Williams F1 Barcelona Test 22:02:2013 Day Four

Driver: Valtteri Bottas (morning) & Pastor Maldonado (afternoon)
Chassis / engine: FW35-01 / RS27-5253/3
Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona 4.655km
Objectives: Tyre testing and pitstop practice
Weather: Cold and cloudy with some rain
Air & track temps: 4-6ºC / 5-13ºC

The Williams F1 team would be presented with a cold and rainy Circuit de Catalunya as they commenced their final day of testing. Valtteri Bottas would run in the morning and Pastor Maldonado would take over for the afternoon. The start to the morning session would see several red flags as the Williams team went through several pit stop practices. After two hours he had yet to set a time while of the other drivers present it would be Hamilton who was fastest with a 1m:31.920. But Massa would move ahead with a 1m:28.234 as the track started to dry out.

With the track conditions changing various drivers would go fastest but just prior to the midday break it would be Hamilton who was fastest with a 1m:23.282. Valtteri had completed twenty three laps but had not set a time as the team continued their practice pit stops. But it would start to drizzle again just prior to lunch seeing the times slow. But with another red flag the track would again empty and for Williams it would be the end of their morning session.

But after the break the Williams team would be presented with a very wet circuit seeing very little running amongst the teams. The only driver to come out and put in a series of laps was Gutierrez in his Sauber. The track would again empty this time due to another red flag. For those going out on the track wets were the tyre of choice. But the rain had stopped and the track was improving as the Williams team waited to go back out for more pit stop practice this time with Pastor at the wheel. Finally Pastor would come out to complete one lap prior to pitting.

He would complete five laps but would not start a flying lap. He would continue a series of laps again failing to set a time until another red flag came out due to Hamilton was parked at the side of the track. At this time Pastor had completed ten laps. With twenty minutes remaining Pastor would return to the track completing another series of pit stops.

The day would come to an end with neither Pastor or Valtteri setting a time but they had allowed both drivers to refine their pit stop skills with Valtteri being much better than he was last year. IN terms of times Hamilton would remain fastest from Button and Vergne. But not much can be drawn from the times given the variable track conditions.

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: The full race team joined us in Barcelona today for pitstop practice. The weather was wet as we expected which means we didn’t lose any dry running time with the FW35 in doing this. Overall, we’ve had a very encouraging week as the core reliability of the car has proved to be excellent. We are now looking forward to the next test in Barcelona where we can concentrate on the performance.

Valtteri Bottas: This morning we were focusing on pitstop practice and despite the weather we were able to achieve a lot. The key things to work on as a driver are breaking as late as possible for the pitlane speed limit to minimise the time lost, perfecting your positioning in the box and finally pulling away quickly and cleanly. It’s really interesting as there are a lot of things to think about, but the better I get, the more trust you build with the pit crew which means they are able to react even quicker. We’ll be doing a few more at the next test but then I feel I will be ready for Melbourne when it comes to pitstops.

Pastor Maldonado: Today was pitstop practice but it’s been good for me and the team to get some training in after the winter break. Overall, I am very happy with the last four days, as we’ve had no problems with the car and it is looking quite good. We achieved everything we wanted from this test so the whole team is happy. There is still plenty more work to do, but we have a good idea about what we need to do next so I’m looking forward to coming back here next week to continue developing the FW35.

DRIVER      	   TEAM 	    TIME     BEST / TOTAL
						    LAPS
1 L Hamilton 	   Mercedes 	    1:23.282 25 / 52
2 J Button 	   McLaren Mercedes 1:23.633 25 / 70
3 J E Vergne 	   Toro Rosso 	    1:24.071 30 / 80
4 J Bianchi 	   Force India      1:25.732 15 / 61
5 E Gutierrez 	   Sauber F1 Team   1:26.239 44 / 96
6 G Van Der Garde  Caterham F1 Team 1:27.429 17 / 50
7 F Massa 	   Ferrari 	    1:27.563 39 / 80
8 M Webber 	   Red Bull Racing  1:27.616 22 / 64
9 M Chilton 	   Marussia 	    1:29.902 17 / 51
10 R Grosjean 	   Lotus F1 Team    1:34.800 14 / 41
11 V Bottas 	   Williams F1 Team No time  0 / 23
12 P Maldonado 	   Williams F1 Team No time  0 / 13