02/12/2009
NEWS STORY
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McLaren test driver Gary Paffett set the pace on Day 2 of the rookie test at Jerez, where twelve drivers were on duty for nine teams.
Once again it was somewhat cold as the session got underway, however, temperatures continued to rise throughout the day, with a mid-day rain shower punctuating proceedings.
Paffett undertook all of today's running, spending the early part of the morning conducting vibration tests until weather conditions improved. The Woking team then moved on to a number of aero calibration tests and a baseline run, with the Englishman setting his fastest time of the day just before the brief arrival of a lunchtime rain shower.
A large part of the remainder of the day was then spent simulating 2010 fuel-loads and their effect on car balance and tyre degradation, the results of which proved encouraging. At the end of the day, Paffett briefly conducted a test of some suspension modifications.
Tomorrow, Oliver Turvey will return to the cockpit to conclude his test, the team aiming to provide him a better feel for the car during his morning's running. Thereafter, Paffett will conclude the programme, once again working within the limitations of the 2009 car and tyres to simulate next year's heavier fuel-loads.
Nico Hulkenberg was on duty for Williams, the 2010 race driver taking over from F2 champion Andy Soucek who led the way here yesterday. Hulkenberg completed 94 laps on his way to posting a best time 0.466s shy of Paffett.
For Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo tackled a similar programme to yesterday, which involved getting to grips with the actual driving and procedures that are unique to these cars, as well as trying two different tyre compounds. The Australian also carried out various tests aimed at the 2010 season: aero and brake testing, as well as running the car in the very heavy configuration resulting from next year's ban on race refuelling.
"I found it a bit easier today," said Ricciardo. "I knew what to expect this morning and the procedures were easier to understand, so I was able to concentrate on improving my driving and hopefully give my best in terms of providing the engineers with good feedback."
Paul di Resta and JR Hildebrand continued for Force India. The Scot was in the car first this morning and after completing installation runs and some initial set up work, went on to run some 2010 development items and conduct some fuel system evaluation. The 23-year-old posted the second quickest time of the morning.
Hildebrand took over for the afternoon and conducted a similar programme of basic set up and evaluation of the VJM02 with a simulated 2010 fuel tank load. With colder conditions and light rain in the early part of the afternoon the 21-year-old American Indy Lights champion completed 49 laps with a best of 1:20.517.
"Yesterday the programme was to get comfortable in the car and to see how everything worked," said di Resta. "I was able to get to a reasonable level quite quickly after one run so I felt prepared and had progressed enough for the team to be able to use me to test some development items, which will of course help them in 2010. We had quite a structured programme this morning of running back to back set-up for 2009 and 2010 and both long and short runs, but it went pretty well. I'm up to speed now and I understand what I can do to improve my own performance. Equally each run we are doing something different so I need to keep learning and giving feedback so the team can get the information they need too. I hope they feel they can use me now."
"When we first started running we were testing different brake settings, which really didn't work very well for me," admitted Hildebrand. "The first couple of runs were really spent working on that and then getting to grips with the track again, particularly as the grip had improved. Coming into this test I was concerned I wouldn't be able to maximise the high speed cornering of the car, but I was able to get the most out of the two high speed sections of the track so I was really happy with this progress. On the run I got the best time we were running on a particularly conservative engine setting so I was pretty satisfied, even if the lap time didn't really show on the timesheets. In terms of my comfort and confidence however both were way up today and I am actually really happy with how today went.
"We completed more than 100 laps between Paul and JR today to build on yesterday's positive start," added chief race engineer, Dominic Harlow. "We concentrated on looking more at the effects of 2010 regulation changes during today's test and that has produced some interesting results for us. A good effort from the team and the drivers today in executing the programme and we look forward to continuing the test tomorrow."
To ensure a fair comparison, BMW started with the same programme for Esteban Gutierrez as it did yesterday with Alexander Rossi. In the morning the Mexican familiarized himself with the car and the track. After the lunch break the team made set-up changes for him to evaluate. The focus was on mechanical set-up changes and the engineers were very happy with the feedback from the 18-year-old.
Due to some light drizzle the afternoon's programme had to be adapted several times, but the track conditions never allowed intermediates or wet tyres to be run as it remained far too dry. The team also stuck to its rule not to send out one of the youngsters with an extra-low fuel load. Unfortunately Esteban had to stop an hour early because of a hydraulic leak.
"It was a very positive day for me," said Gutierrez. "The main idea was to live that experience, to enjoy the day and to learn. This very high professional level means you have to be very calm and use your intelligence. Due to the hydraulic problem in the afternoon I was unable to make use of two more sets of fresh tyres, but on the other hand I had five sets, which of course is more than I ever had before on one day! I really thank the team for this much appreciated opportunity. I learned a lot for the day when I can hopefully jump into a Formula One car again. In the end, with the grip level getting higher, my neck was a bit stiff and it was good to evaluate my own physical condition. The extra training I did paid off."
After two the youngsters from Formula BMW, for the third day of testing it is the turn of newly-crowned Formula Renault 3.5 series champion Bertrand Baguette from Belgium. As a reward for his 2009 success (5 wins) he has already had his first taste of Formula One on Tuesday, when he was in action for the Renault F1 Team.
For Brawn, Mike Conway continued his driving duties in the BGP 001 car. He worked through a number of set-up changes with the car before the rain shower briefly interrupted the track action. He continued his programme after lunch for a further three runs to complete 83 laps in total today.
Marcus Ericsson took over the car to conclude the team's programme for the remainder of the afternoon session. He completed 37 laps as he continued his familiarisation programme with the car.
Once again today, French driver Jules Bianchi was at the wheel for Ferrari, continuing with the task of getting to understand a Formula 1 car. He ran in race configuration the entire day, completing a total of 113 laps, adding up to a total of just over nine hundred kilometres over the two days.
Testing continues tomorrow. Taking turns on the track will be the top three finishers of the Italian Formula 3 Championship - the Italians Daniel Zampieri and Marco Zipoli and the Mexican, Pablo Sanchez Lopez - as part of an initiative established in 2008, in collaboration with the ACI-CSAI.
Renault completed its second day with young Chinese driver, Ho-Pin Tung, and the team's third driver, Lucas Di Grassi, sharing driving duties.
Ho-Pin Tung spent the morning in the car as he sampled the R29 for the first time. The 26-year-old covered a total of 67 laps during a busy morning as he continued to evaluate new parts for the team ahead of the 2010 season. In the afternoon Lucas Di Grassi took over the cockpit of the R29 and went on to complete a further 54 laps.
"This was my first proper test in an F1 car and it was a great experience," said Ho-Pin Tung. "To begin with I concentrated on finding a reasonable set-up and then got down to working through the programme with the engineers as we tested some parts for the 2010 car. The morning went by so quickly, but it was good to cover 67 laps and the track really improved throughout the morning. What impressed me most was the speed you can carry through the corners and the braking performance of these cars, which takes some getting used to. I learnt a lot today and really enjoyed working with the whole team. I will stay here tomorrow so that I can sit in on all the debriefs and continue learning."
"It was a productive day and good for me to get back in a current F1 car for the first time in almost a year," added di Grassi. "It felt quite different to drive this car with slicks but I quickly got used to it and the systems on the car. Our programme was focussed on looking ahead to 2010 so we were running with high fuel loads and doing quite long runs. The track conditions were not too bad, but I think it will be even better tomorrow so we should be able to complete some more important work."
"We ran Ho-Pin for the first half of the day," said chief race engineer, Alan Permane, "starting off on scrubbed tyres before giving him a couple of new sets later in the morning. I was impressed with Ho-Pin as he settled into the car very quickly and worked well with the team. His driving style is quite well suited to an F1 car as he used the tyres well, had a good feel for the car and gave us precise feedback. The afternoon was mainly about getting Lucas comfortable in the car ahead of his full day tomorrow as this was his first time in the R29. Overall, we managed to complete our objectives for the day and we're well prepared for another productive day tomorrow."
For Toro Rosso, Mirko Bortolotti took over from Brendon Hartley. The 19 year old from Trento had already experienced the joys of Formula 1, when he drove a Ferrari at Fiorano just over a year ago as his prize for winning the 2008 Italian Formula 3 championship. This year, Bortolotti, who is a product of the Red Bull Junior Driver programme, finished fourth in the FIA Formula 2 series.
The car suffered some mechanical problems in the morning, which reduced running time. Therefore in the afternoon, the team opted to run Bortolotti almost continuously to make up for lost time. The technical programme was similar to yesterday's, with the team carrying out aero and brake evaluation, as well as running the car heavy to replicate the full fuel load required as a result of the banning of race refuelling next season.
"I really enjoyed today," said Bortolotti at the end of the session. "Being able to help the team with testing for next year was very interesting, even though I had to spend some time in the garage in the morning. With so little testing allowed in Formula 1, today was very important for me, giving me the chance to do some miles."
For tomorrow's final day of testing of 2009, Bortolotti will drive in the morning, with Brendon Hartley taking over in the afternoon.