Kobayashi shines with Sauber

With rain predicted to dominate proceedings on Friday, the second day of running at Jerez saw the ten teams present take advantage of improved conditions to put in a good number of laps. Kamui Kobayashi saved his best to last as he vaulted to the top of the timesheets in his Sauber Ferrari with a best lap of 1:19.950s.

Sebastien Buemi was second fastest in his new Toro Rosso Ferrari, less than a tenth adrift of Kobayashi while Jenson Button next up for McLaren Mercedes, despite stopping late in the session with a mechanical problem. It was Button’s second day behind the wheel of the MP4-25 and he now hands the car over to team-mate Lewis Hamilton to complete the test.

Nico Hulkenberg lost valuable track time in the morning with a Hydraulic problem on the new Cosworth-powered Williams, but was soon back on track as he focused on the general setup of the FW32. He was encouraging fourth fastest for the Grove-based team.

Tonio Liuzzi completed some long runs in the afternoon focusing on tyre wear following some graining issues. The Italian ended the day fifth overall in his new VJM03 while Michael Schumacher picked up the pace in the final hour of running in the new Mercedes as he posted the sixth best time.

Fernando Alonso completed a number of long runs with varying levels of fuel to evaluate tyre wear. The double world champion ended the day seventh, completing an impressive 129 laps of the 4.428km circuit. He now hands over the F10 to Felipe Massa for the remainder of the test.

Over at Renault, Vitaly Petrov was scheduled to test today but with more rain forecast for Friday, the team has opted to run Robert Kubica today to gain some dry mileage. Kubica was eighth, two seconds off the pace of Kobayashi and a fraction ahead of Mark Webber who completed a second day of running in the new RB6.

It was a frustrating day for the new Virgin Cosworth team as Timo Glock was only able to complete 11 laps before a front wing mounting problem curtailed the days programme prematurely. The team are waiting on new parts to arrive this evening and will be back on track tomorrow.