Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team’s three days at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya came to a fiery end, after a small oil leak occurred during the morning of the final day in Spain.
The team had enjoyed a moderately successful opening two days of the official shakedown test, with drivers Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel completing a combined total of 296 laps. It was the German who got the team’s sole running on the final day, before an oil leak resulted in a small fire on the AMR22. Understandably the team stood no chance of any further running.
Despite the late setback, Vettel is glad to have had the time to get to know the AMR22, the Four-Time World Champion is looking forward to continuing this process in Bahrain.
“It has been a useful few days and we have learned a lot about the AMR22, although we, like all the other teams, still have a lot more to learn considering that we are all dealing with a brand-new generation of Formula One cars.
“Even so, my first impression of the AMR22 has been relatively positive, so I am really looking forward to working with the team to take further forward steps in Bahrain. It was a shame to end the day with an issue, but we have completed many laps, so we can be happy with our work this week.”
“We have already learned a lot” – Lance Stroll
Due to the fire Stroll was unable to run on the final day of the three day test for the team, the Canadian did however complete plenty of mileage across the first two days. Stroll was disappointed to miss out running on the final day but recognises the team are on an enormous learning curve.
“It was a shame not to complete any laps this afternoon but it has been great to be back behind the wheel of a Formula One car. We have already learned a lot about the AMR22, which is important because the cars are so different this year.
“It is a whole new philosophy to understand so we are working through how these cars like to be set up and driven. We are on a big learning curve now, like all the teams, and the goal is to continue to make progress in Bahrain in the next test, and we will still be doing so in the early races too.”
Credit: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team