Au revoir ING-Renault R28, bonjour ING-Renault R29!

With Christmas fast approaching, the Enstone factory has been a hive of activity recently with the car build for the R29 in full swing. A walk around the factory at Enstone shows every department at full capacity as the new challenger comes to life.

Although the first chassis won’t be finished until the New Year, both Fernando and Nelson have already had their first taste of the new car with their preliminary seat-fits in a mock-up chassis. They were impressed with what they saw, but they are now eager to sample the real thing on the racetrack.

While the finishing touches are made to the R29, the test team have also been hard at work this week in Jerez completing the final test of 2008 and the final test with the R28.

Fernando and Nelson both had time in the car to continue with the team’s R&D programme and learn more about the slick Bridgestone tyres in preparation for next season. There was a big workload to get through as the next test is over a month away, but the guys seem pretty positive with how things have gone so far.

In the meantime ING Renault F1 Team wraps up its final test of the 2008 season today in Jerez.

Fernando returned to the *censored*pit yesterday for the first time since his second place podium finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix. It was good to see him back in the car as he tried out the 2009 tyres for the first time with a simulated 2009 set-up. His first impressions were positive and he said that the tyres were grippy, although with the reduction in downforce the grip level felt similar to driving on grooved tyres. There was a short interruption to the programme with a trip through the gravel in the morning, but Fernando still managed to clock up over a 100 laps following a mammoth afternoon stint.