24/07/2008
NEWS STORY
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Red Bull's Mark Webber on the third and penultimate day of testing at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit.
Once again, conditions were ideal, with air temperatures reaching 35 degrees C and track temperatures hitting 48 degrees.
For Webber, the majority of today's test was focused on aero development work and suspension changes in preparation for the next two races. The Austrian outfit also carried out some 2009 tyre tests, to complete a programme that carried over from yesterday. David Coulthard will take over tomorrow for the final day.
"We've had a pretty good two days here," said Webber. "The car ran pretty reliably and we've clocked up some good mileage. Today we were mostly getting ready for Budapest, as well as looking at developments for a little later in the season. Yesterday we were focusing more on '09, and it was quite a challenging day. Today was better in terms of what we learned, mechanically and aerodynamically. It's been a hot week for the guys working here and they've done a good job."
Nelson Piquet was on duty for Renault again, the Brazilian covering 95 on his way to completing his programme with the team this week. The French team began the day by working on grooved tyres to get a good baseline and understanding of the car before attention shifted to running with 2009 slick Bridgestone tyres as part of the team's preparations for next season. The team made good use of the six sets of slicks available to give Piquet good mileage and acquire data to consider with a view to the design of next year's car. The Brazilian was the cause of one of several red flags today when he went off at Turn 9 lightly hitting the wall with his R28.
For the final day of testing tomorrow, Romain Grosjean returns for his second day of work with the team this week as he continues to get comfortable with the R28.
"It was very hot once again today," said Piquet, "but it has been like that all week so we are getting used to it. We spent most of the day looking ahead to next year by running with slick tyres, which was very interesting. They felt good, gave plenty of grip, and the car was working well. We also did some set-up work, evaluating the changes to try and improve the overall balance. So overall another good day's work."
"The car was working well today and Nelson quickly got in the swing of things," added Christian Silk. "We started the day by doing a little bit of work with 2008 grooved tyres, just to see where we were, but we then spent most of the day running on 2009 tyres in preparation for next year. The initial signs looked quite good and we have collected lots of data, which is quite encouraging and there were no problems. All that information will go back to the factory and be used when we are working on next year's car."
Once again, Kimi Raikkonen was in action for Ferrari as the Finn continued work on comparisons between various set-up options on the F2008 in preparation for the forthcoming races. At the end of the day the World Champion did a run on next season's Bridgestone tyres.
"We have done many tests over these two days to try and understand what happened at Hockenheim and now we have a clearer idea on this matter," said the Finn. "Today, the car had improved compared to yesterday and we hope to be ready for the next rounds. Our opponents are very strong, but there is still a long way to go in this championship and all the time to recover, given that in Formula 1 things can change a lot in no time at all."
Felipe Massa is on duty for the Maranello outfit tomorrow.
Tonio Liuzzi continued Force India's programme. The Italian had a full day's schedule to work through, including putting more miles on the team's new seamless shift gearbox, aerodynamic work and brake testing. In the afternoon, the team also tested the new-for-2009 slick tyres. Again, the VJM01 ran without any issues, allowing Liuzzi to complete 86 laps.
In a change to the previous schedule, Adrian Sutil will now take over for the final day of testing tomorrow as Giancarlo Fisichella is currently suffering from a minor virus. The Italian will however return to the cockpit at next week's Hungarian Grand Prix.
"We continued on with yesterday's programme and once again had a very positive day," said Liuzzi. "We could do over 80 laps with the new gearbox without any reliability issues. We also completed some aero work with the new wheel spinners and in the afternoon went onto the 2009 slick tyres to try the different compounds, weight distribution and the set up. I enjoyed it a lot as there is much more grip and the car seemed very well balanced with them. Finally we did some brake testing to finish off what's been a very positive two days of testing."
"Again it has been a productive day for us," added Dominic Harlow, "with no mechanical issues and 86 laps. This morning we worked through a programme of different set-up options and aero development work and continued to put more mileage on the seamless shift gearbox, which again worked very well. In the afternoon, we tested the slick tyres, comparing the development hard and soft compounds that will be introduced next season, and also some further work on the brakes. Adrian will take over tomorrow to continue the programme as planned."
It was a difficult day for McLaren, which had Pedro de la Rosa on duty once again. Following yesterday's 2009 programme, the Spaniard's focus returned to the 2008 season today. Some systems issues during the morning resulted in the car stopping on track and an oil leak early in the afternoon necessitated an engine change. However, according to the Woking outfit, despite the limited track time available, de la Rosa and the test team were able to conduct a very positive test of a number of aerodynamic components including a pair of Honda-style rabbit ears (above). Heikki Kovalainen takes over tomorrow.
After Sebastian Vettel drove for the past two days, topping the timesheets on both days, it was now the turn of Sebastien Bourdais to take over behind the wheel for the final two days of the test. The Frenchman began the day evaluating different brake materials and in the afternoon moved on to assessing a wing planned for use when the season reaches Belgium. Tomorrow, Bourdais will start the day on this year's specification tyres before moving on to do some laps with the '09 slicks.
"Taking over duties from Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakajima joined us at Jerez today for day three of our four day test," said Williams Test Team Manager, Dickie Stanford. "To start the session, we continued with our set-up work for the race at Budapest next weekend and then followed that up with 2009 tyre evaluations this afternoon. No technical problems to report. Kazuki will continue work with the FW30 tomorrow to wrap up our scheduled programme."
Timo Glock returned to the track today for the first time since his heavy crash in last Sunday's German Grand Prix. The German took to the cockpit as the Japanese team continued its preparations for next week's Hungarian GP. Glock had a busy day's running, working on set-up in the morning before aerodynamic comparisons in the afternoon. He reported no ill effects from his accident and he was just completing his programme when he stopped on track due to an issue with the fuel system. Third driver Kamui Kobayashi will now take over as scheduled to complete the test tomorrow.
"It was good to get back in the car and that was a positive day's testing for us," said Glock. "We pushed hard in the morning and we were able to get through most of our plan for the day before lunch. That was useful because in the afternoon here it gets too hot and the track is just too slow to get a clear picture out of the car. Late on we had a fuel system issue but we had already gathered the data we wanted. The main thing is that I've made a full recovery from my accident on Sunday and I feel fine."
"Today we ran through a similar programme with Timo to what we completed with Jarno yesterday," revealed Gerd Pfeiffer. "In the morning we concentrated on set-up for the Hungarian Grand Prix before we switched to aerodynamic tests. It was another productive day of work and Timo made it through a lot of laps without suffering any ill-effects from his accident at the weekend. We were close to finishing our planned programme when an issue with the fuel system brought our day's running to a close."
Rubens Barrichello was on duty for Honda. The Brazilian's programme saw a repeat of the rear suspension evaluation which Alex Wurz completed on the first day of the test. Barrichello also ran a number of new bodywork parts, including a 'dorsal fin' engine cover, as part of the aerodynamic package which the team is evaluating in advance of the forthcoming races. Jenson Button will take over the wheel of the RA108 tomorrow.
For BMW, Nick Heidfeld concentrated on development work with the 2009 slick tyres. With the F1.08 completing 97 laps, the most today, the engineers collected valuable data on mechanical and aerodynamical setup options for next year's car. Tomorrow, Heidfeld will work on set-up solutions for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix.