27/02/2010
NEWS STORY
 |
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets on a day when the rain made a somewhat surprising, and wholly unwelcome, visit to Barcelona.
After two days of near ideal conditions, the penultimate day of pre-season testing was hit by intermittent rain which started around ninety minutes into the session and lasted until the end of the lunch-break.
Just 24 hours after Michael Schumacher cast doubt on the pace of the W01, teammate Nico Rosberg gave the German team a significant boost, setting his best time early in the session on a low fuel run.
The German spent the morning working on qualifying simulations and developing the car's set-up before completing a race simulation in the afternoon. Despite the intermittent showers, he was able to complete 128 laps.
"We had a good day today," said Rosberg, "and made some significant progress in terms of set-up which was nice to see. We hadn't got the most out of the car in terms of performance over the last couple of days, but we made a step in the right direction today. We went through some big changes this morning step by step and found some good improvements. The longer runs this afternoon were interesting. We learnt a lot as there were other cars running similar programmes at the same time so we were able to do some comparisons. There is still plenty of room to improve but overall we're looking in pretty good shape."
Second quickest was Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso as the weather caused the Italian team was change its planned programme. "Today's programme was supposed to be a repeat of yesterday's - pit stop practice in the morning, followed by a race simulation in the afternoon - with Sebastien taking over from Jaime," said chief engineer, Laurent Mekies. "However, the morning rain slightly altered the plans, though we were able to complete the race simulation, as there were only two periods of light drizzle in the afternoon."
"Despite the rain, my first day in Barcelona has gone well," said Buemi. "Carrying out a race simulation was very useful and it was particularly interesting to see how the tyre behaviour changed depending on the fuel load. In the races, it will be important to drive smoothly, as on full tanks it is very easy to damage the tyres if you slide too much. Today was good and so we can try and improve a bit more tomorrow, our last chance before Bahrain."
"With just one more day of pre-season testing remaining, It is very encouraging that we have successfully completed two race simulations on two consecutive days," added the team's technical director, Giorgio Ascanelli.
It was the final day of testing for the reigning world champion, Jenson Button, who had his running compromised and limited McLaren's learning of a number of new components.
As a result, the morning was spent conducting a number of shorter installation runs to establish set-up. Subsequently, as the track dried over the lunch hour, Button was able to complete a race simulation in the afternoon - a run that was only mildly disrupted by late red flags. This also provided the opportunity for the race team to undertake a series of live pit stops, all of which went without problem.
According to the Woking team, today's long-run times have established a benchmark for the final day of pre-season running tomorrow, which will be carried out by Lewis Hamilton.
For Williams, Rubens Barrichello focussed on set-up work & long run evaluations, completing 101 laps on his way to posting the fourth best time of the day. The Brazilian was the cause of two of today's red flags, one, when he spun at Turn 5, around an hour before lunch, and the second at the very end of the session when he ground to a halt at Turn 7.
"We covered 101 laps today, which is always good," said the Brazilian. "Unfortunately, we had some rain during the day which affected the programme a little bit. Everything that the team has brought to this test seems to be working well, so it's been a positive day altogether."
"Today we had some interruptions caused by rain," added Sam Michael, "but we still managed to achieve just over one hundred laps working on race runs and set-up with Rubens. We're now focussing our attention on some more set-up work for the final day of winter testing."
Felipe Massa, driving for the first time this year on this circuit, concentrated mainly on some set-up work and then, in the afternoon, carried out a race simulation, which was completed successfully. The Brazilian driver drove completed 115 laps on his way to posting the fifth best time of the day.
"We managed to drive many miles, which is always positive," said the Brazilian. "We finished another race simulation without any problems, which helped us to better understand the tyre behaviour with different fuel loads and under different track conditions. I'm satisfied with today. We're working in the right direction for the start of the championship."
This was Massa's first experience of some of the new aerodynamic solutions the Maranello outfit has brought here, including its own version of the 'shark fin'. "I had a very positive impression," he said, "you can feel more grip and more downforce. It's encouraging, because it means that we made another step ahead compared to Jerez."
Due to the weather, the team opted to break early for lunch, seriously compromising the Brazilian's track time. Looking ahead to the final day of testing, Massa admitted that he is hoping that the rain holds off.
"Let's hope the weather improves," he said, "it would be good to finish the tests on a dry track to collect some more important data regarding the car under various conditions, also with less fuel on board."
While this morning's weather impacted Petrov's running, the improved conditions this afternoon allowed the Russian to complete his team's planned programme of qualifying simulations and long runs.
"Another day of changing weather so we lost some time in the morning with the rain," said the Russian, "but fortunately it was dry in the afternoon. We had a lot planned as it was my last day in the car before Bahrain and we did some good work and we've improved the car quite a bit. The qualifying simulation was useful and it was important I did this before the first race."
"It was a better day for Vitaly," added Alan Permane. "We had a few issues with the car in the morning that we carried over from yesterday, but we very quickly got on top of them. The car was then much to his liking just before lunch. Unfortunately we had a little bit of rain again this morning, but managed some work in the afternoon carrying various fuel loads and Vitaly finished the day quite happy with the car. It's a shame that he couldn't have run a bit more today, but it was good to get a decent day of running."
At Force India, Adrian Sutil replaced Tonio Liuzzi. After a switch to the second race chassis overnight, the German's morning programme was principally concentrated on baseline runs and set-up checks. Unfortunately the rain meant the Silverstone-based team was forced to change its afternoon plans to include performance running rather than a race distance as originally scheduled.
"It was OK today but a little disappointing not to have been able to have more running," said Sutil. "Again we have had rain so we had to wait some time to get some decent running. We only got 61 laps as I was hoping for better weather, particularly after last week's test in Jerez. Tomorrow should be better so that's when the real programme can start for me with a race simulation."
"A slight change of plan today when the rain arrived," added Dominic Harlow, "meaning that Adrian shook down a new chassis, but also completed a number of set-up tests rather than focussing on longer runs. It was difficult to conclude too much because of the track conditions, but we were able to uncover some useful items. With the final day of 2010 winter testing tomorrow expected to be dry, we are planning final race preparation work and aiming to complete as many of our test objectives as possible."
It was a day of limited running for Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel not appearing until after the lunch break, as head of race engineering, Ian Morgan explains: "We were late out this morning as we had a few technical issues following the overnight rebuild, which carried over into the planned programme for today. Once we were running in the afternoon we got three or four positive tests completed looking at set-up directions for Bahrain, which gave us some clear results - so we ended the session in much better shape."
Tomorrow, the final day, Vettel and teammate Mark Webber will share driving duties.
Despite the conditions, by lunchtime Jarno Trulli had already completed 60 laps, and went on consistently throughout the day to finish a total of 102 laps. The Malaysian team completed a full race distance and proclaimed itself satisfied with the times posted and quality of the day's activity.
"Another productive day with Jarno," said Mike Gascoyne, "over a hundred laps completed with no real mechanical issues and Jarno was able to complete the full race distance in the mix of wet and dry weather.
"We successfully completed our whole programme with the changeable conditions and have had two very useful days with Jarno in the car, with a very clear set up direction from him. Now we're looking forward to further refining the balance of the car with Heikki tomorrow."
Sauber completed its second race simulation in the morning while conditions were at their most difficult. After the lunch break Kamui Kobayashi focussed on set-up work.
"Certainly it would have been more convenient to do the race simulation with ideal track conditions," said the Japanese driver. "However, on the other hand it was an even better practice because we had to do additional tyre changes due to the weather, and every pit stop helps to improve our skills in communications and procedures. So I think it was a very productive day, and anyway tomorrow we expect better weather."
It was another difficult day for Virgin, Timo Glock completing just 31 laps, bringing the team's total over the three days to just 114.
"A couple of assembly issues affected our programme today," admitted Nick Wirth. "The gearbox problem delayed our start and by the time we were ready to run, the rain came along. We used the changeable conditions up to lunchtime working through a programme of control system preparation for Bahrain and we were looking forward to a more productive afternoon. However, lunchtime checks revealed a cut fuel system seal, which meant we had to pull the engine off to replace it. We used the remaining time this afternoon to complete a few more interesting tests with Timo. We're hoping that our planets will align tomorrow to allow us a smooth final day of testing before we head into our debut Grand Prix in Bahrain in two weeks' time."