The second day of winter testing is a chance for drivers to push, after getting comfortable and acclimatising on day 1. The gremlins and problems faced yesterday have been repaired, with many teams getting well over a race distance of laps for mileage.
We had some new faces circulating the field, with Jules Bianchi spending the Morning in the Force India, before Di Resta took over for the afternoon. Sergio Perez also made his 2012 track debut on the 2nd day, replacing Kamui Kobayashi.
Click "read more" for the full summary, including some pictures and comments from the drivers.
A 2011 car took to the top of the timings after the second full day of testing. Michael Schumacher spent the whole day in the car, completing 132 laps in the process. The W02 was in full trim so the team could access the Pirelli tyres and gain useful knowledge ahead of the launch of their 2012 car at the next test.
Schumachers time of 1m18.561 was over 1 second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen's best yesterday. The time was also 6 tenths clear of the best 2012 spec runner, Mark Webber. The RB8 performed faultlessly with close to 100 laps completed. Webber took home, effectively, the top honours in the 2012 spec class. His time of 1m19.184 was 4 tenths quicker than any other 2012 car. Team boss Christian Horner has said you can not "read" into the testing times, but it surely stamps the RB8 firmly ahead competition.
3rd was the stunning STR7, driver by Daniel Ricciardo. His best time of 1m19.587 was very impressive. It is early on in the season, but with his 4th place yesterday and 3rd today, the Toro Rosso is surely going to be heading the midfield. He completed 100 laps of trouble free running, encouraging after yesterdays oil pressure problem which cut short his running. He said after his impressive performance "I am happy with what we did today: one hundred laps is around twice the distance we did yesterday. So we achieved our aim of getting plenty of miles for me and the car with a mix of short and long runs, trying three different tyre compounds."
4th was Jules Bianchi, Force India 3rd driver. He spent the morning in the car, with the aim of getting him "comfortable" in the car and getting more confident in his performance as quickly as possible. His time of 1m20.221 was impressive for just 46 laps of running. 5th finished the Ice man, Kimi Raikkonen. The F1 returnee topped yesterdays time sheet but could only manage 5th today, with a time of 1m20.239 his best effort after 112 laps. He made an epic comeback after only completing 6 laps by midday, after an off track excursion damaged the fragile car. He persevered however, putting in some impressively consistent times after that.
Paul Di Resta was 6th by the end of the days running. He finished just 1 tenth behind his effective team mate, reserve driver Jules Bianchi, with a time of 1m20.272 after 69 laps of consistent and uninterrupted running.
7th was Felipe Massa after yet another uninspiring day. The Italian team have been towards the bottom half of the time's for the last 2 days.Massa said on his performance "Actually there is a lot of work, It is a brand new car and it is not a car that we had in the last year - even at the start. It is a car that needs a lot more work, and a lot more things to try as well." His time of 1m.20.454 after 95 laps was 4 tenths faster than Jenson Button in the Mclaren MP4-27. The Brit, like Massa, has yet to set headlining times but insists his performance has been "consistent" and the team have learnt a "good deal" of valuable information. His time of 1m20.688 was the best of 85 laps, but it is encouraging that the team are getting decent millage after last years disastrous first few days of testing.
Rounding out the top 10, who were separated by less than 2 and a half seconds, were Sergio Perez in the Sauber C31 and Pastor Maldonado in the Williams FW34. Perez debuted in the 2012 car after Kobayashi drove it yesterday. His time of 1m20.711 was around 5 tenths faster than Kamui's time. Sergio made decent progress throughout the day and completed 68 laps. He said "For me it was a positive day. It was great to be back on track after the winter break and so far I'm happy with the new car. I feel confident. It was a shame that we lost track time due to the fuel system problem in the afternoon, but I think we can catch up tomorrow". Maldonado spent the day accessing the reliability and completed a good haul of 97 laps. His best time of 1m21.197 was 2.6 slower than leader Michael Schumacher, but comparably he was around 2 seconds from Webber in the 2012 spec RB8.
Heikki Kovalainen had an impressive day for the Caterham team. The small, still branded "new" team, progressed immensely after yesterdays lack of running. Tuesday saw the team complete just 21 laps, contrasting heavily to today's tally of 139. He used KERS for the first time, a big step for the team. He focused on reliability and durability of the tyres. Even more impressive was his time, just 2.9 off Schumacher and below 2.5 seconds off Webber.
Kovalainen said on his performance "I feel very happy with the work we have completed today. Yesterday we had a problem that was nothing to do with the car so today was our first real day of testing and we had a trouble free day, completing most of what we wanted to on day one and day two and working through a variety of setup changes. We ran on each of the tyre compounds and I'm really starting to get a feel for the car."
Last of the runners, in the 2011 spec car, was Pedro De La Rosa. His HRT circulated the track 69 times, with a best time of 1m22.128. He said “Today we’ve progressed quite a bit as the day wore on; we’ve got more out of the car without having changed practically anything."
2 red flags interrupted the session. 1 was for debris and the other was for gravel on track.
Tomorrow (Thursday) ,some fresher faces will be taking to the track. Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton will drive for their respected teams. Also joining them will be Rosberg, returning after driving half a day on Tuesday, Jean Eric-Vergne for Toro Rosso, Hulkenberg for Force India and van der Garde for Caterham. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus and Bruno Senna in the Williams will also debut for their teams.
Results - Jerez day 2
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m18.561s 132
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m19.184s + 0.623 97
3. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m19.587s + 1.026 100
4. Jules Bianchi Force India 1m20.221s + 1.660 46
5. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m20.239s + 1.678 117
6. Paul di Resta Force India 1m20.272s + 1.711 69
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m20.454s + 1.893 95
8. Jenson Button McLaren 1m20.688s + 2.127 85
9. Sergio Perez Sauber 1m20.711s + 2.150 68
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m21.197s + 2.636 97
11. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1m21.518s + 2.957 139
12. Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1m22.128s + 3.567 64
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Click "read more" for the full summary, including some pictures and comments from the drivers.
A 2011 car took to the top of the timings after the second full day of testing. Michael Schumacher spent the whole day in the car, completing 132 laps in the process. The W02 was in full trim so the team could access the Pirelli tyres and gain useful knowledge ahead of the launch of their 2012 car at the next test.
Schumachers time of 1m18.561 was over 1 second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen's best yesterday. The time was also 6 tenths clear of the best 2012 spec runner, Mark Webber. The RB8 performed faultlessly with close to 100 laps completed. Webber took home, effectively, the top honours in the 2012 spec class. His time of 1m19.184 was 4 tenths quicker than any other 2012 car. Team boss Christian Horner has said you can not "read" into the testing times, but it surely stamps the RB8 firmly ahead competition.
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
4th was Jules Bianchi, Force India 3rd driver. He spent the morning in the car, with the aim of getting him "comfortable" in the car and getting more confident in his performance as quickly as possible. His time of 1m20.221 was impressive for just 46 laps of running. 5th finished the Ice man, Kimi Raikkonen. The F1 returnee topped yesterdays time sheet but could only manage 5th today, with a time of 1m20.239 his best effort after 112 laps. He made an epic comeback after only completing 6 laps by midday, after an off track excursion damaged the fragile car. He persevered however, putting in some impressively consistent times after that.
Paul Di Resta was 6th by the end of the days running. He finished just 1 tenth behind his effective team mate, reserve driver Jules Bianchi, with a time of 1m20.272 after 69 laps of consistent and uninterrupted running.
7th was Felipe Massa after yet another uninspiring day. The Italian team have been towards the bottom half of the time's for the last 2 days.Massa said on his performance "Actually there is a lot of work, It is a brand new car and it is not a car that we had in the last year - even at the start. It is a car that needs a lot more work, and a lot more things to try as well." His time of 1m.20.454 after 95 laps was 4 tenths faster than Jenson Button in the Mclaren MP4-27. The Brit, like Massa, has yet to set headlining times but insists his performance has been "consistent" and the team have learnt a "good deal" of valuable information. His time of 1m20.688 was the best of 85 laps, but it is encouraging that the team are getting decent millage after last years disastrous first few days of testing.
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
Rounding out the top 10, who were separated by less than 2 and a half seconds, were Sergio Perez in the Sauber C31 and Pastor Maldonado in the Williams FW34. Perez debuted in the 2012 car after Kobayashi drove it yesterday. His time of 1m20.711 was around 5 tenths faster than Kamui's time. Sergio made decent progress throughout the day and completed 68 laps. He said "For me it was a positive day. It was great to be back on track after the winter break and so far I'm happy with the new car. I feel confident. It was a shame that we lost track time due to the fuel system problem in the afternoon, but I think we can catch up tomorrow". Maldonado spent the day accessing the reliability and completed a good haul of 97 laps. His best time of 1m21.197 was 2.6 slower than leader Michael Schumacher, but comparably he was around 2 seconds from Webber in the 2012 spec RB8.
Heikki Kovalainen had an impressive day for the Caterham team. The small, still branded "new" team, progressed immensely after yesterdays lack of running. Tuesday saw the team complete just 21 laps, contrasting heavily to today's tally of 139. He used KERS for the first time, a big step for the team. He focused on reliability and durability of the tyres. Even more impressive was his time, just 2.9 off Schumacher and below 2.5 seconds off Webber.
Kovalainen said on his performance "I feel very happy with the work we have completed today. Yesterday we had a problem that was nothing to do with the car so today was our first real day of testing and we had a trouble free day, completing most of what we wanted to on day one and day two and working through a variety of setup changes. We ran on each of the tyre compounds and I'm really starting to get a feel for the car."
Last of the runners, in the 2011 spec car, was Pedro De La Rosa. His HRT circulated the track 69 times, with a best time of 1m22.128. He said “Today we’ve progressed quite a bit as the day wore on; we’ve got more out of the car without having changed practically anything."
2 red flags interrupted the session. 1 was for debris and the other was for gravel on track.
Tomorrow (Thursday) ,some fresher faces will be taking to the track. Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton will drive for their respected teams. Also joining them will be Rosberg, returning after driving half a day on Tuesday, Jean Eric-Vergne for Toro Rosso, Hulkenberg for Force India and van der Garde for Caterham. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus and Bruno Senna in the Williams will also debut for their teams.
Results - Jerez day 2
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m18.561s 132
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m19.184s + 0.623 97
3. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m19.587s + 1.026 100
4. Jules Bianchi Force India 1m20.221s + 1.660 46
5. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m20.239s + 1.678 117
6. Paul di Resta Force India 1m20.272s + 1.711 69
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m20.454s + 1.893 95
8. Jenson Button McLaren 1m20.688s + 2.127 85
9. Sergio Perez Sauber 1m20.711s + 2.150 68
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m21.197s + 2.636 97
11. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1m21.518s + 2.957 139
12. Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1m22.128s + 3.567 64
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