Barcelona Test, Day 1: Nick And Vitaly Share The Day

The final pre-season test got underway in Barcelona today. Nick drove this morning, but was suffering with a cold, so Vitaly took over for the afternoon.

Driver: Nick / Vitaly

Chassis: R31-01

Fastest Lap: Nick: 1:24.735 / Vitaly: 1:22.937

Position: Nick P5 / Vitaly P3

Total laps: Nick: 20 / Vitaly: 27

What we learned today:

- The team validated the performance of several key elements of the race one aero package to make sure the track data matched with the wind tunnel figures. Both drivers tried the new rear wing and new floor, and the initial data confirms that the updated package is a step forward.

Nick: "I have a cold at the moment so the team said I could try the car this morning and stop in the afternoon. The priority of the day was to assess some new aero parts. That's why we did a lot of in and out laps for the aero mapping. We are still analysing the data, but the feeling was positive. Then, we used the rest of the morning to do a few starts, system checks and looked at some development items."

Vitaly: "We didn't do a massive number of laps this afternoon, but we managed to check the balance and did some set-up work ready for tomorrow. The new aero parts are another step forward and have given us some more downforce."

Alan Permane's technical programme notes:

- Nick wasn't feeling too well today so we didn't do anything too strenuous in the morning. We wanted him to get a feel for the new aero parts and his initial feedback was very useful.

- Vitaly took over in the afternoon and ran the same parts. Again the focus was on gathering data for the aero package, so he did some constant speed runs. He also began a set-up programme and ran on both the hard and soft tyres.

Did You Know?

Nick always gets in the car from the left hand side, right foot first.