TheSportsCampus

< Prev		Next >

Intermittent showers were the buzzwords of the day as the rain in Spain stayed mainly around Jerez ruining the first of four days of testing. Things were so bad as the weather report in the official press release from McLaren Mercedes categorized the all-round weather as "Pretty Horrid". The super fast men in the not as fast as usual cars didn't seem to mind as workhorses MIchael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel all still managing 100+ laps, with Vettel also topping the time charts with a best ride of 1m22.593 in his Red Bull Racing car.

2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton was second quickest, posting a 1m23.017 in his 72 rounds of the 4.428km circuit. The day-long changeable conditions made progress frustratingly slow, as meaningful running could not be achieved without the arrival of either a rain shower or a red-flag period. Nevertheless, the team continued with its development of MP4-25, making solid progress with the car’s balance and set-up, based largely on a thorough evaluation of and response to the data gathered at last week’s running at Jerez.

Lewis caused an early red flag during the morning’s running when his car was stopped by a minor systems error. Thereafter, he ran without problems and was able to achieve some encouraging times over several long runs.

Third fastest was Felipe Massa in the Ferrari, less than two tenths of a second ahead of Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) and Pedro de la Rosa (BMW Sauber) who were fourth and fifth fastest respectively.

The legendary Michael Schumacher began the day on wet tyres before switching to intermediates as a dry line began to emerge by late morning. Michael successfully completed a planned long run on dry tyres in the early afternoon before a further downpour soaked the track. Despite the interruptions, Michael completed 111 laps today, covering 492kms. He was 6th quickest in the Mercedes despite doing 111 laps.

Schumacher said, "The weather was really changing all the time today which made it difficult to follow our planned programme and to have a clear picture of everyone's performance. From the laps that we achieved, we have again confirmed the reliability of the car, and from the impressions and data gathered, we can say that the pace and performance looks very good. We have a strong basis to keep up the development this week here in Jerez and next week at the final test in Barcelona."

The two Force India boys Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta were seventh and eighth quickest. New test and reserve driver Paul di Resta got his first taste of the 2010 challenger in the morning before Adrian Sutil took over for the afternoon's running.

Paul completed over 300km while Adrian covered 120km in a productive day working through set-up and control systems checks.

Di Resta said, "Today was my first run in the new car and it felt pretty good. The objective was to get as much running as possible and we managed over 300km, which was a great effort, particularly given the bad weather conditions we had over the morning. It seemed to be drying out and then the rain would return again so you were in a sort of no man's land with the tyres. Even with this type of weather though I could get an impression of the car. It seems stable and good all round, a genuine improvement on the car I drove last year. I'll be back in the car in Barcelona and am looking forward to it already."

Rubens Barrichello put in the heavy miles, but encountered a minor mechanical problem when the track was at its driest, and failed to make the most of it, ending up near the back of the line.

The Lotus Racing team enjoyed a successful first day of testing at Jerez with driver Fairuz Fauzy completing 76 laps without problems, and completing the 300 kms needed to gain his Super Licence, subject to FIA approval.

The team was among the first cars on track in wet conditions, and, despite a lack of power steering, due to supplier issues, Fairuz successfully fulfilled all his and the team’s objectives for the day. Heikki Kovalainen takes over driving duties for the next two days (Thursday and Friday) before Jarno Trulli joins the action on Saturday.

The weather tomorrow is expected to be even worse, and one can't help but wonder if this is the best time and place to give the cars a real test.

Time Sheets:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, 1m22.593, 103 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren Mercedes, 1m23.017, 72 laps
3. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1m23.204, 72 laps
4. Sebastien Buemi, Scuderia Toro Rosso, 1m23.322, 79 laps
5. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1m23.367, 77 laps
6. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1m23.803, 111 laps
7. Adrian Sutil, Force India F1, 1m24.272, 28 laps
8. Paul di Resta, Force India F1, 1m25.088, 76 laps
9. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1m26.237, 59 laps
10. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1m27.320, 109 laps
11. Fairuz Fauzy, Lotus, 1m31.848, 76 laps
12. Timo Glock, Virgin Racing, 1m32.417, 10 laps

File Photograph Copyright: Marfmad