F1 / Mugello Day 1: Ferrari in the rain

The teams had certainly dreamed of better weather for these European pre-season tests. But it was the rain that greeted Bernie's circus yesterday, on the Italian Mugello circuit. And it's Fernando Alonso and Ferrari F2012 who did the best, the Spaniard completing a lap in 1'22"444. A time of very little value since it was achieved in the morning, on a drying track, before the rain returned even more intensely in the afternoon.

Alonso's program included the development of new elements as well as increasing the understanding of tire behavior. But as Scuderia Ferrari stipulates, and as was the case for all the teams, “Unfortunately, the track conditions, with only a small window of dry weather late in the morning, required a drastic revision of the initial program”. At the end of his 46 laps, the double Spanish world champion admitted to being disappointed at not having been able to work more.

“It’s really a shame that there was rain, which complicated the progress of this first day, He says. We had a busy work schedule, to say the least, but we only managed to complete part of it. However, it is impossible for us to give a serious evaluation, mainly because we have only driven a little in the dry. I can only say that for me it was a pleasure to ride on this track again, the first and only time being back in 2001, when I was a Minardi test rider. It’s a spectacular track that would be fun to race on.”

The conditions were such that the runway even had to be closed, as the emergency helicopter could not take off. Therefore, some teams have simply decided to stop there and save the tires for today and tomorrow. In the rankings for this first day, the top three is completed by the Red Bull by Mark Webber and the Toro Rosso by Jean-Eric Vergne. At the wheel of his Force India, Jules Bianchi set the eighth fastest time, two places ahead of Charles Pic (Marussia F1 Team). Nico Rosberg, for his part, was the most diligent on the track with 49 laps completed.