Alonso gets to grips with a new wheel

As soon as he arrived at the Ferrari team, just over a year ago, one of the first things that Fernando Alonso did was to change the configuration of the myriad buttons on the F10's steering wheel, simplifying its layout. The controls will be even more important this year, given that there will be two major changes to the cars in 2011: the Kinetic Energy Recuperation System (KERS) will be back, while a movable rear wing is to be introduced. Both systems will be controlled by the driver using buttons and dials on the wheel.

Tuesday saw the first testing session for the teams, which took place at the Cheste track, in Valencia. Alonso was the driver to complete the highest number of laps, and spent the day putting the new steering wheel through its paces, to ensure that everything was working as it should.

"The idea is a good one, because the objective is to facilitate overtaking"

Given that the KERS system was in use during the 2009 season, the system is not likely to prove problematic for the drivers and teams. Things are more complicated, however, with regard to the new movable rear wing- not least due to the protocol that has to be observed for its use.

The way it works is simple: two blades of the wing are held together in their normal position, creating downforce to enable the cars to take corners with greater speeds. When a car is approaching another, however, a warning light will advise the driver that he can activate the wing. On pressing the button, the sections will then open, reducing drag and allowing the car to accelerate and overtake.

There are those, such as Aldo Costa, technical director of Ferrari, who think that the driver has too much to do in the cockpit while driving at 300 kilometer an hour. Others, like Alonso, are resigned to the fact that they need to adapt as quickly as possible to the new requirements.

"What we have done today is to check that everything was working OK," the two-time world champion said on Tuesday. "In the morning I was working on each system separately, and in the afternoon I started doing everything at once."

"Everyone, from the [sport's governing body] FIA and race control to the drivers needs to have a learning period," said Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali on Tuesday. "The idea is a good one, because the objective is to facilitate overtaking. A lot of engineers have been researching the best way to achieve this, and this is the conclusion. For the good of the sport, we have to hope it will work."

Alonso clocked the fifth-fastest time on Tuesday, eight-tenths of a second slower than current world champion Sebastian Vettel, of the Red Bull team. But the Spaniard would not be drawn on his chances for the year ahead, after having lost the championship due to poor strategy in the very last race of 2010.

"Are there any conclusions that we can draw from this session and these times?" Alonso was asked on Tuesday. "I'm going to hear this question every day until we get to the first race in Bahrain, and I'm not going to answer it," came the reply. "Last year, at the last test in Barcelona, we finished seventh, one-tenth of a second behind Sauber and Force India. Then the first race came, and we lapped those drivers and won the race."

Until the season opener on March 13, then, Alonso will be focusing more on his steering wheel than the competition.