Final Day Of Testing in Spain – Formula 1 Testing 2017
Today was the final day of pre-season testing in Spain and it was a ‘wet’ day with a lorry going out onto the track to artificially dampen the circuit – mimicking a rained-on track.
During the day the track was once again watered and then allowed to dry – enabling drivers, teams and Pirelli itself to understand the different conditions and how to handle the newly-developed 2017 F1 Cars.
This was the first time that we saw the slicks being used along with the intermediate compound.
Photo – Official Formula 1 Website
Ferrari– Final Day Of Testing in Spain – Formula 1 Testing 2017
Towards the end of the day, there was a rush of quick times with teams pushing their cars to the maximum however nothing could prevent Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen from finishing on top of the time sheets today.
It’s been a positive week for the team and even though people are suggesting Mercedes are the more dominant team – the results show that things are evenly split between Ferrari and Mercedes.
Mercedes – Final Day Of Testing in Spain – Formula 1 Testing 2017
A rare sight – Mercedes suffering with a technical glitch during the morning run, preventing Lewis Hamilton from turning the wheel.
Hamilton Tweeted
“Electrical fault kept us in the garage this morning, so I’ve decided with the team not to drive today as I wouldn’t have learned much – Shame not to drive but it’s been a great few days. The guys have done an awesome job. Can’t wait to be back in the car next week!“
Bottas took over in the afternoon and completed 68 laps for the team.
RedBull Racing – Final Day Of Testing in Spain – Formula 1 Testing 2017
Max Verstappen took over driving duties from Daniel Ricciardo and after testing both wet weather compounds, the Dutchman also got some dry running on the soft compound tyre to record the day’s second fasted time with a lap of 1:21.769
Looking back on his day’s work, here’s what Max had to say –
“It’s always good to run a little bit in the wet in the first week of testing. Of course, the conditions are not ideal – the sun is shining and the track is wet but at least we got a first idea of what the wet tyres are like.“
“In terms of the week on a whole, the most important thing for us was to make mileage and to know that all the parts were holding up. In general, everything behaved well – I think Mercedes might still have an advantage on us in terms of the power at the beginning of the season but we’ll be catching up.“
“For sure the car will be changing before we get to Melbourne, as it will be for everyone.“
Sauber F1 – Final Day of Testing in Spain – Formula 1 Testing 2017
The Sauber F1 team was able to work through another extensive program – Day 4 was dedicated to wet tyre testing in the morning and again in the afternoon session with Antonio Giovinazzi behind the wheel.
Antonio Giovinazzi – “It was another positive day. We were able to test different tyre compounds on wet and dry tyres. I am satisfied overall with the two testing days during which I was able to run a good amount of laps and to gain more experience.“
Sahara Force India – Final Day of Testing in Spain – Formula 1 Testing 2017
Ending the first week of testing with Sergio Perez behind the wheel – the team completed 82 laps, wet-to-dry on the circuit.
Sergio Perez – “It’s been a positive week and I think that we have made a good step forward with the understanding about the car and finding the limit of the tyres.”
“I feel more confident in the car and I have learnt a huge amount and I think my preparation is going to plan. We can be pleased with this last day of testing as we covered a lot of ground and found some more performance – hopefully next week, we can be in even better shape.”
“There is still a lot of work to be done but I’m optimistic and ready for Melbourne.“
More to follow!
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