Racing Point F1 Team’s Lance Stroll was happy with how the team performed on Day 1 of second Barcelona test with a clear improvement on the track.
Stroll opened the second week of F1 2019 pre-season Barcelona test for Racing Point closing the session with the third best time of the day. He completed a total of 82 laps, adding 382 kilometers for the new squad.
He clocked a 1m17.824s on the red-walled C5 compound to end up third behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly – the duo though setting their best time on (C4) and (C3) compounds respectively.
“It was our most productive and relaxed testing day so far [in the five days of running] and we completed a very valuable mileage, the car felt good, so I think we are going in the right direction,” said Stroll.
“These days we work on the construction of trust and how to deal with the new car, but we are also applying and getting down to work, getting used to this new environment. I am finding a very good relationship with the team in the garage.
“They are excellent people, and everyone is working very hard. We raced with a mix of different tires and tested many test items. There was a good atmosphere in the garage, and I feel satisfied with the work we did.”
The team has had a rocky start to their programme with only 248 laps done in the first F1 test which, in fact, teammate Sergio Perez said was expected as they are short on parts. The Mexican though added that they have a massive upgrade lined-up for Melbourne.
Performance Engineering Director, Tom McCullough added: “The car worked reliably all day, which allowed us to complete our test plan. Today’s activity allowed us to catch up on some of the elements that we had lost last week.
“We worked through a program of aerodynamic tests in the morning, while in the afternoon we were able to concentrate more on rebalancing the car. We also had the first sample of the softest compounds that Pirelli has introduced for this year.
“In general, we continue with our robust data collection program: there is still a lot of work to be done, but our understanding of RP19 increases every time we execute it. We must keep working hard the rest of the week.”
Written by Omar Alvarez and Edited by Darshan Chokhani