31/08/2006
NEWS STORY
Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the fastest of twenty drivers, on the final day of testing at Monza.
The Brazilian was once again joined by Michael Schumacher as Ferrari continued with the programme initiated on Tuesday, which centred mainly on development of Bridgestone tyres and preparation for the Italian Grand Prix.
Massa's best time, over 0.8s faster than the second quickest driver (Alonso), is clear proff that the Italian team, and tyre partner Bridgestone, has adapted to the resurfacing work at the Autodromo Nazionale, and sets up a real thriller next weekend.
Ferrari will be back on track next Tuesday at Fiorano, when Luca Badoer will carry out the shake down of the cars that will be used in the Italian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen ran a total 228 laps for Renault, focusing above all on tyre selection with Michelin. The Spaniard finished the day second on the timesheets, with a lap of 1:21.902. He initially worked on short runs before moving on to longer distance work in the afternoon.
Kovalainen also ran a busy tyre programme. Like his team-mate, he was comparing Michelin's latest development tyres for performance and consistency. He finished the day eleventh with a lap of 1:22.579.
"This was a good way to round off a busy week," said Christian Silk, "with lots of laps and plenty of new knowledge about the tyres. We have a good starting point from which to approach next week's Grand Prix, I think. This was an important and demanding test for the team, and every member worked to their maximum until the early hours each day. But that just goes to show how motivated we are to defend our championship lead!"
Christian Klien was third quickest for Red Bull, which also had David Coulthard on duty. Over the course of the past two days the drivers ran different tyre programmes; one working on compounds, the other on construction.
"Generally, the test went well with David getting through his full programme on the first day, when Christian lost a bit of time going off the track and with a gearbox problem," said Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "Today, Christian was again slightly delayed, this time by a brake problem in the morning and he also had a very minor 'off' right at the end of the day. The engine ran faultlessly throughout and we are happy with the tyre choices we have made for next weekend."
WilliamsF1 had its 2007 race drivers on duty, Nico Rosberg and Alexander Wurz. The German finished fifth quickest.
"Alex concentrated on comprehensive tyre tests, which took up the bulk of today's running," said test team manager, Mike Condliffe, "although there were some new mechanical parts being tested for reliability at the same time. Nico completed work on the specific aero package we will run next week as well as some smaller aero parts before finishing the remainder of our tyre tests ahead of the race."
Following his accident in Istanbul. Kimi Raikkonen has opted to sit out this week's test, which means that Gary Paffett partnered Pedro de la Rosa.
"Monza is the only circuit that we test on so close to the actual race," said Martin Whitmarsh, "and as a result the programme this week has been very much focused on the Italian Grand Prix. The track has been resurfaced since we were last here so we have been concentrating particularly on tyre evaluation with Michelin.
"Alongside this we have been working on the race set-up of both cars with Pedro and Gary, who have both been working on the aerodynamic package for this race. Gary's engine was at the end of its lifecycle and as a result failed this afternoon. However the mechanics did a fantastic job of changing it in a very short period of time, so that he could go back out towards the end of the session.
"We have achieved some positive results with both Gary and Pedro, and we go into the race next weekend with a greater understanding of what to expect from the circuit."
Ralf Schumacher and third driver Ricardo Zonta were on hand today for Toyota, to finish tyre testing and set-up work. However, the German finished at lunchtime due to not feeling well.
Zonta continued on testing different set-ups on both cars in the afternoon and collected the final data the team needed to make the final tyre choice.
"This week we had planned to carry out an important tyre test and try out some new aerodynamic parts in preparation for next week's race," said test team manager, Gerd Pfeiffer. "We've managed to finish most of the programme, even though we had to deal with loosing time from red flags, set-up work and then losing a half day of driving this afternoon.
"Ricardo worked hard and drove both cars this afternoon. The tyres we have been testing for the race here look quite promising, so overall we are pleased with the data. Now the engineers will sit together to come up with the race strategy, which is always a bit easier when you have tested a week before the race at the same track. We have shown that we can be fast in the race and we are hoping for some more points in this next round."
"Yesterday the going was slow due to the red lights but today went well," added Zonta. "I was able to do some long runs to evaluate the tyre choice alternatives for the coming race. We also did some final fine-tuning with the aero package and practiced some launches. It is unfortunate that we could not run both cars at the same time in the afternoon, but I think we the team did a good job preparing the cars so I could drive both and collect the data we needed. Like always, it's hard to say how we will do next weekend, but I think we have a competitive package and we will just have to wait and see."
It was a hard day for Honda, with Jenson Button crashing heavily at Parabolica, following what appeared to be a rear suspension failure. The Englishman, and teammate Rubens Barrichello has previously had their programme interrupted when they each experienced different engine problems, the causes of which are currently being investigated.
"Although we have had some problems today, we have had an excellent test, despite the changing track conditions," said Mark Ellis. "All the drivers have been happy with the balance and pace of the car and we have made some encouraging progress with aero, suspension and electronic systems developments. We have completed a comprehensive tyre test and are confident Michelin have come up with some good solutions for next week's race where we look forward to continuing our recent competitive race performances."
"It has been an intensive two days," added Button, "with a lot of work to complete prior to next weekend. We spent most of my two days concentrating on tyre testing with Michelin to gather the data to choose the tyres for the race. There has been resurfacing work at Monza and the new asphalt is of a different composition which has made the tyre testing particularly challenging, but I believe that we have the data now to make the right choice. Today's problems have been a little disappointing so we will have to wait and see what the analysis of these issues tells us."
BMW had Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel on duty. The Pole crashed quite heavily in the morning, but was back on track by the time the session resumed after lunch, his car fully repaired. He subsequently carried out race preparations and completed a huge tyre testing programme in the afternoon, when he was evaluating different compounds for Monza during six long runs.
Vettel carried out aero and set-up work for the Monza race, as well as some systems work with special emphasis on shifting.
For Toro Rosso, the main focus of the day was on tyre choice for next week's race, with Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed testing different compounds and constructions.
"The drivers did a good job, delivering a fault free performance, which is why we managed to cover in excess of 2000 kilometres," said Chief Engineer Laurent Mekies. "So we have plenty of data to study and all will now depend on what conditions we find here when we return for the race in one week's time."
Midland made full use of the excellent conditions, covering more mileage than it had during the previous two days of the test and setting its fastest lap time of the week in the process.
Tiago Monteiro benefited from dry, warm track conditions and the M16's faultless reliability to record a fastest lap time of 1:23.85 - an improvement of 1.04s over the Christijan Albers' best time yesterday, and 1.65s faster than the mark set by Giorgio Mondini on Tuesday.
Although Takuma Sato was over 3s off the pace, Super Aguri remains cinfident, feeling that the test has been positive. "It has been a productive week, but an extremely tough one," said Mark Preston. "We have finally participated in a test before a race and have therefore been able to make the appropriate preparations. I think that what we have achieved over the past three days should put us in a good position for the coming race weekend. We have collected a good amount of data to look over and we will now be able to plan Franck Montagny's programme for the Friday free practice sessions more thoroughly. Overall, I am happy with the progress that we have made with the SA06 and it feels good to have successfully run through our aero, Bridgestone tyres and software programmes for next week."
"It was a positive, but very challenging test for the team," added Sato. "It has been good to complete a multi-day test for the first time in the SA06, even though it has been specifically for the Italian Grand Prix. This test is very important for next weekend and, although all the teams' are in a similar position, we have collected essential data for our cars, tyres and control system as well. We encountered a few problems this morning which meant that we had a late start to our running and a gearbox problem in the afternoon meant that we were unable to complete our planned programme, but we have collected the data we require for the race next week. The mechanics and engineers have worked so hard, with a limited number of components and in two shifts through the night for two days. It has been a physically demanding test for everyone."