Alonso joins the action at Jerez

The ING Renault F1 Team remained in Jerez today to continue its winter testing programme in preparation for the new season. Conditions were warm and sunny, but windy conditions remained throughout the day and the team had to adapt its programme accordingly.

The team continued to operate a two-car programme, with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet on driving duty. Fernando experienced some minor problems in the morning, but had a trouble-free afternoon and was able to test parts that were not affected by the windy conditions.

Nelson operated a similar programme, with set-up work in the morning, and then completed some longer runs in the afternoon. At the same time he was able to conduct the usual test procedures, including installation laps, starts, and pit-stop practice.

At the end of the day Fernando had covered 104 laps, with a best time of 1'19.710, while Nelson completed 110 laps, with a best lap of 1'20.014.

For the final day of running tomorrow, Nelson remains in the car and will be joined by fellow Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi, who will build on the work he completed with the team yesterday.

Fernando Alonso: "Like all teams here we struggled with the very windy conditions. But we tried to make the most of the day and tested some important parts of the car that were not affected by the wind. So we did some useful work, but we will have to concentrate on the performance of the car later on in February."

Nelson Piquet: "We carried out the same programme as yesterday, which went well, although we had to cope with the wind, which was not ideal. Still, we covered lots of laps and I completed a race distance in the afternoon, just as we did yesterday. It has been good to cover so many miles in the last couple of days as it is important for my preparation as a race driver, and hopefully tomorrow we will be able to continue doing that."

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "We had to adapt the programme today because of the weather conditions, which made learning much about the set-up of the car quite difficult, especially in the afternoon. Nelson had a god day and completed his programme of set-up work in the morning and a race distance in the afternoon. With Fernando we had some minor problems which made for a slow morning, but in the afternoon the car ran without any problems. We did not manage to complete the set-up work we wanted but we did some brake testing instead."

Fernando Alonso R28-02, 104 laps, 456 km, fastest lap: 1'19.710 Nelson Piquet R28-01, 110 laps, 483 km, fastest lap: 1'20.014