Ideal weather conditions prevailed in Barcelona as Nick wrapped up the team’s pre-season preparations ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.
Driver: Nick
Chassis: R31-01
Fastest Lap: 1:22.073
Position: P4
Total laps: 67
What we learned today:
– High fuel running allowed Nick to improve his understanding of the Pirelli tyres – maximising lap time while looking after the tyres. The data also confirms the R31 is nicely balanced in terms of tyre wear, with both the front and rears wearing at a similar rate.
Nick: “For our final day in Barcelona we started by working on car balance to be ready for Melbourne. The set-up work was useful and taught us quite a few things. We would have liked to do more laps and I was hoping to do a race distance later in the day, but the problems with the gearbox after lunch meant we spent a bit too much time in the garage. However, we managed to get out for the final hour and did some running on heavy fuel.”
Alan Permane’s technical programme notes
– We had a good morning. The car was working well and showed good pace. The programme involved the continuation of our set-up work from earlier in the week.
– For the afternoon we had planned a race distance, but unfortunately we had to change the gearbox at lunchtime. In the end we opted to do a very long run on high fuel.
Did you know?
The R31 at this week’s test will arrive back in Enstone tomorrow and will depart for Melbourne on Tuesday next week.