Alonso Pipped By William’s Rookie in Barcelona Test
February 26th, 2010
In his last practice day before the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain, on March the 14th, Fernando Alonso, with a low fuel and soft tyre setup, set some blistering times to top the time sheets in the morning session, with a best time of 1:20:614.
Being the last opportunity to prove the performance of Ferrari’s 2010 car, it was expected that Alonso would test the F10 in full qualifying setup. “The performance has been good,” he said as Alonso left the Ferrari garage full of satisfaction and was applauded by a large group of fans that had gathered in front of Ferrari pits. Some 15,000 spectators spent the day at the circuit, watching all the main teams in action.
Sources close to the Ferrari team, said two time F1 champion Alonso had also tested a new diffuser and some aerodynamic modifications that are not certain to be introduced in the first race in Bahrain. Spanish compatriot, Pedro de la Rosa clocked in the second fastest time, just three tenths behind Alonso, while another fellow countryman, Jaume Alguersuari, was fifth.
Michael Schumacher placed his Mercedes in sixth place, one second adrift of Alonso’s time. However, there were rumours at the Barcelona track that, like last year, the head of Schumacher’s GP Mercedes team, Ross Brawn, is readying a new diffuser that will stretch the limits of the FIA regulations and could bring about some drastic speed improvements for the Mercedes car.
With the afternoon session recently finishing, the surprise of the day was William’s rookie driver Nico Hulkenberg, who clocked a time of 1:20.614, 23 hundredths of a second faster than that set in the morning session by Alonso.
The final times from the Barcelona test were:
1. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams-Cosworth 1m20.614s
2. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1m20.637s (+0.023)
3. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Sauber-Ferrari 1m20.973s (+0.359)
4. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India-Mercedes 1m21.056s (+0.442)
5. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 1m21.258s (+0.644)
6. Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m21.571s (+0.957)
7. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes 1m21.689s (+1.075)
8. Lewis Hamilton (GB McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.152s (+1.538)
9. Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1m24.912s (+4.298)
10. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus-Cosworth 1m25.524s (+4.910)
11. Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin-Cosworth 1m25.942s (+5.328)
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