Renault Monza test notes 2006-08-31

The Renault F1 Team today completed its Monza test programme ahead of next weekend's Italian Grand Prix. Three busy days saw the team complete 617 laps in total ahead of the final European round of the world championship.

Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen ran 228 laps today, focusing above all on tyre selection with Michelin.

The Spaniard finished the day second on the timesheets, with a lap of 1:21.902. He initially worked on short runs before moving on to longer distance work in the afternoon. He completed a trouble-free programme in spite of numerous red flags.

As for Heikki Kovalainen, he also ran a busy tyre programme. Like his team-mate, he was comparing Michelin's latest development tyres for performance and consistency. He finished the day eleventh with a lap of 1:22.579.

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer:

"This was a good way to round off a busy week, with lots of laps and plenty of new knowledge about the tyres. We have a good starting point from which to approach next week's Grand Prix, I think. This was an important and demanding test for the team, and every member worked to their maximum until the early hours each day. But that just goes to show how motivated we are to defend our championship lead!"

-credit: renault