Fernando Alonso, R25-02, 129 laps, 517km Giancarlo Fisichella, R25-03, 64 laps, 257km

Following the official presentation in Monte-Carlo, the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team commenced a two day test at Valencia yesterday, with race drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella present. The team is testing with two new R25 chassis, with Giancarlo Fisichella running the newest of these chassis, R25-03.

The team’s running concentrated on long-distance runs to evaluate tyre performance, while also pursuing continuing the pre-season set-up programmes aimed at understanding the car’s response to set-up changes. Although both drivers experienced mechanical problems which stopped them on circuit at different points during the day, they both gave positive feedback on the performance of the R25 and its response to the set-up programmes.

Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk commented:

“Our main priority today was to complete long distance running to put mileage on both chassis and although mechanical incidents perturbed our programme, we nevertheless completed over 100 laps with Fernando and 64 with Giancarlo. The first runs of chassis 03 have proceeded well, and the drivers and their engineering teams have made good progress in their exploration of set-ups with the R25, continuing where they left off last week.”

Unofficial times:

DRIVER - TEAM - LAPS - BESTWurz McLaren 137 1:09.201Alonso Renault 129 1:09.992Fisichella Renault 64 1:10.135Heidfeld Williams 97 1:10.366Sato BAR 89 1:10.641Webber Williams 101 1:10.647Raikkonen McLaren 50 1:10.718Schumacher Toyota 91 1:10.777Panis Toyota 35 1:11.355Barrichello Ferrari 79 1:11.374Davidson BAR 142 1:11.406Gene Ferrari 57 1:12.744Rossiter BAR 37 1:13.736Van Der Merwe BAR 45 1:15.087