24/11/2004
NEWS STORY
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Former WilliamsF1 teammates, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, topped the timesheets on the second day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.
The Colombian, making his debut for the Woking outfit, completed 57 laps, posting a best time of, 1:14.211, over half-a-second than the time he posted here in the WilliamsF1 in February, and the third fastest lap posted here this season. Montoya was joined by McLaren test driver Alexander Wurz, who was over 2s off the pace.
"Its been an exciting day today and the first time I actually went out of the garage in a West McLaren Mercedes Formula One car was special," said Montoya, at the end of the day's action. "I know a lot of the guys in the team already and am really looking forward to working with everybody. At the moment I'm still struggling with remembering everybody's names but that is only natural. There is a lot of work to do for all of us before Christmas and I can't wait."
Wurz and Montoya will be in action again tomorrow, whilst on Friday Pedro de la Rosa will test alongside the Colombian. Pedro will be the sole driver at the test on Saturday.
Ralf Schumacher, making his debut in the Toyota, was soon on the pace, completing 64 laps and posting a best time over a second quicker than teammate Jarno Trulli.
Third quickest was Felipe Massa, as Sauber made its debut on Michelin rubber. The Brazilian completed 71 laps, posting a best time 0.727s off Montoya's pace.
"Today we ran our first test day with Michelin tyres and naturally concentrated on adapting the car's balance to the new tyres," said Jacky Eeckelaert, the Swiss outfit's chief race engineer. "We defined a new suspension set-up and adjusted the C23 accordingly. Already at Hinwil we ran simulations on the basis of Michelin tyre data and developed a good foundation for our work today. Overall we were able to deliver good test results and are happy with today's outcome.
"Tomorrow we will evaluate new brakes and run aerodynamic tests in preparation to 2005. Our target this week is to collect valuable Michelin tyre and downforce data for the next season."
Jacques Villeneuve will make his Sauber debut on Friday.
Fourth quickest was Christian Klien, who laid a great claim to the Red Bull seat with today's performance. The Austrian youngster completed 92 laps, posting a best time just 0.926s slower than the McLaren. Klien was joined by F3000 champion, Vitantonio Liuzzi, who finished ninth quickest, albeit 0.788s slower that his 'teammate'.
Another driver making a strong debut was Mark Webber, who drove a handful of laps in the FW26 on Tuesday, merely to familiarise himself with the car. Conditions for the Australian's WilliamsF1 debut were ideal, with blue skies, a light breeze, and temperatures reaching 17 degrees C.
Mark, who suffered a driveshaft failure on his second lap - not the best of introductions to a new team - concentrated on getting used to the 2004 car, however, he also carried out some set-up work. The Australian completed 59 laps. Antonio Pizzonia was also on duty, however due to technical problems, the Brazilian completed just six laps. With the problems resolved, Antonio, who posted a best time of, 1:16.805, hopes to have extensive running tomorrow.
The Ferraris of Gene and Badoer were sixth and seventh, with the Spaniard once again getting the better of the Italian. Unfortunately, the former WilliamsF1 tester lost valuable time in the afternoon following an engine failure - a rarity for the Italian team.
Giancarlo Fisichella, was another driver making his debut with a new team, albeit a team he has previously driven for. The Italian, driving the Renault, was joined by the French outfit's test driver, Franck Montagny.
"Overall, I am pleased with how things went today," said Fisichella. "Although I didn't get out on the circuit until midday, we did over thirty laps and I was able to begin learning about the car, the engine and the tyres. Everything was new for me, but I was impressed with what I found: the tyre performance is good, and the engine was strong at low revs. The car is not yet balanced how I want it for my driving style, but we are going in the right direction and it is getting more comfortable. It was a good start to the week."
"It is good to be back testing again," added, Christian Silk, the test team's chief engineer, "and we have a heavy programme to complete this winter. Giancarlo's first day with the team was delayed by electrical problems, but his acclimatisation to the car went smoothly after that and we began making progress with the set-up. As for Franck, the major part of his programme this week will be devoted to tyre testing but in addition to this, he complete brake development during the morning session before working on set-ups in the afternoon."
Both BAR drivers on duty were off the pace, albeit running in funky new black (carbon fibre) liveries. Jenson Button completed 62 laps, posting a best time of, 1:16.485, while Enrique Bernoldi, running the 2005 'concept car', was almost 6s off the pace.