10/02/2012
NEWS STORY
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Fernando Alonso tops the timesheets as Sebastian Vettel, sidelined by an electrical issue for the entire morning, finishes third just ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Toro Rosso rookie Jean-Eric Vergne is second.
Alonso continued with the task of acquiring data relating to the behaviour of the F2012. Once again, most of the Spaniard's laps today were completed at constant speed, or to a predefined procedure, aimed at gathering as much information as possible about the car, comparing various configurations.
Jean-Eric Vergne, in the Toro Rosso, completed double the laps Alonso completed on his way to posting the second best time of the day, 0.720s off the pace.
"A good second day for me as we worked through everything on our work plan and completed a lot of kilometres," said the Frenchman. "After making some adjustments, I feel more comfortable in the car and I can also get an understanding of the effect of the set-up changes that we tried and they seem to have moved us forward. A positive day, so now I'm looking forward to the second test session."
"Overall, a positive first test for us," added chief engineer, Laurent Mekies. "There is plenty of excitement when you run a new car for the first time, as it is the result of so much work from everyone in the organisation. We did a reasonable amount of laps and we did not have any major issues with the car. This meant we were able to start our work of getting to know everything about it and understand how to make it work as well as possible. In parallel to this, we were running Daniel and Jean-Eric for the first time since they were signed as our race drivers: they both did well, establishing their relationship with the team. We are looking forward to running again in Barcelona in just over a week, as these four days went by very quickly."
Ominously, despite losing the entire morning session, bar two installation laps, Vettel finished third quickest. The problem was an engine related electrical issue and while the relevant part was replaced there was concern that the issue may have caused damage to the engine, which led to a precautionary engine change.
The German got running again shortly after lunch and then put in 48 untroubled laps to bring the team's opening test to a close and, despite the shortened second day in the car, the world champion left the track encouraged by the weeks' work.
"I'm happy with the progress we've made, I think we managed to get a lot done," said Vettel. "Of course, this morning was a bit of a setback but these things happen.
"Something like this is simply part of testing, this is the reason why we are here," he added. "Of course we would like to get more laps done, but that can't be changed now. So we go back to the factory, look at everything we have learned from this week and prepare for the next test in Barcelona, where I'm looking forward to putting some more miles on the car."
"It was frustrating to lose those hours in the morning as we had a lot to get through," added Ian Morgan, head of race engineering, "but when Seb did get out, we made a pretty good recovery and we actually managed to get almost everything done."
Reflecting on the four days in Jerez, Morgan added: "It's been quite encouraging. We are where we expected to be, based on the data we had from the factory. That's good for later in the season as if you've got good trust in the tools at your disposal at home it makes development work on the car a lot easier.
"In terms of the problems we had today, well, all I can say is it is part and parcel of testing. You take a complex car and put it on the track for the first time and it only takes one small thing to go wrong to upset your programme. We'll ship the car home in one piece now, take a look at everything, pull it apart and then rebuild it for the next test in Barcelona. But, all in all, a very positive week here I think."
While they were eclipsed by Rosberg and Grosjean yesterday, the British media focussed on third placed Vettel and fourth placed Lewis Hamilton, and this is sure to be the case again today as the pair once again finish third and fourth.
Hamilton completed 86 laps in the MP4-27, 0.763s off Alonso's pace but only 0.034s off Vettel's best, enough to have the British media salivating.
"Today was a good day," said McLaren team manager, David Redding. "The first hour or so was spent aero data gathering, then Lewis embarked on two or three hours intensive set up work, exploring suspension geometries and general car set up. The afternoon was then spent comparing tyre compounds.
"We had the opportunity to try some changes that were time consuming, so things you wouldn't normally do at a race weekend. It was good to get those fundamental changes and tests out of the way early on. The car ran reliably and without any issues."
For Lotus, Romain Grosjean focussed on system checks, temperature monitoring, data correlation, and evaluation of the performance of the car with its initial aerodynamic package. Other than a minor water leak the Frenchman had a trouble free day.
"Everything is feeling good," said Grosjean. "This morning we tried a number of different things on the car, including my first run on the soft tyre. In the afternoon we tried longer runs. Once it warmed up, the track temperature was hotter than yesterday which helps our understanding of the E20 in different conditions. It's strange to think that we are already a third of the way through pre-season testing. We are pushing to get as much achieved as possible. I'm really enjoying being in the car even though it is hard work. So far my fitness has been good, my neck's not too bad, but we'll see how it feels tomorrow! I think everyone will benefit from next week away from the circuit so we can reflect on the data then go to Barcelona with some new parts for the car. I can't wait."
"Our main focus for this week has been orientated around accumulating mileage and testing reliability," added Alan Permane. "The E20 has proved to be reliable, meaning we've been able to include some performance work too. Our general programme has been to conduct performance work in the morning, when the track is a little cooler and there's less wind. In the afternoons, when the temperatures and winds are higher, we have conducted longer runs with heavier fuel loads. Overall during this test we've completed almost 1800 km with the car. We did have a few minor radiator leaks over the course of this test but they were easily identified and we have a solution for Barcelona."
"The most encouraging aspect from this week is the feedback from the drivers," said technical director, James Allison. "Their comments have been full of encouraging statements, including praise for a very secure rear end, good traction and good balance. We haven't heard positive comments like those during the past couple of seasons. Even ignoring the lap times, the driver comments give us a warm feeling and the best sense of whether we've done an okay job."
"This was a very positive test for us," added Eric Boullier. "Kimi and Romain both did great jobs in the car. The E20 has been reliable straight out of the box. We were not in Jerez to chase fast lap times, but of course it's always good to show strong pace. Of course, it is very early days; Melbourne is one month away and that is when we will see where we are. The E20 looks good out on track, it's a nice shape and it's very well finished which is a credit to everyone at Enstone."
After two days with Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi was back in the saddle for Sauber, the Japanese driver spending the morning working on set-up, aero comparisons and tyre evaluations. However, a hydraulic leak in the afternoon caused him to stop on track with two hours to go, but thanks to excellent work by his crew Kobayashi was able to put in another 18 laps in the final hour.
"If I look at the whole picture I am happy with the first test," he said. "For sure we have found the right direction to go in. The car didn't surprise us with any big issues, which allowed us to work on improvements straight away. We lost track time due to small problems and I want to thank the mechanics for all their work. Today especially they did a great job to get me out on track again. In the end I did 76 laps today which isn't too bad. We have some ideas of what our next steps will be and I'm very much looking forward to the Barcelona tests."
"Overall the results of the first test with the new C31 are promising," added Giampaolo Dall'Ara, head of track engineering at the Faenza outfit. "After we had all the initial systems checks behind us on day one, when Kamui covered 106 laps, we did a good deal of aero work and learnt a lot about the 2012 tyres. On the setup side we would have preferred to run a bit more in Jerez but this was only the first test and we will catch up in Barcelona."
Having lost out yesterday, following Jules Bianchi's mishap, Nico Hulkenberg finally got his first run in the VJM05 today. As the German got a feel for the car, the team carried out aero work, tyre data collection and a number of long runs in the afternoon.
"A busy first day in the car and good to get so many laps under my belt," said Hulkenberg. "It was my first time in the new car so I concentrated on getting comfortable and up to speed. The long runs were useful for that and it also allowed me to start understanding the new tyres. There is still a massive amount to learn and lots of data to look at, but it feels like we have a good baseline to develop from and I'm pleased with how the day went."
"Nico was in the VJM05 for the first time today," added technical director, Andrew Green, "so the focus was on making sure he was happy and allowing him to build his confidence with the new car. At the same time we spent the morning ticking off some set-up items and working through the aero programme we started yesterday. The afternoon gave us a chance to let Nico get a better feel for the 2012 tyres as we ran both the soft and the medium compounds.
"Overall I think we can come away from Jerez feeling positive. The car has run reliably, the initial feedback from the drivers is encouraging and we've learned a lot about the set-up directions we want to explore over the coming weeks. I also want to highlight the tremendous effort from the team at the track this week, backed up by the staff at Silverstone, which helped ensure we got the most from our first test with the new car."
At Williams, Bruno Senna continued with set-up work and race simulation, the Brazilian completing the most laps today (124).
"It's been another productive day," said the Brazilian, "testing a number of different set-up directions and finding out a lot more about the car. The car has continued to show good reliability as we completed 124 laps today, which is very satisfying. I'm happy to have started my first two days in the car for Williams on a very good note.
"We had a very productive day," added Mark Gillan, "with Bruno successfully completing a full race simulation this morning and performance development testing during the afternoon. On the whole this has been a good first test for the FW34 and we have learnt a great deal about the new car. I'd like to thank the whole team for their massive effort this week."
Italian veteran Jarno Trulli finally got his hands on the Caterham, completing 117 laps on his way to posting the ninth best time of the day.
"My first impression of the car was that it is good," said Trulli, "a definite progression from 2011 and a good basis for us to work on for the season ahead. Its reliability has been demonstrated all week here in Jerez and we have generated a lot of data, particularly on KERS and the 2012 tyres which will help us improve setups for the next couple of tests.
"We know there's a lot more to come in pure pace - perhaps we were the only team to run without dropping the fuel but we wanted to focus on running through the development program and making sure we completed the plan each day.
"For me there are a couple of real positives from today. I hadn't used KERS before, and despite the extra buttons it means on the wheel, it's pretty simple to get used to it quickly and I think we'll see the benefits of that more and more as we keep learning how to get the most out of it. Also, for me the car felt balanced pretty much straight away. The power steering is good - we can keep fine tuning it, but I think it's basically a good package with a lot of potential for us to work on. A good way to start the season."
"I think we can be very pleased with how the first test has gone," added Mike Gascoyne. "Apart from an issue on day one with the starter the car ran absolutely faultlessly throughout the whole test which is a real tribute to the work put in by the whole team. We completed the whole test program, working with KERS for the first time and for me this has probably been the best first test I have ever been involved in throughout my career.
"We have been running the car rather conservatively in Jerez but for the next test we will be bringing aero updates and looking to run the final race one specification at the third test. Overall we are in a much better position going into the season than we have ever been before, so that is the first goal achieved."
"The first test of the season has been a good one for us," said Riad Asmat, Caterham Group CEO. "Jarno ran another very impressive number of laps today and when you look at the total mileage we have accumulated here we have clearly started the season with a good, reliable car. We know there is pace to come but we also know we have a lot of work ahead of us to make sure we arrive in Australia in the strongest possible position. This week we have had the best start to a season yet in our three short years so we will move on to Barcelona in good spirits, with more new parts to come and in good shape to keep unlocking this car's potential."
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