By Huw Alban
February 8 2006

The weather in southern Spain continued to be dry and warm today as Midland continue to develop new systems for the M16. Tiago Monteiro took the wheel of the sole EJ15B whilst Christijan Albers took a well earned break. In our pre-Jerez test story we carried information from the Portuguese Autosport claiming that on Wednesday the M16 would be stripped and it’s components carefully analysed. The fact that Tiago was the sole driver, and that he was driving the 15B suggests that this claim was probably true.

According to the team Tiago worked on control systems, which hopefully means that the team have been looking at gearbox software. Regular visitors will remember that we overheard team staff talking about such an issue at the M16 shakedown at Silverstone last Friday. The team have reportedly made, “Good progress” and, “are positive about the data collected. Tomorrow we will continue with both cars doing a full test programme.”

“Just a short run today, trying some electronic set-ups,” Tiago has been quoted as saying in the official team press release. “It was very interesting to really make the car perform at extremes and we learnt some really positive information. I'm really excited about getting in the M16 tomorrow afternoon, I can't wait.”

According to the Portuguese Autosport, Christijan is due to take the car in the morning and Tiago in the afternoon.

The full list of times from the test are given below:

1. F. Alonso - Renault R26 - 1'16"956 (+0"000) - 89 laps
2. J. Button - Honda RA106 - 1'17"114 (+0"158) - 58 laps
3. J.P. Montoya - McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 - 1'17"273 (+0"317) - 53 laps
4. P. de la Rosa - McLaren Mercedes MP4-20 V10 - 1'17"425 (+0"469) - 109 laps
5. R. Barrichello - Honda RA106 -1'17"492 (+0"536) - 60 laps
6. N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.06 - 1'17"588 (+0"632) - 116 laps
7. J. Villeneuve - BMW Sauber F1.06 - 1'18"069 (+1"113) - 91 laps
8. M. Webber - Williams Cosworth FW28 - 1'18"281 (+1"325) - 86 laps
9. H. Kovalainen - Renault R26 - 1'18"938 (+1"982) - 77 laps
10. J. Trulli - Toyota TF106 - 1'19"430 (+2"474) - 103 laps
11. R. Schumacher - Toyota TF106 - 1'19"681 (+2"725) - 84 laps
12. N. Rosberg - Williams Cosworth FW28 - 1'19"965 (+3"009) - 29 laps
13. T. Monteiro – MF1 Racing Toyota EJ15B - 1'21"911 (+4"955) - 29 laps

Times courtesy of Circuit de Jerez.