Friday: Busy day for Marussia Virgin drivers
The first day of testing at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was not an easy one for the Marussia Virgin Racing drivers. Timo Glock encountered some issues during the first session before things somewhat settled during the second session. Robert Wickens drove the MVR-02 for the first time during a test session and he is delighted and looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of this car next Thursday. Jérome d'Ambrosio, on the other hand, had given up his seat to the Canadian and thus experienced a busy second testing session but he seems confident for the rest of the weekend.
Timo Glock – 22nd and 21st
This morning, I had some issues. I had a technical problem, so I had to wait a bit longer than expected before joining the track. Therefore, the first practice session was difficult, the car wasn’t great, and we needed different settings from what we had in the past. So it was a bit challenging to get the most out of the car. In the end, I had so many things to adjust that I couldn’t improve my time. It wasn’t the best start to the day. The second practice session was more usual. We made some changes to the settings that proved to be in the right direction, and we made the car more drivable. It was nice to see Robert (Wickens) in the car today. I think he deserved it after winning the World Series (Formula 3.5). So it was a great day for him, that’s for sure.
Jérome d’Ambrosio – 22nd (Free Practice 2)
It was a busy second practice session, I tried to do as many laps as possible and attempted to gather as much information as I could while setting up the car. My last stint was positive. I think we are heading in the right direction and the work done today should allow us to have a better day tomorrow.
Robert Wickens – 23rd (Free Practice 1)
Today was superb. It was an enriching experience and everything went well – I’ve been with the team for a while now and I feel comfortable, I’ve been going faster and faster with each lap. So it was a very promising first free practice session, I was close to Timo and I think I can only be pleased with the work I’ve done today. I’m really looking forward to being back in the car next week for the young driver tests.
