Heikki on top!

By Renault F1
March 30 2007

ING Renault F1 Team today completed its fourth and final day of testing in Sepang. The test focused primarily on preparing for the forthcoming Malaysian GP, which will be held to next weekend, as well as pursuing the team’s normal performance development.

Sepang testing, Day 4, 30/03/07

ING Renault F1 Team concludes Sepang testing.

Heikki Kovalainen, R27-04, 55 laps, 301 km, best lap: 1:35.757

ING Renault F1 Team today completed its fourth and final day of testing in Sepang. The test focused primarily on preparing for the forthcoming Malaysian GP, which will be held to next weekend, as well as pursuing the team’s normal performance development.

Heikki Kovalainen continued at the wheel of chassis R27-04 today, continuing his work from Wednesday as he focused on set-up solutions. He completed a qualifying simulation at the end of the morning’s running, setting the fastest time of the day in 1:35.757.

The primary goal for the afternoon was to work on long runs. However, the programme was interrupted by a mechanical failure on chassis R27-04. The conclusions from the day’s running were positive nevertheless, and the team’s work this week will provide a solid baseline for the first day of practice in Malaysia, a week today.

Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk: “We completed our programme on an encouraging note after a good day’s work. We worked hard throughout the week, and we seem to be moving in the right direction. We made a number of changes overnight, and they seemed to work well out on track today. There is still a lot of progress to be made, but we are moving in the right direction, and I think we got the maximum from our week’s running in the circumstances. Heikki seems comfortable at this track, he learned it quickly and is in good shape going into next week’s Grand Prix. That was another important objective for this session, that we have achieved successfully.”

Sepang - Malaysia 30 March 2007
Pos. Driver Team Tires Time Laps
1 H. Kovalainen Renault Bridgestone 01:35.767 55
2 F. Massa Ferrari Bridgestone 01:35.807 72
3 A. Davidson Super Aguri Bridgestone 01:36.787 68
4 N. Rosberg Williams Bridgestone 01:37.002 104
5 F. Montagny Toyota Bridgestone 01:37.206 78
6 N. Heidfeld BMW Bridgestone 01:37.318 70
7 J. Button Honda Bridgestone 01:37.326 37
8 L. Hamilton McLaren Bridgestone 01:37.448 43
9 M. Webber Red Bull Bridgestone 01:37.338 42
10 V. Liuzzi Toro Rosso Bridgestone 01:38.542 56
11 C. Klien Honda Bridgestone 01:39.176 25
12 P. de la Rosa McLaren Bridgestone 01:39.303 2