Test Barcelona – GP simulation, Kimi’s day

Posted: 09.03.2018 / Source: Ferrari

Testing ends at Catalunya: 157 laps for Raikkonen

Montmelò, 9 March – The second and final winter test at the Catalunya Circuit has now ended. Today, Kimi Raikkonen was behind the wheel of the SF71H, having recovered, after being indisposed over the past few days. He rattled off 157 laps, the best of them in 1’17”221, set using the Hypersoft tyres. Scuderia Ferrari’s programme included set-up work and a race simulation, running different types of tyre and fuel loads. This was the hottest day of the entire two weeks of testing, with temperatures over 20° and the track around the 37 mark.

“Overall, I feel we have a good package,” was Kimi’s assessment. “For sure the weather at the start of testing wasn’t ideal, but we have finished with a couple of pretty good days. The car gives me a good feeling and, even if there are still a lot of things to improve, its reasonably easy to drive and it reacts to the various set-up changes. However, no one can say where we really are, compared to our rivals. We’ll have a better idea in a couple of weeks in Melbourne and then, in general, after the first few races of the season. I like racing and I can’t wait to start.”

Over the two test sessions, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers covered a total of 929 laps (286 for Kimi and 643 for Sebastian) equivalent to 4324 kilometres.

Test Barcelona – Sebastian “in race mode”

Posted: 08.03.2018 / Source: Ferrari

On his last day of testing, Vettel completes a trouble-free GP simulation

Montmelò, 8 March –Winter testing has now ended for Seb Vettel. The next time he meets up with the SF71H will be in Melbourne, for free practice at the Australian Grand Prix. The final day of testing for the German champion was given over to a programme that included set-up and tyre evaluation with different fuel loads, the classic race weekend simulation that signs off winter testing for every driver. By the end of the day, Seb had completed no fewer than 188 laps (equivalent to over 875 kilometres,) in all conditions, including a false start test, with other cars on track. His best lap was a 1’17”182, set on the new Hypersoft tyres that are making their debut this season.

“The times on these test days don’t mean much,” repeated Sebastian. “The important thing is that the SF71H has proved to be very strong, allowing us to run all day without any significant problems. We are still working on some things for the first race and it’s not really possible to make any predictions based on the performance of the other teams, because everyone is running a different programme. However, I’m happy for the guys in the team.”

It was cloudy and chilly this morning at the Catalunya circuit and then a bit milder in the afternoon, with an average temperature of 15 degrees (28 track temperature) with a few gusts of wind. Tomorrow, Kimi Raikkonen will round off testing with a similar programme to his team-mate.

Test Barcelona – A change of plan

Posted: 07.03.2018 / Source: Ferrari

Seb and Kimi share the driving on the second day of testing 

Montmelò,  7 March –It was a bit of an unusual Wednesday at the Catalunya Circuit, as both drivers had a turn behind the wheel of the SF71H. Scuderia Ferrari completed 115 laps, equivalent to a distance of 535 kilometres. Sebastian Vettel did 66 laps in the morning, the German’s best being a 1’19”541. Kimi Raikkonen was only able to drive in the afternoon, feeling unwell and staying in his hotel room until lunchtime. The Finn managed 49 laps, with a fastest time of 1’20”242, as he continued with the programme that had been affected by last week’s bad weather. Both men set their best times on the Soft tyres. Tomorrow, testing continues with Sebastian Vettel driving, so that Raikkonen can make a complete recovery. Kimi will return on Friday, thus bringing the second and final winter test to a close, prior to heading off to Melbourne.

Test Barcelona – Pushing for the 800

Posted: 06.03.2018 / Source: Ferrari

That’s the distance in kilometres covered by Seb today in the SF71H

Montmelò – 171 laps of the Catalunya Circuit totals 796 kilometres. That’s the distance Sebastian Vettel reeled off in the SF71H on this the first day of the second and final pre-season test session.
This time, the weather behaved itself with air temperature reaching 15 degrees and the track hitting 26. Only wind in the afternoon affected the session.

Scuderia Ferrari set to work on the dot of 9, the car doing some laps fitted with sensors to acquire data linked to the aerodynamics. After that came some relatively long runs, switching between the Soft and Medium compound tyres. It was on the latter that Seb set his fastest time in 1’20”396, on his 66th lap.

“It was a good day’s work,” commented the driver at the end of the session. “We managed to get through our programme, even if the conditions weren’t always ideal, because of the wind.”

Tomorrow, Wednesday, testing continues with Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel.

Test Barcelona – Testing ends at Catalunya

Posted: 01.03.2018 / Source: Ferrari

120 laps for Seb today, almost 300 over three days

Montmelò, 1st march – The 120 laps Sebastian Vettel drove today, brings the total completed by the SF71H over what was effectively just a three day session to 298, equivalent to 1387.19 km/h. After yesterday’s snowfall, temperatures were very definitely on the up today at the Catalunya Circuit: at the end of the session, there had been a high of 12.7° air and almost 15 on track, but damp conditions in the morning still affected the work. It explains why, during the first few hours, Seb used wet weather Intermediate tyres, before switching to new and used Softs for the rest of the day. The final part of the session was given over to long runs, which yielded a best lap during these tests of 1’20”241. “The afternoon wasn’t exactly ideal,” commented the driver, “because of the track conditions and also a bit of time lost in the garage to sort out a few details. I’d have liked to have driven more, but we can do that next week, when we will start to get a clearer picture.”
The team also did some pit stop practice. Testing resumes on Tuesday 6th March, running through to the 9th.

Test Barcelona – Snow stops play

Posted: 28.02.2018 / Source: Ferrari

Testing wiped out by bad weather. Ferrari and Kimi take a break

Montmelò –Meteorologically speaking, spring starts tomorrow, but it seems that doesn’t apply to the Catalunya Circuit. The third day of testing was wiped out…following snowfall this morning. And even when it turned to rain in the afternoon, temperatures never reached the sort of numbers required to run a Formula 1 car. Air temperature just crept over two degrees with the track a fraction more.
Come the afternoon, Kimi Raikkonenn and Scuderia Ferrari took the only reasonable decision, namely to write off the day, which under the current regulations cannot be recovered later. Tomorrow, Sebastian Vettel will drive as planned, to round off the first test session. So the SF71H spent the whole day in the garage. There was no point in venturing out, because with such low temperatures, even the Wet tyres would not work properly and furthermore, running would not generate any worthwhile date on how the car was performing.
“Today, it felt more like being in Finland than Spain,” quipped Kimi. “And everyone knows there’s no Formula 1 in my country.” He will be back at the wheel next week, with the T2 session getting underway on Tuesday 6th March, running for four day. This time, the Scuderia Ferrari programme has Sebastian driving on the 6th and 8th, with Kimi getting his turn on Wednesday 7th and Friday 9th, that being the final day of winter testing.

Barcelona Test – Marathon on ice

Posted: 27.02.2018 / Source: Ferrari

Cold and even snow, but Vettel and the SF71 rattle off 98 laps: “And that’s the important thing”

Montmelò, 27 February –Snow just a few kilometres from the Costa Brava on the Spanish Mediterranean is not what you expect. The last time this happened at an F1 test at the Catalunya Circuit was 19 years ago, but the icy blast of the past few days brought in a few snowflakes this afternoon. Nevertheless, the SF17H, with Sebastian Vettel having his first day at the wheel, reeled off 98 laps, the fastest of which was a 1’19”673, set on Soft tyres. Scuderia Ferrari wasn’t in action for all nine hours – one more than usual as even the lunch break was cancelled – but come the end of the day the programme ran to plan.

And that’s the point made by the driver: “The important thing today wasn’t the lap time, but the fact that, in these conditions, we managed to cover almost a hundred laps without encountering any reliability problems. That’s what we are concentrating on at the moment, with the search for performance coming later. From an operational point of view, everything went smoothly and I’d say the car is working. But today’s conditions are not the ones in which you’d normally run an F1 car: today it even snowed and with air temperature around 3 to 4 degrees and the track at 8 to 9, everyone struggled to get the tyres up to temperature. The weather was the limiting factor today: the fact it’s been much colder than last year and also that the track has been completely resurfaced, means it’s impossible to make any comparisons. For now, we are concentrating on ourselves, without looking at what the others are doing.”

During the day, the SF71 used the Medium and Soft tyres and also did a couple of laps on the Intermediates. Tomorrow, it’s again Kimi Raikkonen’s turn, for his last day of this session.

Barcelona Test – “The only problem was the weather”

Posted: 26.02.2018 / Source: Ferrari

A cold debut for the SF71H with Kimi at the wheel

Montmelò, 26 February –While Italy is freezing, the Barcelona area is not doing much better, even if the trees are already in blossom here. After a sunny Sunday, which meant that Scuderia Ferrari was able to comfortably complete its Filming Day, the “real” debut for the SF17H took place in plunging temperatures, with rain arriving towards the end of the session. However, by the end of the day, Kimi Raikkonen had completed 80 laps of the Catalunya Circuit, the fastest of them in 1’20”506 on Soft tyres. He worked through the first part of a programme that, over the course of this week, is given over mainly to acquiring data.

“The real problem, the only one today, was the weather,” summarised Kimi. “My first impressions with the new car were OK, but it’s still too early to make any judgement, especially given today’s conditions. These tyres aren’t designed to work at 8 degrees and it was difficult for everyone. As for the rest, our work had nothing to do with lap times and we just ran and changed a few things, trying to understand the car, which doesn’t seem to have any faults. Now we must try and do more kilometres.”

The first long run with the Halo protection fitted over the cockpit went off without any problems. “Compared to the tests we did in previous years, this time the Halo had been conceived as an integral part of the car design, which had not been possible before. I didn’t notice anything different to driving the car without the protection.”

Testing continues tomorrow, with Sebastian Vettel, while it will once again be Kimi’s turn on Wednesday, with Seb then rounding off the first winter test.