F1: Red Bull Fastest Of 2012 Cars At Jerez

Formula 1

F1: Red Bull Fastest Of 2012 Cars At Jerez

Mark Webber’s Red Bull RB8 was the fastest of the new cars on Wednesday in Jerez...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted February 08, 2012 Jerez (ESP)

Mark Webber drove 97 laps on Wednesday in Jerez. (Photo: Getty Images)

Nine teams continued to put mileage on their new cars at Jerez on Wednesday, and with teams running different programs, times were largely irrelevant. Wind made life difficult for the drivers on a sunny but generally cool day.

There were only two new faces on the track today, as Sergio Perez had his first go in the Sauber C31, and Force India third driver Jules Bianchi spent the morning in the VJM05 before handing back to Paul di Resta.

Michael Schumacher finished the day on top of the times at the wheel of last year’s Mercedes, logging a total of 132 laps, the second highest total of the day. His focus was on getting to know the 2012 tires.

“We made the most of a reliable car today to do lots of laps and learn a lot about the new Pirelli tires,” said the German. “And how they perform on longer and shorter runs, and with different set-up configurations. It was a good and productive test, full of lots of useful information for the season ahead, and I am now looking forward to driving our 2012 car for the first time at the next test.”

More relevant was the fact that Mark Webber’s Red Bull RB8 was the fastest of the new cars.

“I think we’re making good progress although, as I keep saying, it’s still very early days in the concept of the car and we have a lot to get through before we race it,” said Webber. “But it’s the same for all the teams. We did well on the mileage today. I guess we could have done a bit more, but it was positive overall and the conditions were good to test in.”

Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest for Toro Rosso, while Bianchi held on to fourth after his morning run in the Force India.

Kimi Raikkonen lost track time in the morning after damaging the floor in a minor off. He bounced back to complete 117 laps – the third highest total of the day – and set the fifth best time.

Di Resta was sixth fastest, ahead of Felipe Massa. Massa said that his day was taken up with all kinds of aero testing and data collection as the team adjusts to a car that is very different from its predecessors. The consensus among those viewing on track was that the Ferrari didn’t look very comfortable, but it’s way too early to draw too many conclusions.

Jenson Button focused on data gathering, and was eighth fastest in the McLaren. Team manager Dave Redding commented: “It’s still early days, and this was very much an exploratory day, but we were able to get a useful understanding of how the car behaves and reacts out on the track. It’s satisfying that Jenson’s been able to complete more than 600km of trouble-free running over the past two days; that puts us in a good position for the rest of the week.”

Next up were Perez, Pastor Maldonado in the Williams, and Heikki Kovalainen in the Caterham. The last named made up for a poor day yesterday by running 139 laps, more than anyone else. Pedro de la Rosa brought up the rear in the 2011 HRT.

Tomorrow Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton will all be in action for the first time.

Unofficial Wednesday test times from Jerez:
1. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes*, 1:18.561, 132 Laps
2. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:19.184, 97 Laps
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:19.587, 100 Laps
4. Jules Bianchi, Force India, 1:20.221, 46 Laps
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 1:20.239, 117 Laps
6. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:20.272, 69 Laps
7. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:20.454, 95 Laps
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:20.688, 85 Laps
9. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:20.711, 106 Laps
10. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:21.197, 97 Laps
11. Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham, 1:21.518, 139 Laps
12. Pedro de la Rosa, HRT*, 1:22.128, 64 Laps

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.