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Formula 1 News - February 2005
McLaren

17 February: Testing Report - Barcelona - Day Three

Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Driver: Pedro de la Rosa
Weather: Sunny with a slight breeze
Air temperature: approx. 12 degrees Celsius
Track temperature: approx. 14 degrees Celsius
Laps run: Pedro de la Rosa 112 laps
Kilometres covered: Pedro de la Rosa 518 km
Best lap time of the day: Pedro de la Rosa, 1m14.543s
Best lap time of West McLaren Mercedes’ driver:  Pedro de la Rosa, 1m14.543s
Duration of test: Three days

Team McLaren Mercedes completed its three day testing programme at the Circuit de Catalunya today.

Pedro de la Rosa was present at the final day of testing, his programme concentrating on calibrating the car for the forthcoming Australian Grand Prix. Pedro set the fastest time today, completing 112 laps of the circuit, with a fastest time of 1m14.543s.

Over the course of the week, the three drivers present at the test, Pedro, Kimi and Juan Pablo completed a total of 2,073 km. Pedro set the fastest lap time of the week of the Team McLaren Mercedes drivers with a 1m14.543s lap today.

This week's test has involved the race team rather than test team personnel, with all equipment used over a race weekend set up at the track. The first day saw Kimi and Juan Pablo in action, however an accident for Kimi in the afternoon during the final phase of a planned grand prix simulation resulted in heavy damage to the car and the team taking the precaution that he would not test the following day. The cause of the accident was a foreign body which got jammed between the brake caliper and the inside of a wheel rim and machined a groove into the rim which caused an immediate failure. Juan Pablo completed 71 laps with a fastest lap time of 1m15.400s. Kimi completed 83 laps of the circuit before his accident and his fastest time was 1m15.229s.

Pedro de la Rosa deputised for Kimi on the second day of the test, and he and Juan Pablo were both concentrating on durability and calibration of the car for the Australian Grand Prix. The start of Pedro's running was delayed while the mechanics worked to repair Kimi's damaged car to allow him to drive, and he completed his first installation lap at 13:35. Pedro completed 63 laps, while Juan Pablo completed 119 laps with no reported problems. Pedro's fastest time was a 1m16.134s lap and Juan Pablo's fastest lap time was a 1m16.197s lap.

Martin Whitmarsh, CEO, Formula One, Team McLaren Mercedes "This week has seen another productive test, with the race team taking over duties from the test team to allow us to iron out any issues before the Australian Grand Prix. The strength and durability of the cars meant that Kimi was able to walk away from his accident with no more than a bruised thumb, and the mechanics did an excellent job to repair the car and allow Pedro to continue with the planned programme for the final two days of the test."

Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport "Our final test with the MP4-20 before the start of the season in 17 days in Melbourne gave positive results to the entire team. On the second test day Juan Pablo did 119 laps and 551 km without any problems which was encouraging. Kimi had an accident on the first day of testing which was not his mistake and thankfully he walked away with a bruised thumb only. The mechanics did a superb job in repairing the car overnight, allowing Pedro to continue the next day and achieving almost a Grand Prix distance with the car. On the last day Pedro posted the fastest lap time with this car during the course of the day and ran a total of 112 laps or 518 km. In the meantime the team members in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart continued their challenging work to get everything ready for the first race in Australia. During the course of the preparations we put a total of a little less than 7,000 km on the new MP4-20 and we achieved several successful long runs with the new engines leading up to more than 1,800 km on an engine. Everybody in the team has had a very stressful last four months, and a good result in the first race would be the best reward for all of us."

Next week Team McLaren Mercedes will test in Valencia from February 21-23. Alex Wurz and Pedro will be present over all three days, piloting MP4-19Bs. The focus of this test will be on tyres for the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix and software components

Latest Formula 1 News from McLaren Mercedes:

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes unveiled in Valencia (15/12/2007)
McLaren MP4-22 Technical Specifications (15/12/2007)
McLaren MP4-22 Design Philosophy (15/12/2007)
Team Personnel Q & A's (15/12/2007)
Lewis Hamilton to partner Fernando Alonso in 2007 (24/11/2006)
de la Rosa replaces Montoya (11/07/2006)
Valencia Test Notes (15/02/2006)
Valencia Test Notes (14/02/2006)
Jerez Test Notes (11/02/2006)
McLaren unveil new livery for 2006 (10/02/2006)

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