Renault… Alonso… and Co. comment on the new R28

After their final week of testing in Jerez, Renault has set up in Valencia this week for the first work session with the R28, the team’s new single-seater, which will be officially presented to the press on January 31st.

Fernando Alonso was the first Renault driver to test drive the new single-seater. For this initial test, which did not count against the team’s mileage quota for its development program this season, the goal was to verify the overall functioning of the car as well as the onboard systems and to ensure a good handling experience for both the technical team and the driver.

Fernando Alonso was therefore able to discover this new single-seater and did not encounter any problems completing his program today. Despite a thick fog delaying the opening of the track this morning, the Spaniard was able to extend the duration of his runs throughout the day, ultimately completing 39 laps today.

The Spaniard will be on track until Wednesday before handing over the wheel to his young teammate Nelson Piquet Jr, who will in turn discover the R28 for the first time on Thursday.

Fernando Alonso: The first day with a car, you always have to take your time to check everything, make sure everything works correctly, and that’s what we did today. We were able to extend our runs little by little, finishing with a run of 17 laps in particular.

« Everything went well. It is of course still too early to try to compare ourselves to other teams and that was not the goal today anyway. But the big positive point is that we didn’t encounter any problems for this first day of work and from tomorrow we can actually start working. » concluded the double world champion.

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: « It’s been a good first day of work. It’s been busy, but that’s always the case with a new car. The whole team is very enthusiastic about starting to work with the R28 and you can really feel that everyone is giving their best. We followed our program without difficulty and also didn’t have any big surprises regarding the car’s behavior. It’s a solid foundation for the coming days and sessions ».

Bob Bell, Chassis Technical Director: « The day went very well, we did not encounter any major issues and that’s all you can expect from a first day of running with a new car. We were able to take to the track as planned today, even though the fog was somewhat disruptive, but I think we must commend the work of the entire team at the factory and here on track who have worked very hard in recent months to be ready for this session. I believe I can say that it is an encouraging and positive first day ».

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team