Formula 1

Rosberg tops Valencia day two

Valecnia was once again the busiest circuit for testing on February 15th and Williams' Nico Rosberg was the fastest of the 11 drivers from five teams on track. Rosberg posted a best of 1:10.994 for the top of the times while teammate Mark Webber was ...

Published: Feb 16, 2006, 11:26 PM

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Valecnia was once again the busiest circuit for testing on February 15th and Williams' Nico Rosberg was the fastest of the 11 drivers from five teams on track. Rosberg posted a best of 1:10.994 for the top of the times while teammate Mark Webber was sixth fastest.

Nico Rosberg.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest, a couple of tenths down on Rosberg, and McLaren also had Juan Pablo Montoya at work, seventh on the time sheet. Both drove the MP4-21 and worked on set up, long runs and pit stop practice. Mechanical problems hampered them towards the end of the day and Raikkonen also had an early transmission glitch.

The Renault duo of tester Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella were third and fourth respectively. Kovalainen completed a race distance before a scheduled engine change while Fisichella experienced several minor problems that disturbed his running somewhat.

"I managed a race distance this morning, before doing some brake development in the afternoon," said Kovalainen. "We focused on doing long runs, and the times make me think we are competitive again at this track. We are making progress every day, and the car seems reliable. I am happy."

Christian Klien led a trio of Red Bulls in fifth, with David Coulthard ninth and team test driver Robert Doornbos 10th. Klien continued work in the updated 02 chassis, including set up and control systems, while Coulthard and Doornbos shared car 01 for a similar programme.

"This gives David a good reference for comparison when he drives RB2-02 tomorrow," commented technical director Mark Smith. "Apart from a couple of stoppages with Christian's car, this has been another productive day."

MF1 had Christijan Albers eighth on the time sheet and tester Giorgio Mondini rounded off the list in 11th. In the M16 Albers worked on tyres and weight distribution, although he suffered some car damage after hitting debris on the track. Mondini completed his objective of over 300km in the EJ15B chassis.

BMW Sauber continued its solo test at Barcelona and Nick Heidfeld was the quicker of the two with a time of 1:16.374. He focused on practice starts and preparing for a race simulation tomorrow. Jacques Villeneuve, who was just under two tenths behind, ran a damper assessment, set up and tyre work.

Three teams worked at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit and Felipe Massa, in the Ferrari 2004 V10, was fastest with a best time of 1:30.029. Michael Schumacher drove the 248 V8 and was fourth and both worked on tyres, set up and electronics, although Schumacher experienced mechanical problems.

Honda's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were second and third quickest respectively, their V8-powered cars over a second down on Massa. Their programme was tyres and aerodynamics in the morning along with tyres and race simulations in the afternoon.

Toro Rosso had test driver Neel Jani behind the wheel and the Swiss was fifth in his first F1 testing for nearly a year. He focused on acclimatizing himself to the V10-powered RB1, while Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed will be sharing the cockpit tomorrow.

"I was getting used to the speed and the braking power and especially the cornering," said Jani. "At first you think the car can't go through the turn at that speed, but you have to tell yourself it does -- and it does! I really enjoyed myself and look forward to my next test in Imola."

Toyota, meanwhile, kicked off a solo test at Vallelunga where the race-spec TF106 takes to the track for the first time. The updated aero package is desribed as totally new -- front and rear wings, sculpted side-pods, modified diffuser, restyled engine cover and floor are the main developments.

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