Barcelona test - day four: 14 April.

Renault third driver, Heikki Kovalainen set the pace on the fourth and final day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday, as the regie locked out the top two places.

The Finn managed 132 tours in total, the most of anyone runner and he was the only driver to break the 1min 14sec bracket, with a time of 1m 13.926s - the best of the week. Giancarlo Fisichella was next up in the sister R26, around four tenths slower, as both drivers' focused on chassis set-up ahead of the forthcoming grand's prix and tyre development for Michelin.

Robert Wilkins_1

14 Apr 2006

Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault
© Crash Dot Net Ltd

Renault third driver, Heikki Kovalainen set the pace on the fourth and final day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday, as the regie locked out the top two places.

"It was a successful conclusion to our test. We worked well with good progress on the tyres in particular," said Renault chief test engineer, Christian Silk. "The team did a great job throughout this session and worked all the hours needed to get the job done. We will continue developing the chassis and the aerodynamics of the car for the next races and we will be on track at Silverstone in two weeks to continue our development programme. We all know that these test sessions are a vital part of winning races."

Jarno Trulli meanwhile was third for Toyota, a further three tenths back, after topping the times on Wednesday. The Italian spent the day concentrating on long runs, collecting data on set-ups, aerodynamics and tyres. In total he did 86 laps.

"We continued testing the tyres today, doing a lot of long runs. With each test the tyres are improving and today we confirmed what I said yesterday, we have made a huge improvement in the handling of the car," said the Italian. "We are consistently making progress and getting quicker in comparison to the first races. In general, I feel more comfortable about the car fitting my driving style, especially now when we are heading into the next race. Imola was never really kind to the team, but nevertheless, our times show that we can get more out of the car and we are ready to show our potential."

Ralf Schumacher was also on track in the sister car, although he was again slower. The German's best a 1m 16.041s, which was over a second slower than Trulli and left him 14th on the timesheets. A spin late on merely added to his misery, ending the day earlier than planned.

"We worked on a typical tyre-testing programme as well as some set-ups today. We were trying to get through some long runs concentrating mainly on the construction for the coming races. Unfortunately I spun out late in the day, but we still were able to get a lot done," he noted. "The car is showing progress and we are determined to maintain the upward momentum that we currently have. Next week in Imola, we will see where we stand and we are aiming to improve on our results we have had so far."

Toyota test team manager, Gerd Pfeiffer felt that overall the test had gone very well: "The warm weather was advantageous in allowing us to get a lot of testing done. We finished most of test programme on aerodynamics, tyres, and set-ups, that we had schedule for the week. Even though we had some minor issues with the cars and had some delays due to plenty of red flags, we were quite productive and can be pleased with the results we have found. Now the team will head to Imola, where we will work hard to score some points."

Further down the order, Jenson Button was fourth for Honda, less than three hundredths up on Michael Schumacher. The Ferrari driver spent his day focusing on tyre testing for Bridgestone, while Felipe Massa did the same in the sister 248 F1 - the Brazilian ninth overall.

McLaren-Mercedes duo, Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya came in sixth and seventh, both suffering mechanical failures on the MP4-21s, which with the latter led to his car going off track into a gravel trap. There was no damage to his MP4-21 and the test team were able to resolve the issues quickly and get both cars back out ontrack to continue running. Towards the end of the session, Montoya also suffered an engine problem, however with under an hour left of the day, the team took the decision to end his test for the week.

"It has been good to get back to testing this week in Barcelona, and continuing the work that the test team has been covering over the past few weeks since the start of the season," said Raikkonen. "Although the track has been closed a lot, because of all the red flags, we have still been able to work through a lot of development work with the MP4-21 and we are continuing to make good progress with the car. When you see how close the times are between the top few cars in testing, when you are focused on your development programme rather than times, it shows how much of a competitive season we have ahead of us this year!"

"My two days at this week's test at the Circuit de Catalunya were focused on Michelin selection for the Spanish Grand Prix, which takes place in a month from now," added Montoya. "We have been evaluating the prime and options with Michelin, with some interesting results, and have been able to conclude the process today."

Of the others, Rubens Barrichello was eighth, followed by Massa and BMW Sauber ace, Jacques Villeneuve, who rounded out the top ten. Villeneuve shared duties for the Swiss team with test driver, Robert Kubica, who was 13th.

"Both drivers had a busy and productive day with positive feedback," read a statement from the Swiss based squad. "In the morning Jacques did some more aero and set-up work as well as systems testing, a starting development programme and traction control settings. In the afternoon he did longer runs so Michelin and the team could study the tyre performance. Both Jacques and his engineers were happy with the work they had done validating what they need for Imola. Robert Kubica did set up work in the morning and then in the afternoon concentrated solely on a tyre programme."

Williams-Cosworth team leader, Mark Webber was just on the fringes of the top ten in eleventh, despite a sizeable off this morning which damaged the car. As a result the Aussie took over the car occupied by test driver, Alex Wurz.

"In the early part of the morning, Mark had an accident - fortunately he was fine but it left the car badly damaged," explained Williams test team manager, Mike Condliffe. "As a result, Mark switched to the other car in order to carry out some confirmatory tyre compound tests for the race here in a few weeks' time. The crew did an excellent job turning Mark's car around and were able to get it out for the last part of the session. Although we didn't get as much running in as we would have liked today, the re-prioritised programme gave us a clear direction in which to develop."

At the rear meanwhile Takuma Sato was again slowest for Super Aguri, around 5 and a half second off the pace. The fact he could only completed 13 laps was another blow, especially as he only did 22 on Thursday. His team-mate, Yuji Ide did not make it out on track due to all the 'issues' they had.

"Our time in Barcelona has been productive as we have been able to finally conduct a proper test programme with the SA05, but we have encountered some problems," admitted Taku. "We have been able to gain a better understanding of the car, which is very positive, but unfortunately our running was cut short on the last two days, mainly because of hydraulics problems. We also had to leave our important Bridgestone tyre test, which was planned for Thursday, until today. Another hydraulics failure cut short my running this morning and so we have not been able to complete our tyre evaluation for the next few races. I have mixed feelings leaving this test, but the good part is that we have a much greater understanding of the SA05."

Leading times (14 April) - Barcelona:

1. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault 1min 13.926secs 132 laps M
2. Giancarlo Fisichella Renault-Renault 1min 14.302secs 90 laps M
3. Jarno Trulli Toyota-Toyota 1min 14.686secs 86 laps B
4. Jenson Button Honda-Honda 1min 14.708secs 130 laps M
5. Michael Schumacher Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 14.734secs 78 laps B
6. Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 14.752secs 99 laps M
7. Juan Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1min 14.878secs 30 laps M
8. Rubens Barrichello Honda-Honda 1min 15.018secs 54 laps M
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 15.217secs 76 laps B
10. Jacques Villeneuve BMW-Sauber 1min 15.321secs 98 laps M
11. Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1min 15.388secs 82 laps B
12. Anthony Davidson Honda-Honda 1min 15.583secs 69 laps M
13. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1min 15.791secs 97 laps M
14. Ralf Schumacher Toyota-Toyota 1min 16.041secs 67 laps B
15. Alex Wurz Williams-Cosworth 1min 17.752secs 21 laps B
16. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1min 19.512secs 13 laps B