Jerez day two - Kobayashi fastest for BMW Sauber 11 Feb 2010
BMW Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi stormed to the top of the Jerez timesheets in the dying moments of Thursday’s session to push Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi into second place. Kobayashi’s fastest lap of 1m 19.950s was just over seven-hundredths of a second quicker than Buemi’s best effort, as this week’s four-day test continued at the Spanish track.
With the weather much improved after a drizzly Wednesday, Kobayashi was able to cover 103 laps during the course of the day in the C29.
“It was a good day of testing as we managed to complete our programme,” said BMW Sauber’s head of track engineering, Giampaolo Dall'Ara. “In the morning we did some aero tests. After the lunch break we concentrated on set-up and tyre evaluation. For most of the day we were running with a high fuel load prior to a run with a lighter car before the end of the session. For tomorrow the weather forecast is not really promising, but we will cope with what we get."
Buemi in the new STR5 completed 121 laps. He carried out an evaluation of aero parts and assessed different set-ups with different fuel loads. Team mate Jaime Alguersuari will test on Friday.
“I am pleased with how the past two days have gone and although rain is never ideal, yesterday’s damp conditions meant we could try the wet weather tyres,” said Buemi. “Today, in the dry, we were able to do a lot of laps, as the car ran reliably. We tried various set-ups and ran with different fuel loads, so we are beginning to get a better understanding of STR5 in general.”
Jenson Button finished in third for McLaren on his final day in the MP4-25 before handing the car over to team mate Lewis Hamilton. Button completed 83 laps as he carried out aero work and tyre evaluations. Nico Hulkenberg was fourth for Williams. Hulkenberg only managed to cover 67 laps during the day due to some issues with his FW32.
“We had some mechanical problems with the hydraulic system and the drive line today,” explained Williams’ technical director Sam Michael. “We had a leak first thing this morning, which we identified relatively quickly, but it took us a long time to correct because the clutch was covered with hydraulic fluid. That effectively ruled us out of most of the morning session.
“We encountered a smaller issue this afternoon with a driveshaft component. It was quicker to rectify, but obviously wasn’t ideal in terms of track time. We still made our way through three or four set-up changes and we'll just have to target higher mileage tomorrow with Rubens (Barrichello).”
Vitantonio Liuzzi took fifth for Force India. Liuzzi covered 80 laps in the VJM03, focusing on aero work and comparison runs of Bridgestone’s new tyre compounds.
“I think that we can be pretty happy about today,” said Italian. “We covered a lot of laps and a lot of the test items we wanted to. For sure we still have to look into a few more areas but overall the car is responding well and reacts to all the changes. We tested different settings and different conditions and overall it was always positive, so I have to say we can be really satisfied about how it's going. The team did a good job and now we have to keep pushing for the next days of testing as we still have to extrapolate the best out of the car.”
Liuzzi finished over three-tenths ahead of Michael Schumacher, who was back behind the wheel of the Mercedes. Schumacher completed 124 laps in the MGP W01, evaluating tyres compounds and carrying out set-up work.
"I am very happy with how the day went today even if we could not finish our schedule completely due to red flags,” said the German. “However I managed to complete a lot of laps which is very precious to me. A new car, a new team and new conditions, therefore our first goal has to be to make the car reliable. Days like today help massively in that respect, especially as the weather forecast for the next few days isn't looking quite so rosy. I felt very comfortable driving the car and it was good fun today."
Seventh fastest was Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari. Alonso, who was able to run on dry tyres for all 129 laps he completed, worked on the F10’s general performance and set-up.
The Spaniard’s former team, Renault, occupied the eighth slot with Robert Kubica in the R30’s cockpit. Kubica covered 103 laps as he ran through a technical programme, which focused on the car’s set-up.
“Another very productive day as we completed over 100 laps and did a lot of set-up work with the car,” explained Renault’s chief engineer Alan Permane. “We had made a lot of changes for Robert since the last test in Valencia and he's now much more comfortable and happier in the car. We steadily improved the balance and grip throughout the day and hopefully we can continue with this tomorrow if the rain holds off."
Mark Webber was ninth fastest in the Red Bull after covering 99 laps in the RB6. Thanks to the drier conditions, the team focused on development and set-up.
“It’s been a very productive two days,” said the Australian. “We’ve had a few little niggles here and there with reliability, but despite that we’ve managed to complete quite a few laps with the new car. We’ve had one wet and one dry day and learned a lot on both. We’ve still got quite a bit of testing to go before we get to Bahrain, which we’re going to need to continue to understand the car and keep finding performance. But I’d say we’re off to a pretty solid start and we’ve got a great base to build on.”
The day’s final runner was Virgin’s Timo Glock. The German only managed 11 laps before he was forced to curtail his running in the VR-01 due to a broken front wing whilst the team wait for new parts to arrive.
The Jerez test will continue until Saturday.
Unofficial Thursday times from Jerez:
1. Kamui Kobayashi, BMW Sauber, 1:19.950, 103 Laps
2. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:20.026, 121 Laps
3. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:20.618, 83 Laps
4. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:20.629, 67 Laps
5. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:20.754, 80 Laps
6. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:21.083, 124 Laps
7. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:21.424, 129 Laps
8. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:22.003, 103 Laps
9. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:22.043, 99 Laps
10. Timo Glock, Virgin, 1:29.964, 11 Laps
