Vettel ends day 2 fastest

(formula1.ferrari.com)

Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel ended hi Jerez test fastest as the German set a benchmark time of 1m 20.984s. 

The German completed 89 laps in the SF15-T and will now hand over the car to team mate Kimi Raikkonen who will drive on Tuesday and Wednesday. Vettel will now return to Maranello to carry out simulator work.

Speaking following today’s running, the four time world champion stated:

‘It’s too soon to give a verdict on the true level of this car, especially as we can’t make a comparison with the other teams, who can be running different programmes. However, I’d say we have a good basis to work from. We did a lot of running, even in the rain, when we tried the new intermediate tyres, which worked well, getting up to temperature despite the cold: that’s a definite step forward. The applause in the garage at the end of the session? Well, everyone was happy we’d even managed to run in the wet with nothing bad happening. The boys have got enough to do in the garage as it is…’

Ferrari Technical Director James Allison commented on today’s session saying:

‘A bit like yesterday, in that even if we did a good number of laps, you can never claim to have done enough kilometres. However, I agree with Sebastian on the fact that, for the moment, we have a good basis.’

It was a great day for the Sauber F1 Team as Felipe Nasr finished the day in second place completing 88 laps in the C34. The Brazilian will continue the Swiss based outfit’s test programme tomorrow.

Williams Martini Racing Team’s Valtteri Bottas did a great job in FW37 as the Finn ended the day in third place racking up 61 laps with a fastest time of 1m 22.319s. Speaking following the second day of the test, Bottas stated:

‘We have had another good day. We managed to get through all of our programme and it was only the final run that we were compromised due to the rain. The morning was dedicated to obtaining aero data, then this afternoon we focused on the longer runs, making set-up changes and analysing the results. We are learning all the time and at the moment I am really pleased with what I have felt when in the car.’

Williams Martini Racing’s Chief Test and Support Engineer Rod Nelson commented on the team’s running saying:

‘We learnt a lot yesterday and have continued to build on that today. We started aero performance based work today, continuing to move through the test schedule we have set ourselves. We have had no issues with the car today, so have made good progress.’

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was in the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s W06 today and completed 91 laps, setting the fourth fastest time of the day before a water leak caused the double world champion to end his day early.

Speaking following his day, Hamilton stated:

‘That was a satisfying day. We did a lot of laps and I got a feel for the car quite quickly. We’re in the first days of testing so it never feels that great as the car is at the worst it will be all season. But it feels the same as it did last year which is a good thing. A little more downforce maybe but otherwise it handles exactly the same. The balance obviously wasn’t perfect as we’re not working on setup yet, so it could be a lot better. 

But the priority right now is to put in the laps, not set fast times, and there were lots of positives today. We got good mileage and hopefully we’ll get even more in the next two days. Testing isn’t the exciting part as a driver – I live to go racing. But this is where you build your foundations for the year and we’re all working hard to understand the car. 

Everything from drivability to tyres you have to learn now to stand you in good stead for the season. You can’t get excited at this point as there’s a long way to go before Melbourne but there’s a really good energy in the team. Everybody is feeling positive and working hard but we’re basing nothing on last year. We start again with the same aim as everyone else – to win. I can’t wait to get to that first race.’

Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen finished day 2 in 5^th place completing 73 laps with a fastest time of 1m 24.167s.

The Lotus F1 Team were on track for the first time with Mercedes power as Pastor Maldonado was behind the wheel of the E23. The Venezuelan ended the day in 6^th place completing 41 laps with a fastest time of 1m 25.802s.

McLaren Honda’s Jenson Button was 7^th fastest, completing just 6 laps in the MP4-30.

Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat finished the session in 8^th place completing 18 laps but failed to set a lap time after damaging his front wing. Testing continues tomorrow.

© Ben Johnston 2015