Jerez test summary

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Jerez test summary

All of the Formula One teams, except Marussia, took part in a four day test at Jerez last week. HRT and Mercedes ran with their old 2011 machinery whilst the remaining teams fired up their new cars for the first time. There was a lot of interest around the first four days of on-track action this year, but the timesheets didn't provide any indication of the current pecking order as teams were largely focussed on data collection and not outright performance.

Day 1

Kimi Raikkonen was fastest throughout the first day of testing and finished with the best time after an impressive number of laps. Force India and Sauber also covered a lot of mileage throughout the day in their new cars, whilst Schumacher and Rosberg shared the old Mercedes. Caterham had an unusual technical failure when their starter shaft broke which meant they had no way of starting their car although it was in perfect running order.

Day 2

Michael Schumacher set the fastest time in the old Mercedes whilst Mark Webber was quickest of the 2012 runners. Caterham covered more laps than anyone else which helped compensate for their issues the previous day. Force India and Lotus continued their reliable running, with Raikkonen covering a large number of laps despite an off-track excursion in the morning. Ferrari admitted their car was not behaving as they had hoped and acknowledged there was a lot of work to be done to the F2012.

Day 3

Mercedes topped the timesheets again, this time with Nico Rosberg, whilst Romain Grosjean set the fastest time in a 2012 car. Although Grosjean set his time on a low fuel run, it was another strong showing from Lotus who continued to rack up the miles. Williams and Red Bull also covered a large number of laps on day three. Jules Bianchi became the first driver to crash in 2012 with a low speed slide into the barriers before he completed a full timed lap. His morning accident cost Force India a whole day of valuable track time.

Day 4

Ferrari lost a significant amount of time due to several reliability issues but used a low fuel run to set the day's fastest time. Red Bull, Sauber, and Lotus also had various technical problems. Williams and Caterham continued their impressive run of reliability and were able to cover nearly double the number of laps of most other teams. Mercedes did not take part in the fourth and final day having completed their evaluation of Pirelli's new rubber.

Jerez Test – Four Day Combined Times

1. Rosberg - Mercedes - 1m 17.613s
2. Grosjean - Lotus - 1m 18.419s
3. Schumacher - Mercedes - 1m 18.561s
4. Alonso - Ferrari - 1m 18.877s
5. Webber - Red Bull - 1m 19.184s
6. Vettel - Red Bull - 1m 19.297s
7. Hamilton - McLaren - 1m 19.464s
8. Ricciardo - Toro Rosso - 1m 19.587s
9. Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1m 19.597s
10. Raikkonen - Lotus - 1m 19.670s
11. Perez - Sauber - 1m 19.770s
12. Di Resta - Force India - 1m 19.772s
13. Kobayashi - Sauber - 1m 19.834s
14. Hulkenberg - Force India - 1m 19.977s
15. Senna - Williams - 1m 20.132s
16. Bianchi - Force India - 1m 20.221s
17. Massa - Ferrari - 1m 20.454s
18. Button - McLaren - 1m 20.688s
19. Maldonado - Williams - 1m 21.197s
20. Kovalainen - Caterham - 1m 21.518s
21. De la Rosa - HRT - 1m 22.128s
22. Trulli - Caterham - 1m 22.198s
23. Van der Garde - Caterham - 1m 23.324s

Posted by Martin Porter. - Follow him on twitter @mpondaweb.

Jerez test summary