Jerez Day 2: Vettel’s Ferrari still on top at day’s end (Update)
02/02/15
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| Sebastian Vettel |
Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari maintained their position at the top of the timesheets on the second day of F1 testing in Jerez, while both Mercedes and McLaren-Honda ran into technical issues.
On his second day in the SF15-T, Vettel led the way, improving his time to 1min 20.984secs in the afternoon before light rain ended anymore fast laps.
A full 1.6secs quicker than he managed on his first day in the car and completing 78 laps, Vettel was also a clear eight-tenths faster than second place driver Felipe Nasr, who made it a Ferrari-powered 1-2 in the Sauber C34.
Mercedes ran into problems with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel on day two. Diagnosed as a minor water leak, Mercedes had hoped to get the Englishman back on track before the end of the day, but ongoing issues ended those hopes. Despite this Hamilton completing 91 laps – still more than any other driver – bringing Mercedes' tally up to 246 laps in just two days.
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| Lewis Hamilton sandbagging in the new Mercedes |
Lewis Hamilton said, "that was a satisfying day. We did a lot of laps and I got a feel for the car quite quickly. We're in the first days of testing so it never feels that great as the car is at the worst it will be all season. But it feels the same as it did last year which is a good thing. A little more downforce maybe but otherwise it handles exactly the same. The balance obviously wasn't perfect as we're not working on setup yet, so it could be a lot better. But the priority right now is to put in the laps, not set fast times, and there were lots of positives today. We got good mileage and hopefully we'll get even more in the next two days. Testing isn't the exciting part as a driver – I live to go racing. But this is where you build your foundations for the year and we're all working hard to understand the car. Everything from drivability to tires you have to learn now to stand you in good stead for the season. You can't get excited at this point as there's a long way to go before Melbourne but there's a really good energy in the team. Everybody is feeling positive and working hard but we're basing nothing on last year. We start again with the same aim as everyone else – to win. I can't wait to get to that first race."
After a successful track debut for the Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB11 yesterday, day two at the first pre-season F1 test Jerez was less profitable as an early morning off for new recruit Daniil Kvyat led to a damaged front wing. As a result of time pressure to ready the RB11 for the first test, no replacement was available and the team was restricted to running systems checks until a late afternoon shower effectively ended meaningful running for the day.
"It was not ideal today, sometimes mistakes happen and there's nothing you can do about them," said Daniil of his off-track moment. "After that we tried to maximize our day, not having spare parts to replace the wing. We still maximized our running with what we had and hopefully we can recover from that. I have another day to make up for it, so just looking forward to Wednesday now."
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| Maldonado in the new Lotus |
Pastor Maldonado: "It was fantastic to get behind the wheel for the first ever lap of this exciting new car. Even though it's early days we achieved a lot today. It was already exciting to feel the potential of the car and I can't wait to get back in the car tomorrow. We did stop running early, but then it started to rain so everyone else came in too so it was not a big drama. The car certainly looks fantastic and I know we have a lot of potential for the season ahead."
McLaren's dismal start to the 2015 season continued as Jenson Button spent much of his day in the garage, mechanics poring over the Honda-powered MP4-30. Button managed just six very slow laps over the course of the day, bringing its total up to just 12 over 16 hours of track time and giving Honda more egg on their face.
Felpe Nasr said, "It was a great day. I was able to complete a lot of laps, and I was happy with everything I saw. I was getting used to the systems, the procedures and the characteristics of the car. It was definitely a good start to understand where we are now. It was important for me to get used to this new environment, but after such a long day, with both dry and wet conditions, I was able to adapt to all the situations. Now we can start working on the details."
Max Verstappen, said, "In the morning we had some difficulties in warming up the brakes, but we fixed that very quickly. After that, we managed to do some long runs that helped me to learn about the new car straight away. In the afternoon it rained a bit, but it was useful for me to experience the intermediate tires. It feels good to finally start working for the upcoming season and I'm happy with my first test day here in Jerez."
Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Best / Total Laps |
| 1. | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:20.984 | 22 / 89 |
| 2. | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:21.867 | 68 / 88 |
| 3. | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:22.319 | 56 / 61 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:22.490 | 11 / 91 |
| 5. | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:24.167 | 28 / 73 |
| 6. | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:25.802 | 29 / 41 |
| 7. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:54.655 | 4 / 6 |
| 8. | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | No Time | / 18 |