Testing at the Montmelò circuit – 01 March 2015
Posted: 01.03.2015
Source: Ferrari
Circuit: Montmelò circuit – 4.655 km
Driver: Sebastian Vettel
Car: Ferrari SF15-T
Weather: Air temperature 10/22°C, track temperature 12/31°C. Sunny.
Laps/Km completed: 129/600
Fastest time: 1:23.469
Tyres used: Medium, Proto Medium, Hard.
Programme: aerodynamic test, set up and race simulation.
Sebastian Vettel: “The positive thing is that, once again, we have done a lot of kilometres and gathered useful information. The fact that our race simulation went more or less as planned is encouraging from a reliability point of view, although this is an aspect where we can still improve. From a performance point of view, it’s clear that Mercedes is still ahead by quite a way, but right behind there is us, Williams and Red Bull, all very close. We will know more in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile we must move forward one step at a time, looking above all at what we are doing ourselves”.
James Allison: “The day did not run as smooth as yesterday but, in spite of this, we managed to score plenty of laps on our board, successfully completing a race distance, so that now we have two of them under our belt prior to Melbourne. We leave the winter testing pretty happy with the way the car is performing, the way the test has been done and the way the team is
operating”.
“Concentration and discipline”
Posted: 01.03.2015
Source: Ferrari
Montmelò, 1 March – Before leaving the Catalunya circuit, Maurizio Arrivabene summed up the situation at Scuderia Ferrari, as the winter testing comes to an end. “Now, I can say that we have reached our objectives. The SF15-T is behaving as we’d expected. Kimi, who drove last last year’s car, sees an improvement and Sebastian, who is driving today, is also happy. But we all have our feet on the ground, because we know the other teams aren’t sleeping. It’s clear that Mercedes is there, but we have to concentrate on ourselves. At the moment we have a rough idea of our position relative to the opposition, but we know everyone follows different test programmes. Therefore, we are following ours, with concentration and discipline, which I believe are the keys to success. I have spoken to the team and I have made this clear.” Yesterday, the media were intrigued to see the Team Principal, along with Esteban Gutiérrez, the Sporting Director and a someone from the team’s main sponsor, sitting in the grandstand with the spectators. “I heard that in Australia there will be further restrictions in terms of passes for the paddock and so…I thought we might as well get used to going to the grandstands! I found the people to be very well educated and polite. These restrictions do not seem acceptable: having an “exclusive” atmosphere doesn’t mean having an empty paddock. Golf is maybe one of the most exclusive sports, but there are thousands of people following the players.”
Testing at the Montmelò circuit – 28 February 2015
Posted: 28.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Circuit: Montmelò circuit – 4.655 km
Driver: Kimi Raikkonen
Car: Ferrari SF15-T
Weather: Air temperature 10/17°C, track temperature 10/30°C. Sunny.
Laps/Km completed: 136/633
Fastest time: 1:23.276
Tyres used: Soft, Medium.
Programme: aerodynamic test, set up and race simulation.
Kimi Raikkonen: “Overall it hasn’t been a bad test since we covered a race distance today. Now we wait to go to Melbourne to see how we stand compared to the others. I wish to thank the Team for the work it has done during the winter”.
James Allison: “We’ve got a lot of laps under our belt in this winter testing; but until you actually go out and do the laps for a race, one after the other, and not stopping except to change tyres, you really can’t claim that you’re ready to go to Melbourne and do it for real. So we’re happy to get our first race distance of the winter done, happy to have achieved at the first attempt, and with the reliability that we showed. So I’m pleased with the testing we did over the last two days, which shows clearly that the car works as we expected. Winter testing in Europe always asks slightly different questions from the car than you get when you’re in Bahrain: but it doesn’t turn night into day. Most of what the car really is is revealed here as much as on the other Grand Prix circuits during the year. And I think what we see is a well-mannered car, so we expect these characteristics to be broadly carried over to the other races”.
Third day of testing in Barcelona – 13.00 update
Posted: 28.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Montmelò, 28 February – Today, Kimi Raikkonen took over from Sebastian Vettel at the wheel of the SF15-T. The team’s programme focused mainly on further aero and set-up testing, while the plan for this afternoon is to run the car in race configuration. An electrical problem, combined with some pre-planned work, required a long stop in the garage. However, Kimi was out on track again towards the end of the morning, setting the second fastest time so far, in 1:23.276, with the planned programme due to resume after the lunch break.
Testing at the Montmelò circuit – 27 February 2015
Posted: 27.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Circuit: Montmelò circuit – 4.655 km
Driver: Sebastian Vettel
Car: Ferrari SF15-T
Weather: Air temperature 10/17°C, track temperature 12/31°C. Sunny.
Laps/Km completed: 143/665
Fastest time: 1:25.399
Tyres used: Soft, Medium.
Programme: aerodynamic test and long run.
Sebastian Vettel: “I drove more than two Grands Prix today, but I don’t know if I won one, that depends on what the others did! Jokes apart, it’s nice that at the final test we could cover more and more mileage. Today we didn’t have any problem, we know there is still a lot of work we can do as a team, but so far I feel very good. If I had to pinpoint one thing, I’d rather be a bit quicker, but it’s difficult to evaluate how quick we are, because some people tried more of a qualifying trim and others did less so. I never drove the 2014 Ferrari, but I think this one it’s a massive step forward. That doesn’t mean that we are satisfied as it’s clear that if you want to win, you have to beat Mercedes. It’s exciting to see what’s going on behind them, which I think it’s not clear judging from the lap times we’ve seen so far”.
James Allison: “Today was a much, much better day, with almost flawless reliability, and it’s much more encouraging, as we get close to Melbourne, to have that. We did a lot of setup work as well, were very conservative for outright performance, but were able to get good direction for the start of the season”.
Second day of testing in Barcelona – 13.00 update
Posted: 27.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Montmelo, 27 February – The second day of testing at the Catalan circuit sees Sebastian Vettel at the wheel of the SF15-T. The weather is definitely better today and that has allowed the team to make good progress with its programme.
Today, Scuderia Ferrari has been concentrating on aerodynamic tests and long runs. Vettel also set the third best time this morning in 1:25.339, completing 69 laps. The team will be back in action this afternoon.
Testing at the Montmelò circuit – 26 February 2015
Posted: 26.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Circuit: Montmelò circuit – 4.655 km
Driver: Kimi Raikkonen
Car: Ferrari SF15-T
Weather: Air temperature 8/14 °C, track temperature 10/13. Cloudy.
Laps/Km completed: 80/372
Fastest time: 1:26.327
Tyres used: Soft, Medium, Hard.
Programme: Set-up analysis, practice starts and pit-stop test.
Kimi Raikkonen: “We learned something today, even with a few issues which I am sure we can fix. The car is not too bad overall, but there are some areas where we want to improve, especially when it get tricky with the conditions that we are experiencing and cause the tyres not to work the same way from one lap to another. Now we have another day of testing to put together what we have learned. In a few days in Melbourne we will find out where we really are”.
James Allison: “This wasn’t an easy day for us as we spent time chasing our tails on an annoying reliability problems which by the end of the day we managed to put to bed, but that interrupted our programmes for the day quite considerably. Now we can put what we learn today in place for tomorrow so to have a day much more like we want to have”.
First day of testing in Barcelona – 13.15 update
Posted: 26.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Montmelò, 26 February – The final test session of the winter got underway today, for Scuderia Ferrari and the other teams at the circuit. Kimi Raikkonen is at the wheel of the SF15-T and his programme features various simulation tasks, relating to set-up, as well as fuel loads, doing runs of various lengths. This morning’s work was slightly affected by the unpredictable weather, with rain beginning to fall persistently, before the lunch break. The Finn set the sixth best time of the morning, a 1:27.813 and work will resume at the start of the afternoon.
A first for Esteban
Posted: 26.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 26 February – In a short interview, shot at the Barcelona Filming Day, Esteban Gutierrez gives his first impressions of being behind the wheel of the SF15-T, the car the team is running right now at the Catalunya circuit in the second of two pre-season tests at this track. After countless simulator sessions, the Scuderia’s third driver was impressed with this first hand experience of the car, which has also helped him get to know the team and its way of working.
Final test session in Barcelona
Posted: 25.02.2015
Source: Ferrari
Montmelò, 25 February –Tomorrow, the engines will be fired up once more at the Montmelò circuit, which plays host to the third and final winter test prior to the start of the season. Testing runs for four days, from Thursday to Sunday. Scuderia Ferrari will alternate its drivers, with Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel of the SF15-T on Thursday and Saturday. Sebastian Vettel will drive on the Friday and Sunday.