F1 - RICCIARDO TOPS ROOKIE TEST DAY 1
- 29 May 2013
Daniel Ricciardo set the quickest lap on the first day of rookie testing in Abu Dhabi, posting a lap over a second quicker than the second best time of McLaren’s Oliver Turvey. After a total of 70 laps, the young Australian's lap of 1:39.616s would have seen him qualify for last Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 3rd place on the grid behind eventual champion Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.
Fully aware that the pressure was on 12 months after he had impressed the F1 fraternity in Jerez, Spain, Ricciardo told the Australian Associated Press he knew what the expectations would be from both inside and outside the team. "Last year's test went well and now having spent a year with them, they'll expect pretty solid feedback," the 21 year old confirmed. "There is more pressure on me to be fastest, especially as the team has won the Constructors' Championship and everyone knows it's probably the fastest car out there nine times out of ten - but I just want to enjoy it, that's the main thing. Not many 21-year-old kids can drive the fastest car around."
Driving for McLaren, Oliver Turvey impressed after setting a 1:41.094s final lap effort, and gathered plenty of useful data for the team. Gary Paffett is due to take over driving duties tomorrow.
Formula 3 Euro Series race-winner Antonio Felix da Costa was also quick late in the day improving to third-fastest with 10 minutes to go. It was the Portuguese driver's first taste of Formula 1 and his late improvement moved him ahead of Sauber reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez. Force India and Sauber will run Yelmer Buurman and Sergio Perez tomorrow.
Formula 2 champion Dean Stoneman improved to fifth place late on. Driving for Williams, he spent the morning concentrating on aerodynamic work and was able to spend more time improving his own driving in the afternoon, setting his best time with a few minutes to go to move ahead of Renault's Mikhail Aleshin.
British F3 champion Jean-Eric Vergne also made his F1 debut, lapping three tenths off Aleshin and ahead of Force India reserve Paul di Resta, who ran first thing in the morning to create a baseline for da Costa to work from. However, he did not do a comparable run.
Sam Bird completed the first of two days of running for Mercedes, completing 61 laps. He is likely to have the chance to set some more eye-catching times tomorrow after focusing on aerodynamic work today.
Virgin's Jerome d'Ambrosio was best of the new team drivers, pipping impressive HRT debutant Pastor Maldonado in the closing stages. Both ended the day ahead of Ferrari's Jules Bianchi, who spent the day focusing on development work, Lotus driver Rodolfo Gonzalez and Virgin's Rio Haryanto.
Day 1 times
1. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull - 1m39.616s
2. Oliver Turvey - McLaren - 1m40.725s
3. Antonio Felix da Costa - Force India - 1m41.381s
4. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1m41.432s
5. Dean Stoneman - Williams - 1m41.522s
6. Mikhail Aleshin - Renault - 1m42.073s
7. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1m42.489s
8. Paul di Resta - Force India - 1m42.736s
9. Sam Bird - Mercedes - 1m42.985s
10. Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin - 1m43.518s
11. Pastor Maldonado - HRT - 1m43.750s
12. Jules Bianchi - Ferrari - 1m43.894s
13. Rodolfo Gonzalez - Lotus - 1m44.924s
14. Rio Haryanto - Virgin - 1m49.439s