By IANS
Chennai : The two Force India Formula One drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella and Frank Montagny, were over two seconds off the pace on the first of the four days of winter testing at the Circuit de Jerez in Spain.
However, not much significance can be attached to the times as all the teams Tuesday were more focused on gathering data for development of the 2008-spec electronics besides getting used to machines without driver aids.
Nick Heidfeld in a BMW topped the time charts with a best lap of one minute, 19.042 seconds, followed by Jenson Button (Honda) 1:19.155, Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren) 1:19.712 and newly crowned world champion Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:20.063.
According to a Force India press release, both drivers made their debut runs in the team’s burgundy and white challengers to aid the team with its extensive development programme this week.
Though Force India, co-owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, were yet to announce their driver line-up, Fisichella, the 34-year-old Italian who was placed fourth in the drivers’ championship in 2006 in a Renault, is among the front-runners for a race seat in 2008.
In all, the team covered 118 laps, more than 500km, with both drivers evenly matched throughout the day. Fisichella finished a shade quicker with a lap of 1:21.424, set on the slick tyres, while Montagny’s best lap was a 1:21.559.
Fisichella will remain in the car for a second day’s testing, while Montagny hands over the wheel to Austrian Christian Klien Wednesday.
Fisichella said: “It’s my first day back in the car nearly two months after the last race in Brazil, plus my first with another car and new engine, and of course without the electronics. Considering this, I am quite happy about how the day went though. We did have a couple of issues so I didn’t run as much as I would have liked.”