• Second Barcelona Test, Day Four

'Technical issues' hurt Sauber's race run

Nico Hulkenberg still managed to complete 118 laps on Sunday en-route to the fourth quickest time © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News:
• Rosberg underlines Mercedes pace with fastest time
  

• Drivers:
• Nico Hülkenberg

• Teams:
• Alfa Romeo

Sauber's race simulation was curtailed by "technical issues" on the final day of testing in Barcelona.

Nico Hulkenberg was around two thirds through a race distance on Sunday afternoon when he returned to the garage, failing to complete the simulation. While the team wouldn't confirm what the reason for the stoppage was, head of track engineering Tom McCullough admitted there were issues that had stopped the team.

"On the final day of winter testing we had some technical issues, which didn't allow us to complete the full race simulation," McCullough said. "We will go back to our technical base and analyse all the data to exploit the full potential of the car at the first race in Melbourne. Overall the three winter tests were quite successful for our team. We completed a lot of laps and got a good understanding of our new car which will allow us to make the right decisions in the forthcoming weeks."

Hulkenberg himself was only "quite satisfied" after his final day in the car, with the tyres one cause of his concern.

"We did most of the planned programme with a qualifying and a race simulation," Hulkenberg said. "The qualifying simulation went quite smoothly, but we have some potential left with the balance of the car and some homework to do before Melbourne. But I think that we found some interesting directions, and overall I'm quite satisfied. The race simulation didn't go hundred percent according to plan. Tyre degradation at the beginning is very high, and it's quite challenging to keep tyres alive."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.