Red Bull
Mark Webber: “Not too bad today. We had a few niggles here and there but we did well and that’s been the case over the whole weekend. We had a very productive test, no question about it. We have a whole raft of data to go through, so we’ll see where the next test is and get ready for that.”
Ian Morgan: “Today we got through quite a lot of work in evaluating some development components on the suspension, brakes and aero package. We got through the whole programme without any difficulties so, all in all, a useful day’s work.
“We set out a pretty ambitious schedule for this test and I’m pleased to say that we managed to get through almost all of it. Obviously, the weather yesterday hampered us a little but even then we got some wet weather running in, which helps us understand the tyres a bit better. Overall, I think we are quite pleased with the progress we’ve made here.”
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi: “Today went well and I am happy with what we achieved. We got through the entire programme we had planned and did enough laps to improve our understanding of the various types of Pirelli tyre. Along with the two other drivers, we gathered a lot of data over the past four days here in Barcelona and it will be important to analyse everything very carefully to find the right way to move forward in terms of reliability and performance, when we tackle the final pre-season test session. The team, at the track and back at the factory worked well to deliver a car reliable enough to do plenty of laps, which is always the most important thing at this point in the year.”
Giorgio Ascanelli: “This has definitely been a productive four days for us with a good number of laps completed. We addressed all the technical issues that came to our attention at the previous test in Jerez, although as you move forward and make progress, you always discover new problems. But 90 trouble-free laps today means that this is a positive end to our time in Barcelona.”
Renault
Nick Heidfeld: “In the morning we were not able to do most of our programme because we had an issue with the KERS. It’s a shame because track time is so limited, but it’s obviously better to have problems during testing before the season starts. In the afternoon we started the race simulation, which went reasonably well. We were using different tyre compounds and tried both scrubbed and new sets. We learned a lot by running the car on high fuel and have lots of useful data about the degradation rates. Then, at the end of the day, we returned to the set-up work.”
McLaren
Indy Lall: “It was very encouraging to log over 100 laps with MP4-26 today – an impressive conclusion to our four days in Barcelona. We’re still working through a very lengthy development programme – today wasn’t about pure performance, it was about conducting a disciplined series of long-runs – but it’s been a positive end to our test here.”
Williams F1
Pastor Maldonado: “We did 121 laps so it’s been a great day. We tried lots of things on the car this morning and this afternoon we did a race simulation. The car felt great. We need to work to understand a little bit more about the balance on the longer runs but I am happy as the car is getting better each time we go out.”
Sam Michael: “It has been another productive day but it certainly didn’t start out like that! We had a problem with the KERS cooling system just before the session opened, so we had to disable KERS for the day. Pastor then spent the morning doing some mapping runs for Cosworth and running some new exhaust components for aero to check temperatures for the last test aero upgrade that is coming – all of that worked okay. In the afternoon we completed a race simulation with no problems. Overall it has been a productive test although we still have some reliability issues to work on. The final winter test will now be held back at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona from 8 – 11 March and we will be bringing our first race upgrade package.”
Force India
Adrian Sutil: “A very productive day in general for us. We made some good progress with the balance and we’ve now got a basic set-up that feels smooth and easy to drive. I also got a run on the supersoft tyres, which we didn’t manage to do yesterday. Of course we also put the KERS on the car. It ran reliably and allowed us to complete the full test programme: very promising for this point in testing. It’s still early days for the system but we have got ourselves into a good rhythm and can feed this back into the factory to get some more performance for the next test.”
Dominic Harlow: “A good final day’s testing concentrating on KERS set-up, reliability and also some aero tests that remained on our programme. Adrian also looked at some ride height sweeps and a few procedural checks. It’s been a productive four days for the team and overall the car seems to be performing reliably and according to expectations in all the major areas.”
Sauber F1
Sergio Pérez: “It was another positive day. I learnt a lot, in particular about the tyres. They kept changing, but now we have the final spec for the beginning of the season, so it was good I was able to run them today to learn how to maximise their potential. We did a lot of work over the two days, so I’m quite happy.”
James Key: “It was the final day of quite a long test in Barcelona. It’s always good to use this track as a reference. You get a far better idea about what your car is doing and where its strong and weak points are. Today we spent most of the time working on the set-up of the car, and we tried some new test items. We have to look at the data, but certainly we found some new directions. We also found some useful directions with the different compounds of tyres between the start in the morning, which was cold, and the afternoon when it was quite warm. The temperatures, the set up and the tyre compound are all very closely linked. There’s a lot of factors to consider, and we were able to learn more about all of them. Now we head off to the next test where we will introduce onto the car the first part of the update for the start of the season.”
Mercedes
Michael Schumacher: “We’ve had another busy day, focusing on set-up work and improving our understanding of the car. The reliability was good, which gave us a solid platform to work from, and we made progress in terms of finding set-up directions. On the performance side, this isn’t the package we will start the season with, so we are not drawing too many firm conclusions. Overall it has been a productive test for us in Barcelona as we continue our pre-season preparations.”
Ross Brawn: “We have had a good test in Barcelona this week and made significant progress with our testing programme. Michael and Nico have both completed race weekend simulations, which have been extremely valuable to develop our understanding of the behaviour of the car and tyres on different fuel loads, and to use KERS and the adjustable rear wing in realistic situations. The reliability of the MGP W02 has been encouraging at this test which now allows us to turn our focus to the performance developments we have to come.”
Team Lotus
Jarno Trulli: “It’s obviously disappointing to have the test cut short like this but these things happen in motor racing. We started the day well and until the accident happened I had picked up where I left off yesterday – the car has good balance, pace we can build on and has the potential to help us take the fight to the midfield, so I’m leaving here feeling confident about the season ahead and am looking forward to the next test, wherever that will be.”
Mike Gascoyne: “Unfortunately the day was cut short due to the accident Jarno suffered this morning at turn 9. It was not his fault – it was caused by a car failure and we were missing a part we needed to put the car back together which meant we had to cut day four short. Despite this I still think there are a great deal of positives to take from the test in terms of the pace of the car and the fact that we are on top of the reliability issues. With that in mind we leave here with work to do but still on target for where we want to be. We will wait to see where the next test will be held and with the time we now have back at the factory we will be working hard to make sure we run through our complete programme at that test.”
