Location: Paul Ricard, France Drivers: Alex Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa Weather: Overcast early
morning, sunny from mid morning with blustery spells Air temperature: 15 degrees Celsius Track temperature: approx.
19 degrees Celsius Laps
run: Pedro de la Rosa 129 laps, Alex Wurz 117 laps Kilometres covered: Pedro de la Rosa 493 km Alex Wurz 447 km Best lap time of the day:
Anthony Davidson, BAR Honda, 1m04.176s Best lap time of West McLaren
Mercedes driver: Pedro de la Rosa, 1m04.305s (fourth) Duration of test: Three days
Team McLaren Mercedes began
a three day test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France today with both Alex Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa behind the wheel of MP4-19Bs.
The
focus of this week’s test is on tyres, with Alex’s programme today concentrating on finalising the Michelin tyres the team will
use at the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix.
Pedro meanwhile was focusing on tyre testing for the first European race of the
season, the San Marino Grand Prix, and he completed his planned programme without any problems.
Pedro completed 129 laps of
the circuit with a fastest time of 1m04.305s, while Alex completed 117 laps with a fastest time of 1m04.613s.
Alex Wurz “Today
was a productive day in which I completed 117 laps. We have to confirm our tyre choices for the Bahrain race today and we completed
the planned programme without any issues.”
Pedro de la Rosa “Whilst Alex was concentrating on Bahrain, I was
focusing on the San Marino Grand Prix, which marks a return for Formula One to Europe. The test was very productive today without
any problems and I am looking forward to continuing the programme tomorrow alongside Alex.”
Alex and Pedro will both
continue the team’s testing programme tomorrow, focusing on tyre choice for the San Marino Grand Prix.