Renault Barcelona test notes 2005-02-16

The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team continued pre-season preparations at the Circuit de Catalunya today with Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella. Cold morning temperatures once again restricted the team to accumulating mileage early in the day, before both drivers began tyre testing for the opening races of the year.

Both Fernando and Giancarlo experienced delays during the day, the former owing to an electrical problem while the latter suffered mechanical problems in the afternoon, but the tyre testing nevertheless yielded promising results on both short and long runs. The drivers also conducted familiarisation programmes for the new race weekend format.

The team also extended its Barcelona test session today, and will now run on Friday 18 February.

Christian Silk, Chief test engineer:

"Difficult conditions first thing this morning meant we were unable to begin working on tyre development straight away, but we continued running in order to put more miles on the new car. Both drivers conducted tyre testing for the first races of the year, which gave very promising results, as well as race weekend simulations to allow them to acclimatise to the revised format for this season."

"Overall, things seem very positive: the car is well balanced, the balance remains consistent on long runs and the R25 is looking after its tyres well, which will hopefully mean the drivers are well equipped to continue attacking until the end of the races this year."

Fernando Alonso
Chassis: R25-02
75 laps, 347 km
Best time: 1:14.416

Giancarlo Fisichella
Chassis: R25-03
87 laps, 402 km
Best time: 1:14.556

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