Lewis Hamilton stepped into MP4-27 for the first time on Thursday, taking over from Jenson Button, who had conducted the previous two days’ testing at Jerez.
As with Jenson, the first day was about acclimatising Lewis to the new car, finding a workable set-up direction and ironing out a few minor issues following Lewis’s initial feedback. After completing 80 laps, and setting a 1m19.464s best, Lewis declared himself happy and comfortable with the new car.
He said: “Today felt pretty good considering it was my first time in the new car. My initial feelings are pretty positive, despite going through a long, tough programme of initial tests – there were no nasty surprises, which is pleasing. This year’s car feels a bit different from last year’s: in 2011, we had so much stability from the rear-end, particularly in the high-speed corners – but we’re now having to find that grip elsewhere, or, at least, take grip off the front and somehow offload it at the rear.”
“This car’s baseline is something we can really work with. I know the men and women back at the factory will take a lot from this test and translate it into something new and even better for the next test. The car feels reasonably quick – and that’s a nice feeling.”
Lewis Hamilton was in the MP4-27 yesterday for his second day of testing.
After Lewis completed 86 laps, and set a 1m19.640s best, David Redding, Team Manager, McLaren Racing said: “Today was a good day of testing. The first hour or so was spent aero data gathering, then Lewis embarked on two or three hours intensive set up work, exploring suspension geometries and general car set up. The afternoon was then spent comparing tyre compounds.
We had the opportunity to try some changes that were time consuming, so things you wouldn’t normally do at a race weekend. It was good to get those fundamental changes and tests out of the way early on. The car ran reliably and without any issues.”
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