Day 3 of winter testing at the Jerez circuit saw a few new names. The "big 3" of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso debuted in the 2012 machinery for their respected teams.
Also joining them on track was Bruno Senna, in the new Williams FW34. It was Senna's first drive in a Williams car after he signed a deal to move from Lotus to the Grove based squad. Romain Grosjean also took to the track for the first time in the Lotus E20, while Jean Eric-Vergne drove for Toro Rosso. Van der Garde, Caterham reserve driver, spent the day in the Caterham so he acclimatised to the transition and felt comfortable.
Read the full review, plus pictures and comments, here.
The 3rd day of winter testing in Jerez saw a 2011 spec car top the times for the second day in a row. Yesterday Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher topped the timings, but today it was the turn of his team mate Nico Rosberg. The German drove 118 laps for the team and set a best time of 1m17.613. It was almost a second quicker than his veteran team mates best time yesterday. It was also 8 tenths ahead of his next challenger.
Leading the 2012 spec car battle, and 2nd overall, was Lotus driver Romain Grosjean. He lapped the circuit 117 times in the E20, creating a welcome buzz which faded away after Raikkonen's time topping debut day. It was the Frenchman's first time in the car and he obviously felt right at home. It will be down to the 2012 cars only tomorrow due to Mercedes packing up and leaving Jerez a day early, focusing their attention on the next test where they debut their 2012 car. Grosjean did cause the 3rd and final red flag of the day though, stopping on track with just a few minutes to spare. It could of been due to the team doing a fuel consumption check.
Sebastian Vettel, 2 time F1 world champion, took 3rd place in the fastest lap time leader board. He was a massive 1.6 seconds behind Rosberg and still 8 tenths behind Grosjean. He completed a healthy 96 laps completed. He headed Mclaren's Lewis Hamilton, who had been ahead of the German till after the mid day mark. Hamilton was just 0.167 tenths behind Vettel and put in 80 laps. This, as mentioned before, is a significant amount more than the team completed the year before. The stunning MP4-27 seems to have found reliability which its predecessor lacked this time a year ago.
Jean-Eric Vergne kept Toro Rosso within the top 5 for the third day in a row. He was over 2 seconds shy of Rosberg's sub 1m17 target but still completed 79 laps in a fast and consistent pace. He said on his performance "In general, it was a positive day for me and the team and I am happy with the work we got through. I still need to work on my seating position in the car to make it perfect and I'm looking forward to making more progress tomorrow."
Vergne was just 0.036 tenths ahead of Sergio Perez in the Sauber C31. The Sauber only completed 41 laps due to oil transmission problems. His time was even more impressive due to it being set on the medium tyres, in the early morning when it is at its coldest. He said "It was a difficult day for us but the important thing is that we are improving. Every step we took went in the right direction. Kamui has another day of testing here tomorrow. Obviously he will have an intense programme and I hope we can finish the Jerez test with a productive day."
Alonso could only finish his debut day of testing in 7th. The Ferrari driver did 67 laps. His early morning running was halted by a hydraulics issue which kept him in the garage for over 2 hours. He was soon back out on track but could not improve his time, leaving him 2.8seconds off the pace of 2011 spec Rosberg.
Bruno Senna drove the Williams FW34 for the first time. The Senna name was reintroduced to the Williams-Renault partnership and managed 125 laps, the most of anyone on the 3rd day. His best time of 1m21.293 was disappointing however, but lap times are hard to read due to the different programmes, fuels and updates being run.
Giedo van der Garde took on the duties for the Caterham team. The reserve driver did a comfortable 74 laps and will hand the car over to Jarno Trulli on Friday. He said “That was a good day. I’m happy because I put in a lot of time in the car and that was the first time I’ve been on track since Monza last year. I’m very pleased because by the end of the day I was starting to get used to all the new things about F1 – there’s a lot to learn but I know what I need to focus on so next time I’m in the car I’ll definitely be able to get on the pace more quickly." He also expressed his difficulty at the beginning to master the KERS and DRS but by the end of the day he had got into the "groove". The Dutch driver did have a little spin which led to his car being retrieved from the gravel and having to be towed back to the pits.
Force India only got 3 laps out of their VJM05 after reserve driver Jules Bianchi crashed his car side on at turn 5. This brought out the first red flag and led to the team having to spend the day repairing the car but realised that some parts needed to be shipped over from the UK, putting an end to their running. Nico Hulkenberg was scheduled to be taking over the car for the afternoon but will have to wait till tomorrow to take the VJM05 for a spin.
I will reiterate this again, but times at this stage are nothing to go by. Different programmes, fuels, tyres and other components all make it hard to read. It is however certain that Mercedes may be on the back foot for 2012 already, with all their running done in 2011 guise.
Results
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.613s 118
2. Grosjean Lotus 1m18.419s +0.806 117
3. Vettel Red Bull 1m19.297s +1.684 96
4. Hamilton McLaren 1m19.464s +1.851 80
5. Vergne Toro Rosso 1m19.734s +2.121 79
6. Perez Sauber 1m19.770s +2.157 48
7. Alonso Ferrari 1m20.412s +2.799 67
8. Senna Williams 1m21.293s +3.680 125
9. Van der Garde Caterham 1m23.324s +5.711 74
10. Bianchi Force India No Time 3
Click here to see day 1 and day 2 at Jerez, the reviews.
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
Read the full review, plus pictures and comments, here.
The 3rd day of winter testing in Jerez saw a 2011 spec car top the times for the second day in a row. Yesterday Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher topped the timings, but today it was the turn of his team mate Nico Rosberg. The German drove 118 laps for the team and set a best time of 1m17.613. It was almost a second quicker than his veteran team mates best time yesterday. It was also 8 tenths ahead of his next challenger.
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
Sebastian Vettel, 2 time F1 world champion, took 3rd place in the fastest lap time leader board. He was a massive 1.6 seconds behind Rosberg and still 8 tenths behind Grosjean. He completed a healthy 96 laps completed. He headed Mclaren's Lewis Hamilton, who had been ahead of the German till after the mid day mark. Hamilton was just 0.167 tenths behind Vettel and put in 80 laps. This, as mentioned before, is a significant amount more than the team completed the year before. The stunning MP4-27 seems to have found reliability which its predecessor lacked this time a year ago.
Jean-Eric Vergne kept Toro Rosso within the top 5 for the third day in a row. He was over 2 seconds shy of Rosberg's sub 1m17 target but still completed 79 laps in a fast and consistent pace. He said on his performance "In general, it was a positive day for me and the team and I am happy with the work we got through. I still need to work on my seating position in the car to make it perfect and I'm looking forward to making more progress tomorrow."
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
Alonso could only finish his debut day of testing in 7th. The Ferrari driver did 67 laps. His early morning running was halted by a hydraulics issue which kept him in the garage for over 2 hours. He was soon back out on track but could not improve his time, leaving him 2.8seconds off the pace of 2011 spec Rosberg.
Bruno Senna drove the Williams FW34 for the first time. The Senna name was reintroduced to the Williams-Renault partnership and managed 125 laps, the most of anyone on the 3rd day. His best time of 1m21.293 was disappointing however, but lap times are hard to read due to the different programmes, fuels and updates being run.
Giedo van der Garde took on the duties for the Caterham team. The reserve driver did a comfortable 74 laps and will hand the car over to Jarno Trulli on Friday. He said “That was a good day. I’m happy because I put in a lot of time in the car and that was the first time I’ve been on track since Monza last year. I’m very pleased because by the end of the day I was starting to get used to all the new things about F1 – there’s a lot to learn but I know what I need to focus on so next time I’m in the car I’ll definitely be able to get on the pace more quickly." He also expressed his difficulty at the beginning to master the KERS and DRS but by the end of the day he had got into the "groove". The Dutch driver did have a little spin which led to his car being retrieved from the gravel and having to be towed back to the pits.
Force India only got 3 laps out of their VJM05 after reserve driver Jules Bianchi crashed his car side on at turn 5. This brought out the first red flag and led to the team having to spend the day repairing the car but realised that some parts needed to be shipped over from the UK, putting an end to their running. Nico Hulkenberg was scheduled to be taking over the car for the afternoon but will have to wait till tomorrow to take the VJM05 for a spin.
I will reiterate this again, but times at this stage are nothing to go by. Different programmes, fuels, tyres and other components all make it hard to read. It is however certain that Mercedes may be on the back foot for 2012 already, with all their running done in 2011 guise.
Results
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.613s 118
2. Grosjean Lotus 1m18.419s +0.806 117
3. Vettel Red Bull 1m19.297s +1.684 96
4. Hamilton McLaren 1m19.464s +1.851 80
5. Vergne Toro Rosso 1m19.734s +2.121 79
6. Perez Sauber 1m19.770s +2.157 48
7. Alonso Ferrari 1m20.412s +2.799 67
8. Senna Williams 1m21.293s +3.680 125
9. Van der Garde Caterham 1m23.324s +5.711 74
10. Bianchi Force India No Time 3
Click here to see day 1 and day 2 at Jerez, the reviews.
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