Testing wraps up for the week

September 15th saw the end of the week's testing and at Silverstone seven drivers from four teams concluded their work in rather wet conditions. With Renault and McLaren already finished, Red Bull's Christian Klein took over the top of the times on the final day with a best of 1:20.272[*]. Teammate Tonio Liuzzi was third overall.

Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Williams concluded its two-day programme with test drivers Antonio Pizzonia and Nico Rosberg second and fourth fastest respectively. The pair both completed 66 laps each, working on tyres and practising pit stops and starts. "Today we finished testing at Silverstone with Antonio and Nico," said technical director Sam Michael.

"Most of the day was spent testing intermediate tyres and working through some comparisons for Michelin, but also on traction control and starts. Rain hampered Thursday morning's session but, towards the end of the day, the track finally dried out which enabled us to finalise some work on Suzuka tyre compounds."

Ralf Schumacher, fifth, and tester Olivier Panis, seventh, wound up Toyota's three-day test session. Schumacher spent his time focusing on tyres, brakes and steering, while Panis spent the week working with the B spec chassis. Fellow tester Ricardo Zonta also had a day on track on Tuesday, working on tyres.

"We had a very successful test with the TF105B, which features a different front suspension from the TF105," said Toyota technical director Mike Gascoyne. "We had a problem with the power steering at the previous test, but here at Silverstone we were able to eradicate it."

"That meant we were able to get on and evaluate the car properly. We initially planned to test the car for only one day but we lengthened that to the entire test, and the results were very positive."

Sakon Yamamoto was once again behind the wheel of a Jordan and was sixth on the time sheet as he prepared for his third driver role for the team in Japan. Ferrari completed its three day test at Jerez, tester Marc Gen? setting a best of 1:19.555 as he worked on tyres for 88 laps.

At Barcelona BAR finished up with Jenson Button and Takuma Sato on track, along with development driver Adam Carroll. The team's programme over the three days focused on aerodynamic developments, tyres for the forthcoming races and running of the latest spec Honda engine. Button was quickest on the final day, 1:14.360.

"We have made the most of the excellent testing conditions here in Barcelona to prepare for the final three races this year," said chief test engineer Mark Ellis. "We have been extremely encouraged by the results this week for both chassis and engine developments."

[*]Note: some timing lists have Pizzonia at the top but according to Williams it was Klien fastest, with Pizzonia second.