05/04/2005
NEWS STORY
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team completed its first day of testing today at Barcelona with race drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Following poor weather forecasts for Friday, the team shifted its programme forward in order to be ready to run today. Both drivers conducted tyre development programmes for Michelin, with Fernando also completing some set-up work. Giancarlo's running was hampered by engine problems which restricted his mileage.
Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk commented: The team made a great effort to run today: the drivers have both come directly from Bahrain, and Fernando from a long hard race in testing conditions. However, we were ready to run this morning and Fernando had a pretty trouble-free day, particularly this morning when he got through a lot of tyre testing. The car was handling well, and he found a good balance immediately. Fisico's day was disrupted by a persistent mechanical problem, which we will endeavour to fix overnight in order to allow him further running tomorrow.