PRE-SEASON TESTING 2020. CIRCUIT DE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA, SPAIN
1ST WEEK: FEB 19TH TO 21ST
2ND WEEK: FEB 26TH TO 28TH
Day 1
It has been 4 years since I've last driven on the Barcelona circuit, but it didn't take me too long to get comfortable around the corners once again.
The AT01 felt good from the beginning, as much of it was from last year's Red Bull, which was a bit of a twitchy car, the kind of twitchy I personally enjoyed driving very much. The first day it was mostly me driving. In the afternoon I asked too much, I was too eager, and spun as a result. Luckily, I could continue, I didn't crash the car or end up in the gravel. I still felt embarassed, losing the car on the very first day by doing a stupid rookie mistake, but was in a better mood as I heard during lunch that Verstappen has managed to spin twice in the first session.
Day 2
I wasn't too unhappy about Pierre being out in the car on second day of testing. Hence my intense training in the last weeks, I was glad I could hold my head in an upright position the next morning. I spent most of the day in the garage, following on the radio what Pierre and the engineers thought of the setups on the car, occasionally giving an interview to sports channels and the official F1 commentators. Jamie accompanied me to every single interview, as he always did when possible.
Day 3
The last day of the first testing week was full of red flags. In the morning, Seb had a power unit failure, Magnussen had a puncture and ended up in the barriers, and later in the day, Ricciardo and his Renault had massive engine problems as well. I still had a good time, experimenting a lot with different aero setups, but not really able to put a good lap time in. I once had a run, but Grosjean ruined it by getting racy with me in the last sector. Almost pushing me off the track, Haas received a fine.
Day 4
In the evening on day 4, I was praised around the garage like a hero. I managed to pull off the second fastest lap time in the morning on the medium tyre, then again in the evening with the softs.
Right after lunch when I was getting ready to spend the next hour out on the pitwall with Matt and our team principal, there was squealing and screaming coming out of the garage. When I approached to see what was happening, I found several grown men, including my teammate, looking rather badass in his race suit and helmet, squirming around the car, not being able to decide if they should laugh or just be terrified. Reason for that was, as it turned out, a spider dangling down the halo of the car. It was rather big, yes, but not terrifyingly massive, just a big specimen of those spiders you could find in any attic or basement. I just gave them a baffled look, ripped the gloves off of Pierre's hands, put them on myself, and gently cupped the animal inside both hands. I did have my fun then though, running around the garage, chasing the guys with what was in my hands, and laughing at them, before returning the poor, skinny-legged fella outside. After returning his gloves to Pierre, which he turned down („Get away with those spider-infested gloves, I swear, Suvi! SUVI, DON'T YOU TOUCH ME WITH THOSE! HELP!"), I just took a look around the garage, laughing and shaking my head in amusement (and disbelief), and continued my afternoon as planned on the pitwall before heading out in the car myself once again.
Day 5
On day 5, there was gentle rain drizzling from the sky, a perfect way to see how the car behaved in the wet. And it did a very good job, earning me a P2 in the morning session once again. Just as I was wizarding my way through the wet, so did Lance, consistently pulling off really good times. AlphaTauri finished the day with a 2-2, with Pierre also being P2 in the afternoon.
I expected Verstappen to put in some fast laps as well, but to my amusement, he again managed to go off track twice that day. As I watched the replays on the pitwall, I thought I watched an overly eager rookie, and not someone as insanely talented as Max starting his sixth season in F1.
Day 6
The final day was a very slow one, with the mechanics occupying the car for most of the time to upgrade and optimize it one more time before the season opener in Australia, letting us drive it for only a few laps every hour or so. Neither Pierre nor myself complained, in the last week I had more work than the whole month before that, so it was nice to have a bit of spare time. I decided to take a walk around the paddock, joked with the two Ferrari drivers, then continuing the walk with Charles who brought me a hot chocolate as he saw me getting a bit cold outside, and finally we ended up on the McLaren pitwall, chatting with Lando. We had no idea where it came from, but he had fucking Lego with him. It was glorious, three young adults fighting over who could play with the Millenium Falcon made of colorful plastic bricks, and for a second I felt like I was in primary school again.
I did miss my brother though. He had his own health to take care of and we haven't seen each other in weeks, and I couldn't stop wishing he was here.
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A U R O R A // F1
Fanficthe sun broke through the clouds and made her braids look like two golden chains running down her back. I glanced at her face, her eyes lost in the hustle and bustle around us in the padock. if someone could ever be perfection, it would be that girl...
