TEST REPORT BARCELONA – WEEKLY SUMMARY
Date: Friday, 27th January 2006
Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro de la Rosa
Weather: Cold with rain, sleet and snow
Track temperature – high of 3.3 degrees Celsius
Air temperature – high of 3.1 degrees Celsius
Laps run today: 0
Best lap time of the week: Felipe Massa, Ferrari 1m15.666
Total number of laps driven during the test: 498
Total number of laps driven during the test in the MP4-21
252
Total number of km driven during the test: 2210km (Kimi 305km,
Juan Pablo 790km, Pedro 310km, Gary 805km)
Total number of km driven during the test by the MP4-21 1185
Due to the wintry weather conditions in Barcelona today,
Team McLaren Mercedes decided to cancel today's running, following
four days on track with the MP4-21, the team's 2006 Formula
One car. Kimi Raikkonen was scheduled to be driving the car
for the second day today, however he will return to testing
duties on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week in Valencia.
When the track opened at 09:00, the temperature was only just
above freezing and the overnight rain and snow meant the track
was wet. The weather progressively got worse during the morning,
with more light snow falling and sleet on the ground.
The MP4-21, which is running in an interim orange livery,
first hit the track on Monday of this week when Pedro de la
Rosa was at the wheel for the initial shakedown at the Circuit
de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Pedro began the programme
of mandatory systems checks for the new car, focusing on one
lap runs and he was able to cover 90 km during the day.
Juan Pablo Montoya took over for the following two days,
All week the cold weather conditions meant that the action
did not start until mid-morning, however with the car running
well Juan Pablo covered 410km and 380km on the two days respectively.
Thursday saw Kimi's first run in the Team McLaren Mercedes
2006 challenger, the bad weather continued and limited running
in the morning until the track warmed up and dried out. The
Finn was able to complete over 300km in the MP4-21, however
had to spend some time in the garage following an oil leak
in the gearbox during the afternoon. The test team fixed the
leak and Kimi returned to the track.
At the end of the five day session, the MP4-21 and its new
Mercedes-Benz V8 engine completed over 1185km, with a focus
on achieving good mileage.
Alongside the MP4-21 programme, Pedro and fellow Team McLaren
Mercedes test driver Gary Paffett continued additional development
programmes with the interim MP4-20.
Gary had driving duties for three days from Monday, completing
over 1000km with work focused on Michelin tyre development.
The only incident during the test for Gary was on Tuesday,
when he had an off due to the low grip nature of the cold
track. Gary was uninjured, however his car had sustained significant
damage, which the test team worked hard during the afternoon
to repair and he was back out on track for the final 15 minutes
of the session.
Following his shakedown with MP4-21 on Monday, Pedro switched
back to the MP4-20 on Thursday continuing the Michelin programme.
Having completed 220km on Thursday, his car underwent an engine
change as the V10 had reached the end of its lifespan.
Team McLaren Mercedes will continue testing next week in
Valencia, starting on 31st January with Kimi and Gary driving
on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Juan Pablo and Pedro on Thursday
and Friday.
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