McLaren created one of the main talking points at the Barcelona group test in the run-up to the grand prix, when Pedro de la Rosa emerged from the garage with a radically different front wing. Instead of joining the side of the nose, the new top element clears it completely. The team naturally remained quiet on its development and it will be interesting to see whether it runs in Barcelona this weekend.
Renault – Giancarlo Fisichella (#3), Heikki Kovalainen (#4):
After disappointing results in Australia and Malaysia, Renault continued to struggle in Bahrain, with only Giancarlo Fisichella making the points - and then only after both cars had missed the Q3 cut in qualifying. In line with its rivals, the Enstone team has been hard at work in the four-week break, working on various improvements to the R27 in a bid to close the gap not just to
Ferrari and
McLaren, but also to
BMW Sauber.
"Leaving Bahrain, we knew that the break to the next race would be one in name only," director of engineering Pat Symonds admitted, "There has been a huge amount of research and analysis conducted, as we work on finding the solutions to our current problems. In parallel with that, however, we have been pushing forward with our usual performance development, testing new parts for the coming races. The work has been above and beyond the call of duty for all of our staff and the response to our current situation has been exemplary.
"We have said that the road back to our normal level of competitiveness will be a long one, and that is still true. We have made good progress in our analysis and understanding of the R27, but we are not expecting a leap forward in our competitiveness relative to our rivals this weekend. It will be a tough race weekend where we have to fight for every point, but we have aerodynamic and mechanical updates to the car for Barcelona and, of course, we have been working hard to ensure we maintain our record of reliable race finishes."
