TEST REPORT - PAUL RICARD - DAY ONE
Location: Paul Ricard HTTT, Le Castellet, France
Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya
Weather: Warm and dry
Track temperature – high of 44.5 degrees Celsius
Air temperature – high of 24.7 degrees Celsius
Laps run: 171
Kilometres covered: Kimi Raikkonen approx. 245km
Juan Pablo Montoya approx. 370km
Best lap time of the day: Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1m05.686
Duration of test: Four days (16th – 19th May)
Team McLaren Mercedes returned to the test track following
a two week gap as a result of the European and Spanish Grands
Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya were in attendance
at the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track at the start of a
four day test for the team, which will see a number of components
tested to be brought online at the upcoming races.
Work for the week will include a focus on the cooling and
bodywork package for the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes-Benz
V8 engine work, aerodynamic testing for Canada and Michelin
tyre selection for Monaco and Montreal.
Weather at the track, which was in the 2D SC configuration
today at 3.593km in length, was warm and sunny all day. Team
McLaren Mercedes covered over 615kms in total during the session,
which was attended by 12 cars in total.
Kimi covered 68 laps in his MP4-21, equating to 245km of
the French track. His fastest time of 1m05.996 put the Finn
in fifth place on the timesheets. Kimi spent a couple of hours
in the garage mid way through the day, as he and the team
were evaluating suspension options.
Juan Pablo completed 370km over the course of 103 laps, as
he put in the sixth quickest time of the day, with a 1m06.177.
Team McLaren Mercedes will continue testing tomorrow with
Kimi and Juan Pablo. The team's test drivers, Pedro de la
Rosa and Gary Paffett will take over driving duties for Thursday
and Friday.
Unofficial times*:
Pos Driver Constructor Time Laps
1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1m05.686 143
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m05.707 127
3 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m05.752 117
4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1m05.889 174
5 Kimi Raikkonen Team McLaren Mercedes 1m05.996 68
6 Juan Pablo Montoya Team McLaren Mercedes 1m06.177 103
7 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1m06.466 100
8 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1m06.586 123
9 Scott Speed Toro Rosso 1m06.725 150
10 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1m07.009 104
11 Christian Klien Red Bull Racing 1m07.016 65
12 Robert Doornbos Red Bull Racing 1m07.760 83
*no official times available
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