Hamilton fastest of all as Jerez test ends

Feb.13 (YF1) After a gloomy start to proceedings on the fourth and final day of testing at Jerez things picked up towards the end of the day, which ended with 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton powering the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-2 around the Andalusian circuit fastest of all on the day.

Hamilton spent much of the day near the foot of the timing screens as his team appeared to be concentrating on long runs with heavy fuel. With ten minutes to go the Briton returned to the circuit and put in a burst of ultra-fast laps which saw him break into the 1 minute 19 seconds with two consecutive laps and then on his final tour of three went quickest, of the whole  four days, with a time of 1 minute 19.583  seconds. He completed 113 laps in total.

Adrian Sutil gave Force India reason to smile as late on he emulated Hamilton by setting his best time of the day 1 minute 20.180 seconds, second best on the final day with 83 laps under his belt in the VJM03. The team will be content with the work done and pace of their 2010 challenger as they had skipped the Valencia test and their car ran in anger for the first time this weekend. Mercedes power hogging the top two positions on the final time sheets.

Third quickest lap time of the day went to Rubens Barrichello who notched up 90 laps and for some stages was top of the timing screens in the FW32. He racked up 210 laps over the two days, which included substantial wet and dry runs.

Robert Kubica and Renault also had a more positive day as he spent most of the day on the top end of the timing screens, topping them on occasions. Racking up 85 laps, in stints that included short and long runs, the Pole was fourth quickest at the end of the day.

Michael Schumacher had pulses racing as his Mercedes GP came to halt out on circuit, but it was a deliberate ploy by the comeback champion to run the car dry of fuel. In total the German posted 83 laps and the fifth fastest time.

Sebastian Vettel’s 65 laps for the day were the second least by any driver/  car combination. The German ended the day sixth fastest and a second off the pace of fellow first time testers Force India. Vettel spent much of his idle time pacing up and down the pit lane, aappearing especially keen on hovering around the Ferrari pit garage area… and duly snapped doing so by photographers.

Felipe Massa was the busiest man all day completing 160 laps in the Ferrari F10, equivalent to almost three Grands Prix. The Brazilian was out most of the time doing long, fuel heavy runs which saw him end the day seventh fastest and with 232 laps on his two days behind the wheel.

Pedro de la Rosa was the only other driver to go over the 100 laps mark, posting 105 laps in the Sauber. They appeared to be concentrating on longer runs and as a result were eighth quickest in the session. For the returning Spaniard driver the exercise helped him get back into the F1 groove.

Virgin Racing, after two torrid and frustrating days waiting for parts, at last managed to get meaningful mileage onto the VR-01 with rookie Lucas di Grassi at the wheel. After 62 laps the Brazilian was not far off the pace, considering the newness of the car and the whole operation this was a substantial feat. Not being at the bottom of the standings at the end of the day will also no doubt be A boost for the team.

After heading the timing sheets at the end of day three, Jaime Alguersuari was at the opposite end of the page on the final day at the wheel of the Toro Rosso. The team, focusing on heavy fuel runs, ended up with 98 laps on the board.

Day 4 best lap times: