Jerez, Test Day 3: Robert Kubica fastest on slicks 

Written by David on December 07th, 2007 at 2:30 amLast Update: December 07th, 2007 at 2:31 am

Robert Kubica back on trackRobert Kubica had the best time with slick tires during Day 3 of testing at Jerez in Spain. BMW Sauber driver edged out Lewis Hamilton, using the grooved tires, by less than two tenths of a second, as a lot of drivers put some mileage on the experimental Bridgestone tire.

While Felipe Massa’s 3rd best time, two thousandths of a second slower than Hamilton, was set on grooves, all the remaining top ten times were set with slicks. Mark Webber was 4th fastest, ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock and McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa.

Michael Schumacher rejoined Ferrari and set the 8th best time on slick tires. Sebastian Vettel and Takuma Sato both caused red flags during the day after making mistakes and running off the track, but the worst happened to Ralf Schumacher. The former Toyota driver was having his first outing with Force India and the day probably did not go how he intended. He stopped on track in the morning with a mechanical problem at 10.12am, before crashing and just kissing the tire wall at Turn 9 just before lunchtime. He then went off at Turn 9 later in the afternoon, ending the day bottom of the timesheets.

“It was a difficult day today as it was my first time with the team and I had to learn about how to work with the 2008 electronics,” said Schumacher. “Unfortunately we had some problems with the car in the morning and then lots of red flags in the afternoon, but when we went for the long runs it was quite promising. When we had some new tires on, unfortunately in the morning we didn’t get it right, and the second was interrupted by a red flag. Although it was a difficult day, it was still good and I think we did get some good information.”

Kazuki Nakajima caused a red flag too; he stopped on track spewing oil from the car, but it wasn’t clear if this was from the engine or gearbox.

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