Champion finally in new car
The Renault drivers switched cars for day three in Jerez. Which meant the world champion got his first taste of the new car. Fernando Alonso arrived at the circuit this morning full of anticipation. After two days spent working on brake and tyre development with the R25, it was his turn to begin running with the new R26-RS26 package.
The Spaniard’s morning in fact proved less busy than expected, while he received physio treatment for a muscular pain until lunch. That allowed Giancarlo Fisichella, who was working on tyre development with the R25, to climb back into the car and continue data collection for the team.
By the afternoon, Fernando was ready to run again and tackle the team’s objective for the day, which was the ambitious target of completing the equivalent of a race distance with the new car, just three days into its running programme. Having achieved it, Fernando appeared pleased with the team’s work and the handling of the car. Fernando Alonso “I was hoping that it would feel like the R25 to drive, because that was such a nice car for the drivers. The good news is that it does, it is easy to drive, the long runs seem consistent and we didn’t have any mechanical problems.” There is plenty still to do between now and Bahrain, but Fernando and the team are reassured by the positive first impressions, and ready to tackle the weeks ahead. “This is only the first January test with a brand new car. Taking that into account, I think we are in a strong position,” concluded the world champion.
Giancarlo Fisichella took the wheel of the R25 once again in the afternoon, running an intensive tyre development programme in order to prepare for new developments and the R26. A mixture of short and long runs involving comparisons with reference tyres formed a fastidious workload – but a necessary one.
Testing will conclude tomorrow, with Fernando pursuing his work in the new car. As for the programme, it will remain the same: run plenty of laps and collect a maximum of information on the new R26.
