• Jerez Test - Day Three

Webber fastest at Jerez

ESPNF1 Staff
February 19, 2010 « Villeneuve sees Stefan GP as 'great opportunity' | »

Jerez Gallery - Day Three

Mark Webber finished the day as the fastest man so far at Jerez © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links

After an unexpectedly dry day at Jerez, Mark Webber finished top of the table and recorded the fastest lap at the Spanish circuit so far during testing. Despite the near perfect conditions the day was disrupted by six red flags, the fourth of which was caused by Webber's Red Bull stopping on track.

Throughout the day the fastest lap was shared between Webber, Jenson Button - who eventually finished third - and Fernando Alonso, whose time of 1:20.115 was good enough for second fastest.

Nico Hulkenberg clocked up 138 laps - the highest number by any driver - as Williams spent the day running race simulations and practicing pit stops. The team experienced no problems until the car stopped on track with five minutes of the session remaining, halting action for the day.

Despite a long unexplained absence during the middle of the day, Michael Schumacher ran for 79 laps, recording a best time of 1:21.437, enough to leave him fifth in the standings. Robert Kubica enjoyed an uneventful day in the Renault and ran as high as fourth at one point before finishing the day sixth.

Force India's Adrian Sutil did not venture out until after 11am, but despite the slow start to the day, still recorded 69 laps. It was a torrid day for Sauber, as Kamui Kobayashi only started running just before 11am and immediately caused the third red flag of the day. It turned out to be a fuel supply problem, but the car was not ready to run again until after 4pm. As a result the team managed only 28 laps, missing out on the best conditions of the week so far.

Williams practiced pit stops before a planed race simulation © Sutton Images
Enlarge

Virgin's Lucas di Grassi was responsible for two of the six stoppages of the day, the first when he spun off (narrowly avoiding making contact with the barriers) in the morning, the second when his car came to a halt on track later in the afternoon. With all the problems Virgin only completed 34 laps. The only consolation came in recording a marginally quicker time than fellow newcomers Lotus.

After a crash stopped Lotus' testing yesterday, it took just over half an hour for Heikki Kovalainento stop the session again today, this time a faulty clutch sensor was to blame. After a long stint in the garage Kovalainen returned to action, only for a cracked exhaust to further blight his efforts. He finished the day at the bottom of the table, but recorded a respectable 68 laps.

Testing concludes at Jerez on Saturday, with more fine weather forecast.

Pos. Driver Car Best Time Laps
1. Mark Webber Red Bull RB6 1:19.299 115
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari F10 1:20.115 132
3. Jenson Button Mclaren MP4-25 1:20.394 101
4. Nico Hulkenberg Williams FW32 1:21.432 138
5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes W01 1:21.437 79
6. Robert Kubica Renault R30 1:21.916 100
7. Adrian Sutil Force India VJM03 1:21.939 69
8. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:22.228 28
9. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso STR5 1:22.564 120
10. Lucas di Grassi Virgin VR-01 1:23.504 34
11. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus T127 1:23.521 68

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices