Time is running out as the teams continued to pound around Circuit de Catalunya. There is now just one more day of testing available for the 11 teams heading to Bahrain next month for the first round of the championship.
Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets today for Mercedes, making best use of the ideal track conditions early on in Barcelona.
While Rosberg was not quite able to beat the time recorded on Friday by rookie Nico Hulkenberg he has the overnight bragging rights as the teams prepare for one more push on Sunday...
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg completed the third day of testing for Mercedes at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today to bring his pre-season testing programme to its conclusion.
Rosberg spent the morning working on qualifying simulations and developing the car set-up before completing a race simulation exercise in the afternoon.
Despite intermittent rain showers in the late morning and early afternoon, Rosberg was able to complete almost 600kms over 128 laps as he set the fastest time of the day, a 1:20.686s, during the driest period this morning.
Michael Schumacher will take over the MGP W01 tomorrow for the fourth and final day of the test.
Nico Rosberg: "We had a good day today and made some significant progress in terms of set-up which was nice to see. We hadn’t got the most out of the car in terms of performance over the last couple of days, but we made a step in the right direction today.
"We went through some big changes this morning step by step and found some good improvements. The longer runs this afternoon were interesting.
"We learnt a lot as there were other cars running similar programmes at the same time so we were able to do some comparisons. There is still plenty of room to improve but overall we’re looking in pretty good shape."
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi: “Despite the rain, my first day in Barcelona has gone well. Carrying out a race simulation was very useful and it was particularly interesting to see how the tyre behaviour changed depending on the fuel load. In the races, it will be important to drive smoothly, as on full tanks it is very easy to damage the tyres if you slide too much. Today was good and so we can try and improve a bit more tomorrow, our last chance before Bahrain.”
Laurent Mekies, chief engineer: “Today’s programme was supposed to be a repeat of yesterday’s – pit stop practice in the morning, followed by a race simulation in the afternoon - with Sebastien taking over from Jaime. However, the morning rain slightly altered the plans, although we were able to complete the race simulation, as there were only two periods of light drizzle in the afternoon.”
Giorgio Ascanelli, technical director: “With just one more day of pre-season testing remaining, It’s very encouraging that we have successfully completed two race simulations on two consecutive days."
McLaren
The final day’s running for Jenson Button before the season kicks off in Bahrain in two weeks’ time. The morning’s session was affected by rain showers, which compromised running and limited the team’s learning of a number of new components. As a result, the morning was spent conducting a number of shorter installation runs to establish set-up.
As the track dried over the lunch hour, Button was able to complete a race simulation in the afternoon – a run that was only mildly disrupted by late red flags.
This also provided the opportunity for the race team to undertake a series of ’live’ pitstops, all of which went without problem. Today’s long-run times have established a benchmark for the final day of pre-season running tomorrow, which will be carried out by Lewis Hamilton.
Williams
Sam Michael, technical director: "Today we had some interruptions caused by rain, but we still managed to achieve just over one hundred laps working on race runs and set-up with Rubens. We’re now focussing our attention on some more set-up work for the final day of winter testing."
Rubens Barrichello: "We covered 101 laps today, which is always good. Unfortunately, we had some rain during the day which affected the programme a little bit. Everything that the team has brought to this test seems to be working well, so it’s been a positive day altogether."
Ferrari
Today’s session was affected by intermittent light rain, which fell throughout the morning and then again right at the start of the afternoon, leaving the track either wet or damp for several hours.
Felipe Massa, driving for the first time this year on this circuit, concentrated mainly on some set-up work and then, in the afternoon, he carried out a race simulation, which was completed successfully.
The Brazilian driver drove a total of 115 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.22.344, fifth fastest.
Testing at this circuit continues tomorrow, again with Felipe Massa on track.
Renault
Light rain showers in the morning limited Vitaly’s track time, but the afternoon remained dry allowing the team to complete qualifying simulations and long runs.
Vitaly Petrov: “Another day of changing weather so we lost some time in the morning with the rain, but fortunately it was dry in the afternoon.
"We had a lot planned as it was my last day in the car before Bahrain and we did some good work and we’ve improved the car quite a bit. The qualifying simulation was useful and it was important I did this before the first race.”
Alan Permane, chief engineer: “It was a better day for Vitaly. We had a few issues with the car in the morning that we carried over from yesterday, but we very quickly got on top of them.
"The car was then much to his liking just before lunch. Unfortunately we had a little bit of rain again this morning, but managed some work in the afternoon carrying various fuel loads and Vitaly finished the day quite happy with the car.
"It’s a shame that he couldn’t have run a bit more today, but it was good to get a decent day of running.”
Force India
Adrian Sutil replaced Tonio Liuzzi in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya today. After a switch to the second race chassis overnight last night, Adrian’s morning programme was principally concentrated on baseline runs and set-up checks. Unfortunately when rain fell mid-morning the team was forced to change its afternoon plans to include performance running rather than a race distance as originally scheduled.
Adrian completed just 61 laps as a result, setting the seventh quickest time of the day, a 1:22.606. He will continue the test programme tomorrow.
Adrian Sutil : "It was OK today but a little disappointing not to have been able to have more running. Again we have had rain so we had to wait some time to get some decent running. We only got 61 laps as I was hoping for better weather, particularly after last week’s test in Jerez. Tomorrow should be better so that’s when the real programme can start for me with a race simulation."
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer : "A slight change of plan today when the rain arrived, meaning that Adrian shook down a new chassis, but also completed a number of set-up tests rather than focussing on longer runs. It was difficult to conclude too much because of the track conditions, but we were able to uncover some useful items. With the final day of 2010 winter testing tomorrow expected to be dry, we are planning final race preparation work and aiming to complete as many of our test objectives as possible."
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel completed his second day of the final pre-season test in Barcelona this afternoon in another day affected by rain.
Despite few laps being completed in the morning due to a mixture of rain showers and technical issues, the afternoon session proved more valuable, as the team worked on car set-up for the first race in Bahrain. Vettel’s fastest time was recorded on his last lap of the day.
Ian Morgan, Head of Race Engineering: “We were late out this morning as we had a few technical issues following the overnight rebuild, which carried over into the planned programme for today. Once we were running in the afternoon we got three or four positive tests completed looking at set-up directions for Bahrain, which gave us some clear results – so we ended the session in much better shape.”
Vettel and Mark Webber will share the driving duties tomorrow on the final day of the 2010 pre-season test.
Lotus
The morning sunshine gave way to grey conditions and light rain in Barcelona as the Lotus Racing T127 completed a successful third day of testing. By lunchtime Jarno Trulli had already completed 60 laps, and went on consistently throughout the day to finish on a total of 102 laps. The team completed a full race distance and were satisfied with the timings and quality of the day’s activity.
Heikki Kovalainen takes the hot seat for the final day’s testing before the season starts in earnest in Bahrain.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: “Another productive day with Jarno; over a hundred laps completed with no real mechanical issues and Jarno was able to complete the full race distance in the mix of wet and dry weather.
“We successfully completed our whole programme with the changeable conditions and have had two very useful days with Jarno in the car, with a very clear set up direction from him. Now we’re looking forward to further refining the balance of the car with Heikki tomorrow.”
Sauber
Sauber’s second race simulation was run under changing weather conditions with light rain on and off. After the lunch break Kamui Kobayashi continued to do some set-up work.
Kamui Kobayashi: “Certainly it would have been more convenient to do the race simulation with ideal track conditions. However, on the other hand it was an even better practice because we had to do additional tyre changes due to the weather, and every pit stop helps to improve our skills in communications and procedures. So I think it was a very productive day, and anyway tomorrow we expect better weather.”
Willy Rampf, technical director: "Today the main task was another race simulation, so we could practice all the routines and procedures for pit stops and various instructions for the crew and, of course, Kamui. We did this before the lunch break in inconsistent weather conditions, which explains today’s lap times. In the afternoon we carried out some further set-up work.”
Virgin
Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock concluded his final day of running at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today, on the penultimate day of Formula One’s pre-season testing campaign.
It was a rollercoaster ride of a day, the team’s race preparation work with the VR-01 punctuated by minor but frustrating problems which cost valuable running time.
Nick Wirth, technical director: “A couple of assembly issues affected our programme today. The gearbox problem delayed our start and by the time we were ready to run, the rain came along. We used the changeable conditions up to lunchtime working through a programme of control system preparation for Bahrain and we were looking forward to a more productive afternoon.
"However, lunchtime checks revealed a cut fuel system seal, which meant we had to pull the engine off to replace it. We used the remaining time this afternoon to complete a few more interesting tests with Timo. We’re hoping that our planets will align tomorrow to allow us a smooth final day of testing before we head into our debut Grand Prix in Bahrain in two weeks’ time.”