Test Report: Abu Dhabi – day one

Day one of testing at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi as Kevin Magnussen and Gary Paffett take the stage.

Date                  Tuesday November 6 2012

Drivers              Kevin Magnussen (am)/Gary Paffett (pm)

Location            Yas Marina Circuit

Track length     5.554km

Laps                    40 (Kevin)/44 (Gary)

Km covered      222/244

Best laptime    1m42.651s 

Programme

The morning’s session was spent acclimatising Kevin Magnussen to his first run in a Formula 1 car. That meant a focus on a suite of gradual set-up changes, firstly to introduce Kevin to the behaviour of a grand prix car under different mechanical influences, but also to fine-tune the car’s set-up to his personal preference. The team were impressed with the Dane’s progress and aptitude. He completed 40 laps/222km.

Gary Paffett undertook the afternoon’s running, undertaking a challenging programme primarily focusing on evaluating a wide number of aerodynamic and suspension developments – either for imminent use in the final two races, or for future development for next year’s car. He completed 44 laps/244km.

Gary’s large workload also required a consistent baseline, meaning he drove without the benefit of DRS and some way below the limit in order to eliminate unwanted variables.

What’s next

Gary concludes his running tomorrow morning after the team completes a number of larger mechanical changes overnight. Oliver Turvey starts a similar programme in the afternoon.

Test dates        Three days (November 6-9)