Problems for Renault

There are just over two weeks to go before the opening race of the year, and the Renault F1 Team – like its rivals – is testing non-stop to complete its winter programme. After Jerez and Valencia, they have based themselves in Barcelona this week for a three-day programme. It will be a busy session, with both the engine and chassis race personnel joining their testing counterparts – for pit-stop practice, and more.

Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella were on track today, continuing the technical programme begun with the R26 in January. After small software problems stopped both cars on their installation laps, the drivers then waited for ideal track conditions before continuing their programme – which happened in the early afternoon.

Fernando Alonso focused on tyre development with Michelin, concentrating particularly on chassis set-up with these tyres. On the other side of the garage, Giancarlo Fisichella completed an incident-free race distance and was pleased with the car’s performance today, taking second position with a lap of 1:15.517.

Fernando Alonso “It was another good day. We did lots of laps, and completed the programme without any big problems. It was very windy today, which can be a bit unsettling at the wheel, but I am pleased with the work we did, and particularly with the car balance.”

Giancarlo Fisichella “We had a small problem this morning, but that didn’t stop us completing the programme today. I am very pleased with what we did today, and with the performance. Our priority was to complete the programme, and we did 93 laps, which is a very good total. The car is behaving very well, it is consistent and we have made good progress on the set-up. It was another very productive day.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer “We had a rather laborious start to the day with software problems on the cars, but it wasn’t as bad as it seemed – the track conditions were not suitable for running, so we didn’t really lose any useful running time. We solved the problems quickly, and had a very efficient afternoon’s running. Both cars did a lot of laps, and the drivers are very happy with it – especially Giancarlo, who was testing the new aero package for the first race.”