The recent Sepang test was targeted as a chance to cure the early season ills, but day one saw DC restricted to aero work as the track was too 'green' for meaningful tyre evaluation, with tyres and suspension work added to the list on the second day. Webber took over on day three, but lost time because of rain, finishing his programme on the added fourth day.
“It was a very good test in terms of the mileage covered and the reliability and performance of the car,” chief test engineer Ian Morgan commented, “The heat and humidity did not throw up any problems, although it was tiring for the team who did a fantastic job of work over six days and nights.”
Williams – Nico Rosberg (#16), Alex Wurz (#17):
While
Toyota's point in Melbourne was unexpected, the similarly-powered Williams team had headed 'down under' as a potential dark horse, after testing had shown the FW29 to be a more competitive package than the unloved
FW28 of its 2006 nadir.
Although Alex Wurz's full-time return to
F1 ended spectacularly after he was taken out by
David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg reprised his opening race form of 2006 by climbing into the points in seventh place. With last week's Sepang test affording the AT&T-backed team additional time to work on set-up and reliability - as well as an early chance to acclimatise to the extreme conditions - both drivers are confident of building on the solid start to the campaign.
"I have good memories of Malaysia from last year when I made my debut on the Sepang track," Rosberg said, reflecting on his second row qualifying effort, "It is a good circuit from a driver’s perspective; the layout has a bit of everything, with plenty of fast and slow corners, although the surface is quite bumpy, which also gives it an extra dimension. The most challenging aspect of the Malaysian Grand Prix is obviously the heat and humidity, but I'm well prepared and we’re looking forward to having a good race."
