A successful first day’s running at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test saw French driver Nicolas Prost step into the race winning E20. Nicolas completed a full engineering and aerodynamic programme during a trouble-free day, gaining valuable data for the team in the process.
Nicolas Prost: Today was my first real experience of a Formula 1 car. I had driven the R30 before, however it’s now two years old and uses different tyres so it’s quite different to my experience today. I’m obviously very happy and I’m impressed by the car ; it’s a massive step up even from the R30.
For me it was like a real test driver’s day and we trialled a lot of parts. We only worked on the hard tyres, so were obviously not looking for pace, but we have been analysing the data and I have been comparing myself with Kimi and Romain’s telemetry. Obviously I’m missing a bit in some corners, but others are quite good. For my first day I think it’s very positive and I did the job the team asked of me, so it’s been a very good day.
Simon Rennie, Race Engineer: For the first day of testing we ran Nico in the car and mainly focused on running some new aerodynamic developments. It was therefore quite a demanding programme for Nico in terms of procedures, but he managed them all very well. We worked our way through the programme and completed everything we hoped to get out of the day ; Nico did a great job.
We only used three sets of hard tyres ; as we had discovered from the race, the degradation at this circuit is very low and they were therefore ideal for completing our aero work. We focused on testing parts that take quite a while to change, meaning it is impossible to gain good data on them during a race weekend. We have not done a huge number of laps, however they have been laps where we have gathered very good data. We were not looking for performance, rather consistent runs from Nico which he did well, so all in all it’s been a very good day.
With just a short respite after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing was back at the Yas Marina Circuit today for the 2012 Young Driver Test. Red Bull Junior driver António Félix da Costa was at the wheel of the RB8 for the first day of this three-day test.
Running during daylight, rather than the day/night schedule of the Grand Prix, the team split the allotted time between mechanical work in the morning and aero-mapping during the afternoon. The full programme was completed, with Antonio driving 79 laps of the Yas Marina Circuit.
António Félix da Costa: “This was my first time driving an RB8 at a proper test, with proper tyres on a real circuit, and… wow! I was perhaps a little anxious beforehand, but ultimately the pedals and the steering wheel are in the usual places.
“There’s a lot to learn, particularly with the buttons on the steering wheel, and it took one or two runs to get completely comfortable with all of that – but I think we had a good day.”
Antonio will be back in the car tomorrow before handing over on Thursday to Formula Renault 3.5 series winner Robin Frijns.
Giedo van der Garde: "I’m pleased with how today went. We were mainly working on aero performance, running sensors and different mechanical configurations on the car in the morning and afternoon sessions and to get the most out of them I had to drive consistently, carefully and not go for outright speed.
"I think the team’s happy with what I’ve done today and physically I feel great after running a good number of laps. After my FP1 session here in Abu Dhabi was cut short it was good to get some really decent time on track and the key thing for me is to keep developing my relationship with the team. There’s still a few tweaks we could make to the setup to suit my driving style a bit more but we have tomorrow to work on a few more setup options, as well as continuing to test parts and aero programs."
Tuesday in Abu Dhabi saw 21-year old Robin Frijns get his first taste of driving a Formula One car on a proper race track. Before that the young Dutchman had only experienced a demo run. The newly crowned 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 World Series champion covered 78 laps at the Yas Marina Circuit, which is almost one and half times last Sunday’s race distance.
Giampaolo Dall’Ara (Head of Track Engineering): “We had a good day with Robin. He did fine. Physically he coped well and also, for his age, gave us good feedback. The mileage is a lot and the lap time is also good. We started with hard tyres and did some aero work in the morning before actually working on his lap time. Towards the end of the day we gave him an idea of different tyre compounds and went with a set of medium and a set of soft. But we never sent him out with a qualifying fuel level.”
Robin Frijns: “Gosh this was hard work! Not in the beginning but then suddenly I felt it, especially from the brakes. I am really tired now and know I have to go and exercise more. In the morning we started with installation laps so that I could get used to the car and the steering wheel, which isn’t that easy. In the afternoon I found it hard to understand the tyre compounds. I had only driven on Michelin tyres before, and with the Pirelli medium and soft compounds it was difficult for me after only one lap. I had the feeling the more careful I handled them the worse it became. There is obviously a lot to learn. On my fastest lap with the soft tyres I made a mistake, so there was more to come. The team did a great job during the day and I want to thank them for that.”
For Wednesday and Thursday the Sauber F1 Team’s test and reserve driver, Esteban Gutiérrez (22/MX), will take over driving duties.
Along with five other teams, Scuderia Toro Rosso has stayed on in Abu Dhabi for the Young Driver Test. Today, Luiz Razia was at the wheel of the STR7, chassis No. 3, last raced in the Italian Grand Prix, back in September.
Luiz Razia: “I enjoyed my first experience working with Toro Rosso today, on a track I know well, having driven here in 2010 and ’11. In the morning, the team had various test items it wanted to work through and in the afternoon, we looked a bit more at establishing a base line on the car. As far as the tyres are concerned, I found it relatively straightforward as they seemed quite similar to those supplied by Pirelli in GP2. As for all the buttons on the steering wheel, I had some time before driving the car to get used to them, so I soon got the hang of it. Overall, it was a good day as the car ran troublefree and I was able to do a lot of laps.”
Laurent Mekies: “This was Luiz’s first day working with us and he acquitted himself well, quickly getting into a rhythm and running at a good pace. He appeared to be physically fit enough for the work, completing 67 laps with no problems. This meant we got plenty done, on a day when the track conditions were nice and stable throughout the session. In the morning we did some aero testing, switching to brake system evaluation in the afternoon.”
Tomorrow, Johnny Cecotto Junior takes over at the wheel, before Razia returns to the cockpit for the final day on Thursday.
The morning’s session was spent acclimatising Kevin Magnussen to his first run in a Formula 1 car. That meant a focus on a suite of gradual set-up changes, firstly to introduce Kevin to the behaviour of a grand prix car under different mechanical influences, but also to fine-tune the car’s set-up to his personal preference. The team were impressed with the Dane’s progress and aptitude. He completed 40 laps/222km.
Gary Paffett undertook the afternoon’s running, undertaking a challenging programme primarily focusing on evaluating a wide number of aerodynamic and suspension developments – either for imminent use in the final two races, or for future development for next year’s car. He completed 44 laps/244km.
Gary’s large workload also required a consistent baseline, meaning he drove without the benefit of DRS and some way below the limit in order to eliminate unwanted variables.
Gary concludes his running tomorrow morning after the team completes a number of larger mechanical changes overnight. Oliver Turvey starts a similar programme in the afternoon.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren MP4-27 | 1:42.651 | 40 |
| 2 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Red Bull RB8 | 1:42.717 | 79 |
| 3 | Gary Paffett | McLaren MP4-27 | 1:43.407 | 44 |
| 4 | Robin Frijns | Sauber C31 | 1:43.775 | 78 |
| 5 | Nicolas Prost | Lotus E20 | 1:44.194 | 55 |
| 6 | Luiz Razia | Toro Rosso STR7 | 1:44.691 | 67 |
| 7 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham CT01 | 1:45.936 | 57 |