Jerez Day 3: In dry conditions, Mark Webber is the best

Mark Webber and his Red Bull Racing team have taken the lead on the timing sheets on this third day of testing in Jerez (the seventh overall) under finally dry conditions! After days of rain, the sun finally made an appearance for most of the session, allowing teams to work on their programs after the frustration of the first two days.

The Australian therefore sets the best time of the day, and of the week so far, with a lap completed in 1:19.299 in the early afternoon. This time is also the best of the year as the driver was nearly two-tenths of a second faster than Lewis Hamilton on McLaren, who held the best time last week.

Webber was the best, not without difficulty, as he caused a red flag, the fourth of the day, when he came to a stop around noon.

Fernando Alonso, taking over from his teammate Felipe Massa in the cockpit of the Ferrari F10, finished second that day. The Italian team made good use of the conditions to make up for the time lost over the previous two days. The Spaniard completed 132 laps without any issues and finished over eight-tenths behind Webber.

The reigning world champion, Jenson Button began his work today and posted the third-fastest time with his McLaren. Nico Hülkenberg and Michael Schumacher complete the top five.

The newcomers such as Virgin and Lotus had their share of problems today, causing a total of three red flags. Heikki Kovalainen stopped on the track around 9:50 am due to a clutch sensor failure. The Finnish driver resumed work a little later and completed a total of 68 laps but with the slowest time of the day.

At Virgin, Lucas di Grassi took over from his teammate Timo Glock. The Brazilian caused two stoppages during the event due to issues with his car. He ranks 10th out of the 11 drivers present today. The two new teams finished the day four seconds off the benchmark pace.

The Sauber team experienced a miserable day after Kamui Kobayashi stopped on track with a problem in the fuel supply system just two hours into the session. It took about five hours for the Japanese driver to return to the track and complete only 28 laps, achieving the eighth best time. He ranked ahead of Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso but behind Robert Kubica’s Renault (6th) and Adrian Sutil’s Force India (7th).

In total, there were six red flags that disrupted today’s session: Two from di Grassi, one from Webber, one from Kobayashi, one from Kovalainen, and the last one by Hülkenberg, which led to the premature end of this third and penultimate day in Jerez.

Result Private Tests Jerez – Day 3 – Friday, February 19, 2009: