Jerez Day 5 – Heidfeld leads on wet track

With Renault and Force India absent from the Jerez circuit, the last day of testing saw the six drivers face a wet track once again. However, the conditions improved throughout the day, allowing for more satisfactory lap times by the end of the day.

With his BMW-Sauber team, Nick Heidfeld is the leader at the end of this week of testing. His best time of the day is 1:20.052. The German completed 123 laps, during which the 92nd was the fastest.

Sebastian Vettel therefore retains the best time of the week with a 1:19.055 recorded on Sunday.

Kimi Räikkönen was at the wheel of the Ferrari for the second consecutive day. He lost some time after a tight braking caused him to go off into the gravel. The Finn quickly got back on track and recorded the second-best time of the day, just under four-tenths behind Heidfeld.

Lewis Hamilton was supposed to complete the testing program for his McLaren-Mercedes team. He lost some time in the morning after stalling his MP4/24. Once on track, the reigning world champion tested a modified front wing.

McLaren once again used a large rear wing similar to the MP4-23, as well as a mark on the left front of the nose, probably to evaluate the new front wing. An off-track excursion is also added to Hamilton’s account, who was struggling today. He finished the session in third place after completing only 58 laps, 1.2 seconds behind the leader and, notably, without his rear wing…

Mark Webber was not able to perform as well as his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Today, the Australian simply completed 47 laps with the fourth fastest time, two seconds behind Heidfeld.

Overall, combining the entire day, the time ranking would be: Sebastian Vettel followed by Timo Glock, Fernando Alonso, Nick Heidfeld, Felipe Massa, Kimi Räikkönen, Jarno Trulli, and Heikki Kovalainen.

Testing resumes on Monday in northern Spain at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Results of private tests Spain – Jerez – Thursday, March 5th: