23/07/2008
NEWS STORY
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For the second successive day, Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel has topped the timesheets at Jerez.
Once again, weather conditions were perfect, with the air temperature reaching 35 degrees C, and all ten teams continued the final test before the summer break.
Today marked Toro Rosso's first real test of the 2009 Bridgestone slick tyres, with Vettel running two types of slick throughout. The STR 3 was run with a smaller wing to replicate the predicted levels of downforce as demanded by next year's regulations. The day was trouble-free for the Faenza based outfit with Vettel simulating a long run test, as well as working on the balance of the car.
"I spent the whole time on the 2009 spec slick tyres and the biggest difference you notice is in the slow corners, where you feel more mechanical grip," said the German. "However, the low downforce configuration in line with next year's rules means you have a lack of aero which you feel on the high speed sections, but it is balanced out by more grip from the tyres. We tried two types of tyre and it was an interesting experiment, from which we got loads of data to study."
Second quickest was McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa who actually quickest for much of the day. The Spaniard's programme consisted of evaluation of the 2009-spec slick tyres and aero package in the morning, while reverting to 2008 tyres in the afternoon. Having completed 122 laps on his way to posting the second quickest time of the day, de la Rosa, who continues here tomorrow, was the busiest man at the Spanish track.
Having just experienced his "most difficult weekend of the year, Kimi Raikkonen was back in action for Ferrari as the Italian team concentrated on comparisons between various different set-up options on the F2008, in preparation for the forthcoming races. The Finn was the fastest non-slick runner, finishing 0.603s off Vettel's pace.
Fourth quickest was Nico Rosberg in the Williams, the German completing 112 laps.
Mark Webber began his two days of running, his RB4 fitted with slick tyres all day, with two types of Bridgestone tyre on offer. Today's programme therefore focussed mainly on 2009 development, with a smaller wing fitted to approximate to the reduced levels of downforce allowed in next year's regulations. Other elements of the 2009 package were also evaluated, but tomorrow, the Australian and the team return to short term development for the upcoming races of this season.
Alex Wurz continued his programme in the Honda, the main item on the agenda being the evaluation of the 2009 slick tyres. As with its rivals, the RA108 was therefore set up in a reduced downforce configuration based on the levels of downforce which will be run in the 2009. Running both the medium and hard compound tyres, Wurz completed 77 laps finishing sixth on the timesheets. Rubens Barrichello will join the team tomorrow.
Jarno Trulli returned to the cockpit of the TF108. After yesterday's work on 2009 tyres he switched focus back to this year's car, concentrating on preparations for next week's Hungarian Grand Prix. He spent the morning working on set-up for the Hungaroring, before switching to aerodynamic comparisons in the afternoon. Timo Glock will take over tomorrow, having received the all-clear to drive after his heavy accident in the German GP.
"After yesterday's preparations for 2009, today we went back to this year's work," said the Italian. "Our focus for the day was the Hungarian Grand Prix, looking at set-up this morning because the afternoons here are too windy and too hot for that. After lunch we worked on aerodynamic correlation between the circuit and the wind tunnel. We tested some of the aero package for Hungary and there is more to come later in the week. We made it through a lot of laps and made progress. Today wasn't about looking for lap times but about improving the car. We are in a close fight for 4th in the constructors' championship and that is what we want to achieve.
"The heat continues to be so strong here that we changed our programme around today," revealed Test Team Manager, Gerd Pfeiffer. "We carried out our set-up work for the Hungarian Grand Prix in the morning while the track was in its best condition. After lunch we concentrated on aerodynamic comparisons for the same race. The Hungaroring is one of the highest downforce tracks on the calendar so we worked on the package that we will use there. It's been a productive day with no major problems."
Having not participated in Tuesday's test, the Force India team was in action today, with Vitantonio Liuzzi on duty as the team ran its new seamless shift gearbox for the first time following a shakedown last week at Silverstone. Liuzzi also pushed on with a programme of suspension work, aero testing and reliability runs in the afternoon. With no mechanical issues and clear weather throughout the day, the team completed over 100 laps with a best time of 1:20.577.
"Today was a good day," said Liuzzi, "especially considering I had not been in the car for a month. I got back into the rhythm very easily and we did some very productive work today. The main issue was to complete a lot of laps to test the new gearbox and other new items, and without any issues we could complete the programme. The gearbox was reliable and the lap time was definitely improved as a result. I also worked on the suspension set-up with the inertia damper, which I hadn't tested before, and the results were pretty positive. It feels like we have made a step forward and the lap times weren't bad, especially considering other teams were testing the slick tyres and different aero packages here. I'm looking forward to more tomorrow and making sure the car works well in Hungary."
"Today was a very productive start to the test with over a hundred laps without any mechanical issues," added Dominic Harlow, the Milton Keynes outfit's Chief Race and Test Engineer, which was very positive considering we were running the seamless shift box for the first time at a circuit test. Tonio also completed some work on the new aero package raced in Hockenheim and the suspension updates. In the afternoon we did some longer runs to complete some work on reliability and overall it was a very encouraging start to the test. Tomorrow we will continue with Tonio, when we will push on with the seamless shift testing and also do some work with the slick Bridgestone tyres that will be introduced in 2009."
Nelson Piquet was in action for Renault, fresh from his second place finish in Hockenheim at the weekend. The French outfit pushed ahead with its development programme as Piquet completed a busy morning working on the set-up and balance of the car. For the afternoon, attention shifted to testing some suspension developments and brake testing. By the end of the day, the Brazilian had covered a total of 99 laps, and completed the programme for the day. He will remain in the cockpit of the R28 for his final day of work with the team tomorrow, before Romain Grosjean takes over for the final day or testing on Friday.
"It was very hot on the track today, especially in the afternoon," said Piquet, "which made it difficult to get a great balance with the car. The hot temperatures also meant that the tyres did not last too long. But we were still able to do some set-up work this morning and tried out some new things on the car, which went well. We now have lots of information that we will go over this evening so that we can maximise tomorrow."
"A good day's testing overall," added Christian Silk. "We spent the morning doing some set-up work and tested some R&D items on the suspension as well. We also took the opportunity to do some brake testing to get ready for the hard braking circuits that are coming up. In the afternoon the track was very hot again, which made it difficult to learn much about the car, but we continued with the suspension work and completed the programme successfully."
After Tuesday's experience, which saw BMW curtail its KERS testing programme, Christian Klien was back in action as the German team concentrated on development work with the F1.08. He tried different mechanical and aerodynamical solutions not only for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix but for the near future as well. Completing 89 laps without any problems the Austrian also helped the engineers to collect more data on the standard ECU.
The mechanic who was involved in the KERS incident on Tuesday underwent additional medical tests in the Jerez hospital last night and today. He was subsequently released by the doctors who were happy with the results of their tests. The mechanic is on his way back to Switzerland this evening.
Tomorrow Nick Heidfeld will take over testing duties. On the schedule are tyre testing and work on the F1.08 car's setup for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix.