• Pre-Season Testing

Sauber plays down Valencia test times

The Sauber C29 was the second fastest fast car in Valencia © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Drivers:
• Kamui Kobayashi
• |
• Pedro de la Rosa

• Teams:
• Alfa Romeo

Sauber's technical director Willy Rampf has played down the significance of the team's impressive testing times in Valencia.

Sauber was the second fastest team over the three days, with its two drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa setting very similar lap times just over half a second off Ferrari's best. But Rampf believes it is still too early to tell if the car is as competitive as the times suggest.

"That is even more difficult to assess this year than in previous years," he said. "All we can say is that our car is delivering the performance expected based on our simulations and measurements in the wind tunnel. Vastly differing fuel loads make it impossible to draw an absolute comparison with other teams' cars."

He added that the relationship between the new drivers and the team, which was bought back from BMW by Peter Sauber last November, was going well.

"Both drivers are new to the team and so we're all still getting to know each other. However, the working relationship between the drivers and team has got off to a very good start. With Pedro you can see that his vast well of experience has given him a broad base of technical knowledge, which is extremely valuable for all involved. Kamui gets his impressions across very quickly, which means he can give the engineers the information they need to work out the changes required. All in all, the drivers and engineers are already working together very productively."

Rampf said minor modifications were being made to the car's engine cover for this week's test in Jerez, after exhaust gases singed the bodywork in Valencia. Sauber will be one of ten teams testing from Wednesday, with Red Bull, Force India and Virgin all making their 2010 group test debut.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.