Sauber Barcelona test notes 2003-11-25

New driver Giancarlo Fisichella tests in Barcelona

Team Sauber Petronas' new driver Giancarlo Fisichella conducted his first Formula One test for his new team today at the Circuito de Catalunya in Barcelona. He ran a scheduled programme, which focused on damper tests, and covered 99 laps with a best time of 1m18.532s.

Giancarlo Fisichella:

"For the first day with my new team I'm quite happy with the result. I covered almost 100 laps, which is a lot for Barcelona. In the morning we had some problems with the car set-up and my seat position was not the optimum and needed some adaptation. Later I was able to complete the scheduled test programme for today, but there is still a lot to learn. It's a very nice and familiar atmosphere at Sauber. Everyone works in a very professional and friendly manner."

Jacky Eeckelaert, chief race engineer:

"Today has been Giancarlo's first run for us. He has the reputation of being a very professional and factually thinking racer and he underlined this. Although he had some minor problems in the morning with his seat he was still very quick on the track and made very few mistakes. And this in a car he had never drriven before. He did a very good job today. I can say that I recognised him from the time at Jordan in 1997 when we worked together in one team. He ist still the same pragmatic guy."

Fisichella will continue testing in Barcelona tomorrow and Thursday. From 8 to 10 December Felipe Massa will test in Jerez. Test driver Neel Jani will complete the test programme for this year on 11 December, again in Jerez.

-sauber-