03/04/2019
NEWS STORY
In those long months ahead, as Williams seeks to sort the fundamental issue with the FW42, George Russell can at least reflect on the day he was let loose in Mercedes race winning 2019 contender.
On duty for the German team, the Briton took full advantage, completing 101 laps on his way to posting the best time of the day, indeed the first in-season test.
Of course, with no sign of the rain that compromised yesterday's running, no five hour stoppage, and almost ideal track conditions, Russell, like his colleagues was able to rack up the mileage and as a result yesterday's best, posted by Max Verstappen, was always going to be under threat.
As it happened, other than Russell, only Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel went quicker than yesterday's best, as the 16 drivers on duty racked up 1,319 laps - 4,435 miles between them, compared to the 668 laps (2,246 miles) completed yesterday.
Having driven the Williams on Tuesday, when his best time was a 1:33.682, today Russell was able to really stretch his legs, his best time in the Mercedes 4.653s quicker.
On duty this afternoon for Racing Point, Sergio Perez looked set to leave Bahrain as pace-setter until Russell eclipsed his time in the final hour.
Prior to Perez' 1:29.005, Sebastian Vettel was the pace-setter, the German posting his best in the morning. Though he missed out on posting the best time, Vettel was one of seven drivers to complete over 100 laps, Alexander Albon completing 143 in the Toro Rosso.
Dan Ticktum was the second busiest driver, the Briton completing 135 laps in the Red Bull as the Austrian team, like a number of its rivals, seeks to understand where it lost pace at the weekend.
Once again, Mick Schumacher was the centre of the media's attention as he switched from the Ferrari to Alfa Romeo. Interestingly, though he 'only' completed 70 laps today, his best time - which was good enough for sixth - was only 0.022s off his best in the Ferrari yesterday.
While Daniil Kvyat continued tyre testing for Pirelli, so too Carlos Sainz was on duty for the Italian manufacturer this morning before handing over to Fernando Alonso this afternoon. At which point, to make up for the lost time yesterday, Sainz took over from Lando Norris in the other McLaren.
Today's programme for Mercedes focused on aero data collection and set-up work.
"Timings don't mean a lot in testing," admitted Russell, "however, it's always a special experience to be on top of the timesheets.
"We had a very productive day, the team learned a lot of things to help them progress. Driving a different car than usual, I personally also learned a lot which I can take back to further improve my driving."
"It's been great to have George back in our car for the day and many thanks to Williams for allowing it," said Andrew Shovlin. "He did an excellent job today, the way he goes about testing and his consistency and feedback would make you think he has a couple of seasons of F1 under his belt, not just two races.
"The morning has been successful, we had a packed programme due to the rain yesterday but were getting through the items very well. Unfortunately, at lunch we spotted a small water leak that wasn't a quick fix which delayed our afternoon programme quite considerably.
"Whilst we couldn't complete all our test items, we've done the important bits and we leave here with more information and understanding of the car and tyres and we've managed to test some developments that we plan to roll out over the next few races."
"Over the last couple of days we have gradually worked our way through a comprehensive job list," said Racing Point's performance engineering director, Tom McCullough.
"The rain yesterday deprived us of track time, but we still managed to collect valuable aero data in the morning with various instrumentation fitted to the RP19. We continued the aero programme today with Lance before moving our focus to performance and tyre work.
"Track conditions have been much better today - without the sandy and rainy conditions we experienced on Tuesday - and we made the most of the afternoon to run four different tyre compounds with Sergio.
"We rounded off the test with a series of long runs. The timing of this test has been useful because it's given us the opportunity to get a better understanding of the new parts we introduced over the last two events and we will put that learning to good use in China."
At Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel was back at the wheel two days on from Sunday's race and completed a total of 103 laps, 47 in the morning and 56 after lunch. The German got through the planned programme with the team working on set-up and car balance. Before the lunch break, he did several short runs under 10 laps, to assess the handling of the car in different configurations.
In the afternoon, he did some race simulation work, so as to analyse in depth the behaviour of the tyres. His fastest lap was a 1:29.319, set in the morning, good enough for third position on the time sheets.
Now, Ferrari sets its sights on China, which hosts the third Grand Prix of the season next week. This race will also be the one thousandth in the history of Formula 1, the first dating back to the race at Silverstone on 13 May 1950. Ferrari has taken part in more of those races than any other team.
"Today we made the most of the time available thanks to good and consistent track conditions," said Vettel. "We were able to try various set-up configurations and evaluate the behaviour of the tyres.
"I'd say it was a pretty positive day: in the morning, we concentrated on some short runs, while in the afternoon, we simulated various phases of a race. It was an interesting session, because we managed to gather even more information which could be useful in the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix."
Lando Norris drove the McLaren until late afternoon, undertaking aero research on low and high fuel runs plus replicating procedures normally carried out over a grand prix weekend, with Carlos Sainz taking over for the final 70 minutes. Meanwhile Sainz drove the Pirelli car until Fernando Alonso took it over shortly before 13:30hrs, the Spanish duo continuing 2020 tyre evaluation and development.
"No rain in the desert meant we could enjoy a normal day of testing," said Sainz. "In the morning, I completed a good programme to test the Pirelli compounds. I switched to the McLaren test car in the afternoon for the last hour of the test and completed part of the runs I missed yesterday due to the rain.
"In general, I would say this has been a productive and positive test for us. We've managed to gather valuable data to analyse back at the factory. Now it's a couple of days to recharge batteries and we'll be back for the Chinese Grand Prix next week.
"All in all it's been a positive test and as a team, a lot of data has been gathered from Carlos, Fernando and I," added Norris. "Today was very constructive with me getting through our scheduled run plan and recording a good number of laps.
"Hopefully we can put to good use what we've learned over the past two days so that we can maximise our performance in the coming races."
"It was positive being back in the car over the past two days," said Alonso. "Hopefully I've been able to help the team and Pirelli with its tyre development, managing almost 70 laps each day.
"It's always nice to be active in a Formula 1 car and experience the evolution of the car and tyres. So everything has been positive and I'm happy."
"Quite a productive day and this time we were able to complete everything that we had scheduled without too much trouble," said Gil de Ferran. "222 laps in total today, which says it all and underlines that story.
"Hopefully we'll take the learnings from the last two days forward. Overall, our trip to Bahrain has been a very good one. On to China..."
"We had a very productive second test day," said Alexander Albon. "We ran some more aero tests and learned more about the behaviour of the tyres.
"We found some interesting things during the test and there were definitely some positives to take away," he added. "I'm sure we'll be applying the results to what we learned in Bahrain later on in the season. Everything ran smoothly today, I got more mileage under my belt and I'm feeling better with the car - it was a very busy programme, but it felt good to end the day completing the most laps overall."
"After a slightly frustrating day yesterday, today has been a much more productive session," said Jonathan Eddolls, the Faenza outfit's chief race engineer. "Alex remained in the test car and we planned to compress effectively one and a half days of testing into a single day!
"As it is quite typical, we started the morning completing some aero rake running to gather on track aerodynamic flow structures to compare back to the wind tunnel and CFD runs. The remainder of the morning was focused on mechanical setup work, aero optimisation, and tyre understanding across six new sets of the C3 compound - the qualifying compound from the race weekend.
"Although there was some wind, it was significantly less than the race weekend which made the testing much more consistent, however, this meant it was hard to find solutions to improve the balance from the weekend.
"The focus of the afternoon was on tyre behaviour of the harder compounds over longer runs and how we can influence that with setup items. We closed the day with a number of shorter runs on the softer compounds to help gather tyre data and understanding for future events.
"Daniil continued the Pirelli test, learning about potential 2020 tyres. The car has been faultless again today and we were able to complete 774km with Alex (more than a whole race weekend) and 601km with Dany without any issues, which has been a credit to the drivers and the entire team. We now have a lot of data to analyse in the coming days with the aim of improving our performance from China onwards."
"Once again today, we supplied PUs for three cars," said Masamitsu Motohashi, Honda F1 Deputy Technical Director, "one each for Red Bull and Toro Rosso and a further one for the Pirelli tyre test.
"A generally trouble-free day meant we were able to make up for the time lost yesterday, with all our cars going past the 100 lap mark by the end.
"Once again, our PU programme was aimed at optimising settings for the coming races and the results were satisfactory. The work we have done over these two days and the feedback we have received will be put to immediate use as we prepare for next week's third round of the Championship in China."
Check out our Wednesday gallery from Bahrain, here.
Mick Schumacher took over the cockpit of the C38 at Alfa Romeo as the team focused on aerodynamic tests in the morning, followed by tyre tests across three different compounds (C3, C4, C5). The German demonstrated his dedication and skill, impressing the team throughout their first collaboration.
"It has been another beautiful day at an F1 track today," smiled Schumacher, "and I can only repeat myself as it is just so much fun to drive these cars.
"After the first experience I had yesterday I tried to implement what I learned into today's laps, and I am happy about how it worked.
"It has been very nice working with the team at Alfa Romeo, gaining confidence with the car and improving steadily. I will definitely fly back with some very beautiful memories and am looking forward to getting myself back into the preparations for the next F2 race in Baku."
Dan Ticktum got behind the wheel of the RB15 for his first day of official F1 testing. Taking over from Max Verstappen, who drove yesterday, Ticktum had the car for the entirety of this second and final day and completed a double race distance. With dusk falling as the chequered flag came out, he had a total of 135 laps on the board.
"I learned a lot today and my first time in a modern F1 car was a big step" said Ticktum. "I think the biggest thing was learning the procedures. There's a lot of settings to use, a lot to do on the steering wheel, even on a push lap, which isn't the case in the junior formula. That was quite a lot to take in at the start - but I got used to it pretty quickly.
"It was also interesting having a garage full of people. It brings home that there's a massive responsibility on the driver to deliver not just for himself and his engineers but for a whole team.
"I think we gathered some really good data today, which is obviously the most important part of the test. We did some long runs and I had a good opportunity to gain an understanding of how these tyres work. All in all, I'd say the test went well today."
"Today went very smoothly," said Simon Rennie, Red Bull's group leader, simulator engineering. "We did 135 laps, which is pretty impressive for Dan's first time in the car.
"He did lots of aerodynamic work that involved complex procedures and performed all of those very well. He could experience some set-up changes and longer runs to give him a good feeling for the RB15.
"Dan has been doing good work in our simulator without having driven the real car - so today has definitely been valuable for him and us. When he's next on the simulator, he'll have a very good reference. That was one of the big positives of the day as he now knows what the car really feels like, rather than having to go on what we tell him!"
Haas fielded Pietro Fittipaldi and Romain Grosjean, with the Brazilian running in the morning and the Frenchman in the afternoon.
Eager to build on the 20 laps he set during Tuesday's weather-affected opening test, Fittipaldi enjoyed a solid outing running Pirelli's C2, C3 and C4 tyre compounds on the VF-19. With 48 laps recorded, and a fastest time of 1:31.209 - set on the C3 yellow rubber, he ended the session 12th overall of the 16 drivers participating.
Grosjean returned in the afternoon with an extensive workload planned to maximize the favourable conditions. Cycling through a variety of used C3's for the majority of his track time - recording close to 70 laps in the process, he ended the day switching to a fresh set of the softer, grippier C4 red-walled tires. A best lap of 1:30.903 followed, placing him 10th fastest with a total of 87 laps.
"I was really happy with how the morning went," said Fittipaldi. "I'm a lot more comfortable being back in the car now, as both in Abu Dhabi last season, and in Barcelona earlier this year, it was a new experience driving that car.
"I was able to carry some consistency this time around as I was familiar with the VF-19 having driven it in Spain, and again briefly yesterday. I felt both comfortable and confident in the car, it was good.
"We went through our whole run plan and I worked well with my engineer. We made some progress, and we were competitive, which I'm happy about."
"It's been a good afternoon," added Grosjean. "We've gone through a lot of test items, obviously trying to understand our pace over the weekend.
"I think we made some progress. We've now got a lot of data to look at to prepare for China. Generally, I think it was a very good afternoon for us."
"The warm and calm conditions for much of the day, allowed us to progress the engineering programme quite quickly," said Dave Robson, Williams senior race engineer. "Nicholas has had his first day of running in the FW42 and has done an excellent job.
"He started with some data gathering runs early in the morning whilst we also got him comfortable in the car, and with the control systems. By mid-morning we were able to run a performance test programme using a series of new C2 tyres, which was the Option compound during the race weekend. After lunch we completed some more data gathering runs whilst the track was at its hottest before moving onto a further pair of engineering programmes using the softer C3 and C4 compounds in the late part of the afternoon. Throughout the day Nicholas has driven extremely well, without error and has provided valuable feedback on the car's performance.
"This week has been a valuable opportunity to test the FW42 at a circuit we have just raced at. The opportunity to run all three of our official drivers, as well as a free choice from the Pirelli compound range has enabled us, for the first time, to explore a wide range of the FW42's operating window in warm conditions.
The race team, ably supported by their colleagues back in Grove, have done a superb job of building and maintaining both the car, and the test components. The fast-paced nature of F1 places great demands on them and their families at this time of the year; their dedication to the job is crucial and much appreciated."
"Today was a really good day which I thoroughly enjoyed," said Latifi. "I was originally supposed to drive the car during the pre-season test in Barcelona, so this was my first run with the team on track, so I was very excited to finally get the chance.
"I did a lot of preparation in the simulator prior to this so I felt very well prepared and knew what to expect from the car. When I was finally able to start pushing I felt that I quickly got up to speed. For me everything went well, and I was very happy to get my first experience in the FW42."
Check out our Wednesday gallery from Bahrain, here.