Barcelona Pre-Season Test – Day 4: Räikkönen between two waters
This last day of the first week of winter testing was supposed to be dedicated to wet track testing. In the end, the majority of laps were completed on a completely dry track. In this respect, Kimi Räikkönen once again came out on top, setting the fastest time of the day, while Lewis Hamilton was unable to run due to electrical problems.
Pirelli is regularly criticized for the performance of its tires. However, the criticism is even more intense regarding the wet-weather tires. The Italian manufacturer has already conducted tests at Mugello with Ferrari, but Sebastian Vettel experienced an off during an out lap, which significantly reduced the available data.
It had therefore been decided to dedicate one of the eight testing days in Barcelona to wet track testing. However, the Barcelona circuit is not equipped with the automatic and permanent watering system that a circuit like Paul Ricard can have. It was therefore necessary to use trucks to flood the track all night so that it would be completely soaked when the green light was given.
Where did all that water come from…? #F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/VXLCJcJBx2
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 2 /f1/actualite/21747-williams-ne-roulera-pas-aujourdhui-pour-cause-de-securite.html
Cela permet d’éviter la situation de Jerez 2014 où des tracteurs avaient été utilisés avec des réservoirs trop petits pour que le système soit réellement efficace. Si le système utilisé aujourd’hui fut un peu meilleur, il n’empêche que la piste n’était tout de même pas assez inondée pour simuler un aquaplanning et donc permettre aux équipes d’avoir davantage d’informations pour identifier le moment où il faut passer de pneus pleine pluie aux intermédiaires, puis des intermédiaires aux pneus slics.
Between the long moments when no car was on track due to the drying track, it was Kimi Räikkönen who once again set the best time of the day. The Ferrari also showed good reliability, completing another 93 laps.
He was able to open a gap of eight-tenths over Max Verstappen, who also did not experience significant issues and was able to complete 85 laps. Renault decided to split its day in two to allow both of its drivers to take the wheel under changing track conditions. In total, the French manufacturer was able to gather data on 90 laps of the Catalan circuit, with the fastest time set by Jolyon Palmer at 1:21.778, the third-fastest of the day.
But the award for dedication on the track today goes to Romain Grosjean, with 118 laps, which shows impressive reliability from his Haas. The fourth fastest time of the day will also lift the spirits of the American team’s crew.
On this rather unrepresentative day, it can still be noted that Pascal Wehrlein’s replacement at Sauber, Antonio Giovinazzi, was able to fully benefit from his day behind the wheel of the C36, with 84 laps and the fifth fastest time of the day, just ahead of Sergio Perez’s Force India.
For once, McLaren had a day without too many problems, even though some time was lost again in the morning. Stoffel Vandoorne was still able to complete 67 laps, which is one less than Valtteri Bottas did in just the afternoon. But Mercedes lost its first half-day of testing as Lewis Hamilton was stuck in the garage in the morning due to electronic issues. However, the three-time world champion didn’t seem disheartened as he believed he wouldn’t have learned much with the artificial track conditions.
Electrical fault kept us in the garage this morning, so I’ve decided with the team not to drive today as I wouldn’t have learned much (1/2) pic.twitter.com/LS0Tr8aWdK
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 2 mars
But the situation of Mercedes is far from that of Toro Rosso, which could only do one formation lap due to a new problem with its Renault engine. It feels like Franz Tost has already returned to the mindset of 2015, which almost led to a divorce between the two Red Bull teams and the French engine manufacturer: « We were hoping to do a lot more laps during this first week of pre-season. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete our program due to reliability issues. We are therefore missing data, especially on soft tires. When the car is on the track, we received very positive feedback. So we just need to continue working with our partner to resolve all our reliability issues. »
Toro Rosso is not the only team to have lost a day of testing since Williams also had to withdraw due to damages on its chassis caused by multiple off-track excursions by Lance Stroll yesterday.
First week of #F1Testing = DONE
Today’s scores on the doors from Day 4 in Barcelona 👀
Nice reading again for @ScuderiaFerrari 👊 pic.twitter.com/mtyigxKnYO — Formula 1 (@F1) 2 mars /f1/actualite/21747-williams-ne-roulera-pas-aujourdhui-pour-cause-de-securite.html
