By Huw Alban
February 15 2006

OK, so it’s only 4 10ths, but as ITV commentator Martin Brundle is fond of saying “An F1 car goes a long way in 4 10ths of a second.” Christijan Albers pushed the M16 those 4 10ths closer to the competition today as the team continues their development programme at Valencia. "Having not been at this track for six years, I had some difficulty remembering the circuit very well in the beginning," he said in the team press release. "We made reasonable progress today but still need to find more performance. Every day we are getting closer, which is positive. Toward the end of the day it gets a bit more difficult to see on the track due to the low sun, but all in all, it was a good day."

Albers continued to work on balance and tyre testing, but debris on the track caused him to leave the circuit and have a meeting with the tyre wall. Despite having to return to the garage for repairs he still managed 64 laps in the new car. More importantly the gap to the fastest driver was 1.922 compared to yesterdays 2.323, an improvement of around 4 10ths of a second.

Those 4 10ths have made my day – this is what I‘d hoped to see. Not a massive leap forward, just a gradual and persistent improvement as the team hone the car and it’s systems, and understand more about how this new beast works. I have a smile on my face this evening as I write this – a smile that will broaden tomorrow if more improvements in pace continue to translate to the timesheet.

Giorgio Mondini got in his days worth of running today, and like Winklehock yesterday thoroughly enjoyed his F1 experience. "The car feels great, and I found it to be a very interesting day. The circuit has some great corners and is fun to drive on," he has been quoted as saying.

"I am satisfied with today's performance. The objective was to complete over 300km, which we did with consistent times. I was very happy with the way things were explained to me and I hope the team gained some useful information, as well."

The team continue to test tomorrow, although at this time we are unsure who is actually going to be driving.

Full list of times from Valencia today:

1. N. Rosberg Williams FW28 1'10"994 -- 94 laps
2. K. Raikkonen McLaren MP4-21 1'11"199 +0"205 16 laps
3. H. Kovalainen Renault R26 1'11"362 +0"368 115 laps
4. G. Fisichella Renault R26 1'11"443 +0"449 83 laps
5. C. Klien Red Bull RB2 1'11"544 +0"550 63 laps
6. M. Webber Williams FW28 1'11"584 +0"590 33 laps
7. J. Montoya McLaren MP4-21 1'12"462 +1"468 85 laps
8. C. Albers MF1 Racing M16 1'12"916 +1"922 64 laps
9. D. Coulthard Red Bull RB2 1'13"585 +2"591 14 laps
10. R. Doornbos Red Bull RB2 1'14"643 +3"649 44 laps
11. G. Mondini MF1 Racing EJ15B 1'14"646 +3"652 84 laps