Jerez J4: Massa concludes testing

Felipe Massa set the best time on the final day of testing of the week in Jerez. After a contested morning on a wet track, the drivers were able to gradually increase the pace, the best lap having therefore been completed by the driver Williams in 1’28”229 which ended the day with 86 laps completed. The Brazilian is ahead of his former teammate Fernando Alonso who was the most diligent on the track today with 115 laps completed.

The V6 Mercedes also showed resistance. Daniel Juncadella finished the session in third position ahead of Kevin Magnussen who completed 110 laps before ending the session with an exit from the track. The Dane had already been trapped earlier in the afternoon when he spun. It was the Mercedes W05 which completed the greatest number of laps with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg having completed a total of 132 laps. For his part, Jules Bianchi was more active than this morning by completing 20 additional laps in the Marussia MR03.

The situation is still complicated on the side of Renault Sport F1. One Kamui Kobayashi was able to complete 54 laps on the Caterham CT05 before having to end his day following a mechanical problem, Daniil Kvyat did not even complete ten laps on the Toro Rosso STR9. It’s even worse for the first team Red Bull Racing who only completed seven rounds with Daniel Ricciardo.

In the end, it was the Mercedes V6s which proved to be the strongest since the engine manufacturer recorded 875 revs compared to 444 for the Team Ferrari even if four teams competed this week with the block struck by the Star. Viruses-Châtillon, however, only has 151 laps completed. The Losange has until February 19 to rectify the situation before the next tests in Bahrain.

Ranking of the fourth day:

1. Massa 1’28”229 (86 laps)
2. Alonso + 0 »916 (115 laps)
3. Juncadella +1 »228 (81 laps)
4. Magnussen +2 »577 (110 laps)
5. Hamilton +2 »593 (41 laps)
6. Bianchi +3 »993 (25 laps)
7. Sutil +8 »342 (69 laps)
8. Rosberg +8 »722 (91 laps)
9. Kobayashi +14 »964 (54 laps)
10. Kvyat +15 »787 (9 turns)
11. Ricciardo +17 »145 (7 laps)