01/02/2015
NEWS STORY
Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets on the opening day of pre-season testing today, with the Ferrari-powered Sauber of Marcus Ericsson just 0.157s behind.
However, other than the fact that Kimi Raikkonen similarly topped the sheets of last year's opening day, Ferrari going on to fail to win a single Grand Prix for the first time since 1993, it is the pace and consistency of the Mercedes that really impresses, Nico Rosberg completing 157 laps.
Over the course of one thirty-plus lap run Rosberg's times barely fluctuated, the pace of the driver, at one with his car, almost metronomic.
On a day that saw a number of teams finally take the wraps off their car, the Mercedes W06 Hybrid looks to have taken up where its predecessor left off, as does the Honda-powered McLaren MP4-30. Following a disappointing outing in Abu Dhabi, the Woking car completed just 6 laps today, McLaren subsequently revealing that the car had suffered a "niggly problem".
Although late getting to work, Williams was soon on the pace, Valtteri Bottas completing 73 laps on his way to posting the fifth best time of the day, whilst Ricciardo lost time due to an engine issue.
Lotus missed today's running, the Enstone outfit flying the E23 out to Spain after firing up its Mercedes engine for the first time yesterday. The car will now undergo its build programme overnight and through Monday, with the first significant running expected on Tuesday.
Between them, the 7 drivers on duty completed 450 laps, compared to the 94 completed by the nine drivers on duty this time last year.
This being the first day of testing, we shouldn't be reading too much into the times, certainly Ferrari would be foolish to start thinking those two wins demanded by Arrivabene are in the bag. However, there will surely be some concern at Woking following a less than impressive debut for the Honda-powered MP4-30.
"Today was a good start," said Vettel. "I can't say more than that, because this is only the beginning. Everything is different, even the philosophy behind the car, when compared to what I was used to. But I immediately felt at ease within the team and the guys gave me a very warm welcome. For now, lap times aren't important: I did mine on the medium compound, but the comparison has to be made yet again with the Mercedes. They are very quick, let's just hope they are not quite as fast as last year..."
"On the one hand, I'm disappointed we didn't manage to do more miles, because of problems we encountered with the telemetry," added technical director, James Allison. "However, on the other, we saw the car make progress with the laps we did run."
"It seems the SF15-T took on board what was said about it at the launch!" smiled team boss Maurizio Arrivabene. "Joking apart, this is only the beginning and at this stage, lap times are all relative. We are just getting on with it for now and I'd rather emphasise the work done by the team, who seem to me to be very motivated, which I am very pleased about. I say "well done" to Sebastian, but we have to keep in mind that our rivals, especially Mercedes, must not be underestimated."
For one brief moment it looked as though Marcus Ericsson might go quickest, instead the Swede had to content himself with being second fastest along with the dubious honour of causing the first red flag of the year.
"It was a very good day," said Ericsson. "First of all it was great to be back in the car after the winter break. I think we have good reasons to be happy. We were able to complete a lot of laps, and we went through quite a few different small tweeks on the set-up and did all the installations needed. There were no major problems with the car, which was really the main thing. Overall it's been a good day, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. I hope we can continue like this."
"Today we started with a normal roll-out programme with some functionality checks, which we were able to cut to the minimum, because the car was working well from the beginning," revealed the team's Head of Track Engineering, Giampaolo Dall'Ara. "We had some longer breaks, just to do some thorough checks on the car. In the afternoon we went a bit deeper in by exploring the balance and checking some different tyre compounds. Towards the end we did some longer runs. We are happy that the car is working, and, compared to last year, we can see the improvements. Overall it was definitely a positive day."
Nico Rosberg, along with teammate Lewis Hamilton and the rest of the Mercedes team, will be feeling mighty chuffed following a very impressive performance today.
Though third on the timesheets, albeit just 0.486s down on Vettel, the W06 completed 157 laps, never missing a beat.
Today's programme comprised long runs and practice pit stops, Rosberg emerging for his first run at precisely 09:00, completing 60 laps before lunch and a further 97 in the afternoon.
"That was a great start to the winter testing," beamed the German. "In the beginning it's all about reliability and we managed to do a lot of mileage today. The guys in the factories built a complete new car and now we come here and it's working great, so the team did a fantastic job over the winter. I was able to do some good long runs on the first day and that's really amazing.
"We have such a great team and this is what makes me really happy. As a driver, you always want to find out how quick you are compared to the others - but that will have to wait until qualifying in Melbourne. The next testing days are all about making sure we know the car inside out and we've made a good start with that today."
Red Bull's RB11 made an eye-catching debut, the Austrian outfit's car taking to the track in a striking black and white livery, similar to that used to camouflage prototype road cars.
"We got going pretty well this morning and I got a few laps under my belt," said Ricciardo, who ended the day fourth fastest. "So the first impressions are good. We'll get a few more laps over the next few days, but so far everything seems pretty encouraging.
"I can feel a step forward," he continued. "I won't go into too much detail but it's there. We didn't do a whole lot of laps but definitely more than at this test last year! In general everything is behaving as it should. Obviously we had a couple of issues, but once the car is running it's all going pretty normally. A good first day, there are some positive signs there."
Commenting on the interim livery he added: "The livery's cool. It's a testing specification for us but I think it looks really good. Maybe I need a matching helmet."
"It's no exaggeration to say that today represented a good day for the team and for the RB11," added Head of Race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin. "The car preparation has been good, the day's running was by and large excellent and we've already gathered a lot of information.
"The day generally went according to plan, starting cautiously, building up the length of the runs and learning all the time. We had a small issue with the brake controls system around lunchtime but you're always going to have little niggles like that on days like this. We stopped running late in the afternoon with a technical issue, but it wasn't too serious. An alarm went off on the engine and at that stage of the day, knowing that an investigation would take time we chose to stop. Aside from that, everything went pretty as we hoped."
"The day started off a bit slow, but it turned out to be a really good one," said Bottas, who focussed on new components, systems and reliability checks. "After the initial set-back we didn't have a single issue with the FW37, which is impressive for the first day with a new car.
"We started off on shorter runs before longer runs later this afternoon, including one run that was significant considering again that it's only the first day. The car was consistent, so it's a really good start to the week and we are pleased that it's still a step up from the car we had at the end of last season. We know we have a lot to learn and improve, but we also know where these gains can come from, and have work to do with the car performance and the power unit. There are a lot of strengths in this car and we've made good progress in just one day, so I am very pleased."
"We have gone through our normal winter test programmes today and have solved any issues that have arisen," said Rod Nelson, the team's Chief Test & Support Engineer. "We lost a bit of time this morning but once on track, Valtteri clocked up 73 laps. We have new hardware on the car and there is a new power unit, and all of these have to be checked and tested whilst we are running before we can start looking at performance. Jerez isn't too representative as a circuit as the surface is so abrasive, this limits the amount of useful performance work we can carry out. We are very satisfied with the first day and are looking forward to tomorrow.
Carlos Sainz got his F1 career off to a promising start, the Spaniard completing 46 laps on his way to posting the sixth best time of the day. Unfortunately, a technical issue, around an hour before the end of the session, brought his running to an early close.
"We can take many positives away from today, our first proper run with the STR10," said the Spaniard, "even if we managed a short run during an earlier filming day. We worked well together as a team and managed to complete a reasonable number of laps. That has given us plenty of data to look at tonight to help prepare the car for tomorrow, when Max is driving. I felt good in the car today, I was constantly improving, lap after lap. We did some adjustments and I think we have a good starting baseline."
"As usual when running a new car for the first time, our programme centred mainly on systems checks and ensuring that everything was running smoothly," said Phil Charles, the Faenza outfit's Chief Race Engineer. "Inevitably, we had some teething troubles although nothing major, but it did mean we had something of a stop-start day.
"Carlos settled in well and we managed to do some set-up work, as we aimed to improve the balance on the new STR10. An issue at the end of the day saw the car stop on track and, with not much time left until the chequered flag, we decided it was better to stop running early to ensure we are completely ready for tomorrow, when Max Verstappen will be in the cockpit."
Following shakedowns with the interim MP4-29H/1X1 at Silverstone and Yas Marina Circuit in November, today marked the first time that the McLaren-Honda chassis and power unit had run together as a bespoke combination.
After a successful fire-up, the morning was spent conducting a number of single-lap installation runs, which were gradually increased in length, concluding in a three-lap run at lunchtime. However, the programme ended early after the engineers and mechanics were unable to resolve a technical issue in time for the car to resume running for the rest of the day.
"Given the complexity of modern Formula 1 machinery, the sorts of issues we encountered today weren't too surprising," said Fernando Alonso. "They're just the things you experience on the first day of a Formula 1 test. But it's been a fantastic day for me: to have the privilege to drive the car for the first time - for the comeback of McLaren and Honda after 23 years - makes me feel extremely proud.
"Obviously, I don't really have a feeling for the car yet - I only did a handful of laps, and most of those were at slow speed, conducting preliminary checks - so I need a bit more time to be able to speak accurately about it. But everything seems to be responding well, and showing us what we expected.
"We have a lot still to learn, but let's not forget how tough it was for a lot of teams last year. It'll be no different for us. Every lap we do, we learn something, so hopefully we'll arrive in Australia with a good understanding of the car. So far, everything feels very exciting - there are a lot of positive emotions inside the garage for everybody, and I'm very happy to be part of this project."
"Today was a challenging day," admitted Eric Boullier, "which was not surprising to us given that our car has been designed to a radical all-new size-zero philosophy. In fact, we're still in the process of analysing this afternoon's technical issues, systematically and methodically, in an effort to increase our mileage in the coming days.
"What's particularly encouraging is the way that McLaren's and Honda's technicians and engineers are already working so well together - collaborating seamlessly in their shared ambition to nail a revolutionary new car's inevitable developmental gremlins as soon as possible. Tonight will be arduous and sleepless, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Bring it on!"
"This is the first shakedown of our radically designed car," said Yasuhisa Arai, Honda R&D senior managing officer - chief officer of motorsport, "so we expected to encounter a few issues, and we look forward to doing longer runs in the near future.
"Finally, this is an exciting first day of a very exciting project. It's great to be on the inside at last, rather than sitting in the stands!"
Check out our Sunday gallery, here.