Barcelona, Qualifying: Bravo Fernando!

Saturday 26 April 2008,

Qualifying . Barcelona . Saturday

The former double world champion will start from the front row of the grid tomorrow, behind the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

First part: The track had not changed much from the morning's session, although it was 8° hotter. Raikkonen (Ferrari) set the best time of 1:20.701. He was ahead of Trulli (Toyota) by 0.4s. The Renaults were well placed thanks to final competitive runs which put Fernando in third and Nelson in 5th. Those eliminated were Coulthard (Red Bull), Vettel (Toro Rosso), Fisichella (Force India), Sutil (Force India), Davidson (Super Aguri) and Sato (Super Aguri). Sebastien Bourdais made it though to Q2 despite being in last year's Toro Rosso.

Second part: Felipe Massa set the best time in the final seconds, while the pace of Ferrari was confirmed with third place for Kimi Raikkonen. Robert Kubica (BMW) squeezed in between the two red cars. There was an excellent performance from Renault, with Fernando in fourth and Nelson in 8th. The Spaniard finished 0.3s off the Ferrari at the front. The two R28s were therefore in the top ten, which was the team's objective. Those eliminated were Barrichello (Honda), Nakajima (Williams), Button (Honda), Glock (Toyota), Rosberg (Williams), and Bourdais (Toro Rosso). The exit of the two Williams was one of the surprises.

Third part: While the battle for pole position seemed to be between Raikkonen and Hamilton, Fernando Alonso recorded a fantastic lap to jump to the top of the times, much to the pleasure of the crowd. However, Kimi Raikkonen was able to improve his time by 0.01s to snatch pole. But Fernando remained on the front row of the grid, in front of the Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Nelson Piquet will start in tenth.

Video: Spain Friday

Barcelona, Free Practice 2: Renault in contention

Friday 25 April 2008,

Friday . Nelson Piquet . Fernando Alonso . Barcelona

The ING Renault F1 Team continued its weekend and confirmed the good form from the morning with Nelson ending the afternoon session in second and Fernando in third.

The second free practice session saw the drivers complete more laps than this morning: the average being around 30 laps, with Timo Glock clocking the most with 40 laps in his Toyota. The conditions of the track were warmer than during the first session: 37° on the track compared with 25° in the morning.

After 90 minutes of running, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) set the best time of 1:21.935. The Finn did not deliver this lap until the final minutes of the session, but he was once again at the top of the classification, adding to the best time he set in the morning session.

For the ING Renault F1 Team, the progress shown this morning seemed to be confirmed. Nelson and Fernando finished in 2nd and 3rd places, 0.084s and 0.099s off the Ferrari. The Brazilian had a busy session, covering 38 laps, while Alonso covered 26. The two R28s showed good consistent pace during the long runs of 5 or 6 laps, to show the progress that the team has made. Of course, it is difficult to know what technical programmes the other teams have been running, but today's performance is encouraging for the team.

In fourth place was Kazuki Nakajuma, showing that the Williams team could have something to say this weekend. He was followed by Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari, Mark Webber (Red Bull), Nico Rosberg (Williams) and David Coulthard (Red Bull). The BMWs finished in 12th and 13th places, which is surprising, but the F1.08 is expected to return to the front tomorrow. Among the other notable points in the session was the performance of the Toyotas in 14th and 20th positions. Adrian Sutil, on the other hand, delivered a good performance to finish in 10th, Once again, this classification needs to be treated with caution.

The final 12 cars finished the day separated by just 0.8s. Which bodes well for a competitive weekend.

Barcelona, Free practice 1: Encouraging

Friday 25 April 2008,

Barcelona . Friday . Nelson Piquet . Fernando Alonso

The ING Renault F1 Team finished the first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix in 6th and 7th position.

After spending four days testing at Barcelona last week, it was no surprise that the first session of the weekend was quite relaxed with little action. In fact, only 12 drivers had completed a lap by the midpoint of the session! Things started to improve after that and by the end of the session most of the drivers had covered around 20 laps, which is a respectable distance. Track conditions were reasonable with a track temperature of 25° and 20° in the air.

An hour into the session and the two Ferraris of Raikkonen and Massa confirmed their position as the favourites. They set the best times separated by 0.050s with the Finn posting a 1'20.549s and the Brazilian setting a 1'20.699s. The latter went off the track on numerous occasions, making mistakes as he searched for the limit, but he was able to recover each time with no damage. The track seemed pretty slippery, which is not unusual for the start of the weekend.

Behind the Ferraris, the two McLarens were in the next group with 3rd and 5th places: Hamilton (0.543s) in front of Kovalainen (0.919s). The McLarens were separated by Robert Kubica in the BMW. There was a significant gap between the rest of the field and the Ferraris: it remains to be seen if they will hold the same advantage come Sunday.

It was a good start to the weekend for Renault: Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet were classified just behind the McLarens in 6th and 7th places. The two men were separated by just 0.003s. They spent the session on hard tyres and enjoyed the best session for Renault this season. It looks promising, but the team prefers to reserve judgement until after this afternoon's session.

The teams have, for the most part, introduced new aerodynamic developments. And that includes the R28 which is fitted with a new engine cover and a retouched front wing. Other new introductions this weekend see Ferrari sporting a new front nose, new deflectors on the Red Bulls and the ‘Spaniel ears' on the Honda.

		Driver	Team	Time:	Gap	Lap
1.		K. Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:20.649		17
2.		F. Massa	Ferrari	1:20.699	+0.050	9
3.		L. Hamilton	McLaren	1:21.192	+0.543	20
4.		R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:21.568	+0.919	20
5.		H. Kovalainen	McLaren	1:21.758	+1.109	10
6.		F. Alonso	Renault	1:21.933	+1.284	18
7.		N. Piquet Jr.	Renault	1:21.936	+1.287	21
8.		D. Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:22.118	+1.469	20
9.		N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:22.278	+1.629	24
10.		J. Button	Honda	1:22.632	+1.983	16
11.		T. Glock	Toyota	1:23.002	+2.353	21
12.		N. Rosberg	Williams	1:23.003	+2.354	25
13.		M. Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:23.015	+2.366	14
14.		J. Trulli	Toyota	1:23.141	+2.492	15
15.		K. Nakajima	Williams	1:23.153	+2.504	24
16.		A. Sutil	Force India	1:23.156	+2.507	22
17.		G. Fisichella	Force India	1:23.196	+2.547	20
18.		R. Barrichello	Honda	1:23.353	+2.704	14
19.		S. Bourdais	Toro Rosso	1:23.952	+3.303	15
20.		S. Vettel	Toro Rosso	1:24.082	+3.433	15
21.		T. Sato	Super Aguri F1	1:24.278	+3.629	14
22.		A. Davidson	Super Aguri F1	1:25.068	+4.419	10

Pat Symonds: "We remain cautious"

Friday 25 April 2008,

Barcelona . Pat Symonds . Testing

The Executive Director of Engineering talks about the preparations for the Spanish weekend.

What are the new parts for Barcelona?
PS: They are numerous. On the aerodynamic side we have a new engine cover, there are modifications to the front wing, to the barge boards and we have improved the air flow to the brake ducts. There is also an update to the suspension. It's a case of gradual development, but this has been the first opportunity to introduce any updates to the car following the fly-away races, and so we have benefited from the return to Europe and the modifications we have brought to the car.

Do you think you have made up the gap to your rivals with these developments?
PS: Difficult to say. We had a good test session here last week and we were able to complete a big technical programme. But the test was a bit more complicated than usual because the aerodynamic configuration of the cars were different and some were working with 2009 settings, for example. We feel that we have caught up a bit on our rivals, but we will know more on Sunday evening. We therefore remain cautious.

Is the result today a surprise?
PS: Because we did so much running here last week, we have been able to concentrate on a programme that was a bit different to the one that we would normally do on a Friday. Let us wait and see how the weekend unfolds before we start celebrating.

Finally, is the team already thinking about next season?
PS: Yes, because it will be one of the biggest changes that we have seen for a long time and the return of slick tyres and revised aerodynamics will give a big challenge for the engineers. We have therefore begun our CFD programme and even been running in the wind tunnel, although the exact aerodynamic rules are still being discussed. I hope that the changes will encourage overtaking - that is the goal.