07/11/2012
NEWS STORY
Portuguese youngster Felix da Costa (pictured) topped the timesheets on the second day of the Young Driver Test at Yas Marina.
Once again there were six teams on duty, McLaren running different drivers in both the morning and afternoon session.
Da Costa's programme was again split into sessions of aero and mechanical work, with the morning given over to aero mapping and the afternoon to tyre work as well the testing of car components.
"It's been another good day," he said, having completed his second and final day of running. "Again, we did a lot of mileage, which is good for me and for the team. On a day like this, when the conditions are perfect for testing, and with two grands prix to go, I think the team needs to make the most of it and today I think we did that.
"It's been a great experience and I'd like to thank the whole team for their help and I hope I have been able to help them as well," he added. "I'll focus now on the future and I think most sensibly that probably means a full season in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series next year."
For the final day of the test, Formula Renault 3.5 Series winner Robin Frijns will take over the RB8, the Dutch youngster having driven the Sauber yesterday.
As on Tuesday, McLaren divided its running. Gary Paffett continued the work he began on Tuesday afternoon as the Woking team put more miles on a number of aerodynamic developments, including a new front wing, and evaluating revised suspension geometry, with an eye towards monitoring resultant tyre wear, degradation and heating.
Oliver Turvey continued the programme into the afternoon, adding another 62 laps on his way to posting the second best time of the day.
The team declared itself pleased with the input and response of both drivers - neither of whom have spent extensive time behind the wheel of MP4-27, and both of whom were immediately up to speed and able to provide excellent feedback to the engineers.
The Woking outfit team will make further extensive set-up changes overnight before Turvey concludes his programme in the morning. Kevin Magnussen, who began the test on Tuesday morning, will return to the cockpit on Thursday afternoon, putting more miles on the development parts.
Making his debut in the E20 for Lotus was Edoardo Mortara, who is currently competing in the DTM series. Immediately up to speed, the French/Italian finished the day third fastest, setting his quickest time at the last possible moment on his final lap.
In the morning the youngster focussed on aerodynamic programming and DDRS testing before switching to set-up adjustments and balance change in the afternoon.
"I had a wonderful time and I'm so grateful to everyone at Lotus F1 Team for giving me this opportunity," said Mortara. "I enjoyed every lap. At the same time, it was pretty tough; I've come from a car which is a lot slower and the first laps were certainly an eye opener. I improved gradually over the day and I think my progression was pretty good. Every time I was on track I got a little bit better. I completed the test programme scheduled by the team so it's satisfying to be able to contribute to their season. It's been one of the best days of my life."
"Today we completed further aerodynamic work Including running two iterations of the DDRS," added race engineer, Simon Rennie. "Edoardo spent the morning acclimatising himself to the car meaning that in the afternoon he was able to tune the set-up to his preferences. He did a great job, completing 75 laps and giving us a lot of valuable data to work with. We ran with new medium tyres in the afternoon meaning he was let off the leash a bit more to show his speed. At the end of the day he was third quickest, but there is more time to come from him and also the car. All in all, he did an excellent job today."
Reigning GP2 Series champion Davide Valsecchi will round off the three day test as he makes his Lotus debut tomorrow.
Esteban Gutierrez is already fairly familiar with the Sauber team, the Yas Marina circuit and to a certain extent the C31. He had his first Formula One test back in 2009 in Jerez with the Swiss team and since then has taken part in the 2010 and 2011 Young Driver Tests. In his role as test and reserve driver he recently stepped in for Sergio Perez during the first free practice session at the Indian Grand Prix.
"The morning session was very interesting for me because we tested a lot of different things, and I hope I gave my most precise feedback to the engineers," said the Mexican at the conclusion of today's running. "After being in the car so recently in India, of course, I feel a lot more confident in handling all the system like KERS and DRS. In the morning session I used only hard tyres, but in the afternoon I certainly enjoyed running the medium as well as the soft compound. The last sector of the track I find a bit tricky, especially turn 20. I don't have the confidence yet to push harder there."
"Obviously we know Esteban a lot better than we knew Robin before yesterday," added Giampaolo Dall'Ara, "and he is also quite familiar with the team and the track. This helps for some procedures and communication but, nevertheless, he isn't in the car every day. Again he did a good and reliable job for us. We basically ticked off everything from today's job list. In the morning and early afternoon the focus was on aero work with a set up change over the lunch break. Later in the afternoon we repeated the programme we did yesterday with Robin, giving Esteban a set of medium compound tyres as well as a set of softs. In the end he did a high fuel run on medium tyres. For tomorrow we have some brake testing and suspension work on the list."
Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto Jr, behind the wheel of the STR7, completed 76 laps on his way to posting the sixth best time of the day.
"It's great to be back in a Formula 1 car after having tested here in Abu Dhabi last year and to add some more kilometres under my belt," said the youngster. "The day went very well and I enjoyed working with the team. The level of professionalism, number of systems on the car and the amount of people working in the team always impresses me. It was also nice to have driven a Ferrari engine, a name which is like a piece of history."
"We had a full track day with no issues at all, with Johnny in the car for the first time," added Laurent Mekies. "This morning we did a lot of aero measurements and Johnny did a very good job following all the procedures. He got a little bit more proper running this afternoon, when he showed very quickly that he was up to the task and helped us make progress on our development work on the car. So overall it's been a good day for us."
Closing the gap to the opposition, Giedo van der Garde completed 72 laps in the Caterham as he completed his programme for the Anglo Malaysian outfit.
"It's been a great couple of days here in Abu Dhabi and I want to thank the team for giving me the chance to drive in the rookie test yesterday and today," he said. "Today we ran considerably more laps than on day one. We spent the morning running through more aero work and ran with a number of different setups that give the team a huge amount of data to work through that will be really useful for the last two races of the season. In the afternoon we switched to longer runs, looking at tyre management and how the car behaves on different fuel loads and I'm pleased with the progress we made. Towards the end of the session we put soft tyres on and I had a couple of runs that were closer to the performance runs we do in FP3 - the car had more fuel than in quali but I'm pretty happy with where I ended up.
"Next up for me is FP1 in Brazil," he added, "another track that'll be new for me but with the time I've had on track here, and in the other FP1s I've done this year, I think that'll be a good session for me. I'm not doing FP1 in Austin as the team needs maximum time on track for the race drivers, but I'll be going to the race as Reserve Driver and I'm really looking forward to getting out there - it's going to be a great week for sure."
Today's Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Da Costa | Red Bull | 61 | 1:42.679 | 121.001 mph |
| Turvey | McLaren | 62 | 1:43.176 | 0.497 |
| Mortara | Lotus | 75 | 1:43.418 | 0.739 |
| Gutierrez | Sauber | 94 | 1:43.485 | 0.806 |
| Paffett | McLaren | 41 | 1:43.771 | 1.092 |
| Cecotto | Toro Rosso | 76 | 1:44.569 | 1.890 |
| Van der Garde | Caterham | 72 | 1:45.106 | 2.427 |
Best Times To Date
| Date | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
| 6-Nov | Magnussen | McLaren | 1:42.651 | 121.034 mph |
| 7-Nov | Da Costa | Red Bull | 1:42.679 | 0.028 |
| 7-Nov | Turvey | McLaren | 1:43.176 | 0.525 |
| 6-Nov | Paffett | McLaren | 1:43.407 | 0.756 |
| 7-Nov | Mortara | Lotus | 1:43.418 | 0.767 |
| 7-Nov | Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:43.485 | 0.834 |
| 6-Nov | Frijns | Sauber | 1:43.775 | 1.124 |
| 6-Nov | Prost | Lotus | 1:44.194 | 1.543 |
| 7-Nov | Cecotto | Toro Rosso | 1:44.569 | 1.918 |
| 6-Nov | Razia | Toro Rosso | 1:44.691 | 2.040 |
| 7-Nov | Van der Garde | Caterham | 1:45.106 | 2.455 |
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