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Stoffel Vandoorne: "I felt comfortable in the car"

Published on 03 Mar 2017 10:19
5
By: Fergal Walsh

Stoffel Vandoorne says he he was pleased with how the final day of week one of testing went in Barcelona, as the team ran without any major issues.

The first few days of the test was damaged for McLaren due to some engine faults, but yesterday in wet-to-dry conditions, the Belgian managed to clock up 67 laps without major car trouble.

"I’m really pleased both Fernando and I were able to spend a full day in the car with no major issues, get a good amount of valuable mileage under our belt and complete our scheduled run plans on both days.

"The addition of the wet testing was also interesting as it was the first opportunity for us to try out a wet weather set-up with the new tyres and under the new regulations. I felt comfortable in the car, even in the wet, which has provided us with valuable data and given me a good feel for how the car reacts in varying track conditions."

Vandoorne admits that the team struggled initially, but has thanked all the McLaren personnel for the effort put into getting the car out on track.

"We had a difficult start to the week, but I want to say thank you to the team for all their hard work over the past four days. We’ve managed a solid couple of days’ running and made good progress, and I’m really proud of the team effort to ensure we could make the most of our track time. I hope we can continue this momentum and have a strong week at the next test."

Fergal Walsh

F1 News Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren

Replies (5)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Was the PU still downclocked?
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- Mar 3 2017 - 10:36
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  I think so yes, not a bad idea
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  Mar 3 2017 - 10:54
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Probably not, its good to get mileage into the car. Though on the other hand, stressing it a bit might not be a bad idea, might make it easier to find any eventual stress related issues which might not show on lower speeds. Either way, I really hope they'll be able to tweak it a bit before the season starts.
  + 0
  
  Mar 3 2017 - 11:27
- HEINZ
  
  Posts: 61
  I did not see anything in the news reports that indicated this, just "A Marca" saying Fernando was driving conservatively to avoid the oil issue (don't know if it is true given the source). Helmut Marko said they downtuned their engine for this test and he thinks Mercedes also did the same. Nothing out of the ordinary for the first test.
  Now, we need someone to go ask Bolier or the Honda guys what was the issue with Stoffel's 1st engine please!
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  Mar 3 2017 - 12:10
- TheKameHameHamer
  
  Posts: 3
  Hello there. Nice. First post in the website. Its nice to know my country is not listed in the signup's nationality combobox. Why would they run their power unit remaped down below full power? Well. If they havent had problems with oil in the engine i would say its pretty impossible, but as they had problems two consecutive days, then i say.. its quite possible they limited it. But i am worried. Their Max Speed in all of the test sessions were the worst of all the teams.... even when they got ultra soft tyres... it didnt change. This is not good at all
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  Mar 3 2017 - 12:13