Jerez Testing – Day 2: Schumacher and Bianchi Show Their Skills

Don’t they say that the best jam is made in old pots? That’s what could sum up today’s day in Jerez de la Frontera, as at the end of the second day of private testing on the Spanish circuit, it was Michael Schumacher who set the fastest time at the wheel of a last season’s Mercedes W02 this morning, with 1:18.561 and 132 laps completed by the seven-time world champion.

In second place is Mark Webber, who also set his time this morning after spending the afternoon working on long runs, like most of the group, by the way. The Australian clocked 1:19.184 (in 97 laps) and finished with the best time for a 2012 car. Tomorrow, the reigning double World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, will take the wheel of the RB8 for the first time in testing.

Another car, another Australian, but not entirely a different sponsor, as Daniel Ricciardo and his Toro Rosso take third place of the day. No issues reported on his 100 laps. He finishes one second behind Schumacher and four-tenths behind Webber. He will give up his place to Jean-Eric Vergne as of tomorrow for the first tests of a French driver this season.

French he is, but not yet a full-time driver, it’s Jules Bianchi who stands in fourth position today. Having only raced this morning, he completed a total of 46 laps, ultimately 1.6 seconds behind the Mercedes. Paul di Resta took to the Force India early in the afternoon and secured sixth place, 1.7 seconds off the leader (69 laps).

It is Kimi Räikkönen who finds himself sandwiched between the two VJM05s. The Finn, who went slightly wide into the gravel trap early in the morning, was forced to change his floor before Lotus decided to also replace the steering rack. Returning at the very beginning of the afternoon, he was able to complete a total of 117 laps and placed himself 1.6 seconds behind Schumacher before ending the day nicely with another trip into the gravel. He will make way for Romain Grosjean tomorrow.

In seventh position is Felipe Massa, with his Ferrari F2012 on which the Scuderia continues to say there is a lot of work to be done. The Paulista finished 1.8 seconds behind the leader after completing 95 laps. Just behind him is yesterday’s predecessor, Jenson Button, whose McLaren completed 85 laps and was 2.1 seconds behind Schumacher. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton will replace them tomorrow.

Sergio Pérez, completing 68 laps, is credited with the eighth fastest time, 2.1 seconds off the pace; Kamui Kobayashi will take the wheel of the Sauber C31 tomorrow. Pastor Maldonado spent the day testing the reliability of the Williams FW34: he completed 97 laps and finished 2.6 seconds off, and it will be Bruno Senna’s turn to slip into the cockpit of the new Grove car.

Finally, the award for reliability and track presence goes to Heikki Kovalainen and his Caterham CT01, who completed 139 laps, twice the distance of the last Grand Prix held in Jerez. He finished 2.9 seconds behind. The last place goes to Pedro de la Rosa, driving the HRT from last season, who posted a time 3.5 seconds slower than Schumacher (64 laps).

Two red flags were raised this morning to check the condition of the track, especially after Kimi Räikkönen’s first outing.

Jerez Testing – Day 2: