Valtteri Bottas says he was pleased to be able to carry out a full race simulation for Mercedes on only the second day of Formula 1 testing in Barcelona, and pinned his wild moment exiting Turn 9 on a sudden gust of wind.
Bottas took over from team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the afternoon session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and embarked on a full 66-lap race run in the W08.
Bottas’ run was briefly hindered by a scare at Turn 9, when he lost the back end of the car and clipped the wall on the inside of the corner, though the Finn was able to continue his programme.
Bottas’ quickest lap was good enough for seventh overall, while he completed 102 laps, adding to the 66 laps completed by Hamilton during the morning session.
It means that Mercedes has carried out almost five Grands Prix worth of mileage across the opening two days of testing.
“I think it was another good test day for the team, we did so many laps again and completed all the runs that we had planned to do,” he said.
“I worked on race simulations this afternoon. It was quite tricky with the windy conditions but I'm sure that we can learn a lot from the data.
“I had a small off but it wasn't anything serious. I lost the rear end with a gust of tail wind that was quite sudden. This is testing – you need to find the limits.
“It's interesting to learn more about the new car – not just for me personally, but for us as a team. All the set-up work we've done has been very valuable.”
Hamilton finished second overall, having topped the morning session, with his best lap coming on the Super Soft tyres.
“I didn't do a huge amount of laps today but I got a really good feel for the car,” he said.
“I think we've made some steps forward in development. My quick lap felt fast and tidy. We've not really exploited the potential of the car, so it's all good foundation building at this stage.”
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