Zhou and Alonso complete over 200 Laps for Renault DP World F1 Team
Renault have completed their Abu Dhabi post season testing sessions with Fernando Alonso and young driver Guanyu Zhou.The veteran Spaniard completed 105 laps around Yas Island as he got to grips with the newest iteration of the Formula 1 cars ahead of his return in 2021. Alonso was at the top of the timings most of the day, eventually settling for a best lap time of 1:36.333.
“It was good and very nice to be back in the car especially with the race team. I’ve been testing the 2018 car in preparation but this one felt a bit more serious and it ignited a little bit the competitive spirit. It was great to feel the modern cars and experience what they can do. I was watching the team’s progress at the weekend closely and it was nice to experience what I learnt from the outside and then inside the cockpit today. We signed off lots of basic things we did in preparation at the factory like seat fitting, pedal position and so on, which is beneficial with only one and a half days of winter testing next year. We ticked boxes today and we go into Christmas and New Year with good spirit and everyone motivated in the team.”
Zhou completed 98 laps, recovering strongly from a spin at Turn 19, which partially delayed his morning’s programme.The Chinese driver has had testing previously on the two-year old R.S.18 at the same venue a couple of weeks ago on demo tyres, while for today’s running, they sampled Pirelli’s C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft) compounds.The purpose of the day’s test, however, was to enable him to understand the latest car across low fuel qualifying simulations and high fuel race runs.
“It was a pretty decent day. I got used to the car straight away, we did a lot of laps including race runs and performance runs, which were very interesting. Our pace was reasonably stable, so I was happy with that, especially this morning’s performance run. There were a couple of technical things here and there, but it is testing, we still did a lot of laps, and that is the main purpose. I wasn’t really looking for lap time and during the last two sessions, together with the team, we found a good balance on the car in comparison to the evening sessions at the weekend, so that’s positive learning for the team. Overall, I’m really happy with my first time driving the 2020 car, so thanks to Renault for the opportunity.”
While Alonso will be counting down the days until the next race, his young counterpart will be taking and enjoying a well deserved break following an extensive Formula 2 season.
FIA FORMULA 1 SESSION TIMES – POST SEASON TEST
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