Sauber F1 satisfied with Robin Frijns first Formula 1 test drive – Formula 1 news
As the young driver tests move under way on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, Sauber has expressed its satisfaction with Robin Frijns performance on his first test day with the team.
From 2009 to 2011, driver tests had been banned by the FIA to take place during an ongoing racing season but this year they decided to offer the driving test that will be running for three days. Frijns, who is the Formula Renault 3.5 championship holder,
was awarded with two F1 tests, one by Sauber while he was still competing in the Renault series and the other one by Red Bull Racing as a prize for winning the title.
The driver had stated earlier that he is looking forward to learning a lot from his tests as every metre in a F1 car is important. He was very excited about having to spend a day with each of the teams. In particular, the driver was thrilled that he will
be driving a Red Bull car which is presently the quickest car on the grid.
Frijns had his first driver test with the Sauber team on Tuesday and the head of track engineering for Sauber, Giampaolo Dall’Ara, said that they were really pleased at what he brought out on the track.
He said, “Robin did fine. Physically he coped well and also, for his age, he gave us good feedback. The mileage is a lot and the lap time is also good. We started with the hard tyres and did some aero work in the morning before actually working on his lap
time. Towards the end of the day we gave him an idea of different tyre compounds and went with a set of medium and a set of soft. But we never sent him out with a qualifying fuel level.”
The driver himself is a little uncertain with his performance as he thinks that he could have given a much faster lap. He confessed that understanding the different tyre compounds had been difficult and that the test required hard work which has left him
feeling tired.
Frijns will be testing for the Red Bull team on Thursday.
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