22/01/2009
NEWS STORY
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Today's final day of testing was essentially washed-out, with no official times being posted and only a handful of laps being completed due to the poor weather conditions.
"A very wet day!" said Fernando Alonso who didn't even venture out of the Renault garage. "It's a shame we couldn't get anything done today because at this stage of the season you need to maximise the track time available. Still, I was pleased to have a full day in the dry yesterday and we learnt a lot and have some valuable data. I will be in the car for the next test in Jerez where hopefully we can make some good progress with the performance of the car."
"Although it has been a wet week, overall it has been an encouraging first test with the new car, insisted Renault's Chief Test Engineer, Christian Silk. "At the moment the main things we are concentrating on are reliability and safety and in those respects the car has been excellent. It's disappointing how the weather has worked out this week as we couldn't look at the performance and could only really put mileage on the car. We're now looking forward to the Jerez test next month where we can hopefully get down to some proper performance work."
Sebastien Buemi did a couple of installation laps in the Toro Rosso in the morning, then in order to evaluate the track conditions again, he went out for a further two laps in a road car. According to the Faenza-based team; "he may have been quicker in the road car!"
"Being confirmed as a race driver for next year doesn't change anything once you're alone at the wheel," said the Swiss driver, "but in terms of working with the team, it brings an added sense of confidence, as the engineers and mechanics know they will be working with me all year.
"From a testing point of view, the weather was a problem," he continued, "with only a bit of time on slick tyres on Wednesday. On Tuesday, there was such a heavy hailstorm that it was even hurting my hands and by the time I got back to the pits, I was just driving on ice and the car was going all over the place! I still have a lot to take on board, in terms of learning all the different procedures on the car, such as how to manage the starts, but everything is going in the right direction."
Despite the soaking track Timo Glock completed an installation lap at 9am and more running was planned an hour later, but when the medical helicopter could not take off, the red lights came on and halted the session. Like the rest of the teams the Japanese outfit waited for an improvement in conditions but they never came and it was decided to abandon the day's testing at 4pm.
Although Heikki Kovalainen was on hand for McLaren, the Woking team felt it was more prudent to remain in the garage during the brief one-hour window between nine and 10am when the track was open.
"Today was a complete washout," said Williams Sam Michael, "with no further running with the FW31. In fact, the majority of the test was disrupted by rain; our only opportunity for consistent running was with Nico Rosberg on Wednesday. The time we did get on track was productive though and allowed the team to work through our scheduled systems checks and aero and mechanical tests with the new car.
"We're comfortable with the progress we made," he continued, "but more track time would have been preferable. We will now return to the factory and prepare the test car for Jerez test in three weeks time."