2013 PRE-SEASON TESTING
CIRCUIT DE CATALUNYA, Barcelona, Spain, 19-22 February
Tuesday 19 February 2013
Chassis MR02-02
Driver Max Chilton
Laps 65
Fastest Lap 1:26.747
Today we embarked on our second week of testing with the new MR02 race car with the first day of a four day programme at the Circuit De Catalunya.
Not only is this track more representative for the tyres than the Circuito de Jerez, it is also a real ‘barometer’ track for all aspects of car performance, given that its characteristics offer up a bit of everything the Team will encounter at this year’s 19 Grand Prix circuits.
Max Chilton was in the MR02 to work through a programme of systems checks in the morning before moving on to some constructive set-up work this afternoon. This will provide the first indications of where the car’s performance can be further honed and developed in the intervening weeks between Barcelona and Melbourne. Throughout the day, Max worked with the Medium and Soft Pirelli PZero tyres.
Max Chilton, Driver #23
“It took a little while to get into our rhythm this morning as the track conditions were cool and green and the early part of our programme consisted mainly of checks with the KERS and other on-car systems. This afternoon we were able to get into a proper set-up programme and the initial results from that are quite promising. I am pleased with where I ended the day – P10 – in respect of the teams around us. Tomorrow we look forward to building on our performance after a night absorbing the data from the car. All in all, a good start for the Team here in Barcelona.”
John Booth, Team Principal, Marussia F1 Team
“After a week at the factory analysing the data from our opening test in Jerez, it is good to be back on track in Barcelona applying what we have learned to the development of the MR02. The fact that this circuit is more representative is extremely beneficial at this stage in our programme and we have been able to start to understand the tyres better from the word ‘go’ this morning, whereas Jerez shed relatively little light in this regard. After completing our systems checks and running through some revised engine mapping work, we were able to turn our attentions rather more to set-up work, the first we have done with the new car. Overall the results have been positive, although we will need to put some further thought into how we can get the tyres working better in these cool conditions. We are looking forward to another solid day’s running tomorrow. Max has performed well here today and his feedback, coupled with the data from the car, is helping us to make good progress.”