Piquet content as Renault wrap up tests

Renault 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.

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.”

Button fastest again in Jerez

Testing continued today at Jerez, once again under sunny skies. Following a gearbox problem that halted the BGP 001 yesterday, Jenson Button duly returned to the top of the timesheets for Brawn GP.

Button lapped the 4.428km circuit half a second under Fernando Alonso's best time recorded yesterday, stopping the clocks in 1:17.844s and concluding the team's brief and impressive pre-season test programme.

Nico Rosberg was just two-tenths off the ultimate pace for Williams Toyota but suffered a substantial off, striking the retaining tyre wall with the right hand side of the FW31. This restricted the German racer to just 66 laps on the day.

Nelson Piquet took over testing duties from Fernando Alonso for the final day of testing at Renault. The Brazilian put in an impressive 128 laps and was third fastest, just half a second shy of Button.

Lewis Hamilton was back behind the wheel of the MP4-24, but had to be content with the fourth fastest time, over a second off the pace.


Testing continues on Wednesday with just McLaren Mercedes and Williams Toyota in action.

Jerez - 17/03/2009
1 . J. Button - Brawn Mercedes BGP 001 - 1:17.844 (+ 0.000 ) - 114 laps
2 . N. Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW31 - 1:18.041 (+ 0.197 ) - 66 laps
3 . N. Piquet - Renault R29 - 1:18.382 (+ 0.538 ) - 128 laps
4 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 1:19.121 (+ 1.277 ) - 118 laps.

Takuma Sato ready to leave Red Bull

With Takuma Sato's F1 career likely over, his manager has taken a parting shot at Red Bull.

The Japanese driver tested several times over the winter for the energy drink company's Ferrari-Powered secondary team Toro Rosso, but the race seat ultimately fell to incumbent Sebastien Bourdais, with 32-year-old Sato also failing to agree a deal as reserve driver. At the end of the saga, Sato's manager Andrew Gilbert-Scott is unimpressed.

"What they said and what happened often did not match up," he is quoted as saying by the Swiss specialist publication Motorsport Aktuell.

"I tried to arrange a discussion with Dietrich Mateschitz, but he didn't want it," Gilbert-Scott added. "It was always 'get sponsors, get sponsors!'.

"Everything was confusing, not open, disappointing."

Gilbert-Scott also alluded to the link between Bourdais' appointment and the surname of the Frenchman's manager Nicolas Todt, whose father Jean headed the Ferrari team until 2007. He is now exploring options for Sato, who contested 93 Grand Prix between 2002 and last year, in America.

"We are looking at IRL or sports car projects in the United States," Gilbert-Scott revealed.

Win to decide 2009 F1 Champion

The World Motor Sport Council on Tuesday rejected F1 teams' unanimous proposal to tweak the Formula One points system.

However, the governing FIA did adopt a variant of Bernie Ecclestone's 'medals' idea, to be implemented immediately, where the winner of the most Grand Prix is crowned 2009 world champion.

Unlike on Olympic rostrums, there will be no actual medals awarded, with the existing 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system still applying to both the drivers' and constructors' tallies.
But, using the example of the 2008 season, if the winner of the most races (Felipe Massa) lags his closest rival (Lewis Hamilton) in points, the former would win the championship according to the new system.
And "if two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points," the FIA said in a statement after a meeting in Paris.

Also on Tuesday, the FIA rubber-stamped a number of measures to enhance spectators' enjoyment of the sport via the media.
For instance, the weights of cars will be published after qualifying, and mandatory driver autograph sessions and interviews will take place at races.

Also, Brawn GP's name change was officially accepted.