2011-11-16
Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
Wednesday, 16th of November 2011
Maximum Temperature: Air 32ºC, Track 53ºC
Track length: 5.554 km
Jan Charouz F111-03 #22 11th (56 laps) 1’46.644
Nathanael Berthon F111-03 #22 13th (9 laps) 1’48.646
Jan Charouz was in the car for HRT F1 Team today in the second day of the Young Driver Test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The programme scheduled for the Czech driver, who’s already driven an F1 car in the past, was orientated towards optimizing his adaptation to the car and tyres. Charouz completed four medium distance stints with soft tyres and one with supersoft tyres in the morning. After the midday interval he carried out another test with supersofts before completing a long run of 14 laps with medium tyres before finishing off with another run on supersofts.
The main target of the day was for Charouz to grow in confidence behind the wheel and for him to experiment the different tyre compounds. The programme was slightly delayed because a change of engine was required at midday as a precautionary measure. Although the change was made in a record time, afternoon testing started a little bit later than scheduled. The 24 year old Czech driver covered a total of 56 laps, summing up a total of 311 kilometres, finishing in 11th position with a time of 1’46.644. Once Jan Charouz finished his session, the team proceeded to changing drivers in order to fit Nathanael Berthon’s seat to have it ready for the French driver’s test which will take place tomorrow on the third and final day of the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.
Jan Charouz: “It was really nice driving for HRT today. It was great that we had a lot of tyres to test, which is something that I need a lot because my biggest problem is getting the time out on new tyres. I liked working with the team as they were very professional; we had an engine problem in the afternoon and I’ve never seen anybody change an engine so quickly! I encountered some traffic on my last run on supersofts and I was only able to do one lap. It was a great experience and it would be great to drive again. I was feeling more comfortable lap by lap as I was getting to know the car better and how different controls worked. It was also my first chance to use DRS which was really nice to experience, there are so many things you have to do at the same time and it was good to start to get used to it”.
Nathanael Berthon: “I wasn’t able to run for much but it was incredible to get out on the track with an F1 car. It’s important to do laps to adapt to the driving posture so that I can start tomorrow’s test comfortably and get the most out of it”.
Arnau Niubó, Race engineer: “Today we had planned to test two drivers and that meant that more preparation work was needed as well as a more complex work plan. Both the team and the driver did a good job. We started with Charouz in the morning and the target was for him to adapt to the car and tyres. He progressed as the day went on and set some good times. It was a shame that he wasn’t able to improve even more towards the end as he encountered some traffic on his last lap on supersoft tyres. We had to change the engine at midday as a precautionary measure. Although this delayed us a bit, I think that we can be satisfied with Jan’s performance as well as being content for having changed the engine so quickly and getting Nathanael in the car so that he could do some laps and get to know the car ahead of tomorrow’s test”.
Credit: HRT Formula One Team (www.hispaniaracing.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment