Abu Dhabi Test : Young Drivers Test Day Two

Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Chassis / engine: FW33‐03 / CA325
Location: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
Objectives: Development part test for 2012 and Pirelli development tyre runs
Weather : Clear and sunny
Ambient & track temps: 25C ‐ 32C / 29C ‐ 49C

In an interview for Autosport Valtteri Bottas spoke of his testing at the Yas Marina circuit as part of the Young Drivers Test programme.

"I'm definitely feeling more confident," he told Autosport. "I worked some things out pretty well, so my driving is better than yesterday.

"We have done the tests that we planned and everything has gone well. I think that my speed is there and the consistency as well.

"The main thing is to get all of the data out of these tests and I'm happy with where we are now. We also had some really good tests with the new Pirelli tyres."

Bottas would have a successful day apart from a period of time where the team worked to repair a problem with the wiring loom that occurred shortly before the lunch break.  "We had a small problem before lunch where some smoke started to come in the cockpit," said Bottas. "they are working on it."

Tom McCullough, Race Engineer: We had a busy tyre test programme for Pirelli today. We started the performance tests and also completed some longer runs. We had a small electrical issue in the middle of the day which lost us a little track time unfortunately, but we have lots of interesting data to go through which will help us with the development of next year’s car. Working with the engineers trackside, Valtteri has done a very professional job for us again, driving consistently all day. He got the most out of the car we gave him and gave us some really useful feedback on the Pirelli tyres. It’s been a solid job by him the last two days.

Valtteri Bottas: It was really good to work with the team again today and I feel we achieved what we wanted to. Physically is was as demanding as the first day with the heat and different levels of G‐forces; it was hard work but in the end wasn’t a problem. It has been a great opportunity for me here and I have really enjoyed every moment. AT&T Williams will be back on track tomorrow, Thursday 17 November, with Mirko Bortolotti driving the FW33 for the final day of the test.

DRIVER      	   TEAM 		TIME     BEST / TOTAL
						 LAPS   LAPS
1 J E Vergne 	   Red Bull Racing 	1:40.188 6 / 43
2 J Bianchi 	   Ferrari 		1:40.279 85 / 91
3 G Paffett 	   McLaren Mercedes 	1:41.756 46 / 71
4 V Bottas 	   AT&T Williams 	1:42.367 82 / 88
5 J Cecotto 	   Force India F1 Team 	1:42.873 81 / 84
6 E Gutierrez 	   Sauber F1 Team 	1:43.637 17 / 96
7 S Bird 	   Mercedes GP 		1:43.734 39 / 94
8 K Korjus 	   Lotus Renault GP 	1:43.776 48 / 70
9 L Razia Team     Lotus 		1:43.944 85 / 89
10 K Ceccon 	   Toro Rosso 		1:44.808 72 / 97
11 J Charouz 	   HRT 			1:46.644 55 /56
12 C Pic 	   Virgin Racing 	1:46.698 39 / 61
13 N Berthon 	   HRT 			1:48.646 2 / 9