Williams Martini Barcelona Test 26:02:2015 Day One

Driver: Felipe Massa
Chassis / Engine: FW37-01 / PU106B Hybrid
Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.655km
Objectives: Aero and Chassis work
Weather: Overcast and dry Air & track temps: 8 - 17ºC / 19 - 24ºC

In the teams final test prior to the opening round of the 2015 Formula One season the Williams Martini team would return to the Barcelona circuit with Felipe Massa on duty for the first day. After completing his installation lap Felipe would pit and on his first run he would set a 1m:27.105 running on the hard tyre compound. His next lap would see him improve with a 1m:26.867. In the previous Barcelona test Felipe had set a best time of 1m:24.672 so he was over two seconds slower. After the first hour Felipe would have completed only nine laps and would only return to the track after nearly three quarters of an hour in his garage. Upon his return he would set a 1m:26.399. With two hours complete Felipe was third in the times while the quickest was Hamilton with a 1m:24.881.

On his next run Felipe would again improve with a 1m:26.083 to be just behind second placed Kvyat. He had completed twenty four laps. On the medium tyre Felipe would move into second with a time of 1m:25.763. In the lead-up to the lunch break there would be light rain falling seeing the track empty. With the stop for lunch Felipe was second having completed twenty nine laps. The start of the afternoon session would see Felipe straight back out only to return briefly completing a practice start as he came back out. He was on the soft tyre and would pit again after fifteen also taking on another set of softs. It was looking quite like a race simulation. He would complete another ten laps stint pitting again. Up on his return Felipe would improve on his time with a 1m:25.113, but this time it was on the medium tyre.

With a red flag caused by the Torro Rosso of Sainz stopping out on the track. Once the track went green Felipe would again come back out and this time he would set a 1m:24.687 to be quickest, with this time again coming from the medium tyre. He would pit returning running on the soft tyre and this time he would set a 1m:23.500 which was half a second faster than the times from the last test. His lap was set on the soft tyre having now completed sixty five laps. As the afternoon continued Felipe would continue to put in laps completing ninety three laps with forty five minutes remaining. At the end of the day he would complete one hundred and three laps in what was a very promising test for the Williams team.


Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer: The programme was slightly upset by the rain in the morning, but that just meant we had more work to do in the afternoon. We managed to complete the planned schedule though and we have made some positive changes to the chassis, as well as some aero adjustments. We are now looking at what we will take to Australia to make sure we are prepared for the first race. It has been a good day, with no reliability issues.

Felipe Massa: It was a good day for us and the car behaved well. When we tried to use the new soft tyre we managed to get some quicker laps in. The FW37 never showed a sign of an issue and this has been the case since we arrived at the first test in Jerez. We are doing a lot of work and seem to be moving forward. I have just one more day in the car before the first race, so Saturday will be important.

WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING will be back on track tomorrow with Valtteri Bottas behind the wheel of the FW37.

Driver 		Team 	    	 Best Time 	Best / 
		   				Total Laps
1. F. Massa	WILLIAMS MARTINI 1:23.500	64 / 103
2. M. Ericsson	Sauber		 1:24.276	119 / 122
3. L. Hamilton	Mercedes	 1:24.881	13 / 48
4. D. Kvyat	Red Bull	 1:25.947	28 / 75
5. R. Grosjean	Lotus		 1:26.177	41 / 75
6. K. Raikkonen	Ferrari		 1:26.327	34 / 80
7. C. Sainz	Toro Rosso	 1:26.962	61 / 86
8. J. Button	McLaren		 1:31.479	4 / 7