Sun. Sun. Sun. And a bit more sun! Not often you can say that about Silverstone. But as the 3rd, and final, day of the Young Drivers Test is over, what happened today?
First up – the times! Never believe what they appear to tell you, because we have no idea waht programmes they were running or the fuel. But here’s today’s top times.
- Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:32.894, 79 laps
- Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:33.242, 99 laps
- Nic Prost, Lotus, 1:33.256, 83 laps
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Red Bull, 1:33.546, 35 laps
- Davide Rigon, Ferrari, 1:33.592, 20 laps
- Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:33.624, 69 laps
- Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:33.647, 42 laps
- Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:34.924, 77 laps
- Susie Wolff, Williams, 1:35.093, 89 laps
- Geido Van der Garde, Caterham, 1:35.155, 65 laps
- Danii Kyvat, Toro Rosso, 1:35.281, 22 laps
- Charles Pic, Caterham, 1:35.576, 60 laps
- Kimiya Sato, Sauber, 1:35.642, 67 laps
- Rodolfo Gonzalez, Marussia, 1:36.339, 24 laps
- James Calado, Force India, 1’36.451, 5 laps
- Jules Bianchi, Marussia, 1:36.744, 39 lap
But what else was interesting?
- The were new drivers again today (watch out for Twitter and the journalists reporting how they all really enjoyed themselves and look forward to stepping up and getting a seat). Susie Wolff was the one getting the most attention though, as the first woman driving in a circuit test with other drivers for 20 years. She managed to get more than 51 laps in, ticking the box on the 300km+ that you need to have in order to apply for her Super Licence. But for that, she will has to “consistently demonstrate outstanding ability in single-seater formula cars” to get the OK from the FIA, as she hasn’t met any of the other categories. Will it be deemed she has done enough?
- In total over the 3 days, there were 31 drivers, with 16 of them running today
- Another big media focus of the day were the current drivers Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel, who were here doing the Pirelli tests. Massa because it just triggers the speculation about whether he will keep his seat, and Vettel, well, just because he’s Vettel (Adrian Sutil was out there too, but little was mentioned about him). Massa agreed with Maldonado that the tyres are proving more consistent; he also said he was impressed with Wolff.
- The red flag count today reached 4. Van Der Garde (Caterham) and Gonzalez (Marussia) both went off into the gravel through driver error in the morning. The afternoon saw Bianchi stop in the Marussia through a technical issue and Kvyat spinning off in his Toro Rosso.
- Lotus changed their hashtag to #whereiskimi (I presume Lewis convinced them where Roscoe is). Raikkonen was supposed to be driving today, but that got cancelled, with Lotus not thinking they would get a lot out of him performing the strict tyre tests. However, the arrival of his physio generated comment, was this a precursor to him turning up anyway?
- McLaren had to do an engine change today, curtailing Paffet’s running. Paffet is the team’s nearly man, and does a grand job for the team. It’s a shame he never gets a lot of time in the car.
- Silverstone announced the ticket sales over the 3 days; Wednesday – 4022, Thursday – 4635, Friday – 7061. I’m actually disappointed at those numbers, given how many people tend to complain and moan that they can’t afford to see F1 cars. Here was the prefect chance to see cars for far longer than you would ever get to see them at a race weekend. I wonder how many attend the Spanish tests?
- Marc Priestly (@f1elvis) spotted an unusual site today. One Michelin tyre on a Pirelli truck! I wonder if it was a replacement after a blowout?
Guess who’s truck this is? Look at the clues. pic.twitter.com/1TLzkPxYl7
— Marc Priestley (@f1elvis) July 19, 2013
