"Cadillac" driver Valtteri Bottas has assessed the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona.
Idman.Biz reports that Bottas spent the first half of the day on the track before giving way to his teammate Sergio Perez.
"It's great to be back! Returning with a completely new team is a unique situation. I was really happy to be back on the track. Today I drove the new car for the first time and it was great.
Of course, I can't say much about performance, but the main thing is that we were able to work on the track and even did long runs at the end. The first steps are aimed at eliminating problems so that all systems work correctly.
But the weather was quite cold. It was difficult to get the tires working in the morning. But as the temperature rose, the car's handling improved.
We had a few problems during the day, but this is part of the debugging process; we are here. In addition, I feel that all the teams have some problems. Now the main task is to identify these problems and work to increase the mileage every day. The main priority is to complete more laps every day. I did more than 30 laps today. Some were just practice runs, but we have to keep working, increase the mileage and prepare a reliable car for the first race of the season," said Bottas.