Nelson Piquet R28-04, 112 laps, 521 km, fastest lap 1:20.076

Nelson Piquet remained in the R28 for his second day of running as he completed the team’s final preparations for the French Grand Prix, ending the day at the top of the timesheets. The team was able to continue with its aero evaluations and suspension set-up work, and also took the opportunity to complete some qualifying simulation in the afternoon.

After a productive week’s work, the team’s attention now turns to next week’s French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours where both Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet will look to deliver a competitive showing in the team’s home race.

Nelson Piquet: “Once again we completed the work that we had planned without any problems and we learnt a lot of things. We continued with the programme we started yesterday by putting some new things on the car that the team hope to run in the coming races. I also had the chance to do some qualifying simulations in the afternoon, which went well. It’s nice to be top of the times, but as this is only testing we have to treat these times with caution.”

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “It was a trouble-free day and like yesterday we were able to do lots of running with Nelson covering over 100 laps. That has given us lots more data, which we will analyse in the coming days so that we can approach the French Grand Prix in the best shape possible.

Nick Heidfeld
Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.08-06 / BMW P86/8
Test kilometres today: 410 km (88 laps)
Fastest lap: 1:21.295 min


Programme:
Nick Heidfeld today tested solutions to make the BMW Sauber F1.08 better suitable to his personal driving style. He evaluated different setup options making considerable progress. Some time was also used to reconfirm Robert Kubica’s previous testing results concerning the general setup of the car.

Heidfeld and Kubica completed 410 km and 852 km respectively over the three days test in Barcelona. The BMW Sauber F1 Team could not only collect valuable data with regards to the next race but evaluate different setup solutions for the intermediate future as well.

What comes next:
The last of the three test days concluded BMW Sauber F1 Team’s preparation for the upcoming French Grand Prix, which will take part on Sunday, June 22nd.

Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona - 4.655 km

Driver: Sebastian Vettel
Chassis STR3-04

Best time: 1:21.880                   72 laps

A different Seb in the cockpit, as Vettel took over from Bourdais, but the same programme for Scuderia Toro Rosso on the last day of what was for  us  a  two  day  test.  The  main  item  on  the  agenda  was  a  completely new  aero  package  and, like  yesterday,  the  team  got on  with  the  job  of understanding  how  it  worked  and  its  effect  on  the  car's  handling.  "We tried  various  set-ups  with  the  French  race  in  mind  and  continued  with evaluation of new suspension components," said Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. "We feel we have made a step forward but  we  won't  really  know where we are until we get to Magny-Cours. Despite a couple of problems over  the   past  two  days,   we   nevertheless  managed  to  successfully
complete a long run programme  too."

Next event on the agenda is Bourdais' home race, followed a couple of days later by the next three day test at Silverstone.

Panasonic Toyota Racing concluded its three-day test in Barcelona with Timo Glock continuing his schedule of work begun on Friday in preparation for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours next weekend. Timo tested both aerodynamic and mechanical developments on the TF108 and was satisfied with an uninterrupted day's running where rain threatened but delivered only a few light drops. However, with the end in sight and at the conclusion of his last run of the day, Timo suffered an issue on the engine. The team now turns its attention to the French Grand Prix, when it will aim to add score more points following the double top-six finish in Canada, before a test at Silverstone immediately afterwards.

Timo Glock - Chassis TF108-04
Best Lap Time: 1min 21.158s
Position: 5th
Total Laps: 85
"Following on from our strong result in Montreal it has been a good two days of testing. We have been able to evaluate some braking and aerodynamic work as well as some mechanical changes in preparation for Magny-Cours. The changes we made to the car were positive and I was able to gather more data today in addition to what we learned yesterday. There were no problems until the very last run of the day when I had an engine issue."

Gerd Pfeiffer, Test Team Manager
"It has been a varied test, starting off with an opportunity for Kamui to gain some more mileage in the TF108 and contribute to our development programme on Thursday. He learned from the experience and then Timo took over for the remaining two days. We collected a lot of data relevant to both aerodynamic and mechanical development on the car and I would like to thank the team for all the hard work this week. We made good progress and will be aiming to add to the points scored by both cars in the last race."

The Honda Racing F1 Team completed a three-day test programme at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today in preparation for the next race on the Formula One calendar. The French Grand Prix, round eight of the
2008 championship, will be held at the Circuit de Nevers in Magny Cours on Sunday 22 June.

Anthony Davidson took the wheel of the Honda RA108 for the first day of the test with Rubens Barrichello taking over the car on Friday and Saturday. With Jenson Button not scheduled to participate in this test and Alex Wurz competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, Anthony was assisting the team with this week's test programme.

Anthony began his running on Thursday with several laps to acclimatise himself to the RA108. Once comfortable with the car, he spent the remainder of the day working on an aero programme alongside  eneral car set-up work as the team began the on-track preparations for Magny Cours. Anthony had completed 81 laps when a heavy thunderstorm brought the day's running to a slightly early conclusion.

Rubens joined the team in Barcelona on Friday to take over the car for the remaining two days of the test. His programme for the day saw a continuation of the set-up work begun by Anthony on Thursday, with an aero evaluation in the morning and chassis set-up work during the afternoon. Rubens completed 122 laps over the day.

Rubens continued his running in the RA108 on Saturday for the final day of the test. The schedule for the morning saw a continuation of the chassis set-up programme, although running was interrupted by a few light rain showers. Rubens continued the set-up work into the afternoon, along with a suspension evaluation, covering 83 laps by the end of the day.

Anthony Davidson
"It was good to be back on track this week after such a long absence. We had a positive day of testing which allowed us to achieve some interesting work with the aero and mechanical evaluations ahead of the French Grand Prix. I am pleased to have to been to contribute to the test programme and help the team this week whilst Alex has been competing at Le Mans."

Rubens Barrichello
"We had a good two days in Barcelona this week and were able to cover a lot of mileage. Without any major new test items, we focused on set-up work and I'm happy with the progress that we made. We were able to
improve the car mechanically which gives me a good feeling going into the French Grand Prix next weekend."

Steve Clark
"A solid test from Rubens and Anthony this week and it was a great help to have a driver of the experience and calibre of Anthony available to step in and assist us with the programme. As we did not have any
significant aero developments at this test, we concentrated on the set-up and balance of the RA108 to address some of the issues that we have identified at recent Grands Prix. We also introduced some suspension components which will open up the possibility to further improve the car at future races. From Barcelona, we now head to the centre of France for the next race in Magny Cours. The Circuit de Nevers is a high downforce track with a smooth surface which should suit our car much better than the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal."