31/08/2007
NEWS STORY
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Pedro de la Rosa topped the timesheets on the final day at Monza, though, like Thursday, the morning session was affected by the weather.
The rain was falling heavily when the session got underway at 9.00 but only a couple of brave souls ventured out. Throughout the morning drivers would go out to 'test the waters [literally] as conditions remained difficult.
Conditions gradually improved, meanwhile the teams opted to take a shortened lunch-break at noon, giving them from 13.00 to get down to serious work. By 13.30 conditions were almost perfect, finally the real work, the serious lappery, got underway.
de la Rosa and the McLaren team finalised their tyre evaluation with Bridgestone prior to next week's Grand Prix. The Woking team carried out significant aerodynamic testing, brake selection, set-up and mechanical work, on both general development programmes and specific to the Italian track.
By the end of the day, the Spaniard had completed 55 laps on his way to posting a best time of 1:23.285, the second best time of the week.
As an appetiser for next week, Felipe Massa was just four-thousandths of a second slower than the McLaren driver as he continued working on finding the best set-up for next week.
Third quickest, and looking very aggressive, particularly through the first chicane, was Robert Kubica in the BMW.
The Pole continued his work from Thursday, concentrating on further improving the mechanical set-up of the car, as well as fine-tuning the electronic systems. He also made a tyre comparison, doing a number of long-runs.
Nico Rosberg gave his team a boost ahead of next week's race by posting the fourth best time of the day. That said, an engine failure at the very end of the session will give the Grove outfit, and its Japanese partner, cause for concern. The team was also confused by a tyre pressure problem. The German completed 94 laps, posting a best time 0.677s off de la Rosa's time.
Like many drivers, it was a case of an installation lap for Ralf Schumacher and then no meaningful testing until after the rescheduled lunch break. The temperatures increased and the sun came out for the afternoon session and the German was finally able to concentrate on some largely mechanical set-up work ahead of next race.
"It was a little bit frustrating today as once again we lost the morning to rain," said the German. "The track surface was 'green' once again and we lost a bit more time in the afternoon when the car stopped due to a small technical issue.
"I was concentrating on mechanical aspects of the set-up but at the end of the day I still felt that we had work to do," he admitted. "It was also difficult to make meaningful comparisons at the end of the session when Rosberg lost an engine and oil went down at Turn 1."
"The test got off to a good start and we ran the first two days virtually without interruption and made strong progress with Jarno," said Gerd Pfeiffer. "He had solid confidence in the car when he left on Wednesday night and was looking forward to his home Grand Prix.
"Ralf, meanwhile, has been more unfortunate, with the weather wiping out both Thursday and Friday mornings. It has been a long test and the team has worked well, but Ralf feels that there is still progress to be made and we will carefully analyse the data before next Friday's first practice day."
Sixth quickest was Jenson Button, who finished 1.25s off the pace of the pace-setting McLaren. The Japanese team continued the planned programme with English driver working on general car set-up, alongside further work on the aero and suspension required for next weekend's race.
"The testing that we were able to achieve this week was positive and we made the most of the available track time," said Button, "despite the really poor weather conditions.
"The main focus was preparing the set-up of the car ahead of the race. We ran the Monza aero package with new front and rear wings which worked pretty much as expected, along with revised suspension components required for the unique demands of this circuit.
"I also did a few laps without traction control," he revealed, "ahead of the new regulations for next year. It was good fun to feel that you are properly in control of the car again and I'm looking forward to next year when we race without it."
"The test programme this week focused on preparation for the Italian Grand Prix," said Jacky Eeckelaert. "The Monza track sees the highest top speeds of the season and therefore we ran a new front and rear wing specifically designed for the low drag configuration required.
"The drivers also worked on the set-up of the car and finding a good balance on the low downforce levels with the prime and the option tyre compounds provided for this event. In addition to the aero, we had further new developments to evaluate including modifications to the front and rear suspension to improve the braking stability which is one of the prime factors for getting a good lap here. The drivers found a positive effect from these developments so they will be raced next weekend."
Tonio Liuzzi had his second day in the cockpit and over the past four days, the first two with Sebastian Vettel driving, Torro Rosso has racked up a reasonably high mileage, which it is hoped will have addressed some of the reliability problems that have affected the cars in recent races. That said, a technical failure, which caused the Italain to stop out on track near the end of the session, will give cause for concern.
"Like all the teams, we have been working on a special Monza aero package," said Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. "In our case this consisted of new front and rear wings as well as a new engine cover. So we spent time doing back-to-back tests to evaluate these elements. In addition, we worked on fine tuning car set-up for the Grand Prix while also working on car systems and gearbox strategy, as well as the standard tyre comparison work."
Anthony Davidson was the busiest man to day, the Super Aguri driver completing 110 laps, including an enormous number of practice starts.
"The weather has played an unusual role in what is normally a warm test in Italy," said the Englishman. "It has limited our running for the past two days, but this afternoon were able to concentrate on car set-up for the Grand Prix and learnt a few interesting things.
"We completed some long runs and it was good to drive the low downforce aero package," he added. "The car felt well balanced and I think that we are well prepared for the race next week."
"Even with the changeable weather, we were able to get through a great deal of our planned test programme," added Sporting Director, Graham Taylor, "with the provision for the wet day helping greatly. "The drivers and the team are probably a little frustrated with the weather and some of the car issues we have had, however, I would like to thank them all for their efforts, especially with running the extra day."
Propping up the timeshhets, 1.9s off de la Rosa's pace was David Coulthard in the Red Bull. The Scot only ran in the afternoon, spending all his time on a race fuel load, continuing to work on evaluating aero updates, carrying out tyre comparisons and looking at set-up options for the Italian track.
"This has been a productive test," said Chief Test Engineer Ian Morgan. "We have achieved high mileages with a number of components that had durability problems in recent races so we seem to have made progress in that area. The aero work has produced some encouraging results and, despite the rain, we managed to get through all our usual pre-race work in preparation for next week's Italian Grand Prix."
The teams will next test at Jerez from September 18.
To check out our Monza test gallery, click here