Andrea Stella, the Performance Director of the McLaren F1 Team, felt it was a useful couple of days of testing around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the team, with good feedback coming from all four drivers that took to the track for the Woking-based outfit.
Day one of the test on Tuesday saw race drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris share the driving duties, before they handed the car over to test and development drivers Oliver Turvey and Sérgio Sette Câmara on day two.
Coming just two days after the Spanish Grand Prix and running in similar conditions to what Sainz and Norris experienced on Sunday, Stella felt it was an important two days to reset and understand more about the MCL34, as well as test some new parts that could benefit the team in the upcoming races.
“[It] has been a useful day of testing because we could complete our programme, which was split between Carlos and Lando, without any issues or delays,” said Stella after Tuesday’s running. “The test coming after the race gives us the opportunity to make some direct comparisons with the race weekend.
“In particular, we tested a few things on car set-up that helped us understand the behaviour of the car in qualifying and in the race, and we also acquired some useful information for the coming races.
“We conducted some aerodynamic tests to learn more about the aero package that we took to the Spanish Grand Prix, in addition to some further aerodynamic developments that we are considering for future introduction. We also gathered some information which will be very useful for the development of the car.”
Turvey and Sette Câmara took responsibility for the MCL34 on Wednesday, with both drivers impressing Stella with their feedback, particularly in relation to the behaviour of the car and how to improve it for race drivers Sainz and Norris.
“[It] was another useful day of testing with Oliver and Sergio at the wheel,” said Stella on Wednesday. “Both of them adapted very quickly to the car and did a good job in helping us to complete our test programme, together with providing some interesting feedback on the behaviour of the car.
“The programme was once again fundamentally focussed on gathering data on the aerodynamics of the car and some set-up items in preparation for the coming races.
“The day’s running ended slightly earlier than planned due to an issue with the car that we are currently investigating. Despite this, it was a smooth couple of days.”
