The objective for the fourth and final day of this week’s test in Jerez was to continue gaining mileage with the R26/RS26 package. Fernando Alonso was once again at the wheel, aiming to complete long runs and achieve a race distance during the day. He was interrupted by numerous red flags in the morning, while the afternoon saw unstable weather conditions and further red flags disrupt the programme.

Nevertheless, the final day of running proved trouble-free for the team, and concludes a very satisfying first week of work with the new car. The package completed nearly 300 km, the RS26 continued to run impressively and is confirming the positive results from dyno testing at Viry through the winter.

Initial work with the package has reassured the team after an intensive winter’s work to deliver the car on team. Of course, work does not stand still and the team is already hard at work on solutions for minor gremlins, plus developments for the coming weeks.

Giancarlo Fisichella was once again at the wheel of the R25, and continued working on a tyre development programme in concert with Michelin. The Italian, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday tomorrow, once again collected useful data that will be transposed to the R26.

Fernando Alonso: “We had another very good day, although I feel a bit frustrated at the end because the number of red flags and rain showers stopped me from making the most of the day with more long runs in the 2006 car. I think we have done a good job this week. The aim was to do as many laps as possible, which we managed without any mechanical problems. The car feels good. There are still things to improve, but we have a solid base and I am really looking forward to the next session in Barcelona in ten days’ time, to continue working on reliability and start looking at performance. There will already be new things to test, so it should be an interesting session.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “Our primary objective this week was to run as many laps as possible and collect the maximum amount of information with the new package, which will help us achieve the best reliability and performance at the first race. Today was another good day, even though we lost time through red flags – although our cars didn’t cause any of them! It was a good week, we already seem to have found reliability and the performance seems quite promising after only four days. That is a good first reward for the whole team, which has worked very hard to get where we are. We now need to carry on with that good work, and we will be back on track on 25 January in Barcelona.”

Jerez - Report and Times - 13 January
Best Lap Times and lap records at Testing Tracks

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