27/08/2008
NEWS STORY
Just seventy-two hours after scoring a convincing win in Valencia, Felipe Massa was setting the pace at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, as preparations for the Italian Grand Prix got underway.
Like most teams, the Maranello outfit ran a specific aero package on a day which saw the Brazilian lap the 3.599 mile circuit at over 155 mph. The Valencia winner concentrated on defining the best set-up for the F2008 and, in the afternoon, carried out three long runs. He completed a total of 101 laps without any technical problems arising.
Second quickest was Heikki Kovalainen as McLaren, also running a Monza-spec low-downforce aero package, focussed on braking and set-up work. The Finn, who completed 78 laps, posted a best time just 0.011s off Massa's pace.
Third quickest, 0.033s off the pace, was Williams Nico Rosberg. "It's been a productive day," said Test Team Manager, Dickie Stanford, "with the team concentrating on set-up evaluations ahead of the race here in a couple of weekend's time. We experienced no major problems and Nico will continue testing tomorrow."
Fourth quickest, and continuing to show impressive progress, was Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso. In addition to a low-downforce package, Vettel also evaluated a new front suspension and some aero components not specifically aimed at Monza. Running on just one type of Bridgestone tyre all day, the car ran trouble free, completing a higher mileage than planned, including a long run, equivalent to over half a race distance, with the German's quickest lap posted towards the end of this run.
Rubens Barrichello began Honda's programme as he focused on an evaluation of the downforce levels and set-up required for the races at Spa and Monza, alongside a tyre programme with Bridgestone's medium and hard compounds. The Brazilian ended the day fifth on the timesheets, 0.399s off Massa's pace.
Red Bull, which continues playing 'catch-up' with its sister team, had Mark Webber on duty, the Australian evaluating the team's Monza aero package. Other pre-Italian Grand Prix work involved chassis tuning to suit the aero package as Webber also worked through a tyre comparison programme. He completed 96 laps, which was more than originally planned. Having successfully established a good base line, tomorrow's programme, still with Webber driving, moves on to evaluating some new set-ups on the RB4.
In the morning, Nick Heidfeld worked on the mechanical setup of the F1.08. Preparing for the upcoming Belgian and Italian Grands Prix he worked on suspension setup, gearbox ratios and brake balance. In the afternoon the engineers switched their focus to aerodynamics. In perfect weather conditions the team made good progress trying various solutions for the high speed and low downforce races ahead.
Test and reserve driver Tonio Liuzzi was on duty for Force India as the Silverstone-based outfit spent much of today conducting set-up and aero work unique to this circuit. The Italian completed 99 laps in total, with a best lap time of 1min 24.239, the 8th quickest time of the day. Adrian Sutil will take over for tomorrow's running, with Giancarlo Fisichella bringing the test to a close on Friday.
"Today we tried to get a good set-up for the rest of the test and the race in just a couple of weeks time," said the Italian, "and I think we can be happy with how it went today. This morning the grip levels were very low and it was quite difficult with the tyres we had, and especially as I had not been in the car for some time for a real test. We did make some good progress though, almost 100 laps with no problems and we are not too far from the others in the times either."
"With the aero configuration for Monza being dramatically different to any other track we visit on the calendar, today's programme focussed on evaluating different set-ups and wing levels specifically for the Italian Grand Prix," added Dominic Harlow, the team's Chief Race and Test Engineer. "We also conducted some work on engine mapping, brake testing and tyre evaluation. Grip levels are low at the moment, and the tyres we are using are very hard for the conditions, but everyone has the same issue so we will work over the next days to optimise the performance. Overall, we had a good day and are pretty happy with the information we gathered, it's been a good start to the test."
Jarno Trulli began Toyota's preparation for the Italian Grand Prix, though test got off to a tricky start due to a couple of mechanical issues which required further investigation. The Italian then concentrated on establishing a baseline set-up with the revised Monza-spec TF108. Braking performance and stability is also key, with three chicanes breaking up a lap that features 70% full throttle running, so Trulli completed plenty of running to get as much information as possible about the TF108's behaviour, particularly focusing on the brakes and suspension.
"The car's feel is very important at Monza because you are trying to run with as little drag as possible so you do not have as much downforce as at other circuits," said Trulli. "We had a delay at the beginning of the day but then we concentrated on brake work as well as trying the car with different levels of downforce and evaluating the Bridgestone tyre compounds that we will use in the Italian Grand Prix. In the end I did more than 90 laps and we collected a lot of information to continue the test tomorrow."
"It was not the ideal start this morning due to a short delay," added Test Team Manager, Gerd Pfeiffer, "but when we started running everything went well. We had to make some mechanical alterations which we have to analyse back in Cologne. In the afternoon we caught up with our programme with the emphasis on suspension data collection and other test items. We were not aiming to set fast lap times but we are in a good position to make further progress with Jarno tomorrow before Timo takes over for the final day of the test on Friday."
Like its rivals, Renault was running a new aerodynamic package designed especially to cope with the unique high-speed challenge of Monza. Nelson Piquet evaluated the new package and set about improving the overall balance of the car. In the afternoon attention shifted to longer runs and tyre evaluation. By the end of the day, the Brazilian had completed 117 laps to give the team a good baseline to work from for the rest of the week. Fernando Alonso takes over driving duties for tomorrow and Friday.
"It was a good day's work," said the Brazilian, "and nice to complete so many laps. It's the fastest circuit of the year and so we were trying out our low downforce package, which went well, although it always feels strange to drive with such little downforce on the car. The track was also quite green, which didn't help, but I was happy with the set-up work we completed, even though we still have a lot to learn."
"A solid day's work with good reliability," added Christian Silk. "We did plenty of laps to give Nelson as much running as possible with the car in low downforce trim. It's always quite a challenge here to set the car up as it is such a unique circuit, but we've colleted lots of data from the first day's running, which will give us a good base to work on from here."