Lotus fastest again as Jerez test ends
2013 F1 season
The first test session of 2013 concluded with Kimi Raikkonen fastest for Lotus.
But his 1’18.148 lap fell short of the best time set by Felipe Massa yesterday.
Sebastian Vettel led the running early on the day, making a series of short runs in the Red Bull. Between each stint the team were waiting with barriers to shield the RB9 from onlookers as it arrived and more were pulled around the RB9 when it came to a stop.
Pedro de la Rosa’s first appearance as a Ferrari test driver got off to a bad start as he stopped with a fire on his second lap.
The session was red flagged while his car was recovered, and several hours passed before it reappeared.
Fortunately for Ferrari the final day’s running was extended by half an hour following a further red flag period. The session was stopped for almost an hour after a hole appeared next to the kerb between turns nine and ten. It had to be patched up with concrete before running could resume.
Vettel’s quickest time was beaten in the afternoon by Jules Bianchi using a set of soft tyres. The team originally planned to give Bianchi the full day in the car, but sent Di Resta out with two hours to go. His run in the car yesterday was curtailed by an exhaust fault.
Raikkonen took the best time off Bianchi with two hours to go by less than three-hundredths of a second. Lotus began the day continuing their comparison of different exhaust configurations.
Mercedes continued to make up for lost time and Lewis Hamilton emulated Nico Rosberg’s efforts yesterday by covering more than two Grand Prix distances. Esteban Gutierrez did likewise in the Sauber.
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | |
| 1 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault E21 | 1’18.148 | 83 | |
| 2 | Jules Bianchi | Force India-Mercedes VJM06 | 1’18.175 | 56 | 0.027 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault RB9 | 1’18.565 | 96 | 0.417 |
| 4 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari C32 | 1’18.669 | 142 | 0.521 |
| 5 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8 | 1’18.760 | 92 | 0.612 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W04 | 1’18.905 | 145 | 0.757 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28 | 1’18.944 | 98 | 0.796 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault FW34 | 1’19.851 | 92 | 1.703 |
| 9 | Pedro de la Rosa | Ferrari F138 | 1’20.316 | 51 | 2.168 |
| 10 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault CT03 | 1’21.105 | 109 | 2.957 |
| 11 | Luiz Razia | Marussia-Cosworth MR02 | 1’21.226 | 82 | 3.078 |
| 12 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes VJM06 | 1’23.435 | 49 | 5.287 |
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jin (@majinsha) said on 9th February 2013, 3:14
hey guys, CAUTION!!!
KIMI did only 3 consecutive laps on soft, 1:18:148, 1:19:804, 1:21:000, & pitted for mediums
watch out for tyre deg!!!.
there was no mention of this amount of deg.
wsrgo said on 9th February 2013, 6:54
So,
When Lotus go quickest, they’ve got a great car.
When Force India go quickest, they’re gunning for glory.
When Red Bull are not too close to the front, they’re ‘sandbagging’.
When others are not too close to the front, they’re struggling.
Why there is such a trend of feeling that Red Bull is always
teabaggingsandbagging, and the other above points, I do not know.Abe (@1abe) said on 9th February 2013, 10:17
Ah finally!! Someone whom i also agree with!! I read a lot comments in various sites that Jules went fastest in FI jus to attract sponsors or it was jus to make headlines. How exactly will sponsors be attracted to teams finishin first in testing conditions. 2 years ago Williams were fastest for few days durin testin. I didnt hear of any new sponsors. But if at all there were any, i dont think that they benefited with the 5 odd that they scored. Its sad the FI dont get the credit they deserve like the mid field teams like Sauber, Torro Rosso and Williams to certain extent..
Dev (@dev) said on 9th February 2013, 11:53
FI did get lot of hype last year for VJM05 while testing, many thought they could be the top five team in 2012… VJM05 got many praises from everywhere before Melbourne. But it was Sauber who stole the show when the season began. Hulk almost won the Brazil GP and that shows they have potential to get odd podiums… can they do a better job with VJM06? let’s wait and see.
Dev (@dev) said on 9th February 2013, 9:44
i feel McLaren are on top, followed by Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus, Mercedes, Force India, STR, Sauber…
Williams are yet to show their new car and i feel both the new teams are still a bit far from the midfield.
More clarity will emerge after the second Barcelona test.