03/02/2006
NEWS STORY
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Renault drivers, Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen, topped the timesheets on the final day of testing at Valencia.
'Mileage, mileage, mileage' was the day's motto as the duo racked up an astonishing 307 laps, as the French team's drivers ran a similar programme to previous days, aiming to complete a race simulation before working on tyre development in the second part of the day.
Neither driver suffered any major incidents, and the team worked through its job list efficiently, which included refuelling stops and tyre changes during the race simulations.
"We completed another race distance today," said Alonso. "The conditions were good today, because there were fewer cars running, so we didn't have as many red flags as yesterday. This afternoon, I worked on the tyres and I think we are making steady progress towards some good solutions. Every test between now and the first race will be important, but we have been productive during each one so far, and we managed to do that again this week."
"I am getting to like the R26 more and more as I drive it," added Kovalainen. "We had a very efficient morning, with good levels of performance and another race distance without any problems. There is still a lot to do ahead of the first race in Bahrain, but we have a solid base. Personally, I am pleased that I managed to get used to the new car quite quickly, and I am pleased that I improved with each day this week."
"We had a very efficient morning, with race distances completed on each car," said Christian Silk, the team's chief test engineer. "It was certainly the best day we have had this week. Overall, this has been a very positive week for us, and we have made good progress with the programme. There has been some interesting tyre development with Michelin as well, and we have found some interesting directions that we need to explore further at the next tests. We will be back in action next week in Jerez."
Third quickest, 0.85s off Alonso's pace, was Nico Rosberg, who concentrated on tyre testing. The German was joined by Brazilian youngster Joao Paulo de Oliveira, who drove the FW27C.
"Today was the end of the first test for the FW28," said Sam Michael, just seven days after the car's launch. "It was a really good start for the new car, with no major problems that you might expect on a first run.
"We also completed a few aerodynamic tests and confirmed that everything on the new car is working as predicted by the wind tunnel.
"Nico finished mid afternoon today, as planned, after starting some aero and mechanical set-up work. We also found a couple of good directions from which we can get the best out of the Bridgestone tyres which we will now work on in time for the next test at Valencia.
"Joao Paulo de Oliveira drove the FW27C for us today to put mileage on some of the engine and gearbox components," he continued. "It was his first time in a Formula One car and he did everything well. The team now head to Jerez for a four day test next week with two FW28s, Webber, Rosberg and Wurz will all be on duty."
"Overall, I was very satisfied with today's test," said de Oliveira. "What I found most impressive was the car's brakes, but they were also the hardest thing to learn as I've never done left foot braking before. The team made a few adjustments in time for my last run, which made it a bit easier. It was such a great experience and one I'd love to do again sometime."
Pedro de la Rosa, driving the V10 powered MP4-20, concentrated on a tyre development programme, while Juan Pablo Montoya continued with the MP4-21.
The Colombian continued to work on longer runs and putting good mileage on MP4-21. In the morning, he completed two runs of 26 laps. However, on his third long run of the day, his engine failed and he stopped out on track.
The test team replaced the engine, however just before the Colombian was due to go back out on track, an issue with the hydraulics system was identified. Because this happened late in the session and the team had achieved the primary engineering objectives for the day, the decision was taken to end running for the week.
"The distances we are covering is allowing us to complete some key programmes with the car and I am looking forward to continuing this process next week in Jerez," said Montoya. "The car is getting better the more we run it and develop it, and the team are doing a really good job. We have had a couple of technical issues this week, but this is why we test and everything like this helps us learn more about the car."
Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were on duty for BMW, the German Nick worked with Michelin on a tyre construction assessment and later ran fuel system and aerodynamic tests, while the Pole, driving the Sauber C24B, tested different tyre compounds for Michelin.
Also on duty were Ralf Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta for Toyota.
"Today we did many runs working on the car with different set-ups," said the German. "We ran really well without any major problems and were therefore rather successful, so it was a good day. We are heading in the right direction with the tyre testing and when the new aerodynamic package arrives in the coming tests, we will see how competitive we are going to be."
"Today was a long day and we were able to put in a lot of laps," added the Brazilian. 2We spent most of the time doing tyre tests and trying out different set-ups. This week has been about getting as much data as we can to improve the car and see how much progress we can make. For today's tyre tests I did some short runs of five laps each, but mainly we were trying to see the consistency over longer runs. We didn't have any reliability problems so it was a positive day."
Weather
Air temperature: 11-18 C
Track temperature: 9-20 C.
Sunny
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