Jerez Test: Heidfeld shines for Renault
Setting the fastest time of the day
Nick Heidfeld couldn’t have dreamt of a better story as he completed his first day of testing with Lotus Renault with the fastest time.
The German driver, who made another step towards replacing Robert Kubica at the wheel of the R31 while the Polish recovers from his injuries sustained in a rally crash, went faster than former World Champions Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher. We don’t know how much fuel he had on board though.
The Williams team had further KERS problems this afternoon but Rubens Barrichello still managed to complete a valuable number of laps. McLaren Mercedes lost some time in the middle of the day because of mechanical problems. There were also troubles for Sauber.
Paul di Resta had an off during the afternoon. The Force India team subsequently revealed that its VJM04 was affected by a brake balance issue since the start of the day.
Ten minutes to the end, it was Buemi’s Toro Rosso which stopped on track with a liquid leak.
Testing will conclude tomorrow.
The fastest lap times of the day:
Pos. | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | N. Heidfeld | Lotus Renault R31 | 1.20.361 | 86 | |
02 | F. Alonso | Ferrari F150 | 1.20.493 | +0.132 | 131 |
03 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes GP W02 | 1.21.054 | +0.693 | 114 |
04 | L. Hamilton | McLaren MP4-26 | 1.21.099 | +0.738 | 36 |
05 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber C30 | 1.21.242 | +0.881 | 84 |
06 | S. Vettel | Red Bull RB7 | 1.21.574 | +1.213 | 98 |
07 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso STR6 | 1.21.681 | +1.320 | 92 |
08 | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus T128 | 1.21.711 | +1.350 | 61 |
09 | R. Barrichello | Williams FW33 | 1.22.227 | +1.866 | 99 |
10 | P. di Resta | Force India VJM04 | 1.22.945 | +2.584 | 64 |
11 | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin MVR-02 | 1.25.471 | +5.110 | 72 |