Fisichella positive after maiden R27 test

The Italian driver completed the first laps with the new car early in the morning, carrying out system checks, before gradually increasing the length of the runs.

In total, Fisichella completed 33 laps before an engine problem cut his running short.

"It is always a special moment to drive a new car for the first time, and it felt good to take to the track in the R27 this morning," said Fisichella. "The car is very impressive visually, and straight away it felt comfortable to drive.

"The circuit was quite dirty with low grip levels, so it was difficult to make a proper judgement on the performance and the handling, especially as our running was cut short with the engine problem at the end of the day.

"But so far the car is reacting as we expected, and has the same comfortable feeling as the R25 and R26. That is a good sign at this stage, and we are looking forward to continuing our work tomorrow."

The team will continue working tomorrow, when they will run with two R27 chassis, one for Fisichella and the other for teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

Technical director Bob Bell added: "Today's shakedown marked another significant milestone for the R27 project, and it achieved it on the day we had planned nearly a year ago. For that, we must congratulate the teams at Enstone and Viry on a fantastic job.

"However, as always with any new car, our work has only just begun. We encountered the normal gremlins that you expect on any shakedown, but the initial signs and feedback from Giancarlo were positive, and we will look to build on that solid start during the next three days of testing.

"We will be in the unique position of being able to run two new cars for the rest of the week, with both Heikki and Giancarlo getting to grips with the R27 at this first test of the New Year. We will look to put that mileage to good use with busy programmes for both drivers."

The Williams team were also on track today, with test driver Kazuki Nakajima working at the wheel of an interim car fitted with a Toyota engine. The young Japanese covered 86 laps and finished three tenths behind Fisichella.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  1:20.683   33
 2.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:20.985   86

All Timing Unofficial