Baguette joins BMW Sauber on third day
For the third and final young driver day in Jerez the BMW Sauber F1 Team had a rather more mature driver at the wheel! Bertrand Baguette from Belgium is the 2009 Formula Renault champion, and had already tested the French manufacturer’s F1 car last Tuesday at the same track. Despite this the 23-year-old started work with a similar programme to that the youngster who tested on Tuesday and Wednesday had to become familiar with the car.
In the afternoon the team let him run aerodynamic tests, including downforce measurements on different configurations. The engineers were very happy with Bertrand’s feedback and comments, as well as with the useful overall results of the day.
Despite several interruptions because of rain, red flags and mechanical changes to the car, Bertrand managed to get good mileage under his belt today. Just like the other two drivers on Tuesday and Wednesday, Bertrand was not sent out with an extra low fuel load.
At the end of the day a still fresh and chirpy Bertrand Baguette commented: “I am very happy with what we did today. In the morning I was worried because of the weather conditions but, apart from the rain at lunch time, it turned out to be a very nice day and we completed our entire programme. Of course I’m also happy that I managed to get in a good lap time on my very last run despite a lot of fuel on board. The balance of the car was very good, I enjoyed the driving a lot. I was able to work with the engineers and want to thank the team for all that I have learned today.”
Test kilometres today: 310 km (70 laps) Fastest lap: 1:19.356 min
