De la Rosa feeling positive
De la Rosa worked on the C29's baseline setup and tried to get to grips with the new thinner Bridgestone tyres
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Monday, 01, Feb 2010 05:51
By Adam Leveridge
Pedro de la Rosa is pleased with the progress made by the BMW Sauber team on the first day of testing in Valencia.
The Spaniard became the first to drive the newly-released C29 and showed good form throughout the day, posting consistently quick times and ending the afternoon in second on the timesheets and less than two tenths off the fastest time set by Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
De la Rosa, 38, makes a return to the cockpit of an F1 car as a full-time driver for the first time since 2002 when he raced for Jaguar and he said that, although it was a positive day overall, there's still more to come.
"The car was reliable right from the beginning, which meant we could follow our programme perfectly without wasting any time," said de la Rosa.
"Also the car reacted to our changes very well.
"For me it was a day to get used to not only the new car but also to the team with all the people.
"And, of course, driving-wise there's more to come from me as this was only my first day after a long break."
BMW Sauber's technical director Willy Rampf echoed de la Rosa's thoughts and he was pleased with how well everything worked.
"Overall, we are quite happy with what we achieved today," he said.
"We started with an installation lap in the morning, checking the mechanical systems, followed by a baseline run in order to stabilise temperatures and pressures.
"We checked the hydraulic system, the fuel system and the gearshift, and everything worked well. In the afternoon we started with some basic set-up work, also to collect various data. It was a positive day without any noteworthy problems."
Tomorrow, 23-year old Kamui Kobayashi will make his debut in the C29, before de la Rosa resumes his work in the car on the final day of testing in Valencia.