VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES had some hard times at Barcelona these days and constantly showed a lack of performance. The British team was not capable of making the most of every test round as it was constantly confronted with technical and reliability issues. Compared to other teams fighting in the prime league, McLaren-Mercedes has not gained important mileage and the two drivers, former world champion Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are being faced with a tough situation ahead of the first race of this new Formula 1 season. However, the entire team are confident that these problems can be fixed if everybody involved deliver a great deal of work and dedication during the year. Till things become shinier, it's worth mentioning that, as a safety measure, engineers decided to change the engine of Button's MP4-26 car and, inherently, Jenson was able to cover just 57 laps and place himself 13th in the overall standings.
Read the official report of the day after hitting the jump button!
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Barcelona, Spain, Mar 11, 2011
Driver - Jenson Button
Location - Circuit de Catalunya
Track length - 4.655km
Weather - Grey and cold. Maximum ambient temperature 15.0°C, maximum
Laps completed - 57
Kilometres covered - 265km
Best laptime - 1m25.837s at 12:05
Programme
After a one-day hiatus, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team resumed its final pre-season test of 2011.
For the penultimate day of running, Jenson returned to the cockpit, spending the morning going through pitstop practices and completing some flow-vis aerodynamic tests.
The focus then switched to a number of evaluation runs using the ‘porpoise nose’ measuring equipment mounted to the nosecone.
Despite stopping just before lunch to effect a precautionary engine change, the team was able to complete its morning run programme.
Making a late return to the track, the team was still able to carry out a number of short runs as it continued learning about the Pirelli tyres, during which it acquired further positive data.
Afterwards, Jenson said: “As today was my final day of testing, it was disappointing not to be able to put more mileage on the car. But I think we learnt some positive things: today was never about pace, as we weren’t running lower fuel-loads, but there is pace in the car – it’s just been masked by reliability issues.
“Now, I’m looking forward to Melbourne: you can’t under-estimate a team as determined as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: we’re all pulling together and we’ve got some interesting developments in the pipeline.
“Finally, I just want to add that today’s events at the track are really put in their perspective by the terrible tragedy in Japan. Right now, my thoughts go out to everybody in Japan, particularly in the worst-affected area of Sendai. My heart is with them.”
Driver for day four - Lewis Hamilton
Duration of test - Four days (March 8-9 & 11-12)
* Official report courtesy of VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *
Source of the photos >> F1 Fanatic
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