Young German driver Sebastian Vettel put the Renault-powered put Red Bull car on top of the charts at Jerez in treacherous and slippery conditions because of the rain.
It was pretty horrid weather in Spain with changeable, gusty, unpredictable and filled with intermittent heavy showers.
The Red Bull driver made the most of a brighter spell in early afternoon to set a best time of 1m22.593s, which stood as the day's fastest.
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton improved his lap times as the track dried again to secure second place.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was third, ahead of Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Pedro de la Rosa (BMW-Sauber) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP).
Lotus F1 Racing’s Reserve driver Fairuz Fauzy drove the T127-Cosworth. Despite a lack of power steering, due to supplier issues, the Lotus ran 76 laps without problems.
“With the car we had no major reliability issues – a few niggles with overheating which were quickly solved and then the car ran pretty faultlessly. The power steering issue will be fixed for tomorrow so all in all a very successful first day and a busy evening ahead preparing the car for tomorrow,” said Lotus Technical Director Mike Gascoyne.
Timo Glock only completed 10 laps at the wheel of the Virgin Racing VR-01 Cosworth.
Jerez tests, Day 1, Wednesday:
Pos Driver Team Time* Laps
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:22.593 99
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.017 72
3. Massa Ferrari 1:23.204 72
4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.322 79
5. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber 1:23.367 76
6. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:23.803 111
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.272 28
8. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:25.088 74
9. Petrov Renault 1:26.237 55
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:27.320 109
11. Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth 1:31.848 76
12. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.417 10
*Unofficial timing
photo:WRI2
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| Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Renault photo: WRI2 |
It was pretty horrid weather in Spain with changeable, gusty, unpredictable and filled with intermittent heavy showers.
The Red Bull driver made the most of a brighter spell in early afternoon to set a best time of 1m22.593s, which stood as the day's fastest.
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton improved his lap times as the track dried again to secure second place.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was third, ahead of Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Pedro de la Rosa (BMW-Sauber) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP).
Lotus F1 Racing’s Reserve driver Fairuz Fauzy drove the T127-Cosworth. Despite a lack of power steering, due to supplier issues, the Lotus ran 76 laps without problems.
“With the car we had no major reliability issues – a few niggles with overheating which were quickly solved and then the car ran pretty faultlessly. The power steering issue will be fixed for tomorrow so all in all a very successful first day and a busy evening ahead preparing the car for tomorrow,” said Lotus Technical Director Mike Gascoyne.
Timo Glock only completed 10 laps at the wheel of the Virgin Racing VR-01 Cosworth.
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| Michael Schumacher - Mercedes GP photo: WRI2 |
Jerez tests, Day 1, Wednesday:
Pos Driver Team Time* Laps
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:22.593 99
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.017 72
3. Massa Ferrari 1:23.204 72
4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.322 79
5. de la Rosa BMW-Sauber 1:23.367 76
6. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:23.803 111
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.272 28
8. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:25.088 74
9. Petrov Renault 1:26.237 55
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:27.320 109
11. Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth 1:31.848 76
12. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.417 10
*Unofficial timing
 |
| Fairuz Fauzy - Lotus Cosworth photo: WRI2 |
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| Paul di Resta - Force India Mercedes photo: WRI2 |
photo:WRI2