Zonta makes debut for Renault

The ING Renault F1 Team today began three days of testing in southern Spain, at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit. It is another important session for the world champions, as they look to put more miles on the new R27/RS27 package in order to achieve race-worthy reliability, and full explore the handling of the new car.

Ricardo Zonta made his debut with the ING Renault F1 Team today, and primarily focused on getting to grips with the new car, and perfecting his driving position in chassis R27-01. The Brazilian also spent time meeting the members of the test team he will be working with this year, and learning about the working methods of the world champion team. It was a day focused on adaptation, during which Ricardo was able to find his feet before launching into a full programme tomorrow.

Across the garage, Nelson Piquet Jr., driving chassis R27-02, continued the development programmes begun last week in Valencia. He conducted endurance testing, completing several long runs without any problems.

Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk commented: "The track was a little dirty on this opening day of running, and we therefore chose to work on an endurance programme. Nelson covered a race distance this morning without any problems, and everything went well. As for Ricardo, his day was focused on finding his feet and he will be ready to make good progress with his programme tomorrow."