Jerez day 4: Max wraps up Jerez with 97 laps on final outing

Published on 04 February 2015 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen drove 97 laps on the final day of testing on the Circuito de Jerez in the STR10 and clocked the fourth time: 1:22.553.
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) noted the fastest time (1:20.841) in front of Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

“Today was a good day. I was able to familiarize myself with the new car, also working with the team and we managed to improve the car”, is the conclusion of Max for Verstappen.nl regarding the first official Formula 1-test of 2015. ”It was a useful test program and I am very happy with the progress we made. We barely had any problems, covered a lot mileage and the Renault engine performed well. That is very positive. We have had four good days in Jerez.”

Wednesday saw the Scuderia Torro Rosso driver start on the intermediates on a track that was getting dryer and dryer. Max: “It was very useful to gain experience on the intermediates, to find out how long you are able to use them and when they are worn. I also did a lot of practice starts and trained in doing pitstops. That is also one important thing to master.”

During midday at 13:00, the Dutchman is fourth with a 1:24.101. Moments later he makes his first run on the soft compound and notes 1:22.817. Max improves on that just before two o’clock by clocking his fastest time 1:22.553. At that moment good enough for the second spot, just sixteen- thousandth behind Raikkonen.

After that, the Dutchman completed a long stint on the harder compound, on which those faster lap times are of course unattainable. Eventually, when the checkered flag is shown at 17:00, Max has driven 97 laps and covers almost a one-and-a-half Grand Prix race distance.

During the two days that Max has driven in Jerez, he has completed a total of 170 laps and doing a little over 750 kilometers. Together with his teammate Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso doubled that: 355 laps and 1570 kilometers. “Physically I am ok. Monday was a little harder for me, but your body adjusts quickly so now I still feel fit. But then again, I train really hard to be so”, says Max.

“We did not go for the fastest lap times. During my fastest lap I did not push. There was no need to, because the aim of this first test was to do as many laps as possible and to focus ourselves on the reliability of the car. Doing the many laps we did, does not only help Carlos and myself, but also pushes the team forward as we are able to gain a lot of data. That is very useful when we head off for the next test in Barcelona. There we will definitely have a quicker car”, says Max brimming with confidence.

On the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, two four-day tests will take place: from February 19th till February 22nd and from February 26th till March 1st. There, also Max and Carlos will take turns driving the STR10.

Jerez day 4, Wednesday 4 February

1  Kimi Raikkonen 	Ferrari   	1m20.841s   		(106)
2  Marcus Ericsson  	Sauber   	1m22.019s  +1.178  	(112)
3  Lewis Hamilton   	Mercedes   	1m22.172s  +1.331  	(117)
4  Max Verstappen   	Toro Rosso   	1m22.553s  +1.712  	(97)
5  Felipe Massa     	Williams   	1m23.116s  +2.275  	(73)
6  Romain Grosjean  	Lotus    	1m23.802s  +2.961  	(53)
7  Daniil Kvyat  	Red Bull   	1m23.975s  +3.134  	(64)
8  Jenson Button  	McLaren   	1m27.660s  +6.819  	(35)

Remember to take a look at our exclusive photo album – made possible by our own photographer Richard de Klerk – of Max during the test at Jerez.