German Car Forum

Red Bull boosts morale with Barca banzai
15 febbraio 2007


David Coulthard made a surprise appearance at the top of the testing time sheets as Barcelona on Wednesday staged the final day of pre-season testing in Europe.


According to sources at the Circuit de Catalunya, the Red Bull driver's 'RB3' was running low fuel and new tyres, and trackside observers noted that the Scot may have been allowed to attack the curbs with unusual vigour to honour the rare visit of team boss Dietrich Mateschitz with a quick time.

"Right or wrong, a quick lap time sure is good for morale," a Red Bull statement said.

It should also be noted that Coulthard's time, while quickest of the day, lagged significantly behind the ultimate pace throughout the Spanish test. Vitantonio Liuzzi, in the nearly-identical Toro Rosso 'STR2', was five seconds slower than the flying Red Bull on debut.

World champion Fernando Alonso, fourth on Wednesday's standings and also slower than Nick Heidfeld's BMW, admitted that he is "confused" about the genuine balance of power.

"We have to wait until Australia," the McLaren driver said in a radio interview for 'As'. "The most important thing is not to always be fastest but to always be close to the best times and be looking for reliability."

"The testing lap times are really a mess."

Not enjoying good reliability on Wednesday, meanwhile, was Renault, whose Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen both suffered stoppages.

Runners for Toyota, Honda, Red Bull, Williams and Ferrari also failed to complete uninterrupted programmes, while BMW's Sebastian Vettel ran off the track.

Cars will be shipped to Bahrain over the weekend for next week's final test of the pre-season. Spyker and Williams are scheduled to run at Valencia.

Source: GMM http://www.duemotori.com/news/f1/107...rca_banzai.php