Valencia Day 3: Alonso keeps Ferrari on top in Valencia

Fernando Alonso made a perfect start with Scuderia Ferrari as he set the fastest time of the week on the last day of action in Spain this Wednesday. After two days of uncontested dominance by Felipe Massa, it was Alonso’s turn to finish on top in front of more than 35,000 fans who filled the stands.

Alonso ramped up throughout the morning. He went below the 1.12 mark during the first hour then set his best time of the day at 1.11.470 just before the lunch break. What is most concerning for his rivals is not the lap time itself, but the fact that he achieved it during a long run. He then drove for eight laps, thus countering his critics about a low fuel level.

Behind Alonso, the BMW-Sauber C29 continues to impress, as does Pedro de la Rosa, who set the second fastest time. Despite difficulties at the start of the session with an on-track clash with Nico Hülkenberg, de la Rosa remained quick. His team obviously hasn’t disclosed their fuel load. His best lap is 1:12.094.

Michael Schumacher took the wheel of the Mercedes GP for a full day of testing. After the excitement surrounding his time on Monday, he achieved a lap time of 1:12.438 today. Although the W01 still does not have the final 2010 diffuser and recent front wing, Schumacher is third at the end of the day, still a second behind Alonso.

Schumacher had to finish his tests an hour earlier due to a small hydraulic problem. Nevertheless, he completed 82 laps. The team director, Ross Brawn, admitted, however, that the team was not where it had hoped to be. There is a need to make some adjustments to the car’s weight distribution for the next event. The goal being to optimize performance in relation to the front tires.

« It’s always very difficult to judge. With yesterday’s (Tuesday) full tanks, we didn’t look too bad, but today we’re a bit behind. There are issues with the car’s balance that we can fix for the next Jerez event, » he told the BBC. « We know the origin of the problem. Of course, the other teams will also be making progress. So we have a bit of work to do! »

Schumacher also downplayed the team’s chances of winning at the start of the season: « I don’t expect to win right from the start. It’s not something I’m aiming for. But we need to be strong enough for development. »

Jaime Alguersuari showed signs of improvement with the new Toro Rosso. The team did not experience any further gearbox problems that had left Sébastien Buemi in the pits for a good part of the opening day. The Spaniard is fourth this Wednesday, just ahead of reigning world champion Jenson Button. The British driver was able to drive the new McLaren MP4-25 for the first time.

Button spent the beginning of the session with the team in the pits to perfect his driving position and get comfortable in his new environment, before completing a total of 82 laps. His best lap was 1:12.951, 1.4 seconds behind Alonso.

Vitaly Petrov finished his first day of action in an F1 by getting accustomed to the demands of Grand Prix cars. His best lap was 1.13.097 achieved at the end of the day. Even though Renault clearly has work to do to improve their R30, with a major aerodynamic upgrade planned before the season’s first race, Petrov handled these race conditions well.

At the bottom of the table, Hülkenberg recovered from his morning clash with de la Rosa to complete 126 laps, just one less than Alonso, but his lap time is somewhat disappointing.

Results Private Tests Valencia – Day 3 – Wednesday, February 3, 2010: