Abu Dhabi Test : Young Drivers Test Day One

Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Chassis / engine: FW33‐03 / CA325
Location: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
Objectives: Aero tests & development parts for 2012
Weather : Clear and sunny
Ambient & track temps: 26°C - 31°C / 30°C - 42°C

After last weekends Abu Dhabi Grand Prix the AT&T Williams F1 team would remain in the UAE to allow for testing under the Young Drivers Test programme. The Williams team would use the services of Valtteri Bottas. The Finn would lose several hours of testing with a gearbox problem. He was able to return to the track in the afternoon after the gearbox was changed. The team was happy with his efforts as he worked through a test programme including parts for the 2012 Williams. He would set a time of 1m:43.118 to be seventh fastest.

Tom McCullough, Race Engineer: Valtteri had his first day properly driving the car after previously doing straight-line testing with the team. He got straight into it and did a really good job, enabling us to get through quite a long test programme and get all the data we needed. It was a really good job from his side with the consistency and good technical feedback. We lost a bit of time over lunch with a gearbox issue which the team are currently investigating, but overall it was a very productive day evaluating parts for next year’s car.

Valtteri Bottas: I really enjoyed my first time driving the car on a proper track today. It didn’t take too long to get used to the car but there were still a few new things for me. There is much more downforce and power than the cars I am used to driving, but I really liked it and I think the day went well. It is physically very demanding, but I’ve been doing a lot of training for this and although it is hard in these hot conditions, I could still focus 100% on the driving side. I was able to help the team make some progress with some interesting tests for next year. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow as I have more to learn and I know I can do better. AT&T Williams will be back on track tomorrow, Wednesday 16 November, with Valtteri Bottas continuing to drive the FW33 for the second day of the test.

DRIVER      	   TEAM 		TIME     BEST / TOTAL
						 LAPS   LAPS
1 J E Vergne 	   Red Bull Racing 	1:40.011 65 / 83
2 J Bianchi 	   Ferrari 		1:40.960 56 / 85
3 R Wickens 	   Lotus Renault GP 	1:42.217 52 / 78
4 F Leimer 	   Sauber F1 Team 	1:42.331 54 / 67
5 G Paffett 	   McLaren Mercedes 	1:42.912 22 / 41
6 M Chilton 	   Force India F1 Team 	1:43.016 79 / 81
7 V Bottas 	   AT&T Williams 	1:43.118 64 / 71
8 O Turvey 	   McLaren Mercedes 	1:43.502 13 / 35
9 S Bird 	   Mercedes GP 		1:43.548 37 / 53
10 R Gonzalez 	   Team Lotus 		1:44.022 85 / 87
11 S Coletti 	   Toro Rosso 		1:45.278 72 / 87
12 D Clos 	   HRT 			1:45.329 63 / 68
13 A Quaife-Hobbs  Virgin Racing 	1:46.930 15 / 30
14 C Pic Marussia  Virgin Racing 	1:47.292 29 / 32