Alonso improves Renault ahead of Silverstone

The ING Renault F1 Team concluded its three-day testing programme at Silverstone today as Fernando Alonso completed 78 laps of the Northamptonshire circuit. The Spaniard took over the cockpit of the R28 from Nelson Piquet for the final day of running as the team completed its final preparations ahead of next week’s British Grand Prix.

The team again benefited from warm and sunny conditions for most of the day, although like yesterday the windy conditions continued to make for tricky track conditions.

Despite a few interruptions during the day, the team was able to get through its scheduled programme as Fernando worked on improving the balance of the car and general set-up work. The team will now concentrate on analysing the data gathered over the last three days to be in good shape for the British Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso: “It was a good day’s work. We spent the day working on improving the set-up of the car to be ready for the race next week and all the changes that we made took us in the right direction. By the end of the day I was much happier with the car. However, the track conditions were quite difficult as it was windy here today, but that is what you get at Silverstone, and we will have to cope with this in the race. It was also quite cool and I think it may be hotter for the race next week, but we are as well prepared as we can be.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “We lost some track time in the morning, but the afternoon went well and so we were able to complete most of what we needed to. Again we concentrated on preparation for the Grand Prix to get the car well balanced and to Fernando’s liking, and he was happy with the changes we made to the car. So it has been a good test, we’ve made a lot of progress and that puts us in a good position for the race next week.”