13/07/2012
NEWS STORY
Williams and Marussia were in action on the International Circuit at Silverstone today, the final day of the Young Driver Test at the Northamptonshire track.
As on Thursday, which was held on the full Grand Prix circuit, Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheets for Williams on a day compromised by cool weather and intermittent rain.
With HRT deciding that Ma Qing Hua had completed the planned programme on Thursday, Williams and Marussia were the only runners, the Grove outfit running Bottas whilst its Russian rivals split duties between Max Chilton and Rio Haryanto.
It was another good test for the team," said Williams Senior Operations Engineer, Dominic Harlow, "today running on the shorter International Circuit. We were able to get a good evaluation of several new components across various systems on the car as part of the ongoing development, alongside giving Valtteri more mileage in the car. Valtteri again drove well, whilst the weather held up, enabling us to achieve another productive day for the team."
"It was another successful day today for the team, with a trouble-free performance and no problems with the car," added Bottas. "It was useful to get some longer runs in again today and it was good for me to get a better understanding of the tyres, and how the team works. We were lucky with the weather today considering the forecast, as we were able to do most of the runs in the dry, despite a bit of dampness early on."
On Thursday, Haryanto was a little compromised by a fluid leak and inclement weather, but this morning he made up for that loss of track time by ploughing through 79 laps of a driver evaluation programme and set-up work designed to help verify elements of the new MR-01 upgrade package.
In the afternoon, Max Chilton was back in the car after his positive early showing yesterday morning. He completed 52 laps on the way to posting the second fastest time of the day.
"After further productive time in the car this afternoon, I'm heading home feeling very happy with how the two days have gone for me," said Chilton. "We've been particularly lucky as, given the weather in England at the moment, I managed to get two half days of dry running. I feel like I got to grips with the car well and in turn I hope the team have benefited from the real-time work we have all done with the package today. It has been a fantastic experience and I can't thank the team enough for the experience and support"
"It has been another very positive experience with the team today," added Haryanto. "After yesterday's short afternoon of just 19 laps, this morning we achieved 79 laps, which was fantastic mileage, and therefore experience, for me. The programme was not easy, and there were a lot of new and different things to learn. The team pushed me hard, but this is what I need to be able to show my potential. We also got a lot of work done for the team to prepare for the next Grand Prix. I will be at Hockenheim racing in GP2 and after the last two days I am feeling very determined to achieve a good result. My thanks to the team for making is so welcome and providing me with invaluable seat-time."
"I have thoroughly enjoyed spending the past two days here at Silverstone keeping a close eye on our two young drivers and I have been very impressed with what I have seen of Max and Rio," said team boss John Booth. "Both drivers completed over 350km over the two days, the majority of which was in the dry, and they have done an outstanding job given their relative lack of experience. Their running has also helped us to answer some of the set-up questions which were carried over from the British Grand Prix weekend, so it has been a very valuable experience all round.
"I have been particularly pleased with the way Max and Rio approached this opportunity and coped well with the environment of the car and the team," he continued. "They earned this chance and they have made the very best of it. From a team perspective we have also been able to mix things up a little in terms of the different roles, swapping a few of the engineers and mechanics around to give them a chance to shine and advance themselves. Everyone has pulled together to make this test a real success, so well done to all on what has been another important chapter in our Young Driver Programme."
Today's Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Bottas | Williams | 170 | 0:48.963 | 74.790 mph |
| Chilton | Marussia | 52 | 0:49.932 | 0.969 |
| Haryanto | Marussia | 79 | 0:50.405 | 1.442 |