10/02/2005
NEWS STORY
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At a time when sections of the media were talking of problems with Renault's 2005 contender, the R25, and Fernando Alonso's unhappiness with the car, the young Spaniard has killed off the wild gossip by posting a lap time just 0.118s off Michael Schumacher's 2004 unofficial lap record.
Furthermore, reliability wasn't an issue, as between them the Spaniard, and his Italian teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, covered 170 laps.
Fernando and Giancarlo spent the morning conducting set-up work, although Giancarlo's programme was interrupted by red flags on track. Subsequently, both drivers concentrated on long runs of up to twenty laps in order to evaluate tyre performance under endurance conditions.
"We have learned a lot from our running this week," said chief test engineer, Christian Silk, "and it was pleasing to complete a full day's work with both drivers today. There is still a lot of work to do before the first race in Melbourne, and we have two busy tests ahead of us. However, we have confirmed the car's strong performance from Valencia here in Jerez, on a more typical circuit, and we hope to see these results corroborated next week at Barcelona, an active Grand Prix venue. Certainly, our results so far lead us to believe that we are in very good shape for the first race of the year."
Second quickest, albeit 0.716s off the pace, was McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya, whose MP4-20 was still sporting 'horns'. The Colombian was the Woking outfit's sole runner today, and spent the day working on tyre evaluations. Unfortunately, a technical problem (clutch) meant he missed almost all of the afternoon session.
Kimi Raikkonen should have been on duty, and was actually at the track. However the team was awaiting a number of spare parts and consequently the Finn will have to wait until tomorrow (Friday), before he can get to work.
There was a marked improvement from Toyota, with Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher finishing fourth and seventh. Between them the Italian and German completed 165 laps, underlining the TF105's reliability. That said, Ralf had a number of spins, though there was no significant damage to his car.
Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve were on duty for Sauber, the Swiss outfit still showing good pace. Once again, both drivers focussed on entirely different programmes, leaving the team stressing that the two drivers' times should not be compared.
"Today we compared different pre-selected Michelin tyres in long-runs to simulate race conditions," explained chief race engineer, Jacky Eeckelaert, "whereby Felipe focused on preparations for the Australian Grand Prix and Jacques on Sepang.
"Jacques also ran further damper tests. He was forced to stop just before the end of today's test session due to technical problems which now need to be investigated.
"Despite of the bad weather and track conditions on Tuesday morning we were able to complete our scheduled programme for the week. Compared to our last test in Barcelona we improved the car and made progress. We believe that we can expect another step forward at our final pre-season test in Imola."
The word on the street is that the Cosworth powering the Red Bull cars is one of the best the company has produced in years. Today it powered David Coulthard to the sixth fastest time, just 0.253s off Massa's pace.
Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi were also on duty, however, neither of them could match the Scottish veteran's pace.
It was another poor day for BAR, with Jenson Button crashing at exactly the same corner that claimed teammate Takuma Sato on Wednesday. Though the reason for the accident is unclear, the series of mishaps has left the Brackley outfit seriously short of certain components.
Having spent much of yesterday resting, following his second crash in 24-hours, Takuma Sato was back at work again, albeit in the 006. With three weeks to go before Melbourne, and just two major tests, the Japanese driver is said to be concerned at the lack of track-time he has had in the 007.
Mark Webber was the quicker of the two WilliamsF1 drivers on duty. Today, he and Nick Heidfeld worked on similar programmes, both carrying out practice pit stops in the morning, and set-up work in the afternoon. Unfortunately, both drivers lost time as a result of problems.
Michael Schumacher joined Rubens Barrichello in working on the development of the Ferrari F2004 M, after a second car had been updated with the relevant aerodynamic components complying with the 2005 technical regulations. The day's programme focussed on set-ups, engine and Bridgestone tyre testing.
Weather: The weather continues to improve in southern Spain, with a light breeze sweeping the track and temperatures reaching 18 degrees C.