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
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.
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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