Ricciardo tops opening day of testing in Barcelona
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| Daniel Ricciardo draws first blood in Barcelona |
After taking to the track for the first time last week in its one-off 'Disruptobull' livery for a filming day at Silverstone, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s 2018 challenger, the RB14, today returned to its familiar racing color scheme as testing for the new Formula 1 season got underway on a cold and overcast Monday at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalina.
"That was… cold! But apart from that it was good," said Daniel. “In the morning when it was dry everything was fine but in the afternoon the conditions were really tricky. It’s hard to get anything working with tires in these temperatures, especially as they’ve also re-laid the surface. When the temperature is there it’s good, but when it’s cold there really isn’t any grip!
"However, it was still a good day and we got over 100 laps done, with, I think, one run of 35 laps. So reliability was solid and hats off to everyone for that. Performance? Yeah, It’s nice to see yourself at the top of the timesheets but in two-degree temperatures you really can’t learn anything!"
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Head of Race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin added: "That was a good start to testing for us. The fact that this year we had the car finished ahead of schedule certainly helped I think; just having that deadline of last week’s filming day meant we had to be able to fire the car up and run. And I think the value of that deadline shows in what we got done today, which is certainly the largest lap total for a first day of pre-season testing that we’ve had in some time.
"It’s a validation of some of the changes we made over the winter. It was a good outing, we got a lot of laps under our belt and we had good reliability. That’s all you can ask for. It is day one and we take nothing for granted, but overall, we’re pretty pleased with what we achieved."
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| Bottas was 2nd quick for Mercedes |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport completed the majority of its planned program on the first day of 2018 pre-season testing, gathering valuable aero and tire data. Owing to cold temperatures throughout the day and rain after the lunch break the team decided to cut the running short midway through the afternoon. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton took turns at the wheel of the all-new F1 W09 EQ Power+, completing a total of 83 laps at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
2nd quick Valtteri Bottas said, "Our first morning here in Barcelona was very positive. We got everything done that we had planned. The main mission for the morning was to gather aerodynamic data, so I was doing runs at constant speeds. I got a few practice laps for myself as well; but that kind of running was very limited. We didn't do any performance running, so I haven't pushed the W09 to its limits yet.
"The initial feeling of the car was good, it was behaving well. I couldn't point out any negatives compared to last year's car, only positives so far.
"It was really good to be back in the car; it felt like I haven't been away at all. It didn't take any time to get used to the car – that's a good feeling. Driving these cars is still hard work for the drivers, but I had a good training program over the winter, so I felt physically prepared.
"The weather conditions today were a bit tricky with the cold temperatures. Neither the cars nor the tires are made to be driven in five degrees Celsius. We ran two sets of Medium tires. In these conditions it was difficult to get enough heat into them to get them working properly. That's been the main challenge of the day, but that's the same for everyone. The amount of testing we can do is limited so we have to make the most of it.
Lewis Hamilton added, "It's great to be back in the car after three months off, but unfortunately we didn't get the chance to complete many laps today owing to the bad weather.
"The track was very cold in the afternoon, meaning it was tough to get any sort of heat into the tires. The tires weren't really working in these temperatures, so I could not get a real feel for them.
"I didn't really get the chance to push in the car and go up to top speeds as the conditions were so bad. It's hard for me to say a whole lot about the car because I did not drive it for a long time, but the initial feeling is good."
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| Raikkonen third 3/10ths behind |
Kimi Raikkonen completed 80 laps of the Catalunya Circuit in his Ferrari, the fastest of them in 1’20"506 on Soft tires. He worked through the first part of a program that, over the course of this week, is given over mainly to acquiring data.
“The real problem, the only one today, was the weather," summarized Kimi. “My first impressions with the new car were OK, but it’s still too early to make any judgement, especially given today’s conditions. These tires aren’t designed to work at 8 degrees and it was difficult for everyone. As for the rest, our work had nothing to do with lap times and we just ran and changed a few things, trying to understand the car, which doesn’t seem to have any faults. Now we must try and do more kilometers."
The first long run with the Halo protection fitted over the cockpit went off without any problems. “Compared to the tests we did in previous years, this time the Halo had been conceived as an integral part of the car design, which had not been possible before. I didn’t notice anything different to driving the car without the protection."
Testing continues tomorrow, with Sebastian Vettel taking over the Ferrari, while it will once again be Kimi’s turn on Wednesday, with Vettel then rounding off the first winter test.
Romain Grosjean opened up testing for Haas F1 Team. The Frenchman ventured onto the 4.655-kilometer (2.892-mile), 16-turn track at 9:10 a.m. local time and when the day was complete, Grosjean had racked up 55 laps behind the wheel of the Ferrari-powered Haas VF-18 to log 256.025 kilometers (159.086 miles).
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| Romain Grosjean |
Grosjean’s best time was a 1:22.578, earned on his 48th lap with a new set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires. The quick time put the seventh-year Formula One pilot 10th among the 13 drivers participating in the first day of testing.
Grosjean began with a series of reconnaissance runs before a 12-lap stint on the White medium tire generated a quick time of 1:23.092. A 13-lap run on Yellow softs was completed prior to the lunch break, with Grosjean recording a best time of 1:23.453 on the slightly softer tire compound. A total of 32 laps were logged in the morning session.
After a four-lap reconnaissance run on White mediums to start the afternoon session, the VF-18 was outfitted with a new set of Yellow softs for a 16-lap stint. It was here where Grosjean secured his fastest lap of the day.
Deteriorating weather conditions as the afternoon wore on cut short any additional running time. Intermittent drizzle turned to light rain, and combined with a temperature hovering at 5.6 degrees Celsius (42 degrees Fahrenheit), no useful information could be gleaned.
“It’s been a good day," said Grosjean. "The first day with the car is always super exciting. My first feeling from the car is very positive, so that’s really good knowing today’s conditions haven’t been easy with cold temperatures, a bit of rain and the new tarmac. We’ve managed to get almost 60 laps. We didn’t have any major problems with the car. The main thing for the first day with the car is that the feeling is good."
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| Anti-American Guenther Steiner |
“A strange day," said team manager Guenther Steiner. "Everything went well in the beginning, but then the track got very inconsistent. We recovered well, though, as we did some laps. For sure, we’d have liked to have done some more, but it’s okay, we are still on plan. Climate conditions were difficult, but they were the same for everyone and the week doesn’t look good from a forecast perspective. We’d have liked it to be a little warmer with a little bit less water, but all-in-all we got some of the test program done. We need to stay positive and keep going with it hoping that the weather gets better."
Sahara Force India launched its 2018 season today with Development Driver Nikita Mazepin the first to experience the VJM11 in Barcelona.
Nikita Mazepin: “We didn’t complete a huge number of laps today, but that’s often the case with a new car. The laps we did complete were positive: the car felt pretty similar to last year but has clearly taken some good steps forward. I felt very comfortable with the halo, but I lowered my seating position compared to last year and the visibility was good. We lost some of the afternoon resolving a sensor issue and then the weather deteriorated, which kept us in the garage."
Brendon Hartley driver of the #28 Toro Rosso Honda said, “It was a really positive day. We had no issues at all but we stopped early because of the weather, it was almost icy conditions out there. Everything felt pretty good from out of the box, we had some test items that we didn’t get to complete because of the weather, but getting through 93 laps on the first day of testing was a great start to the campaign with the new Toro Rosso-Honda (partnership). Balance-wise, we were pretty comfortable straight away but I still think there’s potential to unlock.
"I’m really happy with how the day went, I think everyone probably struggled with tires, but doing one corner slow the tires drop out of the window and it was almost like an ice-skating rink. It’s quite a challenging day to get the tires working in the window all the time. I think we learnt a lot and set ourselves up nicely for the rest of the test, probably more so next week when the weather gets a bit better. The drivability of the engine is one of the best I’ve driven in a Formula 1 car, so it was really positive in all aspects. Absolutely no complaints from me. “
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| Toro Rosso drivers with Franz Tost (L) and James Key (R) |
James Key, Technical Director for Toro Rosso added, “It’s great to go testing after a long winter of preparation and get the new car running on track. I think the priority for today, and for this week, has been predominantly mileage accumulation for checking the reliability of the car itself, giving the drivers plenty of opportunity to learn about the car and to cover some ground with preparation for the start of the season. This is an important preparation period for the drivers, which they didn’t get the opportunity to cover last year. We will also be going through the fundamentals of the new tires, car set up, aero performance etc in this first week and we started this today in a positive way.
"We got through the majority of the test program which was ultimately curtailed by the tricky weather conditions in the afternoon. However we covered a lot of laps with no major problems, we have worked well and proactively with our colleagues at Honda over the last 6 months and we can be pleased by the encouraging start we have made."
Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director, said, “I feel happy that we were finally able to bring the car on track here in Barcelona after a busy winter. We did not complete our entire planned program for today, but that was simply because we did fewer laps than we could have done this afternoon, due to the very low temperatures and drizzle which affected track conditions. However, I am pleased with the work completed and 93 laps is a respectable total.
"Although we have only been working with Toro Rosso for a relatively short period of time, the development has gone ahead according to plan thanks to both partners communicating very closely together. I think we are all working very well as a team now and I appreciate the hard efforts made by all the staff in Italy, UK and Japan.
"Today, on the first day of testing, we went through all the usual function checks on the car, as well as the operational checking of the team’s work flow, as we are obviously a new team with a new car. We have seven more days of testing and it is important to do as many laps as possible in that time, to develop the car as a package, focusing on being well prepared for Melbourne."
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| Lance Stroll |
Lance Stroll of Williams said, "So far, so good, which is always a positive thing on the first day. It is a new car, which means there are lots of things that have to be done to get on top of it, so it is good we had no problems this morning. We have a big program and we want to get a lot of laps done in order to get us as well prepared as possible for the first race. It is a bit early to say where we are, but it seems to be good so far. As for the halo, to be honest, I am not a huge fan of the look, however, it is going to help save lives.
"If I am in the car and it is going to help reduce the chances of being injured I will definitely take that device and that is what the halo is doing. I am complaining about the looks, but at the same time I understand that the safety is important. It is different for me here at this test as I have a year under my belt now. I am really looking forward to going into my second season of Formula One and having been to every track once, it is certainly different to where I was this time last year.
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| Sergey Sirotkin |
Sergey Sirotkin added, "Today was a bit cold and rainy, unfortunately. We spent all day trying to make the best of the conditions but it was probably a little bit too extreme to run consistently. We tried different things throughout the day, but with the new surface which is nice and smooth, it’s not the best for such conditions. Due to the weather, I don’t think we could properly run or evaluate the car. Obviously, you want to maximize the pace to try and maintain the temperatures but that requires pushing as much as you can. I tried my best but we don’t want to damage the car at this early stage, and there were some tricky moments during the day.
"For sure, I was excited. It’s been a lot of work, we’ve been working very hard over the winter so it was very nice to be back here to try and put all the work we’ve done over the past few months onto the track in the car. We still have seven days of testing so I hope we’ll get some clear running and get some more chances to try the car properly. The halo is good, to be honest we’re quite used to it after running with it in the simulator. It’s definitely more difficult to jump in and jump out of the car but once you’re in it, you don’t care.
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer of Williams said, "Overall it was a good day. We had a bit of a cautious start as, despite having a filming day yesterday, we still had many parts of the car that we wanted to monitor. Lance got going properly around 11am, so had a couple of hours proper running before lunch and completed a total of 46 laps. We weren’t pushing too hard today as it was more about systems checks, but we are relatively happy with the car. Sergey took over driving duties for the afternoon. We did a number of aerodynamics tests in the early part of the session, but by time he was going out for proper runs we had lost track conditions as the temperatures plummeted.
"We weren’t alone in not being able to switch the tires on; no matter how hard he pushed on the out-lap, the tire was going away from him. It then began to rain, which did give us the opportunity to run the intermediate and extreme wet tires, before ending the day with a practice start. So, it was a bit of a frustrating day for Sergey but overall, we have had very good reliability with a total of 74 laps on the car. We also have a lot of data to understand and build on our program for the rest of the week. Thank you to all the team, both in Barcelona and back at Grove and Brixworth, for the incredible work they have done to get the FW41 here for its first day of testing. We hope this is the beginning of a strong season for the team."
The first day of testing ahead of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 Championship was productive for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team. Marcus Ericsson was behind the wheel of the new C37, focusing on completing aerodynamic and mechanical tests. The Swede was able to get a first impression of the team’s new car, completing 63 laps overall.
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| Marcus Ericsson |
Marcus Ericsson, said, "It was very exciting to be back on track and drive the C37. Over the course of the day, we gathered some interesting data. The C37 is based on a new concept, both mechanically and aerodynamically. It has been interesting to see how these changes translate to the car’s behavior on track. We completed a few good runs, however, had to cut the afternoon session short due to the tricky weather conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya. We dealt with low temperatures of both the air and the asphalt, which made it difficult to get the tires to work properly. Although this was the first day of winter testing it has been a positive and productive day. There is potential in our new car and we have to continue working hard to understand how to unlock it. I look forward to building on this on Wednesday."
Jorg Zander, Technical Director for Sauber added, "We had a successful start to winter testing today. In general, our target was to get a first glance and understanding of how the new C37 behaves on track. We worked on the set-up of the car, and made changes to the aerodynamic balance throughout the day. Due to the low temperatures, we had some difficulties in getting the tires into the right working window. The conditions were not ideal, however, they applied to all of the teams at the circuit. It is positive that we had a trouble-free day without any technical issues. Overall, we can be satisfied with our first day of testing here in Barcelona. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and look forward to the rest of the week."
Day one times
| POS | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | BEHIND | LAPS |
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m20.179s | 0.000s | 105 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1m20.349s | 0.170s | 58 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m20.506s | 0.327s | 80 |
| 4 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1m20.547s | 0.368s | 73 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1m22.168s | 1.989s | 26 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m22.327s | 2.148s | 25 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Renault | 1m22.354s | 2.175s | 51 |
| 8 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso/Honda | 1m22.371s | 2.192s | 93 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 1m22.452s | 2.273s | 46 |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m22.578s | 2.399s | 55 |
| 11 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Alfa Romeo | 1m23.408s | 3.229s | 63 |
| 12 | Nikita Mazepin | Force India/Mercedes | 1m25.628s | 5.449s | 22 |
| 13 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams/Mercedes | 1m44.148s | 23.969s | 28 |