Nearly 40.000km of testing for Renault

The Renault F1 Team’s test team had plenty to smile about as it packed its bags last week in Jerez. Since the start of the season, the team has completed 27 of its 36 allowable test days, and completed a whopping 38,314 km of testing since January.

Last year, that figure at the same stage was ‘just’ 35,712km – some 2602 less. Heikki Kovalainen has completed 17,665 km of that total – concrete proof of the young Finn’s contribution to the team’s performance this year. Last week in Jerez, the team completed 2638 km – or an average of 440 km per day, per car. That’s equivalent to one and a half Grands Prix.

“Races are won away from the cameras,” admitted Fernando Alonso as he left Jerez last week. “The performance from the test team this season deserves to be recognised as a fantastic achievement.”

During the coming month, the test team will be running at a slightly slower pace – and taking some well-earned time off. Apart from a couple of shakedowns, the track testing programme will only begin again in late August, at Monza. In the intervening time, three Grands Prix will take place… but that doesn’t mean that the R26 will stand still until then, as Pat Symonds explains: “We can still add aero developments to the car without prior track testing, gain a few horsepower – and run the cars on static testing rigs. History shows that performance doesn’t necessarily stay stable throughout August, and we have a major aero update planned for Hockenheim. But that doesn’t mean we will be standing still in the coming month at Budapest and Istanbul!”