Alonso fastest on final day in Jerez

Circuito de Jerez. © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger

Fernando Alonso set the fastest time at Jerez today, on the final day of the opening pre-season Formula 1 test.

The Spaniard set a quickest time of 1:18.877; however Alonso only managed to complete 39 laps in the process.

It was a day of data collecting for the Scuderia, as the aim to shore up rumoured balance issues with the F2012 chassis. Alonso’s fast time was set during a low fuel run early in the day.

At Toro Rosso, Jean-Eric Verge clocked up 80 laps in the STR7, with the Italian squad running through various set-up configurations.
Sebastian Vettel managed 50 laps in the Red Bull RB8 after losing the morning due to an engine related electrical failure. The reigning world champion had completed only two installation laps when the problem occurred, leaving the German sidelined until after lunch.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton spent a portion of the day gathering data on the aerodynamic package, before moving onto set-up work, concentrating on suspension variables and basic set-up work.
Romain Grosjean’s day suffered a partial interruption when a water leak stopped his Lotus E20 machine. The GP2 champion still completed 95 laps of the Spanish circuit, running systems and temperature checks, while also gathering data for post-test performance evaluation. Grosjean started the day completing several short stints, before moving on to long runs in the afternoon.

Kamui Kobayashi completed 76 laps in his Sauber C31, despite enduring a stoppage due to a hydraulic leak. The team completed tyre evaluation as well as back-to-back aerodynamic comparisons.
Nico Hulkenberg got his first run in the Force India VJM05 today, running tyre comparisons and aerodynamic configurations.
At Williams, Bruno Senna enjoyed a race simulation and several shorter runs, as the Grove squad finished up their first test with the FW34. Senna logged 125 laps throughout the day.
Jarno Trulli got his first taste of the Caterham CT01 today, setting 117 laps as the team worked on finding a usable balance.

For the nuts and bolts of things, look to Joe Saward, Kate Walker, ManipeF1 and, of course, Autosport. For the more techy minded, there are always Racecar Engineering and Craig Scarborough.

2012 Formula 1 Pre-Season Test (Jerez, Day Two, February 10th)
Pos  Driver         Team            Time                Laps
 1.  Alonso         Ferrari         1m18.877s           39
 2.  Vergne         Toro Rosso      1m19.597s  +0.720   80
 3.  Vettel         Red Bull        1m19.606s  +0.729   50
 4.  Hamilton       McLaren         1m19.640s  +0.763   86
 5.  Grosjean       Lotus           1m19.729s  +0.852   95
 6.  Kobayashi      Sauber          1m19.834s  +0.957   76
 7.  Hulkenberg     Force India     1m19.977s  +1.100   90
 8.  Senna          Williams        1m20.132s  +1.255   125
 9.  Trulli         Caterham        1m22.198s  +3.321   117

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