Ferrari
Jules Bianchi: I am happy to have this opportunity to do two days of testing with the F10 and I am pleased to be able to give the team a hand in preparation for next season. It was an unusual day, in that we worked exclusively on measuring various parameters, without ever looking for performance. I am learning a lot being here with the team and seeing at first hand how they go about their work. These two days will be extremely useful to get as well prepared as possible for my role as test driver for the Scuderia.
Williams
Tom McCullough, Senior Test Engineer: Dean Stoneman was in the cockpit today for the first day of the young driver test. We did aero work this morning, from which we’ve accumulated useful data. Dean used the afternoon to familiarise himself with the car and put some times on the board. He went quicker every lap he completed, worked well with his engineers and overall did a professional job for the team. We’re impressed by him. Tomorrow, Pastor Maldonado will drive the Williams and we will spend the day continuing our aero tests.
Dean Stoneman: That was slightly different to what I’m used to! It’s a big step up from a Formula 2 car, particularly the difference in aero. It was good to start off with some speed-limited aero work as it allowed me to build up to doing quicker laps in the afternoon. Towards the end of the day, I just kept pushing to see where the limit of the car is and where I could improve my times around the lap. Today was a great experience and the team have been really supportive. It’s also been a major opportunity for me. To be given the chance of driving a Formula One car doesn’t come around that often, so I feel very privileged.
Renault
Mikhail Aleshin: It was my first proper day in an F1 car and I have to say it definitely lived up to my expectations. It felt great to be part of the team, working with the engineers and the mechanics and we managed to do lots of different things during the day. By the start of the afternoon we had quite a nice balance with the car and it felt really good. The only issue we had was a hydraulic leak, which cost me some track time at the end of the day. That was a shame because it meant that I couldn’t go out when the track temperature was low and when the track was at its quickest. But overall it has been a fantastic experience and I want to say a big thank you to the team and to Renault Sport because this was a great opportunity for me
Technical Debrief with Alan Permane: Mikhail completed a good day’s running for us. We started the day by doing some aero mapping work, which went very well, and he spent most of the morning on the medium tyres as he steadily improved his lap times. In the afternoon he set his quickest time on hard tyres when the track was at its hottest, but he didn’t get a chance to run on the soft tyres when the track was cooler so I’m sure there was more lap time to come. Overall we have been impressed with his approach and his pace, so it has been a positive day.
Force India
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: A good first day of testing for the team. We started with Paul to make a short baseline and carry out some component testing and data collection. Antonio took over the car shortly before lunch, familiarised himself quickly and ran through several tyre and long run evaluations as part of what is now our standard Young Driver Programme. Overall we covered our objectives, everyone in the team did a great job, and we and look forward to tomorrow’s second Young Driver day.
Paul di Resta: It was good to be back in the car this morning for the first time since the Italian Grand Prix, even though it was a very short session – just over an hour and a half. We had a few development items we needed to run to carry over to the tyre test later this week and I had to learn the circuit layout since I’d never driven the Yas Marina track other than on the simulator. It’s very technical with tight corners that you need to get right, and I’m looking forward to getting out again tomorrow to carry on the programme in the morning.
Antonio Felix da Costa: It was a good day, quite surprising, even for me. I adapted to the car a bit faster than I expected and that was very positive as I could do some real work to get up to speed more quickly and get to grips with the set up of the car. I think my lap time was good, only four tenths from the qualifying times of the Force India this weekend, so I am pretty pleased. It was just such an amazing experience today and I wish everyone could try it as it’s so impressive, such fun. I have to thank the whole crew at Force India who worked so hard today, to my management and sponsors and I hope to have some more F1 experience again quite soon.
Lotus Racing
Rodolfo González: What an incredible day. As I pulled out for my first lap I could not believe I was finally at the wheel of a Formula One car. Since I started karting at the age of five it has been my dream to get behind the wheel of an F1 car and today it came true. It has been 18 years of hard work and sacrifice to reach this point and I want to say thank you to Lotus Racing for giving me this opportunity. I have been preparing for today for a long time and even though I completed 83 laps to be honest I am surprised I lasted that long – after 30 laps I was already feeling it and by the 82nd lap my neck was beginning to suffer so I thought it was time to stop. That is normal for anyone who makes the step up to F1 but I am really pleased with how the whole day went.
Since I arrived here the whole team has been just great. They have all given me real confidence and said I did not have to try to impress anybody, you have already impressed people anyway so just do a good steady job and you will be fine. Mike Gascoyne told me today was not about proving I am ready for F1, but it would show if I am not ready so I just wanted to do the most intelligent job I could. I have learnt a huge amount over the last couple of days and tomorrow I hope I can continue to progress on track and put in another good performance.
Jody Egginton, Chief Race Engineer: Rodolfo did a good job for us today. He gave good, clear feedback, took a measured approach and spent the right amount of time learning his way around the car. This morning he drove steadily and started picking his pace up this afternoon when we moved to some more performance biased runs. The fuel loads and setups he was running would compare with a normal Friday at a race weekend, so he had the experience of both high and low fuel and a range of run types. He worked well with the engineers all day and studied the data in depth so I think for his first time in an F1 car he has done a pretty decent job overall.
Hispania Racing
Dr. Colin Kolles, Team Principal: We are very happy to have Pastor Maldonado in our car at the Young Drivers Test and the Pirelli Test. He did a great job and he was the driver who completed the most laps today. The track conditions were very good and Pastor got used to the car quickly. The Venezuelan was very competitive compared to the other new teams’ drivers and the rest of them. We fulfilled our program as planned and did 108 laps. We could also carry on improving like during the last races and we are excited to see how much further up we can go.
Pastor Maldonado: It was a great feeling to be back in a Formula 1 car today and to complete 108 laps with the HRT F110. I got more confident with this car during the day and I could improve the lap times constantly when the track conditions improved. We were quite quick today and I pushed a lot to show a good performance. I am very happy to get the opportunity to do the Young Drivers Test and Pirelli Test with Hispania Racing. Now I cannot wait to be back in the car on Friday again.
Sauber
Esteban Gutièrrez: I enjoyed the day a lot and it is a shame it is over! It was a very intense way to work because we tried many different things. The changes were quite drastic and this helped me to feel the difference. Of course I had to adapt to the car after I hadn’t driven an F1 car for almost a year, but this was no problem. My mental approach to driving is always to be consistent in my progress. I hope this worked out and I was able to do something for the team today.
James Key (Technical Director): Esteban did a solid and tidy job today. We had a steady and useful morning with Esteban learning the track and getting familiar with the car. He took it quite pragmatically by doing a step at a time, and going a little bit quicker each time he went out. After he got used to everything in the morning, he was ready for a more intense programme in the afternoon. We ran several test items, which meant a busy afternoon programme, and received some very useful feedback and positive directions. We constantly went for runs of five timed laps and we kept the same fuel level all day. We also decided against using the F-Duct for this Young Driver test so top speeds are a little bit down.
