United States GP, Friday - 30 JUN 2006
The Renault F1 Team began its United States Grand Prix weekend
with a solid afternoon of set-up work and tyre testing today
at Indianapolis.
After sitting out the opening practice session to preserve
engine life – an even more critical factor this weekend,
on such a demanding circuit for the V8 units – the team
conducted its normal initial set-up tuning and tyre evaluation
during the afternoon. Both drivers made progress with the
set-ups of their R26 cars and assessed the performance of
the Michelin tyres. As ever, though, the Friday times are
no reliable indicator of form, and the true picture of relative
competitiveness will only begin to emerge tomorrow.
Giancarlo Fisichella, P3, 17 laps total, 1:12.933
This was one of the best Friday sessions of the season so
far for me. The R26 felt comfortable to drive straight away,
and as we made set-up changes it got better and better. The
balance is quite good, and we know we are moving in the right
direction. We have understood how the tyres are working as
well, so it all looks encouraging for tomorrow.
Fernando Alonso, P9, 15 laps total, 1:13.474
This was a normal Friday for me. The grip levels are quite
low at the moment, but that was the only major problem and
the balance of the car feels OK. Friday is all about understanding
the tyre behaviour and what direction you need to go in with
set-up, which we have done. The circuit grip will improve
as we run more, so the track should come to us a little bit,
and I am confident for the rest of the weekend.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
We had a useful Friday. When the cars began running, they
already had a reasonable balance and the changes we made during
the afternoon helped improve both the driveability and grip.
We have begun to get a picture of the tyre behaviour, and
there were no problems in any area. All in all, a good, solid
start to the weekend.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations
As we have become used to seeing during the first half of
the season, the amount of running we conduct on Friday is
dictated by constraints of engine life and tyre usage. This
is doubly true at Indianapolis, where the extended period
of time spent at full throttle offers the engines a considerable
challenge. So we ran a normal programme, finalising the mapping
of Giancarlo's brand new V8 unit and Fernando's race-old engine,
while the chassis engineers worked to tune the chassis behaviour.
Everything ran smoothly, and we have collected our usual data
for overnight analysis.
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