Nick Heidfeld topped the timesheets during an incident-packed test day at Valencia on Thursday. The German’s Sauber C21 was over a second quicker than Juan-Pablo Montoya’s Williams, but team-mate Felipe Massa’s crash blotted the copybook.
Nick Heidfeld topped the timesheets during an incident-packed test day at Valencia on Thursday. The German’s Sauber C21 was over a second quicker than Juan-Pablo Montoya’s Williams, but team-mate Felipe Massa’s crash blotted the copybook.
"Heidfeld concentrated on a tyre program and the preparation of the first grand prix of the season in Melbourne. Massa focused on tyre testing but, unfortunately, his work was interrupted when he had an accident at the end on the morning,” Sauber’s technical director Willy Rampf said. “The team decided to send the car back to Hinwil for investigation and repair so that it is ready for the next test in Mugello. Overall, the session was a success… The C21 has shown itself to be reliable and competitive."
"I had an unexpected problem with the front wing attachment," the Brazilian rookie said after his crash on the entry to Turn One. "It caused a big accident, but the car stood up to the impact and I am completely unharmed."
Massa set the day’s third quickest time, which was half a second slower than Montoya. Montoya’s Williams BMW team-mate Ralf Schumacher was fourth quickest, although his car suffered a mechanical failure with just minutes of the session remaining. In fact, the Williams team’s progress was hampered by red flag disruptions and swirling winds that played havoc with the FW24’s sensitive aerodynamics, reported.
Jordan’s Jarno Trulli and Takuma Sato, Renault’s Fernando Alonso and Minardi’s Mark Webber all left the track at some point of the day’s proceedings, although it was the two Jordan cars that sustained the most damage. The team managed to repair Takuma Sato’s car and he put a further 25 laps on the EJ12, setting the 11th best time.
Arrows’s new signing, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, had an impressive first day at the wheel of the Arrows A23. The German finished the test in eighth place, over half a second ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in the Jaguar, which shares the same Cosworth CR3 engine.
”It’s certainly good to be back in the cockpit again after such a long break," said Frentzen. "I’m getting used to my new team and they are getting used to me. The car feels good so far and the engine feels strong. Of course, we have had the usual problems faced with running a new car, but nothing major, and I can feel there is a strong foundation there to work with. I’m really looking forward to the new season.”
The A23 was designed at Leafield by a team of 20 design engineers, led by technical director, Mike Coughlan and had its first official outing here yesterday.
"There were not many regulation changes this year but we decided to produce a brand new car in order to eliminate the problems we had last year and, of course, make performance improvements,” Coughlan said. “The design process has been very much concentrated on downforce levels, ride height sensitivity and the overall aero map. The biggest change visible to the untrained eye is the height of the nose.
“Last year’s A22 performed well at the high-speed circuits, the chassis reliability was remarkable and it was an easy car to set-up so we have worked hard to carry those strengths through to the A23. We have had another engine change to deal with but we are used to that! I would estimate that it adds another month to the design process, but we were forewarned of the change and have struck up a great working relationship with Cosworth so the transition has run smoothly".
Valencia, day 4 (unofficial)
Pos Driver Chassis-engine Tyres Time Laps
1 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 1m12,404s 71
2 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m13,736s 73
3 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m14,219s 23
4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m14,624s 62
5 Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m14,754s 43
6 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda B 1m14,943s 56
7 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m15,099s 22
8 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrrows-Cosworth B 1m15,133s 27
9 Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 1m15,135s 32
10 Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m15,311s 37
11 Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 1m15,373s 59
12 Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m15,380s 48
13 Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m15,699s 41
14 Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar M 1m15,736s 34
15 Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech M 1m16,655s 26
16 Alex Yoong Minardi-Asiatech M 1m18,650s 76
M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone