Hamilton blitzes final day of Jerez test
#1
02-13-2010, 04:57 PM
Hamilton blitzes final day of Jerez test
Lewis Hamilton fired a warning shot to his rivals by snatching the fastest time of this week's Jerez test in the final ten minutes.
The McLaren star appeared to focus on long runs for most of Saturday, languishing near the foot of the times.
But in the last half hour Hamilton picked up his pace and delivered two laps good enough to top the timing screens - the second of them a 1m19.593s, which put him half a second clear of the field.
After the rain that blighted Wednesday and Friday, day four of the Jerez sessions saw a totally dry track for most of the day, at least once early moisture had dissipated.
Until Hamilton's late flier, it looked like Force India would conclude a very impressive first week of work on the VJM03 with the fastest time, for Adrian Sutil had taken the top spot for a while just before the McLaren emerged.
Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher had also both taken turns to head the order during the afternoon for Williams and Mercedes respectively.
The former Ferrari team-mates ended the day in third and fifth, despite both causing red flags at different junctures - Barrichello sliding off the road in the damp early going, and Schumacher deliberately running out of fuel as Mercedes tested its consumption rates.
The pair were split by Renault's Robert Kubica in fourth, with Sebastian Vettel sixth for Red Bull ahead of Felipe Massa (Ferrari), another man who purposely ran dry during his programme today.
Having been among the frontrunners earlier in the week, Sauber and Toro Rosso appeared to be running heavier today, leaving Pedro de la Rosa and Jaime Alguersuari back in eighth and 10th.
It was a much more encouraging day for newcomer Virgin Racing, as after a week of frustrations and delays, the team finally got some decent mileage under its belt today.
Lucas di Grassi completed 63 laps, and his best time was quicker than Alguersuari's, and within 3.3s of Hamilton's pace.
Testing will resume on Wednesday next week, with another four days at Jerez before the field heads for Valencia and the final four days of this year's truncated winter.
Testing times from Jerez (Saturday 13 February)
1 HAMILTON McLaren 1m19.583s (113)
2 SUTIL Force India 1m20.180s (83)
3 BARRICHELLO Williams 1m20.341s (90)
4 KUBICA Renault 1m20.358s (85)
5 SCHUMACHER Mercedes 1m20.613s (83)
6 VETTEL Red Bull 1m21.203s (89)
7 MASSA Ferrari 1m21.485s (160)
8 DE LA ROSA Sauber 1m22.134s (105)
9 DI GRASSI Virgin 1m22.912s (63)
10 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 1m24.072s (98)
* laps completed in brackets
source[www.itv-f1.com]
The McLaren star appeared to focus on long runs for most of Saturday, languishing near the foot of the times.
But in the last half hour Hamilton picked up his pace and delivered two laps good enough to top the timing screens - the second of them a 1m19.593s, which put him half a second clear of the field.
After the rain that blighted Wednesday and Friday, day four of the Jerez sessions saw a totally dry track for most of the day, at least once early moisture had dissipated.
Until Hamilton's late flier, it looked like Force India would conclude a very impressive first week of work on the VJM03 with the fastest time, for Adrian Sutil had taken the top spot for a while just before the McLaren emerged.
Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher had also both taken turns to head the order during the afternoon for Williams and Mercedes respectively.
The former Ferrari team-mates ended the day in third and fifth, despite both causing red flags at different junctures - Barrichello sliding off the road in the damp early going, and Schumacher deliberately running out of fuel as Mercedes tested its consumption rates.
The pair were split by Renault's Robert Kubica in fourth, with Sebastian Vettel sixth for Red Bull ahead of Felipe Massa (Ferrari), another man who purposely ran dry during his programme today.
Having been among the frontrunners earlier in the week, Sauber and Toro Rosso appeared to be running heavier today, leaving Pedro de la Rosa and Jaime Alguersuari back in eighth and 10th.
It was a much more encouraging day for newcomer Virgin Racing, as after a week of frustrations and delays, the team finally got some decent mileage under its belt today.
Lucas di Grassi completed 63 laps, and his best time was quicker than Alguersuari's, and within 3.3s of Hamilton's pace.
Testing will resume on Wednesday next week, with another four days at Jerez before the field heads for Valencia and the final four days of this year's truncated winter.
Testing times from Jerez (Saturday 13 February)
1 HAMILTON McLaren 1m19.583s (113)
2 SUTIL Force India 1m20.180s (83)
3 BARRICHELLO Williams 1m20.341s (90)
4 KUBICA Renault 1m20.358s (85)
5 SCHUMACHER Mercedes 1m20.613s (83)
6 VETTEL Red Bull 1m21.203s (89)
7 MASSA Ferrari 1m21.485s (160)
8 DE LA ROSA Sauber 1m22.134s (105)
9 DI GRASSI Virgin 1m22.912s (63)
10 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 1m24.072s (98)
* laps completed in brackets
source[www.itv-f1.com]
#3
02-13-2010, 05:08 PM
Don't ever say I was partial regarding F1 news, but if you ask me I'd say Lewis was running on fumes
#7
02-13-2010, 08:28 PM
#8
02-13-2010, 09:09 PM
Dana, I wish I could. I'm gone way too much for any fantasy leagues. Just count me in for Schumi to win and Button to shine. You read it here first.
#9
02-13-2010, 09:19 PM
That's cool Chris.
But there is an option this year to pick your drivers only one time at the start of the season and not have to change them again.
You get an extra 5 million in your budget if you do it this way as well.
But enough persuasion.
But there is an option this year to pick your drivers only one time at the start of the season and not have to change them again.
You get an extra 5 million in your budget if you do it this way as well.
But enough persuasion.