Solid progress for Renault

The Renault F1 Team enjoyed good weather conditions for their second day of testing at the Andalucian circuit, and made solid progress with its technical programme. Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen concentrated primarily on tyre testing and chassis set-up changes, in order to further advance in their understanding of the Bridgestone tyres, and the impact of the set-ups that were tried on the car.

Giancarlo’s second day of testing saw him working initially on brake development, before beginning the tyre work once conditions had improved. His objective was once more to do as many miles as possible, in order to collect the maximum amount of data. He finished the day second-fastest, having completed 63 laps in a best time of 1:19.685.

His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen worked through a set-up programme in order to continue his evaluation of the Japanese tyres. The Finn completed a total of 78 laps after a productive day’s work, setting a best lap of 1:20.204 to finish the day tenth fastest.

“I had a better second day and I am beginning to find my feet with these new tyres. I am feeling more confident with the car, and I made good progress with the car in spite of some delay this morning owing to poor track conditions. The tyres are harder than what we have been used to, which means the grip is not so good. But I was expecting that, so it is not a surprise, and things are going well during this first session back in the car.”

“We had another very busy day, and we tried to complete a large part of our programme today as we have seen some rain forecast for tomorrow. We collected some interesting today, and the team once again worked very hard today.”