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As it happened: Test day four
By Pablo Elizalde, Matt Beer and Jamie O'Leary
The live commentary has ended. No further updates will be posted.
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| FASTEST TIMES |
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| P |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
| 1 |
Alonso | Ferrari | 1m18.877s |
| 2 |
Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1m19.597s +0.720 |
| 3 |
Vettel | Red Bull | 1m19.606s +0.729 |
| 4 |
Hamilton | McLaren | 1m19.640s +0.763 |
| 5 |
Grosjean | Lotus | 1m19.729s +0.852 |
| 6 |
Kobayashi | Sauber | 1m19.834s +0.957 |
| 7 |
Hulkenberg | Force India | 1m19.977s +1.100 |
| 8 |
Senna | Williams | 1m20.132s +1.255 |
| 9 |
Trulli | Caterham | 1m22.198s +3.321 |
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| All timing unofficial. Updated: 16:03 GMT |
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| OVERVIEW |
DAY FOUR |
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| CURRENT WEATHER |
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Mainly sunny |
High Temp: |
14°C / 57°F |
| Track: |
Dry |
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SHOW LIVE FORUM
Of course I now have a lot of interest in the car when it appears and takes to the track.... 
"Air temperature plummeted (in Spanish terms) to -4 Celsius briefly overnight, so it's another chilly start for the teams and drivers. At least there will be plenty of sunshine on offer again today, while a continuing light northerly breeze will veer round to a north-westerly flow after lunch. Air temperature to expected to reach 14 degrees this afternoon."
Heikki Kovalainen: Initial feeling is positive and definitely a step forward from last year's car, so regarding the loss of the blown exhaust etc. I think it is really positive
Heikki Kovalainen: Absolutely yeah! I just hoped it would rain overnight, so we could get some ice and try out some studded tyres. I would be happy with that.
Heikki Kovalainen: If he has a full time and data sheet with the fuel and the times, can you please send it to us as we don't have that!
Heikki Kovalainen: I was very impressed with the system because initially you always expect some issues and we didn't get any. I got used to working with it in a similar way to how I got to do it with McLaren in 2009.
Heikki Kovalainen: I think he gets paid better here than when he was on the Tour!
Heikki Kovalainen: I am very happy at Caterham and it has been a fantastic time for my career anyway. I feel I have rediscovered my form again and a big thanks to the team who have allowed me to do that, and given me the time to do that. Regarding my future, my years with the team have been very positive for me.
Heikki Kovalainen: No. I wear Ian Poulter design. He is a friend of mine and set me some cool outfits - with tartan!
Heikki Kovalainen: (Laughs) No. We have a professional team around us so they did it for me. All the teams do the same, and we are in the same boat.
Heikki Kovalainen: I think he is a cool guy and a great driver. I am sure he has a great future in F1 and I hope he gets a chance in one of the teams, or Williams one day, and hopefully he can start his career in F1 soon.
Heikki Kovalainen: Kimi first of all is exactly like you see him, that is exactly how he is. It is great to get him back. I have fun with him, he is a great driver. For F1 fans around the world it is great to have him back but it doesn't make a difference to my life as I race again him just as I do anyone else.
Heikki Kovalainen: My only target is to race in F1. I think I have a great chance of doing that and at the moment 110% effort is to make Caterham stronger, and I haven't thought about the future at the moment hardly at all.
Heikki Kovalainen: Well I think when I left Oxford, I think the tennants took it over. They don't realise they have the second fastest microwave in the world!
Heikki Kovalainen: Well I didn't design the nose of it! I did the rest of it!
Agreed
Heikki Kovalainen: We prepare the driver installation at the factory well in advance and then overnight the night shift guys change the installation accordingly, so sometimes requires a bit more work, sometimes less, but it is not an issue.
Heikki Kovalainen: No. I train and prepare the same way regardless of how much I drive. I like to keep myself fit, I like to challenge myself and i enjoy the test days when we push to the limit and I am confident I have no problems with it
Heikki Kovalainen: I learned a lot of things about how to work with engineers and designers and everyone in the team. And how to manage myself inside the team. I understood what the teams are expecting of you and what you have to do to be successful
Heikki Kovalainen: It just proves that the decision to join Caterham two years ago was the right one and things have gone exactly as I planned. I feel that I needed to rebuild my career and I managed to do that. I have always regarded myself as one of the top drivers but clearly earlier in my career the performances were not like they used to be in the junior categories. so I have to find my swing again
Heikki Kovalainen: With IMG now on board, all that kind of stuff will be taken care of and there will soon be some cool things
Heikki Kovalainen: Very funny question! Testing of course and obviously yesterday I played gold but I spent a lot of time with engineers at night working on night shift and obviously very aware where the priorities are, so golf only when it is appropriate
Heikki Kovalainen: The rear of this year's car feels already better than last year's, which is normally encouraging as it means more downforce. The front we still need to work on but we have updates coming for the next test but I have spoken to aero department and I am confident we can get a fix on that. The new tyres seem less extreme compared to last year, so we should see steadier race weekends.
Heikki Kovalainen: If we exclude other motorsports like rallying, I probably would be flying aircraft as I normally have a licence to fly helicopters so that is what I would be doing.
Heikki Kovalainen: Well thanks everyone for their hard work over the winter, we have mad progress and I am 110% motivated to push like crazy!!!
Heikki Kovalainen: I have had great team-mates all the way through my career. But perhaps the closest to me is Lewis Hamilton. I spent a lot of time with him off the track, we maintained a good friendship since the McLaren days
Heikki Kovalainen: I have played that game and I finished sixth in the championship as myself in the first year and got an offer from Ferrari! So I moved to Ferrari and won the next championship! It is a pretty good game, the physics for the first time since I can remember are fairly realistic so they have done a good job!
Heikki Kovalainen: It doesn't matter for me whether it is best Finn, or not. The target is to beat all the drivers eventually.
Heikki Kovalainen: At the moment all the effort is with Caterham and making the team stronger and the car quicker, and the rest we will see later on what will happen. At the moment it is not a priority
Heikki Kovalainen: We have got a Watson! Graham Watson, our team manager - who is a golfer himself too!
If he goes on to have a great season, you know that's why.
@eddstrawf1: "Only single-car tests are allowed for cost reasons. While a second car would allow double the work to be done, it would be more expensive and they would need additional crew to run the second car."
@eddstrawf1: "Well, Ferrari has struggled to get a handle on its car over the last few days. It's too early to say conclusively that the car is flawed. Given the radical approach taken, it's perhaps to be expected that the team is struggling to understand such a different package. But it is a concern. Their tech boss, Pat Fry, admitted yesterday that he wasn't happy and the Barcelona test, which kicks off on February 21st, will be very telling. There's a lot of work left to be done."
"Normal testing niggles, some of which are not easy to get. It was not in the plan to lose three hours but we are quite unconcerned. Expect to do long runs later."
It's also the reason why they are struggled to find a baseline set-up. You can here more about here.
Why thanks!
Hopefully his teacher is not reading this.
@Sebastien_buemi 2nd day in the simulator. Driving Barcelona this time!
"Following the Jerez test from my office with Habitat for Humanity International, in Bratislava, Slovakia. Far warmer in Jerez than it is here!"
Comfortable?
Get well soon, Sinad!
"Does Farringdon in Central London count as 'exotic'?!"
"I am on a beautiful white sandy beach - the temperature is say 34'C, the water aqua blue, say 27'C and I am enjoying a couple frosty Heinekens watching the text on my iPhone - glad I am not there."
"Hey guys, mailing you from Albert Park (well, 5 minutes away in Saint Kilda) and scruteenering your every update, even through the night, can you believe it?"
"if office in Moscow counts than there i am - hard to concentrate on work itself during the whole week. also -15C here with up to -30C expecting next week"
"Tiny french island in the Indian Ocean next to Mauritius island and
Madagascar 35 ° C, too hot, going to the beach later on to cool down ;-)
But a mighty cyclone is expected in two days time so not everything is
great."
"Tech1 Racing’s engineering office in cold Toulouse -5°C is following every update since the first day. Particularly interested in former Tech1 racers!"
"Jami writing from salo finland looking out of the office at a crispy -17c and following your every note. Hopefully the boss doesnt have too much trouble as he is looking over my shoulder at your posts"
"Sitting in my office here in Grahamstown, South Africa. Needing to write
a report on what I did this week, not sure my bosses will be happy with
"Followed the F1 testing on Autosport live all week"."
"Does a jam packed electronics lab where the next great Android phone is being developed in Bangalore count as an exotic location? It's where I've been following your updates for the past 4 days"
You are welcome, Williams!
A cool shot of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren leaving the garage and heading onto the track for the first time this morning. It may look nice and sunny, but trust us, it was freezing when we arrived at the track today. At least we can feel our fingers now...
Grosjean is out on the hard Pirellis, and his lap board says L22, so it looks like he's going to be out there until the chequered flag drops. Hamilton is out on mediums and is set for a 10-lap run, so don't expect heroics from this pair.
@eddstrawf1: Each car entered has an allocation of eight engines to last the race season, with a 10-place grid penalty applied for each powerplant used beyond that number.
However, testing is not restricted in terms of either engines or gearboxes. There was previously a rule allocating four engines per team for testing, but that's no longer in the regulations.
But although it's unrestricted, such is the reliability of both gearboxes and engines that they won't be getting through many here.
Each team also has 25 sets of tyres to use per test.