Jerez Day 4 – Bourdais ahead of Hamilton and Alonso

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest among the 2009 version single-seaters on this fourth and final day of the week’s testing in Jerez. The Briton is, however, behind Sébastien Bourdais in a Toro Rosso still from 2008 but with some new elements. Alonso reassures with a third place.

Even though Bourdais was the fastest today, it was still Hamilton and McLaren who recorded the best time of the day in mild weather conditions. Yesterday, the gap that separated him from third was one-thousandth over Vettel; this time, it is one-tenth over Alonso. The Renault driver reassures by proving that the R29 can be competitive.

Alonso has also expressed relief about his performances. The Renault had experienced some difficulties at the beginning of the week.

« Yesterday, we focused on reliability. Seeing that it was good, today we’re focusing on performance and the car is responding well too. » More reactions from the Spaniard and the team with the diamond logo will be on the site in a few minutes.

Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima took to the track today. Nakajima was only able to complete installation laps, totaling 34 un-timed laps. Rosberg focused on long runs. The German is fourth, over one and a half seconds behind Alonso. He is ahead of Mark Webber, who was driving for the second time since his accident.

The Australian saw his morning spoiled by a mechanical problem on the Red Bull RB5. The car stalled in the middle of the straight, unrelated to the engine. It was impossible to restart it.

Ian Morgan, the Red Bull race director, nevertheless seems satisfied with the good performances shown at the beginning of the week: « Apart from a few issues, which are normal with a new car, these initial tests have yielded good results. The level of reliability seems very good and the performances are encouraging! »

Result Private Testing Spain – Jerez – Friday, February 13, 2009: