Well... so far McLaren is much faster
With Valencia having kicked off official 2010 pre-season testing with three days last week, Jerez became the first venue to host a weekend day of running and will repeat the feat in the shape of another 4-day run from next Wednesday.
Much to the despair of the ten teams present, rain looked to have ruined any further chances of dry setup development on Saturday morning although there were a number of smiles as drivers finally enjoyed a waterless afternoon.
Hamilton's best effort of 1:19.583 placed a McLaren on P1 for the first time this year, having set the lap in the dying minutes of the session which ran between 9am and 5pm. Adrian Sutil ensured good mileage for Force India at the first test for the VJM03, looking to end the day quickest before Hamilton's eventual leading lap was posted.
Rubens Barrichello elevated the Williams-Cosworth to the top three, successfully completing several long runs in the process, although the Brazilian was forced to end the day early due to technical problems. Compatriot Felipe Massa also ran into trouble and became stranded at the pit lane entrance in the morning, although the Ferrari driver still managed to rack up a stunning total of 160 circulations of the Andalusian track.
7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher caused his first red flag of testing when the Mercedes driver intentionally ran out of fuel; with refuelling banned in races this year, it is more vital than ever for teams to know how far their new car will run under certain conditions. The German drove a total of 83 laps on his way to fifth place.
With Pedro de la Rosa being the only man other than Hamilton and Massa to achieve over a century of laps, fellow Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari moved from the top of Friday's results to the bottom of Saturday's on a best lap of 1:24.072 for Toro Rosso, four and a half seconds off the leading pace.
Important progress was also finally made at Virgin Racing; after coming into the day with a total of only 24 laps under its belt since arriving in south-west Spain, Lucas di Grassi toured no less than 63 times to place the all-CFD developed car - complete with a modified front wing following's Thursday's failure - in ninth spot.
Times from Feb 13th:
1 L. Hamilton McLaren Bridgestone 01:19.583 113
2 A. Sutil Force India F1 Bridgestone 01:20.180 83
3 R. Barrichello Williams Bridgestone 01:20.341 90
4 R. Kubica Renault Bridgestone 01:20.358 85
5 M. Schumacher Mercedes Grand Prix Bridgestone 01:20.613 83
6 S. Vettel Red Bull Bridgestone 01:21.203 89
7 F. Massa Ferrari Bridgestone 01:21.485 160
8 P. de la Rosa Sauber Bridgestone 01:22.134 105
9 L. Di Grassi Virgin Racing Bridgestone 01:22.912 63
10 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso Bridgestone 01:24.072 98
There is no doubt in my mind that the teams are trying to understand the fuel load implications on the tire compounds and chassis settings.
