Williams F1 Jerez Test 31:01:2014 Day Four

Driver: Felipe Massa
Chassis / Engine: FW36-01 / PU106A Hybrid
Location: Jerez de la Frontera 4.428km
Objectives: New component, systems and reliability checks
Weather: Wet in morning, drying in afternoon Maximum air & track temps: 15ºC / 15ºC

The Williams F1 team would be presented with a wet track on Day four of their 2014 Jerez Test. With rain falling Felipe Massa was again carrying out the driving duties and would start the morning session by taking to the track on full wets to complete an installation lap. Felipe would return to the track completing further laps setting a 1m:40.020 to be second behind Rosberg. He would pit with the team preparing the car to run on intermediate tyres. He would return to the track and would record a 1m:39.313. With it being the last day of testing at Jerez the track was very busy with Magnussen now second and Felipe third.

After just four laps the Williams would again pit with the team continuing to work through their test programme. He would again return to the track improving with a 1m:39.256 to be third. Fastest at this time was Rosberg with a 1m:37.310 having completed seventy one laps so far. For Williams Felipe had completed twenty four. Another run from Felipe as the Williams team approached midday. The team would eventually stop for a lunch break.

After the midday break Felipe would head back out still running on intermediate tyres. Felipe would get up to speed setting a new personal best with a 1m:39.163 followed by a 1m:38.532 and next a 1m:38.239. Felipe had completed forty one laps with the rain stopping and the track drying. Times started to fall with Felipe out this time running on the special Pirelli tyre. He would improve with a 1m:36.069 having completed forty eight laps.

With two hours left in the session drivers were setting times in the 1m:31s but they were running on softer Pirelli tyres. Felipe would also lower his times setting a 1m:33.206 prior to pitting with the session being red flagged. With the track going green Felipe would come back out and he would move up to second. He would again find time going fastest with a 1m:29.852 improving with a 1m:29.646. Again he would lower his time setting a 1m:29.403 having set a series of laps all in the 1m:29s.

But just as quickly Alonso would go faster seeing Felipe second. Alonso and Felipe would trade fastest laps times with Felipe going fastest with a 1m:29.023, completing his sixtieth lap. But again a red flag would stop the session with Magnussen stopping his McLaren out on the track having spun. Felipe would return to the track taking the times to practice his start as the first pre-season test drew to a close. Felipe was currently fastest having completed seventy eight laps. Again Felipe would find improvement setting a 1m:28.521 followed by a 1m:28.229. But again the session would be red flagged seeing the session come to an end with Felipe remaining fastest.

Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer: It was a good day for us. It was what we were hoping for earlier in the week but it was good to start getting more mileage in the end. We still would have liked to have done more laps but there were several red flags today which interrupted running so to hit 86 laps is still a good result. We are very happy with the performance and reliability of the car up to now. We still have a lot of work to do when we get to Bahrain and in the time leading up to then but overall, we are pleased with how we have ended the week here.

Felipe Massa: It wasn’t a great day because it was raining, but we completed some laps in the wet conditions which was interesting to understand how the car behaves in wet, with the tyres and new power unit. We managed to do many more laps today than we have in the last three days which is important. Today we didn’t have any issues with the car which I think is also another step forward. We now need to concentrate and prepare with an aim to do more laps per day in Bahrain. Overall, I’m happy with my first days with Williams and I’m pleased with what I have seen in the team this week. For sure it is important to be competitive, but testing is testing, and we now need to look to prepare for Bahrain and then towards the first race, which is the most important thing.

Driver 		Team 			Best Time Best / 
						  Total Laps
1  F Massa	Williams		1:28.229  85 / 86
2  F Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari	1:29.145  113 / 115
3  D Juncadella	Sahara Force India	1:29.457  80 / 81
4  K Magnussen	McLaren Mercedes	1:30.806  107 / 110
5  L Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas	1:30.822  29 / 41
6  J Bianchi	Marussia F1 Team	1:32.222  24 / 25
7  A Sutil	Sauber F1 Team		1:36.571  67 / 69
8  N Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas	1:36.951  79 / 91
9  K Kobayashi	Caterham F1 Team	1:43.193  20 / 54
10 D Kvyat	Toro Rosso		1:44.016  7 / 9
11 D Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing		1:45.374  3 / 7