Ferrari complete Valencia whitewash; Alonso fastest on final day

Ferrari’s 2010 racer, the F10 defended its time on Wednesday thereby retaining its No1 spot in Valencia. Thousands had gathered to see Alonso in Ferrari and they were served to Spanish sizzle with Alonso upping the pace and posting his time 1:11.470 which was even faster than Massa’s best time posted the earlier day. Sauber maintained their 2nd position throughout the test just like Ferrari with De La Rosa claiming second.

“We are quite satisfied with the first test,” explained BMW Sauber’s technical director, Willy Rampf. “As well as being reliable, it was important to see that the car responded to changes in the way we expected. The drivers’ comments on the car basically were in line with that, which also helps the team to work in the right direction.”

Michael Schumacher was the third fastest. the German spent the morning working on set-up and balance, before switching to long runs in the afternoon. Although a hydraulic problem on the car brought his day to a close one hour early, he covered a total of 82 laps.

Just over a tenth slower than Schumacher was Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso. Alguersuari, who was enjoying his first taste of the STR5 after taking over the cockpit from team mate Sebastien Buemi, completed 97 laps.

Also in their 2010 cockpit for the first time was Jenson Button in McLaren’s new MP4-25. Button covered 82 laps as he made his way to fifth in the times. Although his best was a full 1.5 seconds down on Alonso’s quickest time, the British team were well satisfied with how the day progressed, as Button ran a series of longer runs to find the right balance and set-up.

Sixth fastest was Formula One racing’s first-ever Russian driver, Vitaly Petrov, who made his debut for Renault and completed 75 laps in the French team’s R30.

For a detailed report, visit www.f1.com

Unofficial Wednesday test times from Valencia:
1. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:11.470, 127 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:12.094, 80 Laps
3. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:12.438, 82 Laps
4. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:12.576, 97 Laps
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:12.951, 82 Laps
6. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:13.097, 75 Laps
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:13.669, 126 Laps