28/02/2013
NEWS STORY
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The changeable conditions which blighted this morning's running gave way to altogether better weather late this afternoon at Barcelona, even allowing Valtteri Bottas to make a rare switch to supersofts in the final hour.
Understandably, there were a number of red flags, the first shortly after the start of this morning's session when Romain Grosjean spun at T12. Later in the morning Esteban Gutierrez went off at T3 and clouted the barriers, while late in the day Felipe Massa stopped on track at T9.
Once the session was given the all clear, even though there was just over fifteen minutes remaining, a number of drivers set their best times of the day, among them Webber. Afterwards, The Australian admitted that the rain hadn't been the only difficulty, with strong winds also making running tricky.
"It was pretty heavy, I must say. There was a big tailwind down to Turn One," he said. "And in other sections it was pretty dusty. The level of wind wasn't trivial but to be honest it was tricky enough anyway because of the greasy conditions on the track. We only got one hour at the end of the day in more stable conditions. We opted to put on a couple of sets of tyres at the end and see how it went and it was OK. We've still got more to come, but that was the most we could get done in a short limited programme in dry conditions at the end of the day."
"We're pretty pleased with how it went today," added Andy Damerum, Race Engineering Co-ordinator, "especially after the start to the session. It rained overnight and the track was quite damp this morning. That obviously forced us to adapt the run plan a bit, but we did get a lot of mileage on the full wet tyres, which was very good, as we didn't run those last week. In terms of what we went through, it was mostly just mechanical and set-up work. Overall, a good day and now we'll have to see what the weather has in store for us tomorrow when Seb will be driving."
Lewis Hamilton completed 113 laps in the Mercedes W04, the highest of any driver. His morning programme focused on tyre evaluations in the wet, mainly on intermediate tyres. He also completed race weekend procedure practice when useful running was not possible.
In the afternoon he completed a wet to dry race simulation on intermediate and then medium tyres. Over five days of pre-season testing Hamilton has completed the equivalent of nearly seven Grand Prix distances.
"The track started out really wet this morning but thankfully the conditions dried out later on and we were able to complete some proper running," said Hamilton. "It felt good to work through the race simulation this afternoon; both to get myself back in practice and to put valuable miles on the car.
"All the guys have done a fantastic job both here and at the factory," he continued. "I'm really happy that we're making progress together and very much enjoying working with everyone. The last couple of days of pre-season testing are always really exciting when everyone starts to add their upgrades so I'm looking forward to the weekend."
Like most, Jean-Eric Vergne spent most of the day on rain tyres and intermediates, albeit a useful exercise as Pirelli has made changes to its wet weather tyres for this year. However, in between the showers, Toro Rosso did manage some aerodynamic work, including the evaluation of a few new components. The day ended with two satisfactory runs on dry tyres for the Faenza outfit.
"Not the best of days," said Vergne, "because we had many things to test and the rain meant we were not able to get that much done, but we have to remember that the other teams have similar programmes and the rain affects everyone. Nevertheless, I did plenty of laps, which is good for me and good for the new car to do a high mileage. The car seems to behave really well in the wet and it also felt good in the dry, during the few laps I managed at the end of the day."
Valtteri Bottas made a rare switch to super-soft rubber, as the Grove outfit, as frustrated by the conditions as its rivals, focussed on tyre testing, mileage and set-up work. Nonetheless, his best time of the day was set on the hard compound.
"It was a good day overall and we had no problems with the car," said Bottas. "It's a shame we were disrupted a bit by the wet weather, although this did allow us to run on the wet, intermediate and dry tyres. I clocked up a lot of mileage for myself and was able to get more experience driving in difficult conditions. It was cold, wet and windy all day, and particularly slippery on track this morning."
"The conditions today made it difficult for us to complete our planned programme," admitted Technical Director, Mike Coughlan, "but we were able to get some useful tyre data. It was good mileage for Valtteri, as he was able to try a mix of tyres running from the wet, onto the intermediate and finally onto dry tyres this afternoon. It's a good grounding for him and he brought the car home safely despite the tricky track conditions. The FW35 has now completed another 85 laps without any issues."
At McLaren it was Sergio Perez's penultimate day in the MP4-28 before Melbourne, and the wet weather prompted the Woking team to undertake a more conservative run programme.
The Mexican conducted some aero mapping in the morning before the team chose to focus on developing a stable set-up on the intermediate tyre and putting some solid mileage on our 2013 package. With 100 laps under his belt, it was a positive first day.
With more wet weather predicted for tomorrow, Jenson Button's programme is expected to be a continuation of today's.
Esteban Gutierrez used most of the day to gain experience with the intermediate and full wet tyres. Other than his minor off this morning it was an uneventful day for the Mexican youngster who completed 92 laps.
"It was another positive day with a lot of laps," he said. "Unfortunately the weather changed constantly. It was important for us to work with the intermediate tyres, which seem to be the most difficult ones for us. We had to change quite a lot of things to make them work better. Personally for me it was again a good day, because I was able to gain more experience and get myself up to speed in very tricky conditions."
"Until late afternoon the running was affected by intermittent rain showers," added Head of Track Engineering, Tom McCullough, "and once again our main aim was to make the most of Esteban gaining experience in these difficult and changeable conditions. As the track dried out we started our preparation for the Race Simulation that we are planning for day three when Esteban is back in the car. Hopefully his final test day before the Melbourne GP will be dry as forecast."
Whilst his team was finally confirming who will sit on the other side of the garage this season, Paul di Resta was busy putting another 57 laps on the VJM06.
"Quite a disrupted day with the constant rain showers," said the clearly frustrated Scot, "but it gave me the chance to run in the wet conditions and gain some knowledge of the wet weather tyres. That should mean we're prepared in case we get a wet race early in the season. The temperatures were low today and not that representative, so we saw a big variation in lap times. Late in the day the rain eased off, which gave us a run in the dry, and we were able to check some things ahead of the weekend when the weather is expected to improve."
"It has been a useful day despite the damp weather," insisted Chief Race Engineer, Jakob Andreasen. "Our mission was not to accumulate mileage, but to learn more about the car's aero performance, as well as the new construction intermediate and wet weather tyres. With a similar forecast for tomorrow, it's likely we will run through another wet weather programme with Adrian to give him experience of the intermediates and wets."
Having run on the final day of last week's test at Barcelona, when weather conditions compromised his running, things were little better today for Felipe Massa. Nonetheless, his team was able to continue preparing for the start of the season. In the morning, in the intermittent rain, the Brazilian ran wet weather tyres, alternating between aerodynamic tests and evaluating set-up changes on the car.
In the afternoon, the team went through a race simulation procedure, doing long runs and some pit stops, starting on intermediate tyres and switching to dry weather ones as the track conditions improved.
"In the morning I did some long runs," said the Brazilian, "testing both types of wet weather tyre with different set-ups to find the best balance on the car. Then, in the afternoon I managed to complete a race simulation. The car worked well at all times, even in the very different track conditions and I'm happy because, despite the tyre degradation being high, it was interesting to understand their behaviour.
"It's hard to know what is the real pecking order in the field," he admitted. "It's still too early to say where the others are and where we are, but what is easy to say is that a lot of teams will be competitive. My lap times seemed good and, in the afternoon, when I fitted the dry tyres while the track was still damp, I was one of the quickest. Then, just as the track began to dry in the final half hour of running time, I had done all my planned laps and by then my tyres were well worn, which meant I couldn't improve. However, this was an important step: we have completed a race distance without any problems or glitches.
"As for the tyres, it's true that they degrade quickly, but it's also normal that this should be the case. We know the tyres have changed since last year and they have been designed specifically with that in mind: it's an idea introduced this year to increase the number of pit stops, but honestly, apart from a few times when the compounds will be softer than expected, I think there will just be one more pit stop than last year."
Lastly, the Brazilian commented on the developments expected here for the weekend. "Today, we had a few small modifications compared to last week, while on Saturday and Sunday we will test the Australian configuration. We know the car is improving: our aim is to arrive in Melbourne with a good base on which to build our season."
While Paul di Resta now knows the identity of his 2013 teammate there remains doubts as to who will be sitting in the second Marussia, even though Graeme Lowdon insists the Brazilian still has a contract. Undeterred, Max Chilton continued his preparations, the youngster completing another 78 laps in the MR02.
The youngster worked through a mainly wet weather oriented programme however, later in the day, when the track had dried, he was able to progress into a dry tyre programme where the first of the components of the new aero package was put through its paces.
"Despite the rain we have been able to make good progress today," said Chilton, "as experience of the range of wet weather scenarios is important for me and the Team. While on the one hand it's a frustration because we need to start work with the new aero package, on the other hand we wouldn't have wanted to be heading into the races without having done some work with wet set-ups and the range of tyres in variable conditions. When the track was drying later on in the day we were able to gather some data with the new front wing and the first indications are that this looks to be a positive step. I am also pleased to end the day in P9 and ahead of the Caterham again."
"Max has had another very good day learning about the three types of tyres in wet conditions," added John Booth. "We would have liked more dry running to help us assess our aero upgrade, but it looks like we will have to wait till the last two days for the detailed focus that requires. We did achieve minimal running on dry tyres on a damp track, when we tried our new front wing. This was a less than perfect situation in which to evaluate it, however the feedback we did get was in line with expectations. It looks like it will be wet again tomorrow but we will keep looking to take advantage of any dry running opportunities and try to get more elements of the upgrade tested."
At Caterham, Charles Pic completed a further 83 laps without incident, though once again the Anglo-Malaysian team was out-paced by its Russian rivals.
"Day one of the final test has been OK," said the French youngster, "83 laps and another day where we've run without any issues and kept the same consistent approach throughout all the tests.
"We had planned to do qualifying and race simulations but with the rain today we've switched the race simulation to Sunday when I'm back in the car, but we did run through all the qualifying procedures and that went pretty well. Giedo's back in the car for tomorrow and Saturday and if the weather improves by Saturday morning I think we'll be able to get through everything we've planned for the final test."
Lotus, which had Romain Grosjean on duty, ran through a programme of assessments and correlations, including work on the DDRS Device.
With the unfavourable track conditions, only short aerodynamic runs were conducted in the afternoon, though a hydraulic leak didn't exactly help.
"Another day with bad weather in Barcelona is not what I wanted," moaned the Frenchman, "but there's nothing you can do about it. It was a bit of a frustrating day as we concentrated on aero runs and never went for a time on the drying track surface. The car feels good on both the intermediate and wet tyres and we've run through more of our pre-season test programme so those are positives. You never want to see yourself at the bottom of the timing screens, so hopefully that's the only time it happens this season. We certainly know there's more pace in the car than we saw today!"
"Given the weather, this morning's session concentrated on running assessments between the wet and intermediate tyres and we're getting a much better idea of Pirelli's 2013 wet tyres," added Alan Permane, the Enstone outfit's Trackside Operations Director. "In the afternoon we concentrated on assessing our rear wing DDRS Device. These conditions aren't great as it's difficult to run comparison tests with an ever changing track surface. Nevertheless, we've clocked up more laps on the E21, tried different settings and conducted numerous aero-runs. This meant that our lap time today was very far from what we'd expect had we conducted a more normal test programme."
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