It was a big surprise to many when Rubens Barrichello topped the time sheets on the final day of the pre season testing at Jerez.
Barrichello clocked one minute, 19.832 seconds. His best time was 1.242 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was further back two seconds adrift at number three.
McLaren did not impress much, and former World Champion Jenson Button could only manage ninth fastest time on Sunday.
The next pre season testing will take place in Barcelona from Friday. It will also be a four day session.
As the eleven teams took to the Jerez circuit on the final day of pre season testing, overcast weather was there to welcome them.
Barrichello was evidently quicker right from the first session in the morning. He was 0.520 seconds quicker than seven time world champion Michael Schumacher’s previous best time that he set on Friday in his Mercedes.
For Sauber it was Kamui Kobayashi who managed to get second fastest time, he was 0.769 seconds behind Barrichello and Fernando Alonso was behind him.
Fernando Alonso, who missed out on the championship by just two points last season, said that he is very happy with the progress made by his car and the whole team during testing. The Spaniard said that he did not face any problems during the four days,
and his team mate Felipe Massa was also very comfortable. So things are looking good for Ferrari so far.
The two time former world champion further added that, despite having successful sessions in testing. It is the race-day that eventually determines the condition of the team and the car. He added that only after the first race in Bahrain would he be able
to assess the real ability of the new Ferrari car.
Jenson Button who was driving the new McLaren for the 2nd time said that, he did manage to get some useful lap times in at Jerez. He added that he thought that most of the teams were running on heavy fuel loads during the afternoon session.
McLaren’s team though did not sound fully satisfied with the testing results. In a statement the team said that :
"Jenson was unable to find a suitable balance with the car," the McLaren statement read. "The team's progress was brought to an early end in the middle of the afternoon following the failure of an internal component.
"A frustrating day of running."
During the four days of testing, there was no clear favourite as far as the lap times are concerned. Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams and Renault all managed to clock quickest times on different days. So further testing before the season may determine who has
the quickest car for the new season.
For now the tests do not really tell the whole story, as it is not clear that which team is running on heavy and which is running on low fuel. To add to that the type of tyres used by each team is also not documented, so lap times recorded in testing are
not a clear indication of the form and progress of the teams.
The new season promises to be another close one, last year was the most closely fought battle for the title in decades. Now with number of modifications to the car, and amendments to the rules it would be interesting to see nudges ahead in early part of
the season.
Tags: