Jerez Test - Day three
SCHUMACHER AND LIUZZI TAKE OVER FOR FORCE INDIA
6 December 2007 - Ralf Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi took
over for the third day of the Force India Formula One Team's
test programme in Jerez, southern Spain. Unfortunately however
the day was heavily interrupted by several lengthy red flag
periods, which disrupted both drivers' programmes over the
course of the day.
Both drivers worked on gathering more information on the
2008 control systems, general set-up work and tyre evaluation,
however did not complete their respective programmes due to
the interspersed runs.
On his first run in the Force India car, Ralf Schumacher
unfortunately experienced hydraulic problems in the morning,
and had to abort his shorter runs due to the stoppages, however
his pace, consistency and speed over longer stints was particularly
impressive.
Tonio Liuzzi, on his second full day with the team, similarly
had a frustrating day with the stops, but his feedback and
speed over shorter runs will help the team with its programme
going forward into the final day tomorrow.
Team quotes
James Key, technical director
'Overall it was a difficult day with several stoppages, however
this morning was quite productive. Tonio got a fair few laps
in and gave some good feedback, which seemed to take the car
in the right direction and his shorter runs were consistent.
For Ralf it was more difficult as we had some issues with
the car initially, which unfortunately slowed things down,
especially as it was his first time with the team and his
first without control systems. Over the longer runs it came
together pretty well for him though and he was very consistent.
Once again though it has been a very useful day of feedback
for the team from experienced drivers.'
Ralf Schumacher
'It was a difficult day today as it was my first time with
the team and I had to learn about how to work with the 2008
electronics. Unfortunately we had some problems with the car
in the morning and then lots of red flags in the afternoon,
but when we went for the long runs it was quite promising.
When we had some new tyres on, unfortunately in the morning
we didn't get it right, and the second was interrupted by
a red flag. Although it was a difficult day, it was still
good and I think we did get some good information.'
Vitantonio Liuzzi
'It was positive and I am happy with the work we did. Unfortunately
there were a lot of red flags so we couldn't run our second
set of tyres to the full extent, but I am happy with the car
balance and the way we worked together. We did some long runs
and didn't find a perfect set up, but now for sure we have
a lot of work to do on the car. I felt I did the maximum though.'
Testing data
Driver: Ralf Schumacher & Vitantonio Liuzzi
Track: Circuit de Jerez, Spain
Best lap time: 1min 21.194 (Tonio) / 1min 21.853 (Ralf)
Laps completed: 76 (Tonio), 71 (Ralf)
Kilometres completed: 638km (330km Tonio / 308km Ralf)
Air temperature: High of 22ºC
Track temperature: High of 25ºC
Weather: Misty in the early morning, again clearing to clear
blue skies
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