Frédéric Vasseur felt the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team learned a lot about their C37-Ferrari machine during the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, despite losing significant track time due to difficult weather conditions.
Between Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc, one hundred and thirty-eight laps were completed on the final day of the test on Thursday, bringing their overall total to two hundred and eighty-three, with both drivers able to provide feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of the new car despite the conditions being far from ideal for any driver in the field.
Vasseur, team principal of the Hinwil-based squad, felt it was a productive week in Spain, and everyone is looking forward to building on the knowledge they’ve learned in week one, hopefully with more representative weather conditions.
“Overall, it has been quite a productive first week of winter testing for us, taking into consideration that we have been facing tricky weather conditions,” said Vasseur.
“We have gathered some useful data, which will allow us to establish the strengths and weaknesses of our new car, and prepare our programme for the second week of testing.
“Our rookie, Charles Leclerc, has developed a first real sense of what the car feels like on track, and is becoming accustomed to all of the procedures very quickly. Marcus Ericsson has been able to give useful insight into the progress that has been made in comparison to last year, and the team is coming together very nicely.
“I look forward to next week.”
