First test for di Grassi with Renault

The ING Renault F1 Team returned to action today, completing the first of three days in Jerez. With the opening Grand Prix in Melbourne just over a month away, the team is entering the busiest phase in its winter testing programme with three tests planned for the next three weeks.

Warm and sunny conditions greeted the team this morning and remained throughout the day, allowing the team to complete a full day's running with few interruptions. The team was again running two R28s with Nelson Piquet joined by fellow Brazilian, Lucas Di Grassi, who was enjoying his first test with the new car.

The programme for Nelson involved basic set-up work this morning as the team continues to improve the car's balance. He then carried out some long runs later in the day and showed good consistency. Lucas spent the morning carrying out some performance tests as he familiarised himself with the new car before he too completed some longer runs. It was the chance to add further miles to the car, which again showed good reliability.

By the end of the day, Nelson had covered 120 laps, clocking a best lap of 1'19.660. Lucas completed 92 laps with a best lap of 1'21.200.

Nelson Piquet: "Another good day and lots of mileage for the car and myself. The more I drive the car, the happier I feel and it's all good preparation for the first race. The car ran well today and we did not have any problems, which meant we could do a race distance in the afternoon."

Lucas Di Grassi: " It's my first time driving a Formula 1 car on a proper track, and for sure the car feels really good and it was a really impressive experience. I'm really happy with my day, we did a lot of laps, the pace was consistent, and I felt comfortable with the team and the car. We did one long run in the afternoon which went well, and I'm looking forward to working with the team later this week. "

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "The two main objectives of the programme were to complete a race distance with Nelson and to get Lucas comfortable in the car as he had not run an R28 on a full circuit test before. Both these were completed without any problems and both cars enjoyed a trouble-free day. Nelson did a bit of performance work in the morning, improving the set-up of the car, and completed a race distance in the afternoon without any major issue, so that was a good day for us."

Nelson Piquet R28-02, 120 laps, 526 km, fastest lap: 1'19.660
Lucas Di Grassi R28-01, 92 laps, 404 km, fastest lap: 1'21.200