Jerez Day 4 – Alonso shifts into fourth before the rain

The fourth day of testing at the Jerez circuit saw a large number of laps completed by the teams, but more notably, once again, the weather was unpredictable. Large gray clouds hovered over the Spanish track in the morning, and by lunchtime, they unleashed heavy rain accompanied by strong gusts of wind.

It is Fernando Alonso who sets the fastest time of the day before the deterioration. He thus demonstrates the good pace of the Renault R29. The Spaniard completed 130 laps with a best time of 1:19.945 recorded on his 13th test lap.

The time set by Sebastian Vettel on Sunday remains the best of the week at 1:19.055 at the wheel of the Red Bull Renault.

Kimi Räikkönen took to the track and completed a large number of laps in the morning before the rain. The 2007 champion finished the day with the second-best time in the F60, three-tenths behind Alonso.

Nick Heidfeld was at the wheel of the F1.09 today, managing to secure the third-best time ahead of Jarno Trulli for Toyota. After being at the top of the timesheets for most of the week, the Japanese team had to settle for the fourth-best time.

Mark Webber is 5th today for his second day at the wheel of the Red Bull Renault ahead of Kazuki Nakajima, who replaced Nico Rosberg for the Williams Toyota team.

Lewis Hamilton sets the seventh fastest time in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4/24. The Woking team has once again chosen to race with a 2008-level downforce and a 2008 rear wing.

She did not specify what difficulties she was encountering with the 2009 aerodynamic setup, but it is clear that there is a problem. With just a few days before the championship opens in Australia, the team intended to evaluate the 2009 wings but then reverted to the old model.

Adrian Sutil finds himself last on the timesheet with the new Force India-Mercedes, 1.5 seconds behind the day’s leader, Fernando Alonso.

Renault and Force India have concluded their tests. The six other teams will remain on the circuit tomorrow, Thursday, for the last day of racing.

More information in a few moments…

Result Private Tests Spain – Jerez – Wednesday, March 4: