Rubens Barrichello reigned supreme on the final day of testing in Jerez, setting the pace early in the session.
The Brazilian driver posted a 1:19.832 to go fastest over the entire four-day test. His best was over half a second faster than the next best lap recorded by Michael Schumacher on Friday.
Kamui Kobayashi was a further few tenths behind in second. A brush with the tyre wall clearly didn’t perturb the Japanese driver as his quickest lap was set immediately after the incident.
Much of the massive crowds turned out to see Fernando Alonso in action, the Spaniard managed the third fastest lap of the day, over a second off the Williams pace – though without knowing fuel levels it’s difficult to judge the actual gap.
Sebastien Buemi slotted into fourth, ahead of Bruno Senna who was no doubt looking to impress the Renault team in the hope of securing a race seat over Nick Heidfeld.
It was evident that the majority of the teams were focussed on longer runs which gave Heikki Kovalainen in the Lotus a chance to climb the final standings, finally finising sixth ahead of Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Jerome d’Ambrosio and Paul di Resta.
The day saw five red flags in total. The first coming from d’Ambrosio in the morning followed by Nico Rosberg at turn seven when his Mercedes encountered a mechanical issue. Koabayashi, Barrichello and Di Resta were the causes of the others.
Day four wraps-up the Jerez test with the teams moving to Barcelona on Friday 18th February.
Test times from day four (Jerez):
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:19.832 | 97 | |
| 02. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:20.601 | +0.769 | 86 |
| 03. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:21.074 | +1.242 | 109 |
| 04. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:21.213 | +1.381 | 84 |
| 05. | B. Senna | Renault | 1:21.400 | +1.568 | 68 |
| 06. | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus | 1:21.632 | +1.800 | 43 |
| 07. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:22.103 | +2.271 | 39 |
| 08. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:22.222 | +2.390 | 90 |
| 09. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:22.278 | +2.446 | 70 |
| 10. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:22.985 | +3.153 | 45 |
| 11. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:23.111 | +3.279 | 99 |
Discussion about this post