Williams Jerez Test 12:02:2011 Day Three

JEREZ TEST DAY THREE
SATURDAY 12 FEBRUARY, 2011
Driver Rubens Barrichello
Chassis / engine FW33-01 / CA320
Location Jerez de la Frontera 4.428km
Objectives Setup work and long runs
Weather Dry and sunny all day
Ambient & track temps 20ºC / 26ºC

Day three of the AT&T Williams test would see Rubens Barrichello replaced Pastor Maldonado. After having to rebuild the FW33 after Pastors crash the Williams team would be looking forward to a far less eventful day.

The day would get underway with Rubens completing his installation lap. There would be an early red flag as a result of Kobayashi's Sauber stopping out on the track and having to be brought back in on a truck. Rubens would return to the track and his opening timed lap would see him set a 1m:28.526. But the next series of laps would see Rubens drop into the 1m:25s. His best time would be a alp in the 1m:24.4s. He would again improve with a 1m:23.564.

Rubens would then settle into laps in the 1m:23s bracket and just before 9AM he would return to his pit. Rubens would return to the track and by 9:30AM would complete twenty one laps. He would again pit briefly returning to set a 1m:23.063. By 11AM Rubens would be down in ninth while fastest was Alonso with a 1m:20.493, seeing Rubens 2.570 seconds off the pace. Rubens would spend a considerable amount of time in his pit again with another KERS problem. The second such issue in just two days.

It would take until early in the afternoon before Rubens KERS issue was resolved and he could return to the track. He would put in a series of laps all in the 1m:26s and 1m:27s. Rubens would continue what was looking like a long run. He would finally pit after completing nine laps, brining his total to forty eight. He would quickly return and on his second lap back would set a 1m:22.227 to move up to eighth from tenth. His following laps were in the 1m:22s and 1m:23s.

Rubens would pit again and come back out to again set a series of laps from the 1m:23s through 1m:22s and 1m:24s. This run was quite lengthy with Rubens running behind Alonso to only pass him. He would pit shortly after. He had now completed sixty eight laps. Another longer run from Rubens with times in the 1m:27s, completing eighty one laps, stopping as a result of a red flag.

Just after 3PM the track was cleared Rubens was quickly back out while at the front Heidfeld had replaced Alonso at the top of the times, 1m:20.261. The final hour of the day would see another red flag while prior to that Rubens had not been setting any really quick times with the laps ranging from the 1m:28s to 1m:32s. Just before the end of the day Rubens was able to complete a further handful of laps but his times were again off the pace.

The times varied widely as the team appeared to be sampling various tyre and fuel combinations. The FW33 seemed able to hang on to a set of tyres through a 10-lap run in the 1m24s.

Sam Michael, Technical Director: After a couple of setup runs this morning we had a problem with the KERS onboard cooling system. We had to stop and remove some components to ensure the car was safe, and that cost us three hours. In the afternoon we made good progress with the aero setup of the FW33 on long runs, with Rubens generating some good data for the wind tunnel.

AT&T Williams will be back on track tomorrow, Sunday 13 February, with Rubens Barrichello continuing to drive the FW33 for the final day of the test.

DRIVER      	 TEAM 		  	TIME       BEST / TOTAL
						   LAPS
1 N Heidfeld 	 Lotus Renault GP 	1:20.361   68 / 86
2 F Alonso 	 Ferrari 		1:20.493   40 / 131
3 M Schumacher 	 Mercedes GP 		1:21.054   37 / 114
4 L Hamilton 	 McLaren Mercedes 	1:21.099   27 / 36
5 K Kobayashi 	 Sauber F1 Team 	1:21.242   5 / 84
6 S Vettel 	 Red Bull Racing 	1:21.574   47 / 98
7 S Buemi 	 Toro Rosso 		1:21.681   60 / 92
8 H Kovalainen   Team Lotus 		1:21.711   60 / 61
9 R Barrichello  AT&T Williams 		1:22.227   50 / 99
10 P Di Resta 	 Force India F1 Team 	1:22.945   37 / 64
11 J D’Ambrosio  Marussia Virgin Racing 1:25.471   8 / 72