Tyre testing for Renault at Italian track

The Renault F1 Team’s race driver duo was in action today at Monza for the middle day of testing. Fernando and Giancarlo completed a busy programme, concentrating first and foremost on tyre testing with Michelin.

Giancarlo continued on from yesterday’s work, narrowing down the tyre choice for next week’s race. This was the Roman’s final day of running, and he marked it with second fastest time in 1:22.262.

As for Fernando Alonso, he was beginning the week’s work with the R26, and spent the opening laps acclimatizing himself to the circuit – which has been extensively resurfaced. He then focused on tyre testing as well, completing endurance runs on the Michelin products. Fernando ended up fourth on the timesheets with a lap of 1:22.312.

It proved to have been an interesting day, and the team was pleased with the data collected during 198 laps. Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk commented: “We did a big tyre programme, and even though the circuit is still changing a lot, we are pleased with the results and with the direction we are moving in. This is important work for next week, especially because we don’t often test at Monza and because this is the first test back after the summer break.”

Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen will complete the team’s Monza testing tomorrow.