Formula One news

Renault upbeat after first day back

Renault returned to the Circuit de Catalunya to begin its winter development programme. The 3-day test session is being held on the Montmelo track and will enable Heikki Kovalainen, who's driving this week, to familiarise himself with the new 2008 ECU. The aim of this session is quite clear: prepare for the Renault team's new season, in particular in the area of electronics, as this week the team is running with the new ECU and without traction control and other aids. 

"I was very happy to back driving today," said Kovalainen. "Since Brazil I haven't been out on the track for several weeks so I was pretty impatient this morning. I have to say that driving without any assistance, as was the case today is really great. You have to pay attention to your driving, your reaccelerating, your tyre wear and behind the wheel it's fun. We did a good job on our first day back. The car reacted well to our set-up changes and I think that between now and Thursday we'll make a lot of progress."

Christian Silk, chif test engineer commented, "The day went off well. We've progressed and I think everybody was happy to back out on the track again. We're going to do our utmost to prepare for next year's season in the best possible conditions, and our first day's been very encouraging. We're going to continue along the same lines tomorrow and Thursday and we hope to make further progress."

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