Formula One news

Renault wraps up new car test with Piquet

Renault completed its final day of work in Valencia today. The team was again running the new car, the R28, as preparations continue ahead of the new season. 

Nelson Piquet Jr. was at the wheel of the R28-01, taking over driving duties from Fernando Alonso. It was the first time the young Brazilian had driven the new car, and so he spent the morning familiarising himself with the R28 and putting some more miles on the car. 

"I think it was a good day and it was important for me to get back in the car," said Piquet Jr. "I have not raced in Formula 1 yet, so it's always beneficial to have time in the car. A new car always needs lots of set-up work and we continued with that today, trying different approaches to improve the balance of the car. I think there is a lot of promise and I'm looking forward to continuing working with the team next week in Barcelona."

Next week both Piquet and Alonso will be in Paris where the R28 will be officially unveiled to the media on 31 January. It will then be on to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, as the team resumes its winter testing programme from 1-3 February. The team will be running a two car programme with both Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr. in attendance.

Christian Silk, chief test engineer commented, "It was Nelson's first day in the new car and everything went to plan. We started off with some acclimatisation work for Nelson before continuing with the set-up programme that we had begun with Fernando. The track conditions were good again this afternoon so we did some more long runs with the car."

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