25/04/2006
NEWS STORY
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It's Britain and it's springtime, hence it comes as no surprise to hear that the first day of testing at Silverstone was disrupted by the weather.
The Colombian, who will be present all week, was joined by Pedro de la Rosa today to kick off the test in two MP4-21s. Work for the Woking team this week will focus on general set-up, Michelin tyre selection for both the Spanish and British Grands Prix and the development programme with the Mercedes-Benz V8.
Running for Montoya was limited during the morning as light rain showers fell on the circuit. The track conditions were not appropriate for either intermediate or full wet testing and therefore Juan Pablo, who was focusing on Michelin work, would not have been able to obtain any worthwhile results from running.
Pedro was on track during both the morning and afternoon sessions, as he was operating a different programme to Juan Pablo.
Tomorrow, Kimi Raikkonen will join Juan Pablo on track.
After Sunday's fiasco, and the subsequent 'motivation meeting' at Brackley, Jenson Button attempted to put the Imola debacle behind him by going second quickest.
Button was joined by test driver Anthony Davidson, who completed an early short aerodynamic evaluation, before a heavy downpour combined with the cold conditions interrupted the team's running for two hours.
Both drivers were able to go out and complete a short wet tyre programme after 11.30am once the circuit had warmed up sufficiently.
Button successfully ran through his afternoon programme of chassis set-up work on a continually improving track, while Davidson also worked through a chassis set-up programme.
Rubens Barrichello will take over from Anthony tomorrow.
Owing to the poor weather conditions, Renault was obliged to adapt its programme. Indeed, although Heikki Kovalainen was initially supposed to complete a heavy tyre programme with Michelin, the Finn worked on gearbox development while waiting for better track conditions. However, he performed well in spite of poor track conditions and set the third-fastest lap-time of the day in 1:21.241.
Fernando Alonso, on track today and tomorrow, had a more difficult day. The poor weather conditions combined with mechanical problems during the afternoon prevented the Spaniard from completing his programme. He did only 31 laps today with the fourth-fastest lap time in 1:21.311.
"We had a difficult morning with very poor track conditions," said Christian Silk. "We ran general systems checks first of all and finally when the track had improved, we began our programme. Heikki and Fernando were very happy with the balance of the car and were competitive straight away. In spite of the problem we had on Fernando's car we are satisfied with this first day of testing. We are just hoping for better weather conditions tomorrow!"
Tomorrow, Fernando will be joined by Giancarlo Fisichella.
Alex Wurz and Nico Rosberg were on duty for WilliamsF1: "Alex continued with some front suspension geometry work, which we have been working on over the last few tests, as well as some re-start procedures," revealed the Grove outfit's test team manager, Mike Condliffe. "Both drivers evaluated a new tyre casing, while Nico also completed an initial tyre compound test this afternoon which will lead to a more in depth test later in the week.
"In conclusion, we have had a very productive day here at Silverstone," he added.
Red Bull had David Coulthard and Christian Klien on duty, both drivers losing track-time due to mechanical problems.
Due to the conditions, BMW did not start its work until the afternoon. It is quite a time since any members of this team have been at the circuit so it was important to do preparation work for the British Grand Prix on the 11th June.
Jacques Villeneuve completed set-up and aero work, while Robert Kubica did set-up work and tyre comparisons before a technical problem brought his day to an early end.
Tomorrow, the Canadian will continue testing and will concentrate on tyres and aero work. Nick Heidfeld, who takes over from Robert, will do some set-up work and then also work on tyres.
Toro Rosso had Neel Jani in action, the Swiss completing 84 laps.
Giorgio Mondini completed 25 laps in preparation for his Friday driving duties at the British Grand Prix in June. He also worked on control systems setup and general setup, both of which should help the Midland F1 team improve its race starts and overall pace.
Tiago Monteiro will take over testing duties tomorrow, with Christijan Albers completing the test on Thursday.