The third day of testing with Button, Schumacher and Alonso, Ferrari top again
The last day of the Valencia test finished with Ferrari remaining on top and Sauber rooted in second place. Fernando Alonso had his first taste of a Ferrari today and didn’t disappoint the thousands of fans that turned up at the Spanish circuit by completing over 100 laps and posting the fastest time of the test.
Sauber also continued to impress by running second for the third day with Pedro de la Rosa confirming that their pace is as real as can be seen at this time of year, and that the other teams have some work to do. Jenson Button had a much more low key start to his McLaren career only posting the fifth fastest time and slower than Lewis Hamilton’s time yesterday.
The two rookies on track today sit at the bottom of the times with Hulkenberg someway off the pace. But at least they both got some miles under their belts, unlike the rookies that come with the new teams who will only end up with limited mileage before the first race.
Full times (from formula1.com)
1. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:11.470, 127 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:12.094, 80 Laps
3. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:12.438, 82 Laps
4. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:12.576, 97 Laps
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:12.951, 82 Laps
6. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:13.097, 75 Laps
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:13.669, 126 Laps
The Virgin car that was released today will have a shakedown at Silverstone tomorrow – it’ll be interesting to see how they do before they join the other teams next week in Jerez.
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