Di Grassi impressed with R28

The ING Renault F1 Team returned to action on Tuesday, completing the first of three days in Jerez. With the opening Grand Prix in Melbourne just over a month away, the team is entering the busiest phase in its winter testing program with three tests planned for the next three weeks.

Warm and sunny conditions greeted the team this morning and remained throughout the day, allowing the team to complete a full day's running with few interruptions. The team was again running two R28s with Nelson Piquet joined by fellow Brazilian, Lucas Di Grassi, who was enjoying his first test with the new car.

"It's my first time driving a Formula 1 car on a proper track, and for sure the car feels really good and it was a really impressive experience," he said. “I'm really happy with my day, we did a lot of laps, the pace was consistent, and I felt comfortable with the team and the car. We did one long run in the afternoon which went well, and I'm looking forward to working with the team later this week."

The programme for Nelson involved basic set-up work this morning as the team continues to improve the car's balance. He then carried out some long runs later in the day and showed good consistency. Lucas spent the morning carrying out some performance tests as he familiarised himself with the new car before he too completed some longer runs. It was the chance to add further miles to the car, which again showed good reliability.

"Another good day and lots of mileage for the car and myself," Nelson said. “The more I drive the car, the happier I feel and it's all good preparation for the first race. The car ran well today and we did not have any problems, which meant we could do a race distance in the afternoon."

By the end of the day, Nelson had covered 120 laps, clocking a best lap of 1'19.660. Lucas completed 92 laps with a best lap of 1'21.200. Automoto365