Final Barcelona F1 Test 2013: DAY 4 - Nico brings the Silver Arrows to top once more

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Nico Rosberg completed the final day of pre-season testing for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS at the Circuit de Catalunya today. With twelve days of track action completed over three tests, the team will return to base to make the final preparations for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne in two weeks time.

- Nico’s programme today focused on set-up evaluations over short runs in the morning and longer runs this afternoon

- His fastest time of the day was set during the morning session on the soft compound Pirelli tyres

- Nico completed 131 laps, just under two race distances, which was the highest mileage recorded today

The F1 W04 has completed 5224 km over the three tests, with Nico and Lewis totalling 2640 km & 2584 km respectively.

Nico Rosberg
"I’m pleased with our pre-season testing programme. We have achieved a lot of mileage and I can feel that the balance of the car is good. I have the general feeling that we are in a better position than in the second half of last year but this is testing not racing, of course. The conditions in the first race will be completely different to here as it will be much hotter in Melbourne and Sepang so we need to wait and see. Thanks to the team here at the track and back home at the factory for all their hard work over the last month. I hope it pays off and we can look forward to a positive season ahead together."

Ross Brawn
"With the conclusion of our testing programme, I am pleased with the progress that the team has made over the last month and the steps forward that have been made with the car. We have achieved our objectives for the test programme and the mileage that we have been able to complete has been very satisfying. Lewis has settled into the team extremely well and everyone has enjoyed working with both him and Nico throughout the three tests. We now have one final week back at the factory to complete our preparations; both drivers will be at the factory this week and, as always, there is a lot of work to do in a short space of time. We’re realistic about our performance here and our position once we get to Melbourne, and we look forward to the challenge of a new season ahead."

DAY 4 Times

~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

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Final Barcelona F1 Test 2013: DAY 4 - Jenson concludes the last pre-season testing session

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A positive end to three weeks of testing in Spain. Jenson concluded the 12 days’ running with a productive 122 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya today.

At the conclusion of the test, sporting director Sam Michael said:

“After completing over 5,000 kilometres, through dry and wet conditions, we have collected plenty of data from MP4-28A. A large part of winter testing is taken up with methodically working through many systems checks and verifying that the correlation between design and track is solid – that’s more important in modern F1 as track testing opportunities are so limited.

“A special thank-you to everybody put so much effort into the testing program. We’re all really looking forward to the first race in Melbourne in two weeks – from the laptimes we’ve seen the season is going to be incredibly close!”

Location: Circuit de Catalunya
Driver: Jenson Button
Track length: 4.655km
Laps: 122
Km covered: 568
Best laptime: 1m 21.444s

What’s next?

We return to MTC, prep, and pack for Melbourne.

DAY 4 Standings

Pos / Driver / Constructor / Time / Laps

1 / Nico Rosberg / Mercedes AMG / 1m 20.130s / 131

2 / Fernando Alonso / Ferrari / 1m 20.494s / 120

3 / Jenson Button / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 1m 21.444s / 122

4 / Nico Hulkenberg / Sauber / 1m 21.541s / 118

5 / Kimi Raikkonen / Lotus / 1m 21.658s / 50

6 / Paul di Resta / Force India / 1m 21.664s / 112

7 / Pastor Maldonado / Williams / 1m 22.415s / 42

8 / Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull Racing / 1m 22.514s / 100

9 / Valtteri Bottas / Williams / 1m 22.524s / 31

10 / Charles Pic / Caterham / 1m 23.115s / 116

11 / Jules Bianchi / Marussia / 1m 23.167s / 62

12 / Daniel Ricciardo / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 1m 23.628s / 91

13 / Max Chilton / Marussia / 1m 24.103s / 49

~ Official photo and report courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~

Copyright © 2013, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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Jerez F1 Test 2013: DAY 4 - Sergio ends the first development round for the MP4-28

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Sergio returned to the cockpit for his second day of testing, putting a useful 434km under his belt as he continued to acquaint himself with his new team and car.

Following a similar pattern to the past three days, the day began with some aero correlation work, conducted over a number of shorter runs, before the team turned its attention to mechanical set-up work.

As yesterday, the afternoon was spent carrying out a series of longer runs – with live pitstops – to more fully understand the set-up changes.

Location: Circuito de Jerez, Spain
Driver: Sergio Perez
Track length: 4.428km
Laps: 98
Km covered: 434
Best laptime: 1m18.944s
Test dates: Four days (February 5-8)

Conclusions

Our first test with MP4-28 has been extremely productive: despite a few reliability issues on the opening days, running has largely been trouble-free. Jenson has expressed his initial confidence with the new car, and Checo has played himself in quickly, completing nearly 800km in his first week. He already feels comfortable behind the wheel of a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

The Jerez test was a good baseline for the rest of our winter work.

DAY 3 Standings
Pos / Driver / Constructor / Best time / Laps

1 / Kimi Raikkonen / Lotus-Renault / 1m 18.148s / 83

2 / Jules Bianchi / Force India / 1m 18.175s / 56

3 / Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull Racing / 1m 18.565s / 96

4 / Esteban Gutierrez / Sauber / 1m 18.669s / 142

5 / Jean-Eric Vergne / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 1m 18.760s / 92

6 / Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes AMG / 1m 18.905s / 145

7 / Sergio Perez / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 1m 18.944s / 98

8 / Valtteri Bottas / Williams / 1m 19.851s / 92

9 / Pedro de la Rosa / Ferrari / 1m 20.316s / 51

10 / Charles Pic / Caterham / 1m 21.105s / 109

11 / Luiz Razia / Marussia / 1m 21.226s / 82

12 / Paul di Resta / Force India / 1m 23.435s / 49

~ Official photo and report courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~

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Jerez F1 Test 2013: DAY 4 - Lewis concludes the session with record mileage

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Lewis Hamilton completed the final day of the first winter test in Jerez, Spain for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS today. After running on his first day in the car was limited to just 15 laps, Lewis today completed a total of 145 laps as he familiarised himself with the new F1 W04.

• Lewis’ running this morning concentrated on set-up changes as he familiarised himself with the car

• Following a delay to repair the track surface at Turn 5, Lewis focused on completing a race distance

• This was successfully completed during the afternoon with further valuable miles put on the new car

• Lewis and Nico completed a combined total of 1426 km over the four days of testing in Jerez

DAY 3 Statistics

DAY 3 Times

MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS will resume testing on Tuesday 19 February in Barcelona.

Lewis Hamilton
"Today we managed the kind of mileage that the car is capable of and I think we have a good platform to start working from. Now we need to understand the F1 W04 even more: personally, I am learning something with every lap I do and every change I make to the set-up. Overall, I think we are probably at the level we would have hoped to be. The team has done a great job to add downforce to the car over the winter and they now need Nico and me to tell them where we can improve and the direction we need to go. Everybody has been incredibly supportive and I am really building a good bond with the team; they feel energised, ready to go and everybody is working flat out to move us forward."

Ross Brawn
"After a difficult first half of the test, the last two days have really been as good as we could have hoped for. Nico is probably best placed to compare between last year’s car and the new W04 and he seems pretty enthusiastic, but it is hard to have any reliable feeling of where we stand relative to the competition. Lewis had a very constructive day today as he settled in to the car; he has been very straightforward in telling us what he thinks, is interested in everything about the car and has a very good eye for detail. Overall, the step we have to make from where we were at the end of last year is substantial and it is also, of course, a moving target. But looking at the team as a whole, I can see very encouraging signs of progress."

~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

Copyright © 2013, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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