Formula 1

Busy day of testing at four circuits

Thursday was a busy day for testing, with four different circuits being utilised and all ten teams on track at various locations. Jerez saw the most action with eight drivers from four teams at work, while Mugello was the second busiest with three ...

Published: Apr 29, 2005, 4:53 PM

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Thursday was a busy day for testing, with four different circuits being utilised and all ten teams on track at various locations. Jerez saw the most action with eight drivers from four teams at work, while Mugello was the second busiest with three teams and seven drivers. Two teams were at Silverstone and Sauber was the sole car at Fiorano.

Kimi Raikkonen.

Photo by xpb.cc.

McLaren started work at Jerez, where Kimi Raikkonen topped the times with a 1:16.917 despite an early engine problem and a minor software glitch. Team tester Pedro de la Rosa was third quickest and both worked on tyres, engine durability, set up and aerodynamics.

"Today my programme was interrupted by an engine ancillary problem, however the test team worked quickly to rectify this, to make sure the disruption to the programme was minimal," said Raikkonen. "I was however pleased to have set the overall fastest lap time of the day."

Renault, who had originally planned to test at Silverstone but moved due to bad weather reports, had Fernando Alonso and tester Franck Montagny on duty. They were fourth and fifth respectively while simulating race weekends with the RS25 B spec engine, as well as tyre work.

Of the other two teams present at Jerez, Toyota's Jarno Trulli was second fastest, about six tenths down on Raikkonen, and team test driver Olivier Panis was sixth overall. Red Bull had Tonio Liuzzi and David Coulthard on track and they were seventh and eighth respectively.

At Mugello BAR was again at the top of the time sheet as Jenson Button and tester Enrique Bernoldi concluded the team's two-day test. Button's best time of the seven drivers on track was 1:20.250 and Bernoldi was fourth quickest. Button focused on evaluating aerodynamic upgrades and Bernoldi on tyres.

Jenson Button.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Chief test engineer Mike Ellis said it was another good test for the team. "The whole team has been outstanding in working together to produce further positive upgrades ahead of next week's Barcelona Grand Prix," he commented.

Ferrari wrapped up its test with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello behind the wheel. They concluded the aerodynamic and tyre programme that started on Tuesday and Schumacher was second quickest, three tenths down on Button and eight ahead of his teammate.

Minardi had a better day than yesterday to end its test and Christijan Albers was the quicker of the three Faenza cars present in fifth. Patrick Friesacher was sixth, both he and Albers driving the new PS05 cars, and tester Chanoch Nissany was seventh in the PS04 chassis.

"The car showed it has speed, and with reliability as well, we were able to work through a solid programme," said Albers. "The PS05 is a new car, and there will continue to be small problems to be solved and work to be done in the coming weeks, but everything looks very positive at the moment."

Williams concluded its three-day test at Silverstone with test drivers Nico Rosberg and Antonio Pizzonia behind the wheel. Rosberg's best time was 1:22.168 and Pizzonia was eight tenths astray. It was Rosberg's first week of duty as an official tester for the team.

Nico Rosberg.

Photo by xpb.cc.

"I really enjoyed myself this week," he said. "It is unbelievable to drive this car. I think I settled into the team well, and they made me feel really welcome. It didn't take me too long to get used to the FW27 and, when I did, I worked through the programme quite well."

Jordan was also on track at Silverstone with three drivers sharing duties and Narain Karthikeyan was second quickest behind Rosberg. Tiago Monteiro was fourth and tester Nicky Pastorelli rounded off the times in fifth. The focus for the team was tyres and set up work.

Sauber concluded its solo three-day test at Fiorano with Jacques Villenevue taking over from teammate Felipe Massa. Villeneuve worked mainly on set up and also validated some cooling options for the new rear of the car. His best time was 58.647.

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