Jerez Testing Session: Day 2 – Michael Schumacher tops table
Testing continues at Jerez, as seven-time World champion Michael Schumacher had his first real shot at the 2011 Championship, topping the table with the fastest time on the grid.
He set a lap of 1 minute and 20.352 seconds, faster than Ferrari’s Felipe Massa’s time from day one.
Mercedes GP had all sorts of problem in the first test session at Valencia with hydraulic issues earlier this month; both their drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were unable to put some laps behind the wheel.
On day one of Jerez testing session, Nico’s outing was cut short by a hydraulic failure yet again.
Schumacher was able to put the Pirelli tyres to test, completing 112 laps. His strategy in the morning was to do some short runs and personalise the system to his liking. After lunch he took MGP W02 out for a long outing and posted the fastest lap.
“It clearly was a productive day, and obviously I am happy about that,” said the German.
Behind him was Felipe Massa who did 116 laps and posted a fastest of 1 minute and 20.413 seconds.
Third was Jenson Button who tested the new McLaren MP4-26 for the first time.
“We’ve tried the different Pirelli tyres - there are big differences across the compound range; not only in terms of lap time, but also with degradation and durability,” Button said.
Button will hand over the car to team mate Lewis Hamilton for testing on Saturday and will drive it again on the final day of testing on Sunday.
Fourth was Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari in his STR6 who completed 72 laps. His team mate Sebastien Buemi will take the car out on Saturday.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber finished fifth in his RB7 and completed 113 laps while testing the Pirelli tyres and aerodynamic systems of the car. Sebastian Vettel will take the car out on Saturday.
Force India’s Adrian Sutil managed the sixth place just ahead of Sergio Perez, who brought the first red flag into play.
Perez did 56 laps before his C30 crashed in the afternoon session.
“I’m fine but I feel sorry for the team, and especially the mechanics, because of the crash,” he said. His team mate Kamui Kobayashi will test the car on Saturday.
Timo Glock of Virgin posted the eighth quickest time ahead of Renault and Williams drivers, Vitaly Petrov and Pastor Maldanado who finished tenth.
Maldanado brought out the second red flag of the day when his FW32 hit the wall damaging the nose and rear of the car.
Testing will continue in Jerez on Saturday; it will be an important day for Nick Heidfeld, who replaces the injured Robert Kubica, to prove his place with Lotus Renault.
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