McLaren Jerez test notes 2005-02-08

Team McLaren Mercedes began its four day test at the Circuito de Jerez today with two MP4-20s on track for the first time. Juan Pablo Montoya was in a brand new chassis, with Pedro de le Rosa in a second MP4-20.

Juan Pablo's car incorporated a number of measures that work as an integrated package to help restore aerodynamic performance of the car, which has been affected by the FIA's changes to the regulations.

Overnight rain delayed running in the morning whilst the team waited for the track to dry up sufficiently to begin the planned programme. In addition, nine separate red flags incidents meant that running throughout the day was constantly interrupted.

Despite this, systems check work was done with Juan Pablo on the new chassis in the morning and general set up work was carried out satisfactorily. Pedro completed several long runs in the afternoon as part of a tyre testing programme.

Juan Pablo completed a total of 38 laps with his fastest time being 1m18.240s while Pedro completed 77 laps with a fastest time of 1m18.548s.

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"I felt that today went really well. We did very little running in the morning as the track was still damp and with a new car it is best not to risk any damage, however I managed to do some extended runs in the afternoon and feel very comfortable in the car."

Pedro de la Rosa:

"Today has been my first proper test in MP4-20 and I have found it very easy to adapt. It did not take many laps to get into the feel of the car, it is a very easy car to drive and I feel comfortable in the cockpit. There is still a lot of work to do before the season starts in Melbourne, however straight out of the box and with relatively little set up work I am quite confident."

-mclaren-