Fisichella Pleased after First Run with New Sauber

Giancarlo Fisichella was very happy after what he claimed was a great day following the first test of the new Sauber C23 at the Valencia circuit in Spain.

The Italian driver, who celebrated his 31st birthday today, debuted the new car, which was unveiled on Monday, completing 33 laps around the Spanish track. The Sauber team said Fisichella completed the scheduled programme, which focused on functionality tests.

"Today is my birthday and the crew surprised me with a cake. But this was not the best present I got from the team," Fisichella said. "That was the new car, which felt good on the track. I did a few runs in the afternoon and everything went well.

"Usually there are some problems on the day of the roll-out, but today everything was working perfectly. That's the most important thing at the moment. Next week we will be testing in Barcelona, like most of the Formula One teams, and then we can make comparisons with other cars and see just how competitive we are.

"Today was a great day, overall, as the C23 ran so well, so I'm happy."

Technical director Willy Rampf added: "Today's roll-out programme for the C23 concentrated on tests of the cooling, electronics, and fuel and hydraulic systems. The results are satisfying. Tomorrow we plan to run different set-ups and will use the day to familiarise ourselves with the performance characteristics of the new car."

Fisichella will continue testing the C23 tomorrow before teammate Felipe Massa takes over the driving on Friday.