Engine problem disrupts Razia’s first test

Luiz Razia declared himself happy with his first day as an F1 driver despite only completing 31 laps in testing due to an engine problem.

“It has been a very busy but happy day for me with, first, the announcement of my drive for the team and then getting straight into the car for a first day of testing,” he said.

“It is not the first time I have worked with the team of course, but there has been a lot to take in and I need to get up to speed very quickly.

“I’m quite pleased with the way things have gone for me, so it is a shame that we were unable to run this afternoon. We had an engine problem but took that opportunity to do our KERS checks and then we were unable to turn the car round before the red flag came out.”

Team principal John Booth said the team had done well to prepare the car following Max Chilton’s crash yesterday:

“We were forced to effect some substantial repairs at the track, but the race team and factory worked hard to get the required new components out here quickly and we were ahead of where we thought we would be once this morning came around.”

He added the team are making “good progress” with KERS, which they are using for the first time this year.

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