Jerez – Day 2 – Hamilton on the Starting Blocks

Lewis Hamilton was the most in-form driver today, for this first day of official testing, but the second of the week in Jerez, Spain.

The McLaren driver, in the new MP4/23, set the fastest time ahead of his teammate and test driver, Pedro de La Rosa, by a few hundredths.

Third, Kubica confirms the good conditions of BMW. With 91 laps, the Pole is 4 tenths slower than the world vice-champion and ahead of Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams. The Japanese driver also confirms the good progress made by Frank Williams’ team since the beginning of the year.

59 thousandths further, it’s Nelson Piquet Jr. for Renault who takes 5th place on the timesheet. The Brazilian was one of the most enduring on the track and took advantage of good conditions to complete 120 laps and many practice pit stops. With five more laps on the clock, Rosberg, in the second Williams, is in 8th position.

Between the two men, Heidfeld takes the 6th position not without reliability issues, less than a tenth ahead of the first Red Bull, already on track yesterday with Webber.

Several issues and red flags are to be reported, including those caused by Webber after a thick cloud escaped from his engine, or Wurz, going off the track at the end of the morning.

Notable also is the 11th time of Sébastien Bourdais, three-tenths slower than his teammate, Vettel.

Super Aguri returned to the track today, and it was the first of the year for the Japanese team. With Sato, they positioned themselves in 14th place, nearly a second and a half behind Hamilton.

Jerez Private Tests – Day 1