Tuesday 25 November 2014

Bottas finishes day 1 of Abu Dhabi test on top

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(Williams Martini Racing Team via Twitter)

The Williams Martini Racing Team's Valtteri Bottas ending first day of the end of season Formula One test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi by topping the time-sheets completing 38 laps setting a fastest time of 1m 43.884s finishing the session just ahead of Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team's Nico Rosberg who completed  51 laps for the 2014 Constructors champions.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen set the third fastest time of the day with a 1m 46.016s completing 36 laps in the F14-T as his new team mate Sebastian Vettel looked on from the Ferrari garage despite remaing under contract to Red Bull Racing.

Carlos Sainz Jr did a great job in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB10 as the Spaniard who is believed to be on the verge of signing to race for Toro Rosso next set the fourth fastest time completing 42 laps. On his debut for the Sauber F1 Team Marcus Ericsson finished the day in 5th place with a time of 1m 48.139s completing 50 laps.

The Caterham F1 Team's Will Stevens fresh from making his Formula One race debut with the Leafield based outfit on Sunday in Abu Dhabi was back in the car on Tuesday and completed 50 laps with his fastest time a 1m 48.155s to finish the day in sixth place.

The Sahara Force India Formula One Team ran 2014 GP2 champion Joylon Palmer who suffered a power unit issue with VJM07 this morning. The English driver completed 18 laps with a fastest time of 1m 48.350s. The Lotus F1 Team's Charles Pic completed 42 laps in the E22 to set the eighth fastest time with a 1m 46.167s. Speaking following the session the Frenchman stated:

'Of course it’s always fantastic to get back into a Formula 1 car and it was a good day today. We ran through the programme required and I could definitely feel the difference in the car compared to when I last drove it at Silverstone. It was interesting to get a taste of the 2015 tyres. 

They don’t feel massively different from this year’s, but I did feel an improvement in terms of traction. I’m glad I was able to complete so many laps reliably and carry out the team’s planned programme fully.'

The Lotus F1 Team's Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane stated:

'It was a solid day of testing for us with numerous aerodynamic evaluations completed, all assisting in our developments for the future. We also had the opportunity to run the 2015 specification Pirelli tyres which provide us with good data for developments back at Enstone. 

Charles jumped back in the car and gave us everything we wanted from him today. Tomorrow will be interesting as we will run two highly talented young drivers, with Esteban Ocon running for the morning session and Alex Lynn in the afternoon.'

Max Verstappen was in the Toro Rosso however the Dutch driver completed just three laps as he crashed following a front suspension failure.

Following a difficult morning as a result of an electrical problem with the new Honda power unit, McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne completed an installation run in the MP4-29H1X1 and ended the day in 10th place.

© Ben Johnston 2014




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