Sauber F1 Team driver Marcus Ericsson was pleased with the progress made by the Swiss squad on day seven of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, on Thursday.
The Swede confirmed they were able to complete a full race simulation as part of their programme, which was great news for the team, having had an issue hit first week.
“This morning we focussed on race preparation and we were able to do a full race simulation. This was of course important and a positive sign for us.”
“On the long runs we are still struggling a bit on the medium tyres, to get them to work properly. On the other hand the race stint on the soft tyres was a good step forward.”
Team-mate Pascal Wehrlein was similarly happy with how things have gone so far, this being the German’s first stint in the C36, having had to sit out week one of testing with a back injury, sustained at the Race of Champions back in January.
The 22-year-old is still getting somewhat used to his new team and car, so has made slower progress than Ericsson, but is optimistic ahead of the new season.
“I took over the car for the first time in the afternoon for another half day in the C36, which all in all was very positive.
“I am very happy just getting more used to the car.
“Today we tried the super-soft and the ultra-soft tyres, and it was very interesting for me to see how they behaved with the temperatures in the afternoon.”