Long runs for Renault
The ING Renault F1 Team remained in Barcelona today to continue with its winter testing programme. Both R28 cars were in action again with race drivers Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet on driving duty.
Cold, overcast conditions remained for today, and track conditions were far from ideal. Fernando concentrated on long runs in the morning, before working on aero testing as the team added new parts to the car. Nelson completed more basic set-up work as he too completed some long runs, and then took the opportunity to familiarise himself with various race procedures with some practice starts and pit-stops.
Both drivers completed their programmes as planned and enjoyed a productive day. With good reliability on both cars, it was the chance to put more miles on the R28. Fernando covered a total of 115 laps, setting a best time of 1'22:938, while Nelson similarly recorded 115 laps, almost double a race distance, with a best lap of 1'23:002.
The team remain in Barcelona for the final day of testing tomorrow with Fernando and Nelson remaining in the cars.
Fernando Alonso: "The track conditions were not great today, but we did not have any problems and I did lots of laps, so we have lots of data that we will have to go through tonight with the engineers. We will finish our programme tomorrow for the last day here in Barcelona, and I hope we can continue improving our understanding of the new car."
Nelson Piquet: "It was a good day for me as I completed my programme and drove for the whole day, which was what I needed. I'm feeling more comfortable with the car and we are definitely making progress. We did some practice starts and pitstops at the end of the day because without traction control a lot of things have changed and we need to get used to it."
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "Today was a positive day and we achieved good mileage with both cars, without any problems. I was happy with the performance of both drivers and we learnt a lot about the car performance-wise, which has given us lots of interesting data to work with tomorrow. We did some long runs this afternoon with Nelson, so I'm very pleased with the day overall as we achieved the majority of our objectives."
Fernando Alonso R28-01, 115 laps, 529 km, fastest lap: 1'22:938
Nelson Piquet R28-02, 115 laps, 529 km, fastest lap 1'23:002
