With two intensive days of testing ahead of the opening race in two weeks, the Renault F1 Team concluded this week’s programme of running at the Circuit de Catalunya and spent the final day practicing pit-stops and 2006-style qualifying.
Fernando Alonso was the first man to tackle the day’s pit-stop practice. Tyre changes, refuelling and wing changes were all part of the drills that were run through to prepare for Bahrain. After a dozen successful pit-stops, the Spaniard then conducted a qualifying simulation to give the team a first taste of this new challenge for 2006, both in terms of time management and the strategies for managing it.
Giancarlo Fisichella followed an identical programme to his team-mate, with a dozen pit-stops followed by a qualifying simulation during the afternoon.
Fernando Alonso
“We have had an important and productive week. We made good progress for the first race, and now I want to see how we will perform in race conditions against the competition. I am feeling confident, the car is performing well and the team is more motivated than ever.”
Giancarlo Fisichella
“I am pleased with my week. I feel like we have worked well, and made good progress with the car. We have been quick, and I am pleased with my lap-times this week. I now want to go racing again, and start the championship.”
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer
“This was a very important week in terms of the results we obtained. Once again, the cars ran extremely well without any major technical incidents, and the drivers are pleased with the car’s performance. The entire race team was present today for pit-stop practice, which was an important step and went without a hitch. There are two more days of testing at Valencia next week, and then we will have the opportunity to see exactly what we are capable of in race conditions.”
Press release
Renault F1 Team
