Mercedes’ usual place on top of the F1 times sheets was sustained by test driver Pascal Wehrlein as the first day of running at the Red Bull Ring was disrupted by bad weather.
Persistent rain throughout the morning led to the conclusion of the test being postponed so the teams could make best use of what little dry running there was. However the rain returned again before the final chequered flag.
Ferrari test driver Antonio Fuoco had his first run in the team’s car and covered the equivalent of a grand prix distance before crashing at turn one. The team said the damage to the car was minimal.
Williams and Force India both tested new aerodynamic components – the FW37 sprouted winglets in fronts of its rear wheels, while the first parts of the revised VJM08 appeared inluding an unusual nose with vents on either side.
Esteban Ocon ended the day second-fastest ahead of his former Formula Three rival Max Verstappen. The Toro Rosso driver will hand over to DTM champion Marco Wittmann tomorrow.
Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | |
1 | Pascal Wehrlein | Mercedes W06 | 1’11.005 | 67 | |
2 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes VJM08 | 1’11.192 | 76 | 0.187 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault STR10 | 1’11.328 | 97 | 0.323 |
4 | Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari SF15-T | 1’11.331 | 71 | 0.326 |
5 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes E23 | 1’11.509 | 45 | 0.504 |
6 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull-Renault RB11 | 1’11.757 | 80 | 0.752 |
7 | Raffaele Marciello | Sauber-Ferrari C34 | 1’11.826 | 53 | 0.821 |
8 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda MP4-30 | 1’12.530 | 76 | 1.525 |
9 | Susie Wolff | Williams-Mercedes FW37 | 1’13.248 | 39 | 2.243 |
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Atticus (@atticus-2)
23rd June 2015, 19:57
Long-time paddock pundits already say the Willimas winglet is surely illegal and it may just serve as an easy tool to put downforce on the rear for measurement’s sake.
I’m very intrigued by the Force India nosecone, however – in all honesty, it looks kind of like an USB stick imagining it in 2D, but I’m more curious about its potential effects and legality.
drrapg (@drrapg)
23rd June 2015, 20:12
@atticus-2
where can it be seen?
Atticus (@atticus-2)
23rd June 2015, 20:15
@drrapg
Try the F1 Technical forums.
drrapg (@drrapg)
23rd June 2015, 20:18
found one, if anybody is interested
http://www.thisisf1.com/2015/06/23/nostrils-in-force-india-nose-b-spec-new-front-wing-reveals-at-austrian-test/
@atticus-2, thanks!
bezza695 (@bezza695)
23rd June 2015, 20:36
Today was a good chance for them to properly test the wet tyres and they red flagged the test session until it cleared apart from Stoffel and Fuoco doing an installation lap, pirelli seriously need wet tyre data to improve these otherwise seemingly poor full wets but they can’t even do it on a test day
OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
23rd June 2015, 20:44
Now say it’s not the car!!! The rookies come and again, Mercedes is first.
ColdFly F1 (@)
23rd June 2015, 21:10
But how do we explain the podium finishing Williams being last? @omarr-pepper
Biggsy
23rd June 2015, 21:44
Woman at the wheel.
Oh, snap! I shouldn’t have said that! :)
OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
23rd June 2015, 22:15
Hahahahahahaaa!!!!!!!
budchekov (@budchekov)
24th June 2015, 2:53
Yeah wrong woman, Simona De Silvestro wouldn’t be last..
lockup (@)
23rd June 2015, 23:36
Hmmmm, Wehrlein 0.3 faster than Max in a Torro Rosso @omar-pepper, while Lewis was 1.2 faster than Max in Q3. That makes Pascal about, what, 0.9 slower than Lewis, car-adjusted?
Then Fuoco is actually closer to Wehrlein, in the Ferrari, than Seb normally is to the Mercs. So lemme see, doing the math…. that means Sebby is about 1.0 slower than Lewis and maybe 0.8 slower than Nico?
;) :)
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
24th June 2015, 6:56
@lockup Flawless logic.
stefano (@alfa145)
24th June 2015, 21:00
And so what
SauberS1 (@saubers1)
23rd June 2015, 21:16
Sauber’ laps are not too much.
Tango (@tango)
23rd June 2015, 22:15
Boy, If even Vandoorne can’t make MacLaren look good during testing, they really are in dire straits.
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
24th June 2015, 4:27
Even Vandoorne during testing? You mean, two champions (one of whom is considered one of the best current drivers) during races don’t give you this imprssion already?
OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
23rd June 2015, 22:17
Every test, McLaren gets more than a race distance, and when the actual race comes, they always abandon.
Can’t they just set-up the car the same way on race weekend? Even if it’s not proper for “racing”, they could grab some points just enduring and waiting for some changing conditions or others’ retirements.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
23rd June 2015, 22:27
@omarr-pepper Doing 71 flat-out (-ish) laps consecutively is quite a long way from doing 71 non-consecutive laps at any pace over a period of eight hours or more.
OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
23rd June 2015, 22:57
@keithcollantine well, good to know the difference. The thing is I didn’t know they had 8 hours or so, and how the stints were cut. So now I get a different perspective about it. Thanks.
jazzin
24th June 2015, 0:20
This year is the furthest thing from their minds. All they are doing is testing for next year. No disillusions at Mclaren. They know this year is a foregone conclusion and I am sure Honda has written this year off too.
George (@george)
23rd June 2015, 22:18
Funny how many laps Vandoorne managed, pretty sure that’s over half as many as they managed all weekend between them.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
24th June 2015, 6:55
I am really unhappy with the entire situation at McLaren, more and more every day. Finally we have another Belgian who is definitely WC material, better than half the grid already, yet he is stuck with a back marker in McLaren. Vandoorne deserves much better. Alonso and Button chose for this, they knew this was going to be hard and slow, they both had their careers, Vandoorne is just starting his. I just so much hope his talent does not go to waste in trying to get that stupid McLaren to the front, and we will have another Belgian GP winner. I said it before, Ferrari should not even think about Hulkenberg or Bottas, go up to Vandoorne and say that seat is yours if you like. Surely he can’t say no then…
Dan Brown (@danbrown180)
24th June 2015, 10:46
I take it you’re Belgian.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
26th June 2015, 13:31
@xtwl He started this year GP2 campaign where he left it, right on the top. And surely he should join a top team given his performances. Yes, I’m a belgian as well, but I do believe it is not over-rating him given his start of the season. He has already proven during tests that he can drive a F1 quickly (at Bahrain if not mistaken) and he is really in a class of his own in GP2 right now, I can’t recall such a margin before.
Objectively, the seats he can hope for are McLaren (instead of Button) and probably the most likely, Ferrari (instead of Kimi which is not quite on par to Vettel and not on his prime anymore), Williams (instead of Massa, Bottas has proved himself). But I don’t think we will know before the 15th round or so…