Formula 1 News

Jerez, Test Day 4: Vettel concludes 2007 testing on top 

On the final day of testing at Jerez, Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest lap time and brings F1 action for 2007 to an end. Toro Rosso’s driver raced 100 laps to set his best time of 1’18”213 with slick tires and 2008 levels of downforce, to edge out BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica by two tenths of a second.

While Nico Rosberg, also on slicks, ended up 3rd quickest despite a spectacular engine blow-up in the afternoon, a lot of eyebrows were raised when Michael Schumacher set the 4th quickest time running slick tires but with 2009 levels of downforce. Many drivers have struggled to get speed out of the estimated 30% cut in downforce levels experienced this week but, despite a spin at Turn Two early in the day, Schumacher still managed to set a time less than one second off Vettel’s best.

Behind 5th fastest Kazuki Nakajima, Toyota’s Timo Glock was also running with the reduced downforce levels. Trulli finished down in 9th after testing slicks and 2009 downforce levels. “We tried to achieve many things today so it was quite busy for me,” said Trulli. “I used the new slick tires and they gave a lot more grip and were pretty consistent. We also tried the tires with 2009 levels of downforce which was quite different and a bit tricky. It was not easy to understand everything because we tried so many different things during the day. We collected a lot of data and now we must study that and figure out the solution. We tried to do as many laps as possible, which was our main target in order to put mileage on the new rear end and 2008 ECU.”

Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato also tried out the reduced downforce levels, while Marko Asmer continued to set respectable times on his return to the cockpit for BMW Sauber. The Estonian brought out the red flags just after 12pm when he ran off the track.

Giedo van der Garde and Roldan Rodriguez on Force India, ended the day at the bottom of the timetable. “The test has been a very fruitful one for the team,” said Vijay Mallya, Force India’s managing director. Not only have we demonstrated the strong potential of the team by attracting five highly talented drivers to test for us, it’s also been very motivating for the team to have the benefit of their experience to help develop the car. This week has had a very positive impact on the motivation of the mechanics, engineers and all involved and has shown the sporting community that we are serious about what Force India wants to achieve in Formula One.”