Verstappen after test day 2: “Focusing on the long runs”
Published on 23 February 2016 by Mike Motilall
On the second day of the Formula 1 winter testing on Circuit de Catalunya de Barcelona, a total of 1185 laps and 5516 kilometers were driven. Sebastian Vettel was the fastest in the morning on the ultra-soft compound tyres: 1:22.810. No other driver could match that. Max Verstappen also had a productive day. He does some 121 laps while gathering precious data on the STR11 and finishing in eleventh on the timesheet.
“We focused on the long runs today”, Max tells Verstappen.nl at the end of the test session. “We needed to make some good mileage and get to know the car better.” The difference in engine, compared to last year, was very obvious according to the Dutchman: “Quite noticeably is that we have more horsepower, the acceleration is better and your helmet is affected more by the wind because of having more top speed. The collaboration with Ferrari is very pleasant.” So the eleventh spot is nothing to worry about? No, the car will be adjusted for the test next week so we can work more on the set up. We are not focusing ourselves on that right now and have only driven on the medium compounds, so fast lap times are totally not important for us at this moment.” Do you know why you had to park your car alongside the track today? “In the end it was nothing. We thought we saw something in the data, so we stopped the car as a precaution. It is better to be safe than sorry.”
As Max heads out on track, Jolyon Palmer halts between turns two and three. This means that Max needs to prematurely abort his stint. An issue with the Renaul-turbo is most likely the cause. Max is let loose again a little over fifteen minutes after the red flag and immediately he clocks his personal best: 1:27.211. The young Dutchman gets pretty close by to Nico Rosberg and gains little by little on the German in his Mercedes, but they don't tango. Max heads back in after some 16 laps, by then the young driver has been around the circuit 76 times.
Palmer's Renault was pushed, moments before and with a tarp covering it, to the entrance of the pit lane. At that time, it didn’t look like the French team would be able to send the car out again before the end of the day. Nico Rosberg is busy with a race-simulation, having done 106 laps already with still two and a half hours remaining.
Verstappen is for a brief moment in the pits and quickly heads back out again. He is consistent with high 1:29’s and low 1:30’s. Equaling Rosberg’s Mercedes, still busy with his race-simulation. Daniel Ricciardo was also busy doing a race-simulation.
After 28 laps, Max calls it quits on his medium set compound tyres. With a little over an hour and a half, the youngster lapped the track 104 times. His break is short as he heads back out again on a new set of the medium compound tyres. And again he improves his time in his first flying lap: 1:26.755. But after three flying laps, Max returns his STR11 back to the pits as he finishes last on the timesheet.
The session ends prematurely when Vettel’s Ferrari, four minutes before the flag drops, grinds to a halt in turn three. Triggering the second red flag of the day.
Wednesday, Carlos Sainz will take control of the STR11. On the last day of winter testing, Thursday, it will be Max’ turn to put the Toro Rosso back through its paces again.
Pre-season test 1, day 2 - Circuit de Catalunya - Tuesday 23 February 2016
AFTERNOON SESSION Driver Team Car Time Laps 1. Vettel Ferrari SF16-H 1:22.810 126 2. Ricciardo Red Bull Racing RB12 1:23.525 +0.715 112 3. Perez Force India VJM09 1:23.650 +0.840 101 4. Rosberg Mercedes W07 1:24.867 +2.057 172 5. Ericsson Sauber C34 1:25.237 +2.427 108 6. Gutierrez Haas F1 VF-16 1:25.524 +2.714 79 7. Bottas Willliams FW38 1:25.648 +2.838 134 8. Wehrlein Manor F1 MRT05 1:25.925 +3.115 71 9. Alonso McLaren MP4-31 1:26.082 +3.272 119 10. Palmer Renault RS16 1:26.189 +3.379 42 11. Verstappen Toro Rosso STR11 1:26.539 +3.729 121
