Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN F1 Barcelona test 2, day 2 - Antonio Giovinazzi out 27.02.2020: 2020 Pre-Season Testing – Week 2, Day 2 Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya / 4.655 km Driver: Antonio Giovinazzi Weather: initially damp, then sunny and dry; air 11-20°C, track 13-30°C Chassis / engine: Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C39-02 / Ferr

2020 Pre-Season Testing – Week 2, Day 2



Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya / 4.655 km
Driver: Antonio Giovinazzi
Weather: initially damp, then sunny and dry; air 11-20°C, track 13-30°C
Chassis / engine: Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C39-02 / Ferrari
Laps: 92 laps, 428.26 km
Fastest lap: 1:19.670


Testing is not a straightforward operation all the time. As the word itself suggests, it’s often a matter of pushing the limit, exploring the boundaries of what man and machine can do, trying to go a little further than we’ve been before. As it is therefore natural in such an environment, some days can be a bit more challenging than others. Today, after four sessions of trouble-free running, we had one of those days.



A little time was lost; no drama, no worries – just the desire to come back on track as soon as possible to continue our work and push, push more on the way to Australia. We know how to deal with hard days and come back stronger, more motivated; we know how to deal with these challenges – after all, we know just how testing a testing day can be.
 


Xevi Pujolar, Head of Track Engineering of Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN: “After nearly two weeks of issue-free running, we had a bit of a stop-start day today. We lost a bit of time in the morning when we had an off and had to repair the car, and our programme was halted by a few red flags. It was quite difficult to get some consistent running, but it was a similar situation for everyone.



Our race simulation went well: we had to send the car out without much setup work, so we know we can improve our pace a decent bit. We will now focus on our final day of testing before Melbourne: Kimi will be in the car tomorrow and follow a similar programme to what we had planned for today.”
 



Antonio Giovinazzi (car #99): “It was a challenging day from the start. I did a mistake in one of my first runs, when the track was damp, and that cost us some time in the morning. When we went out again in the afternoon, the yellow flags ruined our qualifying simulation and we couldn’t really do a lap.



At least we were able to follow our long runs programme: the wind was very strong and we struggled a bit, but we were able to get it done. It was the last time in the car before Melbourne for me: I am satisfied with these two weeks, we need to focus on our job and try to be strong from the start in Australia.”
 

 



Will Ponissi,photos Sauber