F1 News on the First Day of Pre-season Assessment in Jerez

Everyone has been anxious and expectant the entire winter as we looked forward to Formula 1 racing new generation. For the first time, the turbo - charged 1.6 liter cars were put to pre-season assessment on Tuesday in Jerez.

F1 teams scuffled as they began to come to terms with the revolutionary distinct structure of their new cars.

Formula 1

Raikkonen Tops

Kimi Raikkonen recorded the best time on a day that saw limited running, majorly because the machines are new to the various teams.

Raikkonen set a time of 1m 27.104s, the best recorded by the time sheets in Jerez. The 31 laps that Raikkonen managed to accomplish are the most by anyone in the event. He helped his Italian team check the aerodynamic system of their new machine and look into the utility of the F14 T’s on board system.

The Finn said; “We had a lot of new things to learn today. Even if we would have liked to do more laps, I think that for a first day it was alright. Towards the end, when the track was dump, we chose not to take any risks. Now we have a lot of work ahead of us, but all in all, we are pleased with our first day.”

Kimi Raikkonen

Hamilton is second best despite setback

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton recorded the day’s second best time, even though his running was brutally abridged. In the new F1 W05, the Briton made the first running out on the track in the early hours. He effectively accomplished 18 laps while others comprising of Raikkonen and Sergio Perez in the Force India, halted on track, flashing out the red flags.

No sooner had Mercedes seemed to steal an early march on their less dependable opponents, than a front wing botch inclined Hamilton straight into the crash fences at Turn 1. The subsequent impairment effectively ended the 2008 world champion’s promising opening day behind the wheel of his new F1 W05 car.

Hamilton looked composed and in buoyant temperament despite the impediment saying; “For me it is an incredibly positive start to be the first car out on track and completing a good number of laps. Other teams have been going out for single lap runs, starting a few hours after we had first hit the track, so to have started running through our test program was very encouraging.

Hamilton

“The car feels quite good, especially considering it’s so early in our program, so overall it’s been a positive day.”

The third quickest time on the timesheets was recorded by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, regardless of accomplishing only seven laps as he gave a first appearance to the new Mercedes powered FW36. Bottas had to wait until the last hour of the session before he could make a run with his car due to an engine sensor problem.

The Finn said; “The car matched my expectations on track with more torque. After only a few laps we found a few things we can improve which is also good.”