Renault dominated the timesheets at Silverstone comfortably finishing 1-2 at the end of second day of testing. Spaniard Alonso topped the charts with a stunning 1m18.634s nearly 1.3 seconds faster than his previous pole time at Silverstone. This was achieved despite the V8 in use this year but a softer tyre compound
Alonso and team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, who was second quickest with a 1m18.972s lap, tried out various set-up options in the morning before carrying out Michelin tyre development in the afternoon.
“The weather conditions were much better today,” said Renault’s chief test engineer Christian Silk.
“We obtained good results and the drivers were very pleased with the car and its behaviour.”
Jenson Button put an encouraging third fastest time just about 0.7 seconds slower than Alonso. His time was followed by the McLaren duo which mostly focused on tyre selection
Nico Rosberg was an encouraging sixth fastest for Williams, two places ahead of Williams team-mate Mark Webber, with Honda’s Rubens Barrichello the meat in the sandwich.
Scott Speed (Scuderia Toro Rosso) and Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) rounded out the top 10.
Wednesday testing times from Silverstone
1. ALONSO Renault 1m18.634s
2. FISICHELLA Renault 1m18.972s
3. BUTTON Honda 1m19.378s
4. MONTOYA McLaren 1m19.395s
5. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m19.556s
6. ROSBERG Williams 1m19.643s
7. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m19.691s
8. WEBBER Williams 1m20.186s
9. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m20.482s
10. KUBICA BMW Sauber 1m20.568s
11. VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber 1m20.673s
12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m20.957s
13. LIUZZI Red Bull 1m21.661s
14. MONTEIRO MF1 1m21.790s
15. HEIDFELD BMW Sauber 1m21.878s
Ketan Paul
DailyF1News.com
New Delhi, India
