- Second Barcelona Test - Day Three
Ferrari happy with 'well-mannered' car
Ferrari technical director James Allison is confident his team is going to the first race of the 2015 season with a "well-mannered car" after Kimi Raikkonen completed a race simulation on the penultimate day of testing.
Last year's Ferrari was anything but well-mannered as Raikkonen complained throughout the year of a lack of front-end feel and it also struggled for traction. However, following a race simulation that included pit stops and a full 66 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya, Allison said Ferrari was content with the SF15-T.
"We've got a lot of laps under our belt in this winter testing; but until you actually go out and do the laps for a race, one after the other, and not stopping except to change tyres, you really can't claim that you're ready to go to Melbourne and do it for real," he said. "So we're happy to get our first race distance of the winter done, happy to have achieved at the first attempt, and with the reliability that we showed.
"I'm pleased with the testing we did over the last two days, which shows clearly that the car works as we expected. Winter testing in Europe always asks slightly different questions from the car than you get when you're in Bahrain: but it doesn't turn night into day. Most of what the car really is is revealed here as much as on the other grand prix circuits during the year. And I think what we see is a well-mannered car, so we expect these characteristics to be broadly carried over to the other races"
Raikkonen added: "Overall it hasn't been a bad test since we covered a race distance today. Now we wait to go to Melbourne to see how we stand compared to the others. I wish to thank the Team for the work it has done during the winter."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
