Van der Garde and Piquet put to the test with slicks at Renault

Two weeks after the Brazilian Grand Prix, the final event of the 2008 World Championship, Renault was on the track today for its first winter testing session at the Circuit de Catalunya, near Barcelona in Spain.

Recently confirmed as a starter for the next season, Nelson Piquet began his first day of work and was joined in the afternoon by the young Giedo van der Garde. The 23-year-old Dutchman was invited by the team to participate in this session following his title in the World Series by Renault.

The day’s program was primarily dedicated to evaluating the homologated slick tires for 2009. The Brazilian completed 80 laps, recording interesting data, while Giedo van der Garde completed 32 laps this afternoon, allowing him to get accustomed to the R28 he was discovering today. The young Dutchman quickly acclimated and understood Renault’s working procedures well, which will allow him to further deepen his technical program tomorrow morning.

Nelson Piquet, rather satisfied with his day, declared: « The day was productive, even though we are still at the very beginning of our winter testing program and the cars will be very different next season. That said, it’s interesting to work on the setup given the new slick tires that we will have to use next year. The car felt very different today with these new settings, but we benefited from good track conditions, which helped us make good progress. »

For this new experience aboard a Formula 1, Giedo van der Garde shared his impressions: « It has been a very good day! The last time I was in an F1 was more than a year ago, so I needed to get used to the impression of speed that these single-seaters provide! We made progress with each run, we improved the car’s behavior throughout the afternoon and with a little luck, it will be the same tomorrow morning. It was very interesting to work with the team, I am delighted with this opportunity that has been given to me! »

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer provided a more comprehensive assessment of this first day: « It is good to be back on the track, especially considering the significant technical changes awaiting us next year. These winter tests will be all the more interesting! We had a good first day of testing, with no major issues to report, which allowed us to make good progress and learn a lot already, particularly in terms of setup in the context of slick tires. Giedo had a good first day of testing. He already has some experience in F1, albeit limited, but it allowed him to make good progress and he worked very well with our engineers. We will debrief with him tonight to continue on this path tomorrow morning. »

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team