The second day of pre-season testing came to a close this evening in Valencia with a familiar time at the top of the timesheets. Felipe Massa’s lap just over an hour into the session of 1:11.722s remained unbeaten over the day ensuring that Ferrari and the new F10 challenger remains - so far - unbeaten.
As we don’t know the fuel levels used by the seven teams in action around the 4.005km Ricardo Tormo circuit, it’s remains hard to gauge the relative performance of the teams. Massa’s lap was however eight-tenths quicker than his Monday best and only seven-tenths off the circuit record recorded back in 2008. Massa hands the F10 over to new team-mate Fernando Alonso on Wednesday after an impressive226 laps over two days.
Underlying the impressive early pace from Pedro de la Rosa in the new Sauber C29 yesterday, former Toyota racer Kamui Kobayashi had his first run in the sleek new design today, recording the second fastest time, three-tenths of a second off the ultimate pace.
Lewis Hamilton had his first run in the new McLaren today, lapping half a second shy of Massa. Today it emerged that the Woking-based team are using flow visualisation paint on the MP4-25, a tactic deployed to good effect in the past.
Robert Kubica picked up the pace in the final hour in the new and distinctive Renault, but despite reporting ’no problems,’ an engine problem late in the session curtailed his running with the fourth fastest time. New signing Vitaly Petrov gets the first taste of the R30 tomorrow.
Nico Rosberg was the only Mercedes driver on track today, posting the fifth fastest time in the new MGP W01 challenger, half a second clear of Rubens Barrichello in the new Cosworth-powered Williams. Rosberg admitted that his day was compromised slightly by his seat dropping down in the cockpit, making visibility an issue.
Sebastien Buemi brought up the rear of the timesheets in his new Toro Rosso Ferrari, but put in a good number of laps following the gearbox problems that hampered his test on Monday.
Testing continues on Wednesday with Alonso having his first Ferrari test and Michael Schumacher back behind the wheel of the Mercedes.
Today’s testing images can be seen by clicking here.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | Massa | Ferrari F10 | 1:11.722 | +0.000 | 124 |
| 02. | Kobayashi | Sauber C29 | 1:12.056 | +0.334 | 96 |
| 03. | Hamilton | McLaren MP4-25 | 1:12.256 | +0.534 | 108 |
| 04. | Kubica | Renault R30 | 1:12.426 | +0.704 | 119 |
| 05. | Rosberg | Mercedes GP W01 | 1:12.899 | +1.177 | 119 |
| 06. | Barrichello | Williams FW32 | 1:13.377 | +1.655 | 102 |
| 07. | Buemi | Toro Rosso STR5 | 1:13.823 | +2.101 | 107 |