Very productive day for Alonso with 152 laps
The ING Renault F1 Team enjoyed a productive day in Jerez as Fernando Alonso completed a mammoth 152 laps en route to setting the third fastest time of the day. With yesterday’s session being washed out by heavy rain showers, the team was keen to make the most of the dry and sunny conditions today.
Initially the track was damp, but by mid-morning conditions had improved enough to allow Fernando to get down to some valuable set-up work on slick tyres. The team also evaluated some new developments while continuing to add mileage to the car.
Fernando remains in the R29 tomorrow for the team’s final day of testing this week.
Fernando Alonso: “Today was a very productive day as I managed to complete 152 laps which gave us lots of useful data. At this stage of the season it’s important to have as much time in the car as possible to get used to the new rules such as the moveable wings and the KERS system and so I’m happy to have done so much today. Everyday we keep learning new things and I’m feeling more and more comfortable in the car. Hopefully tomorrow we can have another dry day to build on the work we did today.”
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “The circuit was a bit wet to start off with and so we used the damp conditions just to put some miles on the car. Fortunately the circuit dried out by the middle of the morning which allowed us to get on and do some good work to make up for some of the ground we lost in the wet yesterday. The car behaved very well and overall we’re pleased with the results as we managed to achieve our objectives for the day.”
Fernando Alonso, R29-03, 152 laps, 673 km, fastest lap 1:20.296