10/03/2017
NEWS STORY
Carlos Sainz: "What a great feeling to end pre-season testing with such a good day! I'm very happy with the lap time and with the number of laps completed - managing to cover a full run plan was exactly what we needed before going to Melbourne! We can now be a lot more positive about the season that's about to start. It's been a tough couple of weeks for the whole team, with problems here and there, but today we finally managed to put a very good day together and we're definitely ready to race… Let's do this!"
James Key (Technical Director): "I have to say that these eight days of pre-season testing have gone incredibly quickly! It's amazing that today was already the last day and that in a couple of weeks' time we're going to be out in Melbourne - something we're much looking forward to! After last week's low level of running, we've learned an awful lot this week, something which we needed. Although we had a few stops and starts, overall it's been a much more positive test. Both Carlos and Daniil have been enthusiastic and grown confident with the car. We've learned a lot about the tyres and clearly there's a lot of sensitivity around how best to get the most out of the car, so we've gathered plenty of important information to analyse back at the factory. I would like to thank the drivers and the team for their hard work over the last weeks and months to get our 2017 campaign underway. We now look forward to the start of the season; we're as prepared as we can be in the circumstances we have had."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "First of all I'd like to say that I really like the new Formula 1 cars. They look much more aggressive thanks to the wider tyres and the new aerodynamics. I'm also fascinated by the high corner speeds - it's really exciting to watch the cars out on track, especially at corners 3 or 9 here in Barcelona, they're just so fast! From an esthetic point of view, the STR12's new livery has been very well accepted by everyone and I'd describe it as one of the most beautiful- looking cars on the 2017 grid.
"After completing the two pre-season tests here in Barcelona I can affirm that the STR12 is a fast and competitive car. One weak point is the reliability, as we've had too many issues over these two weeks. On the positive side, I can say that this situation has improved compared to last week's T01, but there has still been a few problems that have taken track time away from us this week. The good news is that we know what the issues are - nothing major - so I'm confident we can solve them all before getting to Australia thanks to all the valuable data we've collected here. Regarding our drivers, I have to say that both Carlos and Daniil have done a fantastic job every time they've jumped in the car and provided very useful feedback. Our engineers will now analyse all the data gathered to optimise the set-up for Melbourne. I'm really looking forward to the season ahead, I think we're going to have a very interesting fight with the midfield teams and I just can't wait to get started!"