21/09/2006
NEWS STORY
Nelson Piquet (right) topped the timesheets for the second consecutive day at Silverstone, giving Renault a 'clean sweep' ahead of next week's Chinese Grand Prix, having been the pace setters for all three days.
Heikki Kovalainen completed the tyre development that has formed the main part of his work this week, completing short and long runs as the team finalized its selections for the Japanese Grand Prix. After completing over 100 laps for the second consecutive day, Heikki finished the day second fastest.
Across the garage, Nelson Piquet concluded his first test with a busy day of set-up work, as he continued to learn about and fine-tune the R26.
"We had another good day of testing to conclude our work this week," said Christian Silk. "The changeable circuit conditions during the day meant we had to adapt our programme a little, but we managed this and Heikki obtained excellent results on his tyre testing for Suzuka.
"We are very happy with the Michelin tyres we will be taking to Japan," he added. "Nelson continued settling in to the team today, and ran a performance-focused set-up programme. He did another good job, to complete a very promising first week of testing with the team."
Third quickest was McLaren protege Lewis Hamilton, who completed his first F1 test. The Englishman, who completed 47 laps, out-paced his teammate - and one of the men he appears to be competing with for the second 2007 race seat - Pedro de la Rosa by just 0.125s, though the Spaniard completed 107 laps. Hamilton had two offs during the course of the day, neither of them serious.
"The test team has completed a demanding schedule this week, as we push forward with car performance prior to the final three races of the season," said Martin Whitmarsh. "Pedro's focus for the week has been centred around tyre evaluation with Michelin for the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix. In addition, he has completed a comprehensive set-up programme for China and Japan alongside Mercedes-Benz engine work.
"The weather has been kind to us," he continued, "so we have been able to complete a good amount of mileage. The session has also seen the test debut of Lewis Hamilton, following his Championship win in the GP2 series at Monza a couple of weeks ago. Lewis's week began with a shakedown of the MP4-21 on Tuesday, prior to commencing his testing programme on Wednesday. Lewis has now completed two full days of testing, with a focus on familiarisation to the car. Thursday saw him join Pedro on the Michelin selection process for Japan. Lewis has had a solid week, whilst he has obviously enjoyed and benefited from his time in the car, he has also provided valuable input to the testing process."
"It has been an intensive week for me," admitted Hamilton. "As I have mentioned previously, it is fantastic to be making my test debut with Team McLaren Mercedes and I have enjoyed my time in the MP4-21. The session has allowed me to get a good understanding of the car, how it works, how it differs from the GP2 cars, and also to work with the team.
"I had a couple of excursions into the gravel over the week, but that was just part of my learning on how far I could push the car and fortunately no damage was caused. It was great for me to get involved in the development programme today with Pedro, I focused on Michelin evaluation for Japan and working with the engineering team on feedback."
Olivier Panis, who is to retire from F1 at the end of the season, was on duty for Toyota, along with Ralf Schumacher. Both drivers worked on finding the right set-ups and tyre choices, in addition to other test items like practicing launches.
Olivier and Ralf both lost time in the afternoon, each having different mechanical issues that needed to be worked on. However, according to the Japanese team the day was fairly productive and the team even had the chance to meet and take a group photo with guitarist Chris Rea. A guest of the team, Chris is a well-known motor racing fan, who has also dabbled with racing himself.
Now the team will pack up and head to the Far-East, where hopes are high that valuable points can be collected before the season final in Brazil.
"This track is similar to Suzuka so this was quite an important test as far as tyre testing is concerned," revealed test team manager, Gerd Pfeiffer. "We had some set backs with Ricardo falling ill and engine issues during the week, but the team worked hard to analyze everything and as a result we got through most of our testing agenda. The work we did here is very useful and in the end we do have some positive findings. As always, it is difficult to say where we stand, but we are hoping for the best."
Alexander Wurz, WilliamsF1'sd sole representative, was entrusted with the Toyota powered FW28B. The Austrian driver completed almost 100 laps, but still finished 3.44s off the pace. An engine failure in the afternoon means restricted track time, but nonetheless, the team remains confident.
"Alex continued work with the engine and gearbox installation," said test team manager, Mike Condliffe. "We had a very productive day, which included a tyre test in the afternoon. Given the number of new components on the car, it's been very positive all in all."
Also on duty was Takuma Sato, as Super Aguri tried out a number of new aero components.
"Best test ever!" said chief race engineer, Graham Taylor. "We covered more laps, especially on the final day, and with some pleasing results. We have worked on improving our reliability, run new components and developments on the car and put a lot of work into our Chinese Grand Prix preparations. We are confident that we have chosen the correct tyre compounds for the forthcoming races and so overall, but especially today in such blustery conditions, I am happy with our performance this week."
"It has been a successful week," said Sato, "and it was good to be able try so many things at such an important test before the Shanghai and Suzuka grands prix. Yesterday we completed the tyre evaluation for Suzuka and are happy with our tyre choice for this race. I mainly concentrated on the aero packages for both Shanghai and Suzuka today.
"It is great to see the commitment made by our aero and production guys at Leafield to ensure that these new parts were ready in time," he added. "The car has worked really well here and even though we encountered a few hydraulic related problems again, we believe that we have found the cause and hope that our reliability level in this area will have improved. It would be great if our good results here at Silverstone are an indication of our performance at the last three races of the season."
This was the final day of testing at the Northamptonshire track this week, and for Renault its final test day until after the end of the season. Midland is back at Silverstone on October 11, while most of the other teams will head to Jerez for the final test of the 2006 season.
To check out our Silverstone test gallery click here