Jerez Testing, Day 4, 25/07/2008

Thursday 24 July 2008, 10:36:00 | RF1 Paddock Pass

Romain Grosjean . testing . Jerez

The fourth and final day of testing here in Jerez.

 

 

After three days of testing, the end if nearly in sight as the ING Renault F1 Team begins its final day of work here in Jerez. Romain Grosjean gets back behind the wheel of the R28 today for his second day of work with the team this week. He tested on Tuesday and then spent Wednesday and Thursday observing Nelson, sitting in on debriefs and getting to know the team. All-in-all it has been a valuable week for him.

And where's Nelson? Well, it's his 23rd birthday today and so he's been given the day off! He will be catching up with friends and family for a double celebration as he gets the first real chance to savour last weekend's podium finish. But he wont have long to relax because he's off to Johannesburg tomorrow for the latest ING Renault F1 Team Roadshow where he will demonstrate the R27 on the streets of the city.

It was a productive day yesterday as the team looked ahead to next year by running on 2009 slick tyres - six sets in all. All that valuable information is already back at the factory in Enstone and will be considered for the design of the R29. Nelson's feedback on the slicks was also very positive: lots of grip and good performance. For today, though, we are back to standard 2008 grooved tyres.

The mechanics had another late evening yesterday, which is pretty much the norm for testing. The session may have finished at 17:00, but the guys worked on the car until around 23:00, stripping it down, checking all the systems and then rebuilding it. The programme today will be based around driver development once again as the team continue to allow Romain to acclimatise to the R28.

Last night I took the opportunity to walk the circuit so that I could really get a feel for the place, and get some exercise to boot. Mind you, I waited until the end of the day so that I could enjoy a cool evening stroll. The track length is 4.428km and whereas Nelson was lapping in the 1m19s range, it took me considerably longer - about 45 minutes in all. I certainly have a better appreciation for this place now!

You can follow today's action on the blog with updates during the day and times posted at lunch time and at the end of the session.

Comments

---

1. Friday 25 July 2008 at 10:10:24 by DiStefano

Hey, can you tell me what is this for? http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1757/ ...
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/3364/ ...

Is it related to KERS?

---

2. Friday 25 July 2008 at 10:28:15 by manuStudio

Hi DiStefano,
It a measure tool that is usually used to measure new types of tyres, and how they are being used.

---

3. Friday 25 July 2008 at 10:43:46 by megsimeg

Happy birthday to Nelson Piket!I wish you health,much happiness and luckly in professional and personal plan foward !

---

4. Friday 25 July 2008 at 11:28:13 by Kirk

Happy Birthday Nelson!! Hope you get another great result in Hungary so you can celebrate even more.

---

5. Friday 25 July 2008 at 12:39:09 by Rafaelia

Thanks RF1PP! Nice pictures!Happy Birthday Nelson!!! I wish you the best!

---

6. Friday 25 July 2008 at 12:46:56 by manuStudio

What happen here?
http://images.gpupdate.net/large/106410. ...

---

7. Friday 25 July 2008 at 12:50:12 by dray

Surely they arent suggesting the Renault isnt quick enough to be worthy of a real safety car

---

8. Friday 25 July 2008 at 13:32:53 by gzorbas

(DiStefano wrote: Hey, can you tell me what is this for? http://img165.imageshack ...)

There are measuring devices in the tubes that can measure tyre temperatures across the width of the tyre (infra red), movement of the tyre wall etc. and in some cases, they can even get as advanced to measure, through GPS, wheel angles in respect to the car chasis and the other tyres under certain conditions.

I hope this helps?
Best wishes,
Georgio F1SA

---

9. Friday 25 July 2008 at 13:41:51 by Achilleasbig

happy birthday nelson and good luck with you next race

---

10. Friday 25 July 2008 at 13:42:07 by amc

just quickly...

firstly, happy birthday to our Nelson - I'm glad he's on a high and can enjoy his birthday without the pressures he had on him recently.

Secondly, hope the test is going well...

And last but not least - we need a pic of those ever-hardworking mechanics before the day is out!

---

11. Friday 25 July 2008 at 13:54:45 by virginie74

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NELSON!!!!all good wishes for your happiness!!!!

---

12. Friday 25 July 2008 at 14:09:02 by RF1 Paddock Pass

Times so far in Jerez:

1 KOV 1:18.385 65
2 BOU 1:18.830 59
3 COU 1:19.494 53
4 GRO 1:19.561 71
5 MAS 1:19.611 57
6 NAK 1:19.724 51
7 HEI 1:19.915 51
8 SUT 1:19.965 43
9 BUT 1:20.532 61
10 KOB 1:20.878 53

---

13. Friday 25 July 2008 at 14:24:54 by virginie74

thanks RF1PP for the morning times

---

14. Friday 25 July 2008 at 14:37:16 by manuStudio

Good time from Grosjean, nice to see he's getting into it, with the most laps and faster then Massa. Its good for Massa to get use to seeing a R28 infront of him.
The latest team to try the Shark fin engine cover is red.

---

15. Friday 25 July 2008 at 14:47:36 by CAF904

Aren´t these times relative... because of the fuel load, I mean.

---

16. Friday 25 July 2008 at 14:57:30 by virginie74

yes but everybody knows that the time trials prove nothing

---

17. Friday 25 July 2008 at 14:58:03 by f1angel

Happy Birthday to Nelson Piquet!

---

18. Friday 25 July 2008 at 15:16:05 by virginie74

http://www.renault-f1.fr/Bon-anniversair ...

You can leave a message for his birthday...if you want of course!!!

---

19. Friday 25 July 2008 at 15:21:14 by NandoFan

Happy birthday Nelson!

---

20. Friday 25 July 2008 at 15:45:15 by Diki

Happy birthday Nelson!!!

---

21. Friday 25 July 2008 at 16:46:26 by Ayrton1992F1

Feliz Aniversário Nelson!
you can take another podium i'm sure

Good luck to your career, and the most important, be healthy for all your life

---

22. Friday 25 July 2008 at 16:48:46 by RF1 Paddock Pass

An early finish for the team today as the programme is complete. We have been here for four days after all and so all the work is done. There's no point in testing just for the sake of it! Romain had another solid day in the car, covering 90 laps and showing good consistency. He did most of his laps in the morning when conditions were cooler, working on the set-up of the car and also continuing with the team’s suspension development work. The team also tried to make the car more consistent in the high temperatures, as we can expect similar conditions in Hungary next week.

---

23. Friday 25 July 2008 at 16:57:13 by ferninano

Happy birthday to nelson

---

24. Friday 25 July 2008 at 17:03:09 by Ayrton1992F1

any 'new' parts in the car?
i see ferrari and mclaren improving more

---

25. Friday 25 July 2008 at 17:04:00 by RF1 Paddock Pass

The final times here today:

1 KOV 1:18.385 116
2 BOU 1:18.746 113
3 COU 1:19.494 93
4 GRO 1:19.561 90
5 MAS 1:19.611 92
6 NAK 1:19.724 100
7 HEI 1:19.915 99
8 SUT 1:19.965 72
9 BUT 1:20.532 98
10 KOB 1:20.878 90

---

26. Friday 25 July 2008 at 17:32:56 by CAF904

virginie74... that´s what I meant.
everybody... I was thinking (daydreaming really) I would love for RF1 to find a major breakthrough development (like mass damper was in its time) and win a race like that silver car last race... but not for the championship or the glory or anything like that... just to see how low could Domenicali's and Dennis's jwas can drop. I´know I lost a screw in my head, but what the hell. It´s just a funny one.

---

27. Friday 25 July 2008 at 17:38:26 by virginie74

Good for Romain especially since it is still before Ferrari

---

28. Friday 25 July 2008 at 17:54:46 by virginie74

@caf904 I spoke only times that are not indicative

---

29. Friday 25 July 2008 at 18:03:51 by myx4ever

Good time from Romain !He did well... Also a big happy birthday to Nelson. He's a leo just as me I wish him many many points !
And also a big huraaayyyy for the team. RF1 ROCKS !Keep up the good work and maybe with some luck we can win this year; If not, 2009 WCC and WDC are ours i'm sure !

---

30. Friday 25 July 2008 at 18:20:07 by NandoFan

@RF1PP: Did all team test the slick tyres today? It looks like Massa mostly tested with the 2009 downforce simulation on grooved tyres which sounds interesting to compare results.

---

31. Friday 25 July 2008 at 18:28:30 by Witch

Happy Birthday Dear Nelson...

---

32. Friday 25 July 2008 at 21:21:35 by manuStudio

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6862/ ...

---

33. Friday 25 July 2008 at 21:26:41 by Alice

Wishing Nelson a very happy birthday - have a great day.

---

34. Friday 25 July 2008 at 22:15:42 by adam20692

Hi everyone keeping track of the times from sunny spain lol (on holiday in barca) well done romain on the ball and faster than the ferrari´s. Also today i went for a guided tour round the circuit de catalunya was pretty cool lol. im a bit fustrated cause im gunna miss the hungarian gp oh well gd luck to the team

---

35. Saturday 26 July 2008 at 01:08:23 by dray

Hah dont worry about missing Hungary, we've had our good race there for this decade already.

Borefest guaranteed

---

36. Saturday 26 July 2008 at 12:26:14 by hetays

I know that this is late.but happy birthday Nelson.Good results for testing.but we know that testing does not show real performance.. I think renault should give up to work for R28. they should start to work for R29.

---

37. Saturday 26 July 2008 at 20:55:32 by dray

They already are, you should pay more attention

---

38. Sunday 27 July 2008 at 15:53:27 by serdukfranciz

I just saw an interview with Nando on an italian tv programme and he did some card tricks for the interviewer

---

39. Sunday 27 July 2008 at 23:44:51 by RF1 Paddock Pass

@30 Hi Nandofan, Romain was on 2008 grooved tyres for the final day of the test.

---

40. Monday 28 July 2008 at 11:51:53 by NandoFan

Thanks! It sure looks like he was quickly into the groove with the R28.

---

41. Monday 28 July 2008 at 17:03:29 by RF1 Paddock Pass

That's right serdukfranciz, Fernando is quite the magician. RF1PP has seen some of his card tricks and they are out of this world. Apparently he learnt them from a book when he was a child.

< Previous post Next post >

---

Add a comment

Pour poster un commentaire vous devez être inscrit sur le site my.ing-renaultf1.com. Rejoignez-nous.