Jerez Testing, Day 3, 17/03/2009

The ING Renault F1 Team completed its final test session of the year today in Jerez as Nelson Piquet took over the R29 from Fernando Alonso to conclude the team’s winter preparations ahead of next week’s Australian Grand Prix.

Making the most of hot and sunny conditions, the team ran a busy programme which comprised aero work and practice starts at the end of the session. The hot track temperatures again provided valuable hot weather running although conditions were windy throughout the day.

The team now turns its attention to Melbourne and the Australian Grand Prix where both Fernando and Nelson will look to build on their strong performances in testing.

Nelson Piquet: “My final day of testing went really well and I’m pleased that we were able to do so many laps. We were looking at the car’s aero performance today as well as doing some set-up work in preparation for the first race and overall we found a good balance with the car. It was pretty windy, but the track conditions were good so we were able to get a lot done. I’m now ready for the season to start next week and I think as a team we can be happy with the work we’ve done over the winter.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “It was our last day of testing this year and so we had a lot of things to get through. The weather was good, which meant we could get a lot done and cover a lot of laps with Nelson, which is good for his preparation for the start of the season. We had a continuation of our aero programme, trying to find some more performance from the car and that was successful as we came here with some questions and have come away with both answers and performance. I’m also happy with the team’s performance over the past few weeks – we’ve had a tough winter schedule but it’s nice to end our final test on a high.”