Valencia Test: Kubica on top

Formula One’s first 2011 test session came to an end this afternoon.

The teams spent three days on the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, getting acquainted with their new cars (for those who had them) and evaluating the latest generation of Pirelli tyres.

Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso set the pace on the opening two days, while Robert Kubica set the fastest lap time of the session at the conclusion of these tests. The Lotus Renault driver was quicker than Sutil and Button – both driving last year’s cars.

An oil leak on his Ferrari hindered Felipe Massa’s progress today. He was forced to stop on track this morning and eventually rejoined at 2.35pm. He then had a problem-free afternoon and had completed 80 laps at the end of the day.

Mercedes’ reliability woes continued: a few minutes to the end, Michael Schumacher slowly rejoined the pits with an unidentified mechanical problem.

Like Kovalainen yesterday, Jarno Trulli completed several installation laps. The power steering on the Lotus T128 is still not working properly and the team called it a day just after 4pm. It will stay at Valencia for one more day of private testing tomorrow.

The next test session will take place at Jerez from Thursday to Sunday (10-13 February). McLaren, Force India and Virgin Racing should be running their new cars.

The fastest lap times of the day: