(Lotus F1 Team)
The Lotus F1 Team’s test driver Jolyon Palmer set the
fastest time on the final day of the opening in-season test at the Circuit De
Barcelona Catalunya.
The 2014 GP2 champion completed 85 laps in the E23-03 Hybrid
with a fastest time of 1m 26.080s. It was the second time that the Englishman
was in the car since Friday as he drove in place of Romain Grosjean during Free
Practice One for the Spanish Grand Prix. Speaking following his day in the car,
Palmer stated:
‘It was great to be in
the car for a full day of productive testing especially here in Barcelona where
I tested in the pre-season and then drove in FP1. I think we’ve made real
progress as a team with the set-up of the car and I know I’m improving every
time I get in the car. We ran through a lot of different programmes and
assessments and it was a great day at the office for me.’
The Enstone outfit’s Trackside Operations Director Alan
Permane commented by saying:
‘Today was a solid day of
testing and evaluation and Jolyon delivered everything we wanted and expected
of him. The morning was more focused on aero assessments whilst in the
afternoon we looked more at set-up permutations. Our focus was general
improvement to the car and data collection as well as looking at potential
gains for Monaco next week. We’ve plenty to work on back at Enstone before we
return to race action next week.’
The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s Pascal Wehrlein
completed 137 laps of the Montmelo circuit and set a fastest time of 1m
26.497s. Speaking following the day of running, Wehrlein commented by saying:
‘Today was a really good day. I was driving
this car for the second time and it's always a pleasure – especially after
yesterday, which was a big disappointment for me. I still don’t feel 100% but
it’s much better, so luckily I’ve been able to drive. We did some long runs
before lunch and I was able to get a lot of laps, which was good as I had to
adapt to the car again. But I felt comfortable from the start. The Mercedes
Power Unit is unbelievable and the chassis too, with a very good balance. I
could feel it has changed a bit since I last drove it during winter testing.
The team has clearly been working hard and developing it even further. It's
definitely a step forward and I’ve loved every minute of being behind the wheel!’
Pierre Gasly took over from Daniil Kvyat at Infiniti Red
Bull Racing on Wednesday after driving the Toro Rosso ST10 on Tuesday. Gasly
completed 74 laps and set a fastest time of 1m 26.683s.
It was an extremely productive day for the McLaren Honda F1
Team as Jenson Button ended the test in fourth place completing a total of 100
laps in the MP4-30 with a fastest time of 1m 26.927s ending the day just under
three tenths of a second behind Gasly.
Button reported that the changes that the team made during
the test had paid off in solving the rear balance problems that they had
encountered over the course of Sunday’s race.
The team also worked on preparing for the low downforce set
up of the Monaco Grand Prix which is next on the Formula One calendar. The
Woking based outfit also carried out high downforce set up work for the race in
Canada which proceeds the event in Monaco.
Williams Martini Racing Team’s development driver Alex Lynn
made his debut for the Grove based outfit on Wednesday completing 52 laps of
the 4.655Km Barcelona circuit. The 21 year old Englishman set the fifth fastest
time of the day with a 1m 26.967s. Speaking following his first outing for the
team, Lynn stated:
‘I didn’t really sleep that well last night as I was so excited
about today. It has been an amazing day and great to get behind the wheel of
the FW37. We managed to get through a really important schedule and I completed
a number of runs in the car. The team were happy with how we got on and with my
performance, so all-in-all it has been a really positive day.’
Williams Martini Racing Team’s Chief Test and Support
Engineer Rod Nelson commented saying:
‘It has been a good day with Alex in the car, his first time in a
Williams. He has done quite a bit in the simulator back in Grove but it’s a bit
different when you actually get in the car. We have been impressed with his
speed and maturity throughout the day and he has helped us with some chassis
and aero work. It has been a positive day and he has done a really good job.’
Mercedes backed driver Esteban Ocon was in action for the
Sahara Force India Formula One Team, completing 94 laps with a fastest time of
1m 27.520s to end the test in 6th place in the VJM08-01. Speaking following
the session, Ocon stated:
“I was very happy to get the opportunity to drive today and I’m
pleased with how things went. It’s always good to get more experience in a
Formula One car and I’ve learned a huge amount about this car and this team. We
worked on a lot of things – mainly on the aero side and we completed most of
the things we had planned. The team has given me some good feedback and I
improved during the day – step by step with each run. I hope I get another chance
to drive a Formula One car soon.”
Sahara Force India Formula One Team’s Chief Race Engineer
Tom McCulloch commented by saying:
‘It has been a pleasure working with Esteban, who is clearly a very
talented young driver with a bright future ahead of him. Due to the late
call-up, he was at the track until quite late last night completing the seat-fit
and getting comfortable in the VJM08. We also had to get him up-to-speed with
some of the systems on the car and the steering wheel.
“The programme today progressed
relatively smoothly and Esteban did an excellent job. He settled in quickly and
improved with each run. Overall it has been an encouraging test for us. We have
gathered an enormous amount of aero data using special instrumentation all over
the car – data that it’s impossible to capture during a Grand Prix weekend.
Analysing this information will play an important role as we push to improve
our car performance going forward.’
Esteban Gutierrez was in action for the Scuderia
Ferrari Formula One Team was seventh fastest setting a time of 1m 27.930s
completing 117 laps in the SF15-T.
Carlos Sainz was eighth fastest for Scuderia Toro
Rosso with a fastest time of 1m 27.997s completing 124 laps. The Sauber F1 Team’s
Raffaele Marciello rounded out the time sheets in ninth place in the C34 with a
fastest time of 1m 28.829s completing 75 laps. Speaking following the day of
running, Marciello stated:
‘In
the morning we started as scheduled, but were than stopped by an incident,
which hurt our programme. The team did a perfect job to put the car back
together in around just two hours. Once the car was ready the programme went
well and we had a good, solid afternoon of testing. I am positive about what
data and other information we were able to collect for future races.’
The Sauber F1 Team’s Test Engineer Paul Russell
commented by saying:
‘Unfortunately
in the morning when we focused on aero measurements and correlation didn’t start well. The incident in turn three after four laps caused damage to the left front of the car and
delayed our progress. The team did a very good job in getting the car back on
track before lunch time. In the afternoon Raffaele went out on track and
continued with a shortened programme, focusing on set-up work.’
© Ben Johnston 2015
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