“I'm very happy with the result from this test as we had two trouble-free days, a very consistent car and the work we have done has been very useful,” said an enthused Alonso at the end of the testing. Although the R29 did not have a very successful start at Jerez – having finished at the bottom of the charts during the first 2 days of testing – Alonso praised the late improvements brought to his car.
The refreshened R29 showed increasing pace during yesterday's test, having finished more that 0.3 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari F60. Third overall was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, followed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli – who took over from teammate Timo Glock for the last test meeting of the week.
Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton did not have a trouble-free day on Thursday, as the rear of his McLaren MP4-24 went on fire during his early testing in the morning. He therefore lost a lot of time (and mileage) during the morning, as the McLaren mechanics had to work on the car's suspension. While using a 2008-spec rear wing, Hamilton eventually scored only the 7th best time of the day.
Last on the timing sheets was Force India's Adrian Sutil, who focused most of his testing mileage on Wednesday to run all 3 Bridgestone tire compounds for 2009. He revealed that graining and lack of grip were the main problems he had to face during yesterday's testing.
“We tried the soft, supersoft and medium compounds. On the long runs they behaved quite differently and the biggest problem was with the graining. It happens very quickly, then gets worse and the grip never comes back,” said Sutil
Here are the lap times from yesterday's testing session at Jerez:
1. Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:19.945
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:20.250
3. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1:20.520
4. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:20.540
5. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 1:20.894
6. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) 1:20.948
7. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:21.302
8. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) 1:21.411
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