Red Bull Racing
Mark Webber: “We’re here at the last test now, it’s starting to build up for the first race and we’re pretty excited for that. However, we still have plenty to go through this week but so far so good. We certainly have a few more boxes to tick. We have some crucial data to gather this week and the next three days will be really important. We’re learning every run and we are making progress I think. There are so many things to consider when we have a condensed winter programme like this. You need to get your priorities right and concentrate on those. That’s where experience comes in and we have plenty of that. It’s going well so far but there aren’t enough hours in the day at the moment, though I’m sure we’re not the only team feeling that.”
Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Nico Rosberg: “I’m very happy with the first day of our test programme today. We were able to complete a lot of laps and tried a few different things which worked out well. Some of the evaluations were really interesting which makes the day good fun for me, and it’s nice to find out what the car can do. We had no reliability problems which is good as it’s important to get mileage on the car. We are making progress, but we don’t know really where we are compared to the others. It will be interesting to find out at the first race.”
Lotus F1 Team
Romain Grosjean: “The car was feeling very good and it’s great to bounce back from our dramas to set the fastest time of the day. It’s clear we have solved the problem we encountered and now we have to complete a very full test programme this week. The feeling in the team is fantastic and it’s like last week’s issues never happened. My crew told me that the problems would make us stronger, and this is true. The chassis is stronger, and all the team is stronger. We gathered good data today and we have a few interesting things that we would like to confirm tomorrow which should help us make a good step forwards.”
Williams F1
Pastor Maldonado: “We didn’t complete as much running as we would have liked today, but we still gathered some good data. This morning we ran our new front wing so we will analyse the results from our aero runs this evening. We completed a few longer runs during the afternoon as we investigated a number of set-up directions.”
Sahara Force India
Paul Di Resta: “Another busy day and we managed to tick off all the objectives once again. The final test is all about adding new parts to the car, seeing how they perform, and getting our set-up sorted for Melbourne. I think we have a good idea of where we need to be based on the performance of the car today and Nico will continue with that work tomorrow. As I said last week, we are definitely making progress in terms of performance and we’re getting a good understanding for the new 2012 tyre constructions.”
Sauber F1 Team
Sergio Pérez: “I think this was a very good day for me. The car was performing well under varying conditions. We are working in the right direction, and I’m very much looking forward to getting into the car again for my final day of testing on Saturday.”
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Jean-Eric Vergne: “It was a good day and I completed more laps than on any of my other times in the car so far. I am feeling more confident and comfortable and I think we are also making steady progress on car development. The pit stops are also getting better and were an improvement on last week here.”
Caterham F1 Team
Vitaly Petrov: “Today the car was working very well from the first installation lap and right up to the final lap this afternoon. We managed to work through the whole tyre program and put in solid lap times all day, as well as working through a number of other setup programs that are helping me find the right balance I can really push with. My race seat will be in the car for Sunday so I think we can make more progress then, when I know I’ll be fully comfortable in the car, so I hope we can build on what we have done today over the next couple of days and leave the test in very good shape for the first race.”
