Williams Jerez test notes 2004-02-12

Juan Pablo Montoya joined his team-mate Ralf Schumacher today as the BMW WilliamsF1 Team continued the five day test programme at Jerez. Once again, conditions at Jerez were ideal, with clear blue skies, bright sunshine, and temperatures reaching 22°C.

Juan Pablo took over from the BMW WilliamsF1 Team's official test driver, Marc Gené, and spent the whole day working on mechanical set-ups for the WilliamsF1 BMW FW26. The Colombian completed 60 laps, setting a best time of 1:17.477.

Ralf focused on the aerodynamic balance of the FW26 in the morning before switching to tyre evaluations in the afternoon. The German also carried out a number of simulated race starts. Ralf completed 72 laps, posting a personal best of 1:17.758.

Neither driver was aiming for long runs, instead they preferred to run a number of short runs which allowed them to try as many different settings as possible.

Tim Newton (Test Team Manager, WilliamsF1):

"Ralf and Juan Pablo were on hand to perform testing duties today. Under clear skies, both drivers continued working on the set-up of the FW26, Ralf in the 02 chassis and Juan in the 03. Despite experiencing a few problems with his car early on in the session, Ralf managed to carry out some valuable aero work. In the afternoon he did tyre testing and practice starts. In the other FW26, Juan Pablo primarily concentrated on mechanical set-up work. Both drivers will return to the cockpit tomorrow."

-williams-