Pre-Season Testing Barcelona – Day 7: Kimi Räikkönen on Top and with the Halo

During private testing, it is not uncommon to see the single-seaters equipped with rather surprising aerodynamic devices. Their goal is to correlate the results on the track with those obtained in the wind tunnel and on the computer.

Today, an entirely different element was tested, the halo. This famous element has been the subject of much discussion over the past several months. Its goal is to prevent the kind of tragedies that took the lives of Henry Surtees or Justin Wilson, not to mention Jules Bianchi. Therefore, the FIA conducted a first full-scale test on a single-seater on track. We also noticed that Ferrari took the opportunity to showcase several of its sponsors, thanks to this additional available space.

If one might think that this would significantly reduce the driver’s frontal view, Kimi Räikkönen stated that he was surprised not to be more disturbed: « This morning, I tried the Halo protection. The difference from the usual driving was surprisingly small. The visibility in front is a bit more limited, but I don’t think it was the final version. It can therefore be improved. »

“Surprisingly little difference…”

Kimi reports back after testing the ‘halo’> https://t.co/G9TKR5Q4At pic.twitter.com/PQs9TC8APD

— Formula 1 (@F1) 3 mars 2016

On the Renault side, the day was once again marked by a technical issue, this time with the gearbox. Although this delayed Jolyon Palmer’s start, the Briton was still able to complete 98 laps, including a full race simulation: « I’ve seen Kevin do so many laps recently that when my day didn’t go as planned, I thought: “Why me?” Once we solved the gearbox problem, it felt good to complete a race simulation without any issues. I feel good in the car. It’s just annoying to miss the 100 laps mark for the day by only two laps! »

But while most teams have been able to surpass this symbolic mark, others have encountered more problems. Starting with Haas. Although Esteban Gutierrez could complete only one lap yesterday, Romain Grosjean managed to do 78, which is much more reassuring. Nevertheless, the French driver suffered three off-track incidents, notably due to his braking system, which limited his running time: « We had some issues with the electric brake system, which complicated things a bit for us. However, we resolved them. At the end of the day, I went off at turn 9. It wasn’t the best ending, but I think now we know where to look to get the car back where it should be. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a much better day. »

The former Lotus driver can reassure himself by saying that he still completed more laps than Pascal Wehrlein, who only managed 48 laps throughout the day, while Nico Rosberg was able to do no less than 81 laps in the morning session alone. Mercedes is still not focused on performance as they have not yet fitted the new ultra-soft tires, or even the super-softs.

Nevertheless, the young German driver from Manor is satisfied with the prospects offered by his car: « If given the choice, I prefer to do fewer fast laps than more slow laps. So I can’t be unhappy with where we finished today. We lost a bit of track time due to mechanical problems, but I managed to do a stint on ultra-softs. My lap was good enough to be 8th, and we have good setups. Even though it would have been nice to have more laps, they would have only confirmed it. »

CLASSIFICATION – END OF DAY 3, FINAL WINTER TEST

⏱= Räikkönen
💪= @Max33Verstappen#F1Testing pic.twitter.com/Ivv8SgAESE

— Formula 1 (@F1) 3 mars 2016

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr