Formula 1

Sauber Valencia test day 1 report

After yesterday's unveiling and roll out on demo tyres for filming purposes, the Sauber C30-Ferrari completed its first day of testing. Kamui Kobayashi was on duty at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, near Valencia, to get the first impressions of the new car.

Circuit
Circuit Ricardo Tormo / 4.004 km

Driver
Kamui Kobayashi (JP)

Weather
Sunny and dry, air 8-18DEGC, track 8-20DEGC

Chassis / engine
C30.02 / Ferrari 056

Mileage today
38 laps in the morning, 26 laps in the afternoon

Fastest lap
1:15.831 min in the morning
1:15.621 min in the afternoon

James Key
(Technical Director)

"It was a busy day, with all the little problems you have to look into at this time of the year when testing begins with a brand new car. The important and good thing is we had absolutely no major issues and the car was running well. We used the morning for several system checks and some initial set up work. We only used the KERS and the rear wing activation in the afternoon. Tyre degradation was quite high and we will have to keep an eye on that for the remainder of the test. Of course there is plenty of work to do, but we are fine with what we have learned and achieved so far today."

Kamui Kobayashi

"It was a bit of a trouble shooting day, as we had to check all the various new systems and sort things out. But that is no problem, as it is something you just have to go through. However, due to the work with the new systems we had no time for proper performance runs. The grip of the new tyres dropped off quite quickly. This is something you can improve with set up work, but for the reasons mentioned we did not really have time for that. Anyway we will continue to learn."

What comes next

For the remaining two days of testing in Valencia, Wednesday and Thursday, the team's new rookie driver Sergio Perez (MX) will be in the car.