Bottas fastest on both days of Young Drivers Test at Silverstone

14 July, 2012

Valtteri Bottas fastest in the F1 Young Drivers Test at Silverstone

Jul.14 (Apex) Williams reserve driver Valtteri Bottas topped the timing screens on both days of the two-day young driver test at Silverstone.

HRT, Williams and Marussia were in action on the opening day of the two days of testing, but HRT was not present on day two. For the final day the two remaining teams used the International layout of the British circuit, which is significantly shorter and tighter than the Grand Prix configuration.

Bottas’s fastest lap time of 48.963s was almost a second quicker than Max Chilton, who was second and fastest of the two Marussia drivers – Rio Haryanto also did duty for the Marussia team. With the weather remaining dry, Bottas managed to complete 170 laps in the Williams FW34 during the final day.

Williams focussed on aerodynamics and data gathering work on the final day, with particular tweaks to the front wing.

Bottas said, “It was another successful day today for the team, with a trouble-free performance and no problems with the car. It was useful to get some longer runs in again today and it was good for me to get a better understanding of the tyres, and how the team works. We were lucky with the weather today considering the forecast, as we were able to do most of the runs in the dry, despite a bit of dampness early on.”

Chilton, who was in the cocpkit during the afternoon for Marussia, covered 52 laps in the Marussia MR01. The 21 year-old Briton’s fellow Marussia young driver and GP2 team mate, Haryanto, occupied the final slot on the timesheets in third. The Indonesian 19 year-old completed 79 laps in the morning.

Chilton summed up his two days at Silverstone, “After further productive time in the car this afternoon, I’m heading home feeling very happy with how the two days have gone for me. We’ve been particularly lucky as, given the weather in England at the moment, I managed to get two half days of dry running. I feel like I got to grips with the car well and in turn I hope the team have benefited from the real-time work we have all done with the package today. It has been a fantastic experience and I can’t thank the team enough for the experience and support”

It was valuable F1 seat time for young Haryanto, who said, “It has been another very positive experience with the Marussia F1 Team today. After yesterday’s short afternoon of just 19 laps, this morning we achieved 79 laps, which was fantastic mileage, and therefore experience, for me. The programme was not easy, and there were a lot of new and different things to learn. The team pushed me hard, but this is what I need to be able to show my potential. We also got a lot of work done for the team to prepare for the next Grand Prix. I will be at Hockenheim racing in GP2 and after the last two days I am feeling very determined to achieve a good result. My thanks to the team for making is so welcome and providing me with invaluable seat-time.”

Subbed by AJN.

Unofficial Friday test times from Silverstone International Circuit layout:

1. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 48.963s, 170 Laps
2. Max Chilton, Marussia, 49.932s, 52 Laps
3. Rio Haryanto, Marussia, 50.405s, 79 Laps

Unofficial Thursday test times from Silverstone GP Circuit layout:

1. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 31.436, 120 Laps
2. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1m 36.558, 34 Laps
3. Rio Haryanto, Marussia, 1m 37.404, 19 Laps
4. Ma Qing Hua, HRT, 1m 37.829, 82 Laps

Related posts:

1. Marussia Report: Day 2 Silverstone F1 Young Drivers Test
2. Marussia Report: Silverstone F1 Young Drivers Test
3. Three teams confirmed for Silverstone young driver test
4. Williams confirm Bottas for Silverstone Young Driver Test
5. Marussia preview Silverstone F1 Young Drivers Test