Jerez Day 2: Barrichello and Petrov on Top in Spain

After a first rainy day in Jerez, it has been the same today. For this third week of private testing, the rain once again hindered the present teams and drivers. With some lulls, Barrichello set the fastest time of this second day of the week in the Williams FW31. The Brazilian is two-tenths ahead of Vitaly Petrov’s Renault R30. Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull set the third-fastest time.

The 11 teams present this week in Jerez are once again slowed in their preparation for the 2010 Formula 1 season due to weather conditions. The drops distort performances, and hierarchical forecasts are impossible.

Ferrari and Mercedes GP have already scheduled tests in Bahrain before the start of the season, in less than 30 days…

In these conditions, Rubens Barrichello delivered the best performance in the Williams. The Brazilian also completed the most laps with nearly 100 laps to his credit, primarily done in the late morning and early afternoon.

The rain was indeed present from the start of the session, and a lull provided the opportunity for the drivers to run a bit after noon. In the late afternoon, more showers came to disrupt the laps.

Vitaly Petrov, the new Russian driver for the Renault F1 Team, was out today and finished with the second-best time, two-tenths behind the Brazilian. He also outpaced Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull Renault.

Nico Rosberg takes 4th place, just ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. The Brazilian set his best time over more than 90 laps completed without reliability issues.

The Red Star team completed 72 laps today before Glock went off track in the last corner at the end of the session. The team will have no work on the VR-01, which is not damaged.

Glock was luckier than Heikki Kovalainen. The Finnish driver was replacing Fairuz Fauzy today in the Lotus T127. After 30 laps, he also went off track but hit a safety barrier. The nose of the T127 was damaged, forcing him to stay in the garage for the rest of the day.

With only 8 laps on the clock, De la Rosa is the driver who drove the least today. The Spaniard, after a first stint in the rain, was forced to stay in the pit for the rest of the day as the team did not find it useful to drive in these conditions.

« With the same conditions as yesterday and the past weeks, there was simply no point in driving today… We have a good understanding of the car and we are preparing more for testing in Barcelona next week on a dry track, I hope! » commented the Spaniard.

The latest red flag was caused by Sébastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso due to a hydraulic problem. The Swiss is 10th.

Results Private Tests Jerez – Day 2 – Thursday, February 18, 2010: