Valencia Testing Day 3: Kubica Puts His Formula 1 on Top

At the end of the third and final day of collective testing, it was the Lotus Renault R31 of Robert Kubica that topped the time sheets. The Pole spent little time on track in the morning but managed to find the right settings in the afternoon to finish this first week of 2011 testing at the top of the times on the Spanish track. He is ahead of two hybrid cars, half 2010, half 2011.

It was the last day of testing for the week in Valencia, and the Polish driver in the Lotus Renault GP R31 set the fastest time of the week. Kubica was ahead of Sutil’s slightly modified Force India by just 57 thousandths. Button in the McLaren MP4-25 finished third, also with the 2010 car adapted to the new regulations. The MP4-26 will be unveiled tomorrow morning in Berlin in the presence of the drivers and the McLaren team. The Englishman therefore stopped and prepared to leave the circuit earlier than his colleagues.

Mark Webber in the Red Bull RB7 finished on the fourth row of the timesheet. He is ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. The Brazilian encountered the only on-track problem of the day due to an oil leak at the beginning of the session. Maldonado’s Williams also encountered an issue but in the pits this time. The Groove team changed the gearbox for the young driver. No other incidents were reported except for Jarno Trulli’s lack of timed laps with Team Lotus. The T128 was still not ready to attack. The last piece needed for assembly was supposed to arrive today. Lotus will remain on track, alone, tomorrow to finally conduct tests worthy of the name…

The result of the third day of private testing in Valencia: