First day for Nelsinho in R28
The ING Renault F1 Team completed its final day of work in Valencia today. The team was again running the new car, the R28, as preparations continue ahead of the new season. Nelson Piquet Jr. was at the wheel of the R28-01, taking over driving duties from Fernando Alonso.
It was the first time the young Brazilian had driven the new car, and so he spent the morning familiarising himself with the R28 and putting some more miles on the car.
Sunny conditions remained for the afternoon, allowing the team to continue with its development of the car. It was a chance to concentrate on improving the balance and to continue with the set-up programme that Fernando had started earlier in the week. It was another productive day with good reliability, and the team achieved its objectives. Nelson was happy to be back in the car and found the results of his first day in the R28 encouraging. He covered a total of 89 laps, with a best time of 1'12:973.
Next week both drivers will be in Paris where the R28 will be officially unveiled to the media on 31 January. It will then be on to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, as the team resumes its winter testing programme from 1-3 February. The team will be running a two car programme with both Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr. in attendance.
Nelson Piquet Jr: "I think it was a good day and it was important for me to get back in the car. I have not raced in Formula 1 yet, so it's always beneficial to have time in the car. A new car always needs lots of set-up work and we continued with that today, trying different approaches to improve the balance of the car. I think there is a lot of promise and I'm looking forward to continuing working with the team next week in Barcelona."
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "It was Nelson's first day in the new car and everything went to plan. We started off with some acclimatisation work for Nelson before continuing with the set-up programme that we had begun with Fernando. The track conditions were good again this afternoon so we did some more long runs with the car."
Nelson Piquet Jr, R28-01, 89 laps, 352 km, best lap: 1'12:973
