Mortara gets first taste of F1 in Lotus E20
A successful second day at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi showcased the talents of Edoardo Mortara as he took the wheel of the E20 for the very first time. This was a first F1 experience for the young French / Italian driver, who is currently competing in the DTM series. Despite this he finished the day third fastest, setting his quickest time at the last possible moment on his final lap.
Reigning GP2 Series Champion Davide Valsecchi will round off the three day test as he makes his Lotus F1 Team debut in the E20 hot seat tomorrow
Edoardo Mortara, E20-01:
"I had a wonderful time and I'm so grateful to everyone at Lotus F1 Team for giving me this opportunity ; I enjoyed every lap. At the same time, it was pretty tough ; I've come from a car which is a lot slower and the first laps were certainly an eye opener. I improved gradually over the day and I think my progression was pretty good. Every time I was on track I got a little bit better. I completed the test programme scheduled by the team so it's satisfying to be able to contribute to their season. It's been one of the best days of my life."
Simon Rennie, Race Engineer:
"Today we completed further aerodynamic work Including running two iterations of the DDRS. Edoardo spent the morning acclimatising himself to the car meaning that in the afternoon he was able to tune the set-up to his preferences. He did a great job, completing 75 laps and giving us a lot of valuable data to work with. We ran with new medium tyres in the afternoon meaning he was let off the leash a bit more to show his speed. At the end of the day he was third quickest, but there is more time to come from him and also the car. All in all, he did an excellent job today."
Morning Session : Aerodynamic programming and DDRS testing
Afternoon Session : Setup adjustments and balance change
Total number of laps : 75
Best lap time : 1:43.418
Tyres used : Two sets of hard and two sets of medium compound rubber
