Finland's Valtteri Bottas, Williams' test driver set the fastest time in the Renault-powered FW34 Thusrday at Silverstone in the first of two days of the young driver test.
Bottas, who's massively more experienced behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car than the other drivers who participate in the test, set a time of 1m31.436.
The Williams team said today's programme was centered around aero correlation tests and race simulation.
“It was a very productive day for us. We had some rain in the last 20 minutes which brought our race simulation to an early end, but the car was reliable all day allowing us to gather lots of data for evaluation,” said Tom McCullough, Williams Race Engineer.
“We had a very ambitious run plan and achieved nearly everything which is a good result. Valtteri drove excellently all day, doing everything we asked of him without putting a foot wrong'” he added.
“We had a little rain towards the end but tested everything we wanted to on mixed fuel levels. It’s been a really useful day for both me and the team. The shorter runs are good fun, especially on this track, but I was particularly looking forward to the longer runs. It was really useful to gather some information on how the tires behave over the various runs,” Bottas declared.
Briton Max Chilton was second fastest in the Marussia-Cosworth, five seconds slower than Bottas however..
Rio Haryanto also drove the Marussia and finished third ahead of Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua who was behind the wheel of the HRT-Cosworth.
First day of young driver test, Silverstone*:
1. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m31.436
2. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.558
3. Rio Haryanto Marussia-Cosworth 1m37.404
4. Ma Qing Hua HRT-Cosworth 1m37.829
*Unofficial timing
Bottas, who's massively more experienced behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car than the other drivers who participate in the test, set a time of 1m31.436.
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| Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Renault. (Photo: LAT/Williams) |
The Williams team said today's programme was centered around aero correlation tests and race simulation.
“It was a very productive day for us. We had some rain in the last 20 minutes which brought our race simulation to an early end, but the car was reliable all day allowing us to gather lots of data for evaluation,” said Tom McCullough, Williams Race Engineer.
“We had a very ambitious run plan and achieved nearly everything which is a good result. Valtteri drove excellently all day, doing everything we asked of him without putting a foot wrong'” he added.
“We had a little rain towards the end but tested everything we wanted to on mixed fuel levels. It’s been a really useful day for both me and the team. The shorter runs are good fun, especially on this track, but I was particularly looking forward to the longer runs. It was really useful to gather some information on how the tires behave over the various runs,” Bottas declared.
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| Max Chilton, Marussia-Cosworth. (Photo: Marussia F1 Team) |
Briton Max Chilton was second fastest in the Marussia-Cosworth, five seconds slower than Bottas however..
Rio Haryanto also drove the Marussia and finished third ahead of Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua who was behind the wheel of the HRT-Cosworth.
First day of young driver test, Silverstone*:
1. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m31.436
2. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m36.558
3. Rio Haryanto Marussia-Cosworth 1m37.404
4. Ma Qing Hua HRT-Cosworth 1m37.829
*Unofficial timing
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| Rio Haryanto, Marussia-Cosworth. (Photo: Marussia F1 Team) |