24/06/2015
NEWS STORY
Mercedes continues to dominate as improved conditions mean drivers are able to complete serious mileage as testing concludes.
Whilst the ten drivers on duty were only able to complete 604 laps yesterday, today's almost ideal conditions saw virtually non-stop action, the drivers completing 1,064 laps.
Daniel Ricciardo caused the only red flag of the session, the Australian stopping at the end of the pitlane around an hour before the day's running was due to conclude.
Among the first out on track this morning, Rosberg completed 34 laps before a gearbox failure curtailed his running just before 11:00. The team performed a gearbox change in time for last weekend's GP winner to return to action at 13:30 - 30mins after the end of the lunch break - completing a further 83 laps before the chequered flag at 18:00. Today's programme focused on aero and setup evaluation, in addition to a tyre test.
"Monday and Tuesday were two long days waiting for better weather," said the German, "so today was important as there are only four test days during the season. Luckily, the track was consistent and we could try a lot of different things. We had a gearbox issue just before lunch but luckily it didn't really cost us any time as we could work on it during the break and the guys did a great job to get me back out there so quick, so thank you to them for that.
"It was an intense programme but we got through everything and learned a lot. We started with was some aero work then spent time looking at tyres and a few mechanical things like spring settings. We also ran a stiff setup in preparation for Silverstone, which will be useful for next week. The car felt good with that so I'm sure we will be strong at the next race. It's a very fast track and you have to drive it very hard. But that sort of content - high-speed corners needing good downforce - is a specialty of this car, so I'm feeling confident."
At Ferrari, Esteban Gutierrez completed 110 laps on his way to posting the second best time of the day, albeit 0.818s off Rosberg's best lap.
"Today's testing focused mainly on studying the behaviour of the various Pirelli compounds, as well as looking at some aerodynamic solutions," said the Mexican. "It's always nice to be able to drive the current Formula 1 car and I want to thank the team for giving me this opportunity. It was a positive day, we did a good job and we completed the programme we had set ourselves, gathering plenty of data that we can now carefully analyse back in Maranello".
Valtteri Bottas brushed aside (continued) speculation linking him with fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen's seat at Ferrari as he concentrated on aero and chassis work. Over the course of the two days the team has run a number of components, some of them not allowed at race weekends, including winglets ahead of the rear wheels, as it endeavours to learn more about the behaviour of the car. Today was no exception.
"It was a good day overall and luckily the weather was kinder to us," said the Finn. "The work Susie did yesterday was really important as we continued our programme. We focused on aero and mechanical work, and now have a clearer idea where we need to push in terms of development. I now have to switch my focus to Silverstone, which I am really looking forward to."
"We completed our scheduled programme including a number of additional items on top, which is really positive," added the Grove outfit's chief test and support engineer, Rod Nelson. "We have had an excellent day today to complete the two-day test, we have a lot of data to go through now and have a clear direction in terms of development. It was great to have Susie back in the car yesterday, and Valtteri has built on that progress today."
2014 DTM champion Marco Wittmann was on duty for Tor Rosso, the BMW man making a convincing F1 debut by completing 158 laps on his way to posting the fourth best time of the day.
"This has been an amazing experience for me," said the German. "I was surprised at the power of the car; if I compare it to DTM, it's got quite a lot more power! I enjoyed the whole day, which was trouble free, so I was able to do a lot of laps. I'm happy with my day, I hope the team is too. I would like to thank Red Bull, Scuderia Toro Rosso and BMW for giving me this great opportunity."
"We've had a very productive day," said Phil Charles, the Faenza outfit's chief race engineer, "completing a high number of laps, with Marco making no mistakes and impressing us all with his approach and feedback.
"There was a short time of adjustment as he got used to the difference in braking from the DTM car to a Formula 1 machine. He then settled into a rhythm, as we started off our programme with a series of long runs. After that, it was time to proceed with the items on our test agenda; aero, tyre and set-up work, with some performance runs in the middle of the day, mainly for the driver's benefit."
Having driven the Force India yesterday, today Pascal Wehrlein was in action for Force India. The German completed 132 laps on his way to posting a best time (1:10.253) 0.7s quicker than yesterday, albeit under different track conditions and temperatures.
"I enjoyed today, it was great to do so many laps," he said. "The programme included evaluation of aero parts and hopefully this has given the team some useful data. It was also valuable for me to spend so much time in the car getting used to all the procedures in the cockpit - things like launch procedures and warming the tyres. It was nice to be back in a Formula One car and to work with this team again."
"It's been another solid day of testing with Pascal getting 132 laps under his belt," added chief race engineer, Tom McCullough. "The last time Pascal drove for us was in Barcelona during the winter (in the VJM07) so this was his first experience in the VJM08. He got up-to-speed very quickly and provided excellent feedback as we worked through a very busy programme, which included further data collection and correlation for our development parts.
"Having missed some dry track time yesterday, we set out to achieve an ambitious test plan and managed to tick off the majority of the items. It means we leave Austria with plenty of rich data to analyse ahead of our home race at Silverstone."
Lotus had Jolyon Palmer on duty as it worked on various aero evaluations and set-up configurations, the Briton completing 110 laps.
"It was a good day for me and we completed all of our programme," he said. "It's always productive to get a good tally of laps on the board so anything over one hundred is a real bonus. It's a bit sad as that's my final day of testing in the car, but I've got a good schedule of FP1 sessions ahead of me, starting with my home Grand Prix at Silverstone next week."
"In contrast to yesterday, today was straightforward in terms of weather and run programme," added Alan Permane, the Enstone outfit's trackside operations director. "In the morning we looked at mechanical set-up work, focussing on more time consuming changes than we'd evaluate over a Grand Prix weekend, then in the afternoon we also looked at further aerodynamic assessments.
"The E23 ran reliably and Jolyon did a great job as expected. We've been able to collate useful data for improving the pace of the E23 which means job done. We now head back to Enstone to prepare for our home Grand Prix at Silverstone."
Following a disastrous weekend here last week, things were altogether better for Fernando Alonso and McLaren today, the Spaniard completing 104 laps.
As a continuation of the work Stoffel Vandoorne completed yesterday, the Woking team's focus was on testing of a variety of aero components, including the new shorter nose box seen over the weekend.
"Today was a positive day," said the Spaniard. "The most important thing was to put some laps on the car after the problems we've had in the last couple of races. We managed to complete more than 100 laps, and, together with Stoffel's laps yesterday, I think we finished the test with some good information. Now, we need to go back to the factory and analyse everything, but we definitely have a lot of data to go forward with. I'm pretty happy with how the test has gone."
"Our aim after yesterday's test was to continue the positive momentum into today," added team manager, Dave Redding, "and we have definitely managed that. The morning session began with data and system set-up checks followed by aero correlation tests, which included fitting the new shorter nose. The afternoon session was dedicated to further aero testing of a range of new bodywork components, tyre assessment, and further power unit functionality tests.
"Overall, we were able to make the most of the good weather and dry track conditions to complete solid sections of the test programme to our satisfaction. Both days of the test have been productive - and most importantly, reliable - and we are now armed with lots of valuable data and useful feedback from both drivers, that we can take away and analyse in preparation for the next two races before the summer break."
"We did a lot of laps today and that included a pretty big break over lunch to make some car changes, so to get in more than 100 laps was very good," said Daniel Ricciardo. "We learned a few things and we tested a lot of stuff. We had a big aero rake on the car this morning that looked like something out of ‘The Terminator' but it's all good information for the aero guys and will help going forward.
"We had a small problem at the end with the brakes but it wasn't a major issue and we were able to get out again for one last run.
"I'm looking forward to Silverstone now - there are a few more corners and less straights in Silverstone (than here in Austria), so I think it should suit our car a bit better. We have some updates coming to Silverstone as well, so I hope we can take the fight to our immediate rivals."
Commenting on the two days of testing at Red Bull's home circuit, head of race engineering Guillaume Rocquelin added: "It was a pretty successful test. Day one was obviously compromised a bit by the weather but once the conditions improved we put in 80 laps in a four-hour period with no dramas.
"With Pierre Gasly in the car, day one was more data-driven, running a lot of background tests and the result was good. Pierre is excellent. His feedback is great, he is able slot in and do comparable lap times to the race drivers and he delivers exactly what you want.
"Today, with Daniel, there was lot of aero research and development, so we were running a lot of arrays and again we gathered a lot of valuable information. We had a small delay after lunch but that was planned, as we were making some changes to the car that took some time. We also had a stoppage towards the end of running but it was more spectacular than it looked and Daniel was able to go out again.
"Part of the aim today was to take what we had at the weekend, which was a pretty strong race for Daniel, and answer a couple of questions we had during the race. We were able to do that and we'll go away from Austria satisfied that we've put in a couple of very productive days' work."
Felipe Nasr was at the wheel of the Sauber C34-as the Swiss team focussed on a full programme of aerodynamic measurements, as well as work on the brakes, tyres and set-up for the next races. In total Felipe Nasr completed 138 laps.
"I am quite satisfied," said the Brazilian. "Today was very productive, as we went through the planned programme. We were able to go through a job list of things that could not be done during a race weekend. We completed some useful work after the lunch break, as we worked on the brakes. In the end we completed over a hundred laps. We will now analyse the large quantity of data and information we gathered to further improve our performance."
Check out our gallery, here.