosberg ended the day third quickest, while Nakajima was fifth, albeit almost a second slower.
Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher were in action for Ferrari today, bringing the Italian outfit's successful season to an end ahead of tonight's official awards ceremony in Monaco. The duo concluded the programme begun over the past few days, which concentrated on the development of new 2008 electronic components. In addition, in the afternoon, Schumacher carried out tyre testing aimed at the 2009 season. Remarkably, his best time, though on slicks, was set with 2009 downforce levels - 25% less than in 2007/2008.
At Toyota, Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli took the wheel for another day of development for next year and beyond, although both drivers waited for an improvement in track conditions before beginning work on an overcast morning. With all teams restricted to 30,000km of testing in 2007, the remaining laps had to be used carefully but the team had a productive day.
Both drivers sampled the 2009 slick tyres and Trulli also had stints with reduced downforce in preparation for the 2009 regulation changes. In addition, Glock continued work on aerodynamic and mechanical set-up while his Italian teammate gathered more information on the standard ECU.
Apart from a couple of hours lost with a technical problem, David Coulthard worked exclusively on developing the 2008 electronic systems on the car. "In general, this four day session has been very productive," said Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "We have been moving in the right direction in terms of working with the 2008 electronics and it is an encouraging way to end the year. Now, the test team is looking forward to getting its hands on the new car."
Takuma Sato concluded Super Aguri's programme. He started the morning with a continuation of yesterday's MES control system tuning programme, which was predominately aimed at improving the various parameters within the engine control system. In the afternoon, the Japanese driver revisited the 2009 regulation slick tyres with simulated 2009 downforce levels. He experimented with different mechanical set-ups in anticipation of the coming rule changes and finished the day with a best lap time of 1.21.092, good enough for twelfth fastest.
"It is good to be back in an F1 car as it is my first test since the Brazilian Grand Prix," said the Japanese driver. "I am quite impressed with the developments that have been made with the MES system since our last test running it back in July at Spa. It is very different driving without TC and support systems and I am pleased with the progress that we have made in driveability over these past two days and the amount of important data we have collected. It was my first experience of the 2009 slick tyre - the first time since my Formula 3 days - and it was a good experience. We have a lot of tuning to do before we move onto these tyres for racing, but overall I believe that it has been an extremely productive test."
"The final test went very well," said Sporting Director, Graham Taylor, "with all our drivers taking to the circuit and helping develop our understanding of the MES system. We would like to thank Bridgestone for giving the opportunity to assess the type of tyre we will be running in 2009."
After three days of the Honda Young Driver Programme, during which time Mike Conway, Andi Zuber and Luca Filippi all ran the Super Aguri, Honda engineers asked Anthony Davidson, a member of the wider Honda family, to complete the test on Friday in order to provide further perspective for the 2009 slick tyre evaluation. The Englishman finished eleventh quickest, having completed 102 laps.
Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde brought Force India's four-day test to a conclusion, rounding off the programme that included Ralf Schumacher and Tonio Liuzzi testing yesterday, Christian Klien and Giancarlo Fisichella on Wednesday and Giancarlo and Franck Montagny on Tuesday.
Over the four days the team covered over 2,600km - more than eight race distances - as it worked through an extensive programme of chassis development, evaluation of the new 2008 standard electronics package and testing the 2009 'slick' development tyres for the first time. The team will now return to its Silverstone base to focus on next season's Force India challenger.
"The test has been a very fruitful one for the team," said Vijay Mallya, Chairman and Managing Director. "Not only have we demonstrated the strong potential of the team by attracting five highly talented drivers to test for us, it's also been very motivating for the team to have the benefit of their experience to help develop the car.
"This week has had a very positive impact on the motivation of the mechanics, engineers and all involved and has shown the sporting community that we are serious about what Force India wants to achieve in Formula 1.
"Thank you to all the drivers who contributed so much and to the hard work of the team for making it such a productive event. It's just the start of many interesting projects for this team."
Testing resumes in just over four weeks, on January 14, here at Jerez.