Daniel Ricciardo maintains lead for Red Bull at Yas Marina
After the second day of the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina circuit, a showcase for the talent of team reserve drivers, Red Bull showed it had continuing dominance of the F1 world.
The unofficial Wednesday times at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit showed Red Bull’s rookie Daniel Ricciardo still on top, with a time of 1:38.102; seven-tenths of a second ahead of Jerome D’Ambrosio,
who came in second for Renault.
Marked by good weather, the win drove home the success of Red Bull’s RB6 car, which Ricciardo drove to an ultimate success at the Circuit, completing 77 laps, and beating the record set by Sebastian Vettel
on Saturday.
Ricciardo said after the race: “It was cool to do this test and great to get so close to the big boys' times from the weekend.”
A lot of that had to do with the car, which he praised as being close to perfectiong. Calling the car a pleasure to drive the racer said it handles exceptionally well, and even exceeded his expectations.
“It’s been a great two days and it would be fantastic to get the chance to drive in Formula One full-time.”
D’Ambrosio drove the Virgin on Tuesday, and completed 83 laps in Renault’s R30. Renault’s chief engineer, Alan Permane, noted that the driver improved dramatically with each run, speeding up and ending the
day on a strong note. “We were very impressed with Jerome in and out of the car and his feedback was excellent: he's very precise on what the car is doing and what he wants from the car to make it faster."
Sam Bird took third place for Mercedes GP, and his team principal, Ross Brawn was happy with the results, saying that the driver had a very strong understanding of the test programme, and handled the car
well. “I am sure that this experience, both working with the team and driving the car, will prove very useful for the development of Sam's career," he said.
Mexican driver Sergio Perez, who came in fourth for BMW Sauber in 2011, managed 91 laps in the C29, according to the F1 official site. Perez told reporters that he is glad to have run his first day with the
new team, “I think in the course of the day I got closer to the limit. I was very happy with the way we worked.”
Force India’s reserve driver Paul di Resta took seventh place, working a 90-minute morning shift and passing the VJM03 to Yelmer Buurman. This was Buurman’s first run in an F1 car, he said that he was impressed
with the handling, and was “blown away” by the performance.
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