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Formula 1
F1: Sauber’s Perez Surges In Spain
Sergio Perez recorded the quickest time on day three of the final winter test in Barcelona...
Sauber has expressed doubts about the increased costs of renting engines for the radical new V6 regulations in 2014. (Photo: Getty Images)
Sergio Perez topped the times at Barcelona on Saturday as rain in the afternoon upset most people’s planned programs.
Some drivers did at least take the chance to try Pirelli’s intermediate tires for the first time in 2012.
Much interest surrounded the major update package seen on the Red Bull RB8 while McLaren was among those also trying new aero parts as teams finalize their Melbourne specs.
Perez was pleased with progress on his last day in the car before Kamui Kobayashi takes over tomorrow.
“I am very happy with how my final test day went,” said Perez. “We did an intensive program with qualifying and race preparation, which was important to do. I think we have demonstrated that the car has developed well over the testing period. The team has made the most out of all the information we have collected and certainly is in good shape.”
Jenson Button ran only 44 laps over the course of the day as a hydraulic problem prevented him from learning much about the team’s latest aero package. However, he did record the second best time.
“When you get new parts, you want to go out and put lots of laps on it in order to compare it to what you had previously,” said Button. “But we weren’t able to do that today. We had a hydraulics issue in the morning, which meant we didn’t do much running. So it wasn’t the easiest morning – and then we didn’t do much running in the afternoon either because of the rain.
“We put a couple of good laps in but didn’t get any setup work done – because of the rain. It was nice to drive the new package, and I have a good feeling about it, but I need to work with it for a bit longer to find the right balance for it. Hopefully, Lewis (Hamilton) will put some more laps on the car tomorrow.”
Toro Rosso continued to figure near the top of the order as Daniel Ricciardo set the third best time of the day.
“A good day with my highest number of kilometers of the season, which is perfect preparation for Melbourne,” said the Aussie. “I enjoyed the race simulation and we treated it like a real race when the rain came, with my engineer asking me on the radio to make the call about when to come in for tires and which ones to fit. So it was good to have to make decisions and also to experience Pirelli’s intermediates and rain tires.”
Felipe Massa took over the Ferrari from Fernando Alonso, and set the fourth best time as the red car again logged a lot of miles, the Brazilian completing 122 laps.
Force India had another solid day as Paul Di Resta set the fifth best time of the day.
“It was my final day in the car before the first race and it was a full program with a race distance in the afternoon,” said the Scot. “It’s good to get an impression of the car during continuous running and also to try and replicate the tire compounds we expect to use in Melbourne. We’ve identified some more areas where we can improve in terms of balance, so that’s something to work on overnight before Nico (Hulkenberg) gets in the car.”
After focusing on pit stops yesterday, Williams was higher up the order today with Bruno Senna taking sixth spot.
“We completed some runs on lower fuel, which I hadn’t done before, using all the different tire compounds,” said the Brazilian. “I was then able to do a full race simulation this afternoon, to learn more about the car and tires in a race situation. We have a lot of valuable information to look at now, which will enable us to improve for next time. Unfortunately, we had to cut our race simulation a bit short due to the rain. However, we still met all our objectives for the day.”
Heikki Kovalainen was seventh for Caterham, ahead of Mark Webber’s Red Bull, which was the focus of much attention.
“We had a pretty good run today and once again we learned a lot,” said Webber. “However, I suppose the thing that everyone’s obviously asking about is the changes we made to the car but I have to say the car was not massively different to the one I drove on Thursday. We went through our normal program, nothing drastic happened, and we just keep working away. It would have been nice to have a few more laps today but then again we didn’t have a race simulation planned, so the rain didn’t really hurt us.
“For me the next stop now is Melbourne and I’m looking forward to that, it’s always good to drive out of the pitlane there. Racing’s what we’re all here for and while testing is good, it’s nice to be on track all at the same time, all with the same window of opportunity to deliver – that’s what we love doing. I’m looking forward to that weekend unfolding, and the rest of the races. It’ll be good to get the season going.”
Nico Rosberg had his last day in the Mercedes before handing over to Michael Schumacher for tomorrow.
“I’m happy with my pre-season testing program, and I believe that we have made a step forward from last year,” said Rosberg. “I have been able to achieve a lot of mileage which shows that the car is very reliable, and as a driver, I feel ready now for the first race in Melbourne. Unbelievably in the last hours of my test today, it was raining! So I have also been able to experience the car in the wet. Now it’s exciting to go to the first race and see where we are compared to the others. Finally, all the talking stops and the racing starts when we get to Australia.”
Kimi Raikkonen was at the bottom of the times with the Lotus after losing some track time.
“We had an issue with the power steering in the morning then we didn't run in the wet, so it was quite a short time for me in the car today,” he said. “At least we got some runs. The car was reliable when on track, meaning we gained some good data for the team. Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow and we can complete more laps.”
Unofficial Saturday test times from Barcelona:
1. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:22.094, 112 Laps
2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:22.103, 44 Laps
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:22.155, 130 Laps
4. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:22.413, 121 Laps
5. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:22.446, 108 Laps
6. Bruno Senna, Williams, 1:22.480, 111 Laps
7. Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham, 1:22.630, 64 Laps
8. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:22.662, 70 Laps
9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:22.932, 128 Laps
10. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 1:25.379, 43 Laps
Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
Some drivers did at least take the chance to try Pirelli’s intermediate tires for the first time in 2012.
Much interest surrounded the major update package seen on the Red Bull RB8 while McLaren was among those also trying new aero parts as teams finalize their Melbourne specs.
Perez was pleased with progress on his last day in the car before Kamui Kobayashi takes over tomorrow.
“I am very happy with how my final test day went,” said Perez. “We did an intensive program with qualifying and race preparation, which was important to do. I think we have demonstrated that the car has developed well over the testing period. The team has made the most out of all the information we have collected and certainly is in good shape.”
Jenson Button ran only 44 laps over the course of the day as a hydraulic problem prevented him from learning much about the team’s latest aero package. However, he did record the second best time.
“When you get new parts, you want to go out and put lots of laps on it in order to compare it to what you had previously,” said Button. “But we weren’t able to do that today. We had a hydraulics issue in the morning, which meant we didn’t do much running. So it wasn’t the easiest morning – and then we didn’t do much running in the afternoon either because of the rain.
“We put a couple of good laps in but didn’t get any setup work done – because of the rain. It was nice to drive the new package, and I have a good feeling about it, but I need to work with it for a bit longer to find the right balance for it. Hopefully, Lewis (Hamilton) will put some more laps on the car tomorrow.”
Toro Rosso continued to figure near the top of the order as Daniel Ricciardo set the third best time of the day.
“A good day with my highest number of kilometers of the season, which is perfect preparation for Melbourne,” said the Aussie. “I enjoyed the race simulation and we treated it like a real race when the rain came, with my engineer asking me on the radio to make the call about when to come in for tires and which ones to fit. So it was good to have to make decisions and also to experience Pirelli’s intermediates and rain tires.”
Felipe Massa took over the Ferrari from Fernando Alonso, and set the fourth best time as the red car again logged a lot of miles, the Brazilian completing 122 laps.
Force India had another solid day as Paul Di Resta set the fifth best time of the day.
“It was my final day in the car before the first race and it was a full program with a race distance in the afternoon,” said the Scot. “It’s good to get an impression of the car during continuous running and also to try and replicate the tire compounds we expect to use in Melbourne. We’ve identified some more areas where we can improve in terms of balance, so that’s something to work on overnight before Nico (Hulkenberg) gets in the car.”
After focusing on pit stops yesterday, Williams was higher up the order today with Bruno Senna taking sixth spot.
“We completed some runs on lower fuel, which I hadn’t done before, using all the different tire compounds,” said the Brazilian. “I was then able to do a full race simulation this afternoon, to learn more about the car and tires in a race situation. We have a lot of valuable information to look at now, which will enable us to improve for next time. Unfortunately, we had to cut our race simulation a bit short due to the rain. However, we still met all our objectives for the day.”
Heikki Kovalainen was seventh for Caterham, ahead of Mark Webber’s Red Bull, which was the focus of much attention.
“We had a pretty good run today and once again we learned a lot,” said Webber. “However, I suppose the thing that everyone’s obviously asking about is the changes we made to the car but I have to say the car was not massively different to the one I drove on Thursday. We went through our normal program, nothing drastic happened, and we just keep working away. It would have been nice to have a few more laps today but then again we didn’t have a race simulation planned, so the rain didn’t really hurt us.
“For me the next stop now is Melbourne and I’m looking forward to that, it’s always good to drive out of the pitlane there. Racing’s what we’re all here for and while testing is good, it’s nice to be on track all at the same time, all with the same window of opportunity to deliver – that’s what we love doing. I’m looking forward to that weekend unfolding, and the rest of the races. It’ll be good to get the season going.”
Nico Rosberg had his last day in the Mercedes before handing over to Michael Schumacher for tomorrow.
“I’m happy with my pre-season testing program, and I believe that we have made a step forward from last year,” said Rosberg. “I have been able to achieve a lot of mileage which shows that the car is very reliable, and as a driver, I feel ready now for the first race in Melbourne. Unbelievably in the last hours of my test today, it was raining! So I have also been able to experience the car in the wet. Now it’s exciting to go to the first race and see where we are compared to the others. Finally, all the talking stops and the racing starts when we get to Australia.”
Kimi Raikkonen was at the bottom of the times with the Lotus after losing some track time.
“We had an issue with the power steering in the morning then we didn't run in the wet, so it was quite a short time for me in the car today,” he said. “At least we got some runs. The car was reliable when on track, meaning we gained some good data for the team. Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow and we can complete more laps.”
Unofficial Saturday test times from Barcelona:
1. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:22.094, 112 Laps
2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:22.103, 44 Laps
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:22.155, 130 Laps
4. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:22.413, 121 Laps
5. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:22.446, 108 Laps
6. Bruno Senna, Williams, 1:22.480, 111 Laps
7. Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham, 1:22.630, 64 Laps
8. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:22.662, 70 Laps
9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:22.932, 128 Laps
10. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 1:25.379, 43 Laps
Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
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