ZitatSitting on Top of the World - Jerez Test, Day 2
Romain Grosjean ended the second day of testing at Jerez as comfortably the fastest man on track as the team continued its evaluation programme with the E21.
Under blue skies with occasional cloud coverage, Romain completed 95 laps; many of which dipped into the 1min 18s. He ended the day with the best time set thus far this week – a 1min 18.218secs – with no other car running under 1min 19.000secs.
Fast Facts:
Track: Jerez, Spain, 4.4km Chassis: E21-01 Weather: Sunny, ambient 5-22°C, track 7-28°C Programme: Systems checks, temperature monitoring, data correlation, evaluation of the performance of the car with its initial aerodynamic package, tyre performance assessment. Laps Completed: 95. Classification: P1, 1:18.218. Interruptions: Stopped out on track on lap 96 (fuel).
What’s Next?
Kimi Räikkönen will take to the wheel of the E21 for the first time tomorrow, before wrapping up the opening test on Friday.
Romain Grosjean: “It was good today; the programme went to plan and we showed we have good reliability. For me, the whole test has gone well which bodes well for the year ahead. My feeling in the car is good and it was great to be at the top of the times. Even if it doesn’t mean anything during testing, it’s still good to be at the front. We used the soft, medium and hard compounds and whilst we’re not 100% yet on the differences between each we have a good idea. Kimi will be working on this area for the next two days so we’ll have a better understanding when we head to Barcelona. It’s not easy to understand everything about the car and tyres yet, but I think we’re working quite well and it’s up to us to find the best solutions.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “I’m very happy with today’s performance. The pace looks good and we haven’t had any issues with reliability meaning we could complete all of our programme without interruption. We focused on learning more about the 2013 Pirelli tyres and ran with the soft, medium and hard compounds with a variety of different set-ups, both mechanical and aerodynamic, to understand how they react. This combined with a good mileage today to give us some very good data to work through ahead of Kimi getting in the car tomorrow.”
ZitatJerez Test, Day 2 – Romain Grosjean Talks Tyres, Times and Tracks
Fresh from a successful day in the Spanish sun, we caught up with the man of the hour to hear his thoughts on an encouraging start to the team’s 2013 season preparations
Romain; 95 laps today and we made you walk home! How was your second day of testing?
Yes I know! It was good today; the programme went to plan and showed we have good reliability. The whole test has gone well for me; we’ve done some interesting things and some less interesting things but it all bodes well for the season ahead. My feeling in the car is good and it was great to be at the top of the times today. Even if it doesn’t mean anything at the moment, it’s still good to be at the front.
Did you use the soft, medium and hard compounds?
Yes, we used all three compounds. We’re not 100% yet on the differences between the tyres, however Kimi is next up in the car for two days so he will have a good run on them and give us a better idea of what we need to do for the next test session in Barcelona.
How different do the tyres feel from last year?
Jerez is a pretty tricky track to judge tyres, but since yesterday we’ve been suffering a little bit with graining. It’s not easy to understand everything but I think they work quite well and it’s up to us to find the best solutions.
Your fastest lap was quite comfortably quicker than anyone else out there and it came right in the middle of the day; were you pushing or was it part of the programme?
It was part of the programme. We tried the softs on the car and it worked well. We probably could have done a better time, but were blocked by the McLaren. We kept to our programme and were generally happy with everything.
Are you looking forward to Barcelona and the next test?
Yes, absolutely! I’m looking forward to going to Barcelona as it’s a Grand Prix circuit and we’ll see a little more there as it’s very representative of the season itself. We’ll also have some additional feedback from Kimi, so it will be good to get more track time there. There will be further pieces coming for the car and the team will continue working so hopefully we will have an even better package.
How does it compare to the E20 now that you’ve got some good miles under your belt?
To be honest it’s similar to how it was last year; we identified our weaknesses and the team has been working hard on those areas. We’re still at a very early stage in the year so it’s good to start with a baseline that works well. The main areas of improvement are the general stability and consistency through the corners.
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Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:34 pm
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