Busy programme for Renault

The ING Renault F1 Team completed a third day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya today as the weather conditions finally improved. Having endured two days of wet and cold weather, the team was greeted by dry and sunny conditions for the final day of testing at the Spanish circuit. The team was running two R28s with the team’s race drivers, Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet, remaining on driving duty.

Having only completed limited running over the previous couple of days, both drivers were keen to run busy programmes. Fernando spent the day carrying out set-up work and completed a total of 61 laps. Nelson also completed a set-up programme in the morning and then simulated a race distance in the afternoon bringing his total to 105 laps.

The team now turns its attention to next week and a further week of testing in Barcelona.

Fernando Alonso: “We have been waiting for a long time to do some dry running and we made the most of it. The track conditions were not perfect, but they were good enough for what we wanted to test and they remained consistent for the whole day. We tested some small things with the car and I was happy with the performance and behaviour of the car. Now I’m looking forward to next week for our last three days here in Barcelona.

Nelson Piquet: “Finally the weather improved and we were able to do a full day’s work. The track conditions were reasonable, and we were able to learn some things about the performance of the car in the morning. We did long runs in the afternoon and simulated a race distance with pit stops, which went well and the car showed good consistency.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “The only day of dry running this week, so there was a big push to try and get as much done as possible. We were reasonably happy with the balance of the car, and just a few small reliability issues. With Nelson our priority was to continue accumulating miles to get him settled in the car, and we continued with our usual set-up programme with Fernando. But overall a frustrating week due to the weather and hopefully we will have a better time next week.”

Fernando Alonso, R28-01, 61 laps, 284 km, fastest lap: 1’22.657
Nelson Piquet, R28-02, 105 laps, 489 km, fastest lap: 1’23.286