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Williams Barcelona Test - 03 Mar 2016 Day Three


By Williams Martini Racing - Andrew Hooper
March 4 2016

In what wiould be another productive day for the Williams Martini team Felipe Massa would finish the day in second after a soft tyre run. His ultrasoft tyre run would be hampered by traffic. The team would complete various aero and setup evaluations in a day where the Williams team would come away feeling that they are "up there at the sharp end." Felipe will be back for the last day of testing prior to the Australian GP.

 
  Barcelona Test 03:03:2016 Day Three
 
Massa
 

Driver: Felipe Massa
Chassis / Engine: FW38-02 / PU106C Hybrid
Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.655km
Weather: Warm and Dry
Maximum air & track temps: 18ºC / 28ºC

Day three of the Williams Martin teams final pre-season test would see Felipe Massa return to the cockpit. Thirty minutes into the morning session and Felipe was yet to take to the track. Quickest at this time was Alonso with a 1m:27.735 running on the medium tyre. With nearly an hour completed Felipe still had yet to come out due to some last minute changes on the car. It would not be until over hours into the session that Felipe would finally come out. Quickest at this time was Rosberg with a 1m:24.309 on the medium tyre. t was looking more like that Felipe's car had an issue which was stopping it come out.

Felipe would finally complete an installation lap after his delayed start. Felipe would quickly move to the super soft tyre and would set a 1m:25.962. With two hours of the test run Rosberg was still quickest from Raikkonen. Felipe would pit switching from the softer tyre to the medium. He would pit having completed twenty eight lpas while at the front Raikkonen would go quickest with a 1m:23.009 running on the soft tyre. Hulkenberg and Verstappen weer second and third but both had set their times on the super soft tyre. Felipe would continue his run as Rosberg improved his medium lap time with a 1m:24.126.

At the front Raikkonen would go even quicker setting a 1m:22.785 but this time he was on the new ultrasoft tyre. Felipe would pit having completed thirty laps. Felipe would return running on the medium tyre and would improve his lap time with a 1m:25.420. AS the session drew to a close for the lunch break Felipe continue to put in further laps. But the session would be red flagged when Grosjean went off at Turn Four. Felipe would pit having completed forty six laps. During the mornings runs the FW38 was seen with flo-viz on the rear wing endplates.

With the start of the afternoon session Felipe would head straight out. He would be forced to pit with a red flag. On his return to the track after the session restarted Felipe would improve his lap time with a 1m:24.898, running on the medium tyre. His next run was on soft's and Felipe would set a 1m:23.663 to be fourth behind the top three who had all set their times on the ultrasoft tyre. Felipe would pit returning still on the soft tyre and would set a 1m:23.193. Again Felipe would pit and come out on the ultrasoft tyre but his lap was ruined when he was held up by Kvyat and he would pit. Felipe had completed eighty three laps at this point in the session.

With ninety minutes remaining Felipe was back out running on the soft tyre and would not show his earlier pace seeming to indicate that he was running a heavier car. Felipe would pit but would soon return again on the soft tyre but gain his lap times were slower than those also running on this tyre. The final hour would see Felipe again run on the ultrasoft tyre but would only lap in the 1m:27s. He would complete one hundred and nineteen laps at the end of the day.

Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer:
It’s been another productive day for us. We started off with some suspension and tyre tests this morning when the conditions were more stable, as usual here in Barcelona. Over the lunchbreak we did a grid process simulation, and then a first race stint straight after. We’ve also completed a qualifying simulation running on mediums, soft's, and ultrasoft's at the end. Sadly, Felipe couldn’t set his potentially quickest time on the ultrasoft's due to traffic, so he was actually quickest on a soft tyre. We also did some more system work and aero evaluations, so a bit of everything really. We’ll spend a few days following the tests looking at all the data but I think we can be reasonably positive that we are up there at the sharp end. Exactly where we are we will only really know after the first few races of the season though. In terms of development, Felipe and Valtteri are both giving similar feedback. They are sensitive to different aspects of car performance, but they broadly agree with each other’s comments, which really helps. They push each other on sportingly and technically, so are a good combination.

Felipe Massa:
Today has been a very positive day. We managed to do our programme without any problems, which included some long runs and also some short runs. We tried the soft and even ultrasoft tyres. Unfortunately I couldn’t do my ultrasoft lap because we had some traffic, but overall it was a very good day and good to understand the car in a better way. I am definitely much happier this week compared to last week. We are almost ready for the first race, which is really when we will have a proper idea of where we are compared to the others, but today was a good day.

Williams Martini Racing returns tomorrow with Felipe Massa at the wheel of the FW38 for the final day of the test.

 
Massa
 

Driver 		  Team 	    	   	Best Time  Best / 
Total Laps
1. K Raikkonen Ferrari 1:22.765 31 / 136 2. F. Massa Williams Martini 1:23.193 77 / 119 3. N. Hulkenberg Force India F1 Team 1:23.251 46 / 137 4. M. Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:23.382 50 / 159 5. N. Rosberg Mercedes AMG F1 Team 1:24.126 58 / 81 6. F. Nasr Sauber F1 Team 1:24.760 31 / 116 7. F. Alonso McLaren 1:24.870 38 / 118 8. P. Wehrlein Manor F1 Team 1:24.913 36 / 48 9. D. Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:25.141 43 / 121 10. J. Palmer Renault Sport F1 Team 1:26.224 97 / 98 11. L. Hamilton Mercedes AMG F1 Team 1.26.488 25 / 63 12. R. Grosjean Haas F1 Team 1.27.196 63 / 78
 
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Williams Barcelona Test - 03 Mar 2016 Day THree
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