Renault Barcelona test notes 2005-02-15

The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team completed a trouble-free first day of its penultimate pre-season test, at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. With race drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella at the wheel of two R25 chassis, the team encountered cold conditions at the circuit this morning, which limited useful work.

Consequently, attention once again turned to accumulating mileage with the new package: in spite of numerous red flags, and some small delays for Giancarlo during the morning, both drivers completed a good day's work and were satisfied with the car's baseline performance at this circuit.

Christian Silk, Chief test engineer:

"This morning's cold conditions meant we focused our programmes around doing plenty of laps with both drivers, and we achieved this, particularly on Fernando's car. The new track surface at this circuit is constantly picking up grip, so the faster drivers were inevitably on track later in the day, but we hope to see conditions stabilise later in the week."

"Overall, we had a very positive first day here: this is the R25's first visit to Barcelona, and the drivers were happy with stability in the high-speed corners as well as the low-speed balance. Tomorrow, we will concentrate on concluding tyre selection for Melbourne, and continuing our work for Malaysia."

Fernando Alonso
Chassis: R25-02
107 laps, 496 km
Best time: 1:14.986

Giancarlo Fisichella
Chassis: R25-03
63 laps, 292 km
Best time: 1:15.645

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