Barcelona Tests Day 3: Pérez and Sauber Impress

The third day of testing in Barcelona was full of surprises, and disappointments for some teams. Indeed, reliability issues significantly handicapped a few teams, depriving them of considerable track time. But for the first time, the heat was present, and although it didn’t match the intensity of what would have been experienced in Bahrain, it allowed for testing the cars in more realistic conditions.

The morning was marked by two red flags due to Rubens Barrichello and Jérôme d’Ambrosio experiencing mechanical issues. But they were not the only ones affected by problems, as the Lotus Renault GP of Vitaly Petrov and the Lotus of Jarno Trulli were stationary in the pits for a long time, with KERS issues for the black and gold car, and gearbox problems for the green and yellow. The Russian completed only twenty-four laps and the Italian only six.

But Mark Webber’s Red Bull faced off against Felipe Massa’s Ferrari for long minutes at the top of the timesheet, before Sergio Perez put them both in agreement by grabbing the first place, and then setting the absolute fastest time of these winter tests in Barcelona, at 1:21.761.

The afternoon was dedicated to long stints, while Heikki Kovalainen and Nick Heidfeld took the place of their respective teammates for an afternoon with a busy schedule due to morning reliability issues. But it was Sergio Perez’s turn, first in this series of winter tests, to be a victim of an issue with the KERS on his Sauber. Michael Schumacher, with new parts brought by Mercedes GP on the W002, climbed to fifth place during a one-lap stint, ranking behind Barrichello’s Williams, which caused the third red flag of the day, before the Sauber driver caused one more at the end of the afternoon. However, no improvement on Sergio Perez’s time was seen this afternoon. Many drivers exceeded a hundred laps today, including Massa who made a mark with 132 laps completed.

The track conditions being optimal today, the teams were able to test their performance levels, but some lap times may raise questions. Intimidation attempt or real performance? Lack of competitiveness or a desire not to be noticed? The questions will find answers in Melbourne, in two weeks.

Tomorrow will see the return of McLaren in these tests, and the probable appearance of the F111 of Hispania Racing Team for a first run, but also the last day of testing for most of the teams.

The results of the third day of private testing in Barcelona: