Barcelona Day 1: Webber’s New Leadership in Testing!

Mark Webber gave a serious warning to his rivals about the level of his RBR6 by executing a series of fast laps in the morning during these last preseason tests in Barcelona. The Austrian team had previously run alone on the track for filming purposes on Wednesday. On Thursday, Webber spent his morning focusing on qualifying simulations.

He never completed more than three consecutive laps and logically the Australian stopped improving towards the end of the morning to set his best time at 1:21.487 just before 12:30. To put his performance into perspective, he completed eight laps faster than anyone else did. His best time is 1.027 seconds slower than Nico Rosberg’s on Mercedes, who finished second.

The German, whose team planned aerodynamic updates for their cars on the second day of the event, focused his efforts on the long term. He also achieved his best time shortly before the lunch break.

Nico Hülkenberg for Williams was Webber’s closest rival for much of the morning, but eventually finished third, 0.170 seconds behind Rosberg. The new Williams driver spent part of the morning working on longer distances before trying some qualifying simulations for a best lap of 1:22.684.

Pedro de la Rosa continues to make progress at the wheel of his BMW-Sauber. He recorded the fourth-best time of the day ahead of a somewhat frustrated Fernando Alonso with his Ferrari. The Spaniard stopped on track shortly before 10:25 AM due to a mechanical issue. He did not reappear until the very end of the morning. In fact, he completed only 22 laps before the lunch break.

Behind him, Jenson Button finishes sixth in his McLaren, ahead of Jaime Alguersuari in his Toro Rosso, Vitantonio Liuzzi in his Force India, and Vitaly Petrov driving the Renault R30.

There was some frustration on the part of Virgin Racing, as Lucas di Grassi (10th) hit the barriers at turn No. 9 just before the lunch break. The rear of the VR-01 was damaged in the impact. It was uncertain whether the damage would be repaired before the end of yesterday.

The red flag was also raised in the first half-hour of testing when Fairuz Fauzy (11th) and his Lotus stopped on the track due to a hydraulic problem.

Results Private Testing Barcelona – Day 1 – Thursday, February 25, 2010: