Renault F1 Barcelona Testing, Day 1
Day one of testing Barcelona for the Renault F1 Team, with
the two race drivers in action.
There are just over two weeks to go before the opening race
of the year, and the Renault F1 Team – like its rivals
– is testing non-stop to complete its winter programme.
After Jerez and Valencia, they have based themselves in Barcelona
this week for a three-day programme. It will be a busy session,
with both the engine and chassis race personnel joining their
testing counterparts – for pit-stop practice, and more.
Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella were on track today,
continuing the technical programme begun with the R26 in January.
After small software problems stopped both cars on their installation
laps, the drivers then waited for ideal track conditions before
continuing their programme – which happened in the early
afternoon.
Fernando Alonso focused on tyre development with Michelin,
concentrating particularly on chassis set-up with these tyres.
On the other side of the garage, Giancarlo Fisichella completed
an incident-free race distance and was pleased with the car's
performance today, taking second position with a lap of 1:15.517.
Fernando Alonso: "It was another good
day. We did lots of laps, and completed the programme without
any big problems. It was very windy today, which can be a
bit unsettling at the wheel, but I am pleased with the work
we did, and particularly with the car balance."
Giancarlo Fisichella: "We had a small
problem this morning, but that didn't stop us completing the
programme today. I am very pleased with what we did today,
and with the performance. Our priority was to complete the
programme, and we did 93 laps, which is a very good total.
The car is behaving very well, it is consistent and we have
made good progress on the set-up. It was another very productive
day."
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "We
had a rather laborious start to the day with software problems
on the cars, but it wasn't as bad as it seemed – the
track conditions were not suitable for running, so we didn't
realise lose any useful running time. We solved the problems
quickly, and had a very efficient afternoon's running. Both
cars did a lot of laps, and the drivers are very happy with
it – especially Giancarlo, who was testing the new aero
package for the first race."
DRIVER - TEAM - BEST LAPS
1 RAIKKONEN McLaren 1:15.223 95
2 FISCHELLA Renault 1:15.517 93
3 ALONSO Renault 1:15.796 94
4 BUTTON Honda 1:15.969 85
5 TRULLI Toyota 1:16.191 96
6 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1:16.372 48
7 BARRICHELLO Honda 1:16.476 66
8 MONTOYA McLaren 1:16.538 84
9 KLIEN Red Bull 1:16.916 35
10 COULTHARD Red Bull 1:18.221 12
11 WEBBER Williams 1:18.279 88
12 ALBERS Midland 1:19.301 28
13 MONTEIRO Midland 1:20.395 35
14 IDE Aguri 1:24.461 44
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