Formula 1 2017 Testing – Day 3
It’s Day 3 of Formula 1 2017 Testing so let’s take a look back at what happened today!
Bottas sent the Mercedes team back to the top of the time-sheets however the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari is extremely close.
Ferrari and Mercedes (Vettel and Bottas) both broke the fastest “best lap” time – setting times faster that 1m 20.
Bottas – 1:19.705
Vettel – 1:19.952
Bottas was on the ultrasoft tyre whereas Vettel was on the soft tyre.
Formula 1 2017 Testing – Day 3 – Mercedes
With Bottas setting the fastest lap time of the day – Hamilton took over for the afternoon doing long runs for the team.
The team also took the chance to practice their pit-stops in preparation for the new season ahead.
Nico Rosberg was also spotted at the Mercedes garage – featuring a clip on his Instagram profile which allows more “behind-the-scenes” features from the garage, thanks to Liberty Media.
Formula 1 2017 Testing – Day 3 – Red Bull
Driver – Daniel Ricciardo
Car – RB13
Laps – 70
Best Time – 1:21.153
Daniel Ricciardo returned to the car today for a third day of testing in Barcelona however there was an exhaust issue meaning that the team was only able to boost the day’s total by a further 22 laps.
Here’s what Daniel Ricciardo had to say – “Day two in the car for me and we got a few more laps in which was good! I definitely learned more about the car and the tyres today and we really started to feel the downforce.“
“For example, Turns 3 and 9 are now pretty impressive – I think when we start doing 60 laps in the heat, you’re going to see some physical limits being pushed for us drivers.“
“This afternoon we found a problem with the exhaust – we had to check that which took some time but before that, we had a pretty good run of nearly 20 laps.“
“For now, we haven’t got too involved in performance runs but hopefully next week we can push it a bit and then see what we’ve got.“
Formula 1 2017 Testing – Day 3 – Sauber
Driver – Marcus Ericsson
Car – Sauber C36-01
Laps – 126
Best Time – 1:21.824
The Sauber F1 Team had a positive third day of testing with an intensive programme for Marcus Ericsson.
He was able to complete 126 laps overall – making him the second busiest driver in terms of the amount of laps today.
Sauber continues with it’s extensive analysis of Sauber by continuing with aero tests, set-up work and comparing the different types of compounds as well as focusing on the short and long runs.
Marcus Ericsson – “It was a very positive day and we had a trouble free day in which I managed to run 126 laps overall.“
“It was very important that we could work through the planned programme without having issues with the car. I tested several tyre compounds today and it was interesting to compare them on different stint lengths.“
“We now have loads of data to analyse in order to get a better understanding of the car.“
Formula 1 2017 Testing – Day 3 – Sahara Force India
Driver – Alfonso Celis (Test Driver)
Car – VJM10-02
Laps – 71
Best Time – 1:23.568
Alfonso Celis, Force India Test Driver, had a solid day behind the wheel as the team continued it’s development plan ahead of the new season.
Alfonso Celis – “It was a busy day in which we managed to complete nearly everything in our plan. These cars are completely different and I enjoyed my first experience of the new regulations.”
“You can really feel the step up in performance – it took me a bit of time to get used to the car and the conditions and the track had very low grip early on.“
“I did a lot of aero passes in the morning and then we focused on understanding that tyres in the afternoon. The most important objective of the day was to give the team as much data as possible so these 71 laps will hopefully be very useful for better understanding of the car.“
Formula 1 2017 Testing – Day 3 – McLaren
Driver – Fernando Alonso
Car – MCL32
Laps – 72
Best Time – 1:22.598
Today proved a decent day for the McLaren team with Fernando Alonso running the full race distance – without any problems.
McLaren also laughed off any rumours surrounding the speculation that the team are considering a split from Honda – insisting that they are happy partnering with Honda.
Honda on the other hand have spoken to the media, saying that they “feel sorry” for the McLaren drivers.
Formula 1 2017 Testing – Day 3 – Williams
Driver – Lance Stroll
Car – FW40
This afternoon, testing was brought to a stop – not once, but twice with two red flags!
Firstly – Carlos Sainz went off into the gravel at Turn 4 and quickly after – Lance Stroll lost control of the car coming out of Turn 5 – hitting the barrier which you can see pictured above.
For the Williams F1 Team and Lance Stroll, it’s the third incident in 2 days, following spins yesterday and this morning.
More to follow!
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