BARCELONA, Spain: German driver Nico Rosberg recorded the fastest time on the first full day of the second series of Formula One testing yesterday, timing 1min 22.616sec in his Mercedes.
Rosberg, son of Finland’s former world champion Keke, was just a fraction faster than Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, with Spanish driver Fernando Alonso third-fastest in his new Ferrari model.
Spain’s two-time world champion had not driven in the earlier testing session in Jerez but made an immediate impression here.
Alonso, who lost out on the title last season to Sebastian Vettel by just three points having led going into the final race of the season in Brazil, recorded a quickest time of 1:22.952.
He pushed three-time world champion Vettel, who had set the fastest time in the morning session, into fourth.
The German was three tenths of a second slower than Rosberg in his Red Bull.
The new season opens in Australia on March 17.
Meanwhile, Alonso drove Ferrari’s new Formula One car for the first time in Barcelona yesterday and said it was on another planet compared to the tricky one he wrestled into title contention last season.
The Spaniard, ending a long absence from the cockpit, clocked the third fastest time in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The 31-year-old, runner-up to Red Bull’s triple champion Vettel last year, had skipped the first pre-season test in Jerez to focus on his physical preparations for the season starting in Australia on March 17.
With the team declaring his training workouts in the gym and on the road to have been “worthy of the best Olympic athlete”, Alonso completed a total of 110 laps in the F138 with a best time of one minute 22.952 seconds.
“I feel reasonably pleased with this first day and I can say I share (team mate) Felipe’s (Massa) opinion that the car is on another planet compared to the one we began with on the first day of testing last year,” said the double world champion in a team release at the end of the session.
Alonso said the target was to work on reliability, aiming to complete more than 100 laps each day, before focusing on performance in the final test.
“I knew from looking at the Jerez data what sort of car I would find here today, as in fact we know more or less what we will see at the first race in Australia, in terms of what new parts we will have and how many tenths they will produce,” he said.
“This is down to all the work done over the winter in the wind tunnel and the numerous tests which confirm the parts that are on their way will give the expected results.”
Rosberg was the fastest driver on track. The German was sidelined for a while by a gearbox problem after 14 laps and ended up completing 54.
“It’s always nice to be quickest at the end of the day. In general I feel happy and comfortable in the car and it feels better than the last time we were here at this track,” said the German.
Agencies
