After two days of domination of the Red Bull Racing team, Mercedes GP and Nico Rosberg enjoyed a great day of testing today Sunday at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.
The track was damp for much of the morning following overnight rain, and
Rosberg's programme was restricted to several exploratory runs to gain
experience of the Pirelli intermediate tire.
Conditions improved for the start of the afternoon session, allowing the team and Rosberg to complete a very constructive programme. Rosberg continued his familiarisation with the KERS system in conjunction with set-up comparisons over longer runs to further develop the team's understanding of car and tire behaviour.
His day concluded with qualifying simulations, including operation of KERS and the adjustable rear wing.
Russian driver Vitaly Petrov was second fastest in the Lotus Renault GP car. The team gathered some useful data on the intermediates Pirelli tires. The R31 was fitted with a different spec of exhaust tail pipe. Aero data was collected to assess its effect on car performance.
The team made some good progress with the suspension changes at the front and rear. We also did some work with tire pressures and found some more improvements.
Lewis Hamilton was third in the McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes. The Briton began his with some installation laps on wet tires, his first experience of Pirelli’s intermediate and full-wet compounds.
The team stopped for a short period before lunch to correct a minor mechanical issue. In the afternoon, Hamilton conducted longer runs, evaluating tire behaviour over the course of a stint.
Rookie Pastor Madonaldo was a surprising fourth in the Williams-Cosworth, ahead of Mark Webber in the Red Bull-Renault and Jarno Trulli in the Team Lotus-Cosworth.
Felipe Massa was only 10th fastest in the Ferrari F150th Italia. Massa did have a couple of off-track excursions in the morning, although the car was undamaged. In the afternoon, on a completely dry track, the Brazilian concentrated on a race simulation, which was successfully completed.
Testing at Barcelone will finish tomorrow, Monday.
Day 3, F1 winter testing, Barcelone, Spain, February 20
PosDriverConstructorTime*Laps
1Nico RosbergMercedes GP1m23.16892
2Vitaly PetrovLotus-Renault1m23.46393
3Lewis HamiltonMcLaren Mercedes1m23.85893
4Pastor MaldonadoWilliams1m24.81560
5Mark WebberRed Bull Racing1m24.995139
6Jarno TrulliTeam Lotus1m25.45448
7Sergio PerezSauber1m25.557115
8Adrian SutilForce India F11m25.720102
9Sebastien BuemiScuderia Toro Rosso1m26.15531
10Felipe MassaFerrari1m26.508123
11Timo GlockVirgin Racing1m26.59897
12Giorgio MondiniHRT F11m28.17839
13Daniel RicciardoScuderia Toro Rosso1m28.32942
14Narain KarthikeyanHRT F11m30.72232
*Unofficial timing
 |
| Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP (Photo: WRI2) |
The track was damp for much of the morning following overnight rain, and
Rosberg's programme was restricted to several exploratory runs to gain
experience of the Pirelli intermediate tire.
Conditions improved for the start of the afternoon session, allowing the team and Rosberg to complete a very constructive programme. Rosberg continued his familiarisation with the KERS system in conjunction with set-up comparisons over longer runs to further develop the team's understanding of car and tire behaviour.
His day concluded with qualifying simulations, including operation of KERS and the adjustable rear wing.
 |
| Vitaly Petrov, Lotus Renault GP (Photo: WRI2) |
Russian driver Vitaly Petrov was second fastest in the Lotus Renault GP car. The team gathered some useful data on the intermediates Pirelli tires. The R31 was fitted with a different spec of exhaust tail pipe. Aero data was collected to assess its effect on car performance.
The team made some good progress with the suspension changes at the front and rear. We also did some work with tire pressures and found some more improvements.
 |
| Jarno Trulli, Team Lotus (Photo: WRI2) |
Lewis Hamilton was third in the McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes. The Briton began his with some installation laps on wet tires, his first experience of Pirelli’s intermediate and full-wet compounds.
The team stopped for a short period before lunch to correct a minor mechanical issue. In the afternoon, Hamilton conducted longer runs, evaluating tire behaviour over the course of a stint.
Rookie Pastor Madonaldo was a surprising fourth in the Williams-Cosworth, ahead of Mark Webber in the Red Bull-Renault and Jarno Trulli in the Team Lotus-Cosworth.
Felipe Massa was only 10th fastest in the Ferrari F150th Italia. Massa did have a couple of off-track excursions in the morning, although the car was undamaged. In the afternoon, on a completely dry track, the Brazilian concentrated on a race simulation, which was successfully completed.
Testing at Barcelone will finish tomorrow, Monday.
Day 3, F1 winter testing, Barcelone, Spain, February 20
PosDriverConstructorTime*Laps
1Nico RosbergMercedes GP1m23.16892
2Vitaly PetrovLotus-Renault1m23.46393
3Lewis HamiltonMcLaren Mercedes1m23.85893
4Pastor MaldonadoWilliams1m24.81560
5Mark WebberRed Bull Racing1m24.995139
6Jarno TrulliTeam Lotus1m25.45448
7Sergio PerezSauber1m25.557115
8Adrian SutilForce India F11m25.720102
9Sebastien BuemiScuderia Toro Rosso1m26.15531
10Felipe MassaFerrari1m26.508123
11Timo GlockVirgin Racing1m26.59897
12Giorgio MondiniHRT F11m28.17839
13Daniel RicciardoScuderia Toro Rosso1m28.32942
14Narain KarthikeyanHRT F11m30.72232
*Unofficial timing