15/12/2006
NEWS STORY
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McLaren signed off 2006 in style, as its 2007 driver pairing, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, ran together for the first time.
As the news was still sinking in that Renault had relented, and released the Spaniard from his contract early, thereby allowing him one day of testing with his new team, Alonso was pounding around Jerez in the MP4-21, albeit devoid of all sponsorship logos.
Security around the Spaniard's debut was intense, the eleventh hour agreement that led to the change of heart clearly included all manner of stipulations, such as the lack of logos, a plain white helmet, overalls devoid of badges, and even a strict 'no talking to the media' policy. Indeed, Alonso's times weren't even shown on the official timesheets, and it is only McLaren's own data that indicated how good his maiden run was - as he completed 94 laps, finishing third quickest, just 0.250s behind pace-setter Lewis Hamilton.
McLaren CEO, Martin Whitmarsh, summed up the day, as he looks forward to what could be a successful new season, if today's performance is anything to go by.
"Today has seen the completion of the 2006 test programme with an encouraging session in Jerez. The primary focus of the three pre-Christmas tests has been the learning process between ourselves and Bridgestone. We have been able to gather valuable data on how to get the best out of the Bridgestone Potenzas and we are currently feeding this back into the MP4-22 programme.
"The drivers have also been working through various development programmes for the MP4-22, such as suspension, aero and set-up work. With Lewis we have also spent time on activities such as putting him out in traffic so that he builds experience of running with other cars."
Clearly aware of the media's need of a comment, and comment, from their new star, McLaren later issued this brief and somewhat prosaic quote from Alonso.
"I'm pleased that I was able to drive the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car earlier than expected and would like to thank Renault and Flavio Briatore for agreeing to this.
"I'm really excited about the future," added the Spaniard, "and would like to wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy new year."
Splitting the two McLarens was Heikki Kovalainen, but it was a difficult day for the young Finn, who was the cause of two red flags following mechanical failures, one just before lunch, the other in the late afternoon. Kovalainen and team mate Giancarlo Fisichella continued to focus on tyre testing in order to evaluate the wear through long runs.
"We had a good final day of testing," said chief test engineer, Christian silk. "We completed lots of miles once again and the gearbox seems very reliable up to now, which is always satisfying for a new part. We are on schedule and we are now ready to start working on the new car.
"It's been a good day for me today," said Kovalainen, "and my results seem interesting. We need to analyse the data in order to be ready in January to start testing with the new car. These last sessions gave us a good view on different areas such as the tyres and the new gear box".
"This was a good conclusion to a productive session," added Fisichella. "The data we gathered will definitely help us for our work in 2007. I am now more comfortable with the new tyres. I am quite satisfied with our week."
Alonso's shock debut with McLaren almost overshadowed another debut, just a little further along the pitlane, where Marco Andretti (pictured) joined James Rossiter and Christian Klien at Honda. The youngster completed 68 laps, out-pacing fellow American Scott Speed.
Honda offered the opportunity to Marco to drive the RA106 race car in recognition of his achievements in the Honda-powered Indy Car series this year. The youngster began running shortly after 9 am with an installation lap, followed by several short runs to familiarise himself with the car and get used to the controls. He completed 33 laps before the morning session came to a close.
He was back on track at the start of the afternoon session and continued to steadily improve his lap times as he completed a further 35 laps.
"I couldn't have had more fun today," said Andretti, "it's a shame that it was only a day! It took me a little while to get used to the traction control and the brakes but once I got to grips with them, the times were more and more consistent.
"I would like to say a big thank you to the Honda Racing F1 Team on how professional and welcoming they have been this week," he added, "I'm sure that they will have a good season next year."
"It's been great to have Marco with the team and in the car today," said Gil de Ferran. "He did a good job and acclimatised himself well to the unfamiliar surroundings in the very short time that a one-day test provides. Marco looked comfortable straightaway with the car and the track, and overall it was a good first experience in a Formula One car. "
Meanwhile, Rossiter continued the testing programme along with further chassis work. In the afternoon, Christian Klien took over the car to continue the programme, running for a further 56 laps.
"This week we have continued our programme of understanding the Bridgestone tyres, primarily focusing on long runs," said Mark Ellis, the Japanese team's chief engineer vehicle performance. "Over the last three weeks, the impressive reliability of the RA106 has allowed us to complete 8000kms on the new specification tyres.
"This has been a successful start to our winter test campaign and also a fitting way to end the year. The whole team has contributed enormously to the progress we have made and we are looking forward a short break before resuming testing in January.
"It has been a pleasure to give Marco his first drive in a Formula One car today," he added. "He approached the day in a mature and professional manner well in advance of his years and performed well."
As BMW had almost completed its entire programme during the first two days, today was used to validate the data gathered on Wednesday and Thursday. In addition, Robert Kubica did some more work on the gearbox and both he and Sebastian Vettel completed some long runs. The distance covered by both cars during the three test days is a total of 2,806 kilometres.
Luca Badoer's day came to a premature close, the Italian heading off on his Christmas break a little earlier than planned following an engine failure.
Consequently, it fell to Marc Gene, to be the final Ferrari man to drive on a race track this year. The Maranello outfit's second test driver brought the planned programme to a close, which included development of new components, adaptation of the car to the new tyres and overall reliability.
After two days with Michael Ammermuller, Red Bull continued its policy of driver 'cut and paste' inserting Tonio Liuzzi in the Ferrari powered RB2.
The Austrian outfit's own press release is clear proof that the team is not sorry to see the back of 2006, or the RB2:
"There was a definite feeling of relief in the Red Bull Racing garage on Friday night, as the final test session of 2006 came to a close. Because when Tonio Liuzzi cut the engine as he came into pit lane, it signalled the end of a working life for the less than loved RB2 car!
"Actually," the statement continued, "over the past three days, RB2 behaved faultlessly, allowing Ammermuller and Liuzzi to work through their entire programme, which again centred mainly on an evaluation of the new Bridgestone Potenza tyres."
"Apart from the tyre work, we also carried out some testing aimed at development of next year's car, in the areas of suspension geometry and gearbox development," said Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "Now we are all looking forward to getting our hands on the new car in the new year."
Super Aguri wrapped up its first year in F1 by finishing eleventh quickest, ahead of a Ferrari, a WilliamsF1 and a Honda. The Japanese team had Takuma Sato at the wheel, his first time in the SAF1 since Interlagos.
"I have really enjoyed my first test of the winter," he said. "It has been the first opportunity for me to drive since the Brazilian Grand Prix and so I was very much looking forward to it.
"To get back into an F1 car and drive for the whole three days testing, which is a long time, has been really enjoyable. Every day we completed over 100 laps, which is very encouraging. We have tried new controls and it was obviously my first time to run the new Bridgestone Potenza tyres, so I am very happy and believe that this has been a very positive test for the team."
"The weather during the test this week has been very stable which has allowed for a great deal of analysis," added Graham Taylor, the team's sporting director. "The mileage covered and data collected during the week is impressive and extremely satisfying. Super Aguri has a solid foundation to its 2007 preparations."
Today saw a vast improvement from Sebastian Bourdais as the Frenchman continues to get used to the Toro Rosso. The three-time Champ Car Champion finished thirteenth quickest, just behind Ferrari's Marc Gene, and over a second ahead of fellow Toro Rosso driver Scott Speed.
"After two days acclimatising himself, Sebastien was up to speed and was able to complete our final day's programme," said chief engineer, Laurent Mekies. "On the technical front, we were again concentrating on a familiarisation programme with the Bridgestone Potenza tyres. They were the same as those we tried last week. The stable weather meant we were also able to try major changes to car set-up with a view to understanding how these were affected by tyres, while also evaluating new brake materials."
It was a difficult day for WilliamsF1 and Alexander Wurz, who ended up fourteenth on the time sheets, just ahead of Andretti and Speed. Like Kovalainen, Wurz suffered two on track failures, both resulting in red flags.
Nonetheless, Sam Michael remains confident: "Today marked the end of our 2006 testing programme. The test team will now have a good break over Christmas before starting again on 16th January 2007 in Jerez. We started testing back in September with the FW28B car, which is a modified FW28A with the Toyota engine and our 2007 seamless gearbox. This car has completed over 6,500kms and no fewer than three complete on-track race simulations as part of our plan to significantly improve reliability in 2007.
In addition to reliability, we have been working hard on understanding the changes in the tyres that Bridgestone are now supplying, and there are no untoward surprises. They are quite consistent and easier to manage, which is helpful when trying to evaluate different set-up changes from a stable baseline."