Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport completes 94 laps on another cold day in Barcelona
Date: Tuesday 27 February 2018
Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Circuit Length: 4.655 km
Laps Completed: 94
Distance Covered: 438 km
Best Lap Time: 1:19.976
Valtteri Bottas was behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+ today at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Finn handled the freezing temperatures well, completing a total of 94 laps and clocking in the second fastest time of the day. After poor track conditions limited running in the morning, Valtteri continued to drive for the afternoon to maximise mileage.
- With particularly cold temperatures in the morning and snowfall towards the end of the day, the team opted to focus on aero data collection during those times
- Rising temperatures in the middle of the day allowed the team to work on its understanding of the 2018 Pirelli dry tyres in addition to vehicle dynamics
- Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 1,285 km
Valtteri Bottas:
It was very cold on track today; I don’t think I’ve ever driven in such cold conditions before in Formula One. Testing is always difficult in these temperatures, the tyres are just not made for these conditions.
But we made the most out of the day. In the morning, we focused on aero work with different aero rakes on the car, running various tests. In the afternoon, I was doing long runs and we also worked on the set-up.
It was quite tricky in these temperatures, but we managed to get some work done and found some answers to our testing items.
The weather is obviously unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do about it and it’s the same conditions for everyone. In these conditions, I would say today was a good day. I hope that the weather is going to get better soon and I’m looking forward to tomorrow and Thursday.
Lewis Hamilton:
With the weather conditions being up and down and the loss of track time we had yesterday, it made sense to keep Valtteri in the car this afternoon. Having run in the morning, he was comfortable in the car already and we would have lost about an hour of running time with the driver switch. With no real understanding of whether good weather was coming or not, I took the decision to sacrifice that time in order for the team to gain better understanding of the car by going through the run plan.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps Completed | Best Lap Time |
| 01 | Sebastian Vettel (5) | Ferrari | 98 | 1:19.673 |
| 02 | Valtteri Bottas (77) | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 94 | 1:19.976 |
| 03 | Stoffel Vandoorne (2) | McLaren | 37 | 1:20.325 |
| 04 | Max Verstappen (33) | Red Bull | 67 | 1:20.326 |
| 05 | Carlos Sainz (55) | Renault | 65 | 1:21.212 |
| 06 | Pierre Gasly (10) | Toro Rosso | 82 | 1:21.318 |
| 07 | Robert Kubica (40) | Williams | 48 | 1:21.495 |
| 08 | Sergey Sirotkin (35) | Williams | 52 | 1:21.822 |
| 09 | Esteban Ocon (31) | Force India | 79 | 1:21.841 |
| 10 | Charles Leclerc (16) | Sauber | 81 | 1:22.721 |
| 11 | Kevin Magnussen (20) | Haas | 36 | 1:22.727 |
Source : Mercedes.com
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