The forces present at the Jerez tests

The Jerez circuit is renowned for its abrasive track which puts a lot of strain on the tires. The teams have worked a lot on this point, Pirelli having further modified the compound of its tires. The teams remember the start of last season when all the teams were struggling to understand the Italian manufacturer's tires, which also made it possible to have a very competitive start to the year with seven different winners in the first seven Grand Prix. With the regulations changing little this year, the teams already have a lot of information on their new single-seaters, most of which are presented as developments of last year's models, and have also been able to focus on the effectiveness of the new elements.

Scuderia Ferrari had struggled from winter testing with its F2012 which lacked efficiency. Maranello shows better form at the start of the year and tries to overcome the shortcomings of the 2012 season on the F138 largely driven by Felipe Massa, his teammate Fernando Alonso having been absent from the tests. The Sao Paulista achieved the best test time in 1'17"789 and was spared from mechanical problems, unlike development driver Pedro de la Rosa on track this morning who suffered from the start of a fire following to a problem with the gearbox. The Prancing Horse will have to confirm the real potential of its new car in Barcelona and further test the reliability of the F138, the Scuderia's strong point last year.

The Red Bull RB9 has been discreet this week but the Austrian team is known for hiding its game well. The news car de Milton Keynes carried out on the basis of the RB8 will undoubtedly be among the best single-seaters, even if Mark Webber's 15th time suggests the opposite. The fifth time of Sebastian Vettel is also an indicator of the potential of the RB9, the three-time world champion having achieved the best time with hard tires.

Lotus F1 Team showed promising performances with the new E21. Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean evolved at the forefront, the Finn having set the second time and the French the fourth, without the car ofenstone suffered any major mechanical problems. The two Lotus drivers covered 274 laps of the track and displayed consistent pace and positive feedback behind the wheel of the car.

La McLaren MP4-28 is one of the single-seaters offering the most new features to the naked eye. The times of the Woking team did not panic the paddock (best time achieved by Jenson Button: 9th fastest time in practice), but Woking in any case showed promising reliability with 299 laps completed by the two drivers without encountering any problems. major. The situation is different on the side of Brackley who had a catastrophic start to the week. After suffering from electrical problems and brake issues, Mercedes worked hard to catch up with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. The two drivers from the German manufacturer were the most diligent on the track over the last two days and were finally able to complete a total of 360 laps.

Conversely, the teams at the back of the grid still showed modest performances this week. Charles Pic was the fastest of the Caterham and Marussia drivers, setting the 20th time, more than three seconds behind the best times. Marussia F1 Team has not yet proven the real effectiveness of its SREC installed for the first time on the Russian single-seater.

Jerez test results:

1/ Felipe Massa? Ferrari? 1'17"789? 227 rounds
2/ Kimi Räikkönen? Lotus? 1'18"148? 123 rounds
3/ Jules Bianchi? Force India? 1'18"175? 56 rounds
4/ Romain Grosjean? Lotus? 1’18”218? 149 rounds
5/ Sebastian Vettel? Red Bull ? 1’18”565? 198 rpm
6/ Esteban Gutiérrez? Sauber? 1'18"669? 252 rounds
7/ Jean-Eric Vergne? Toro Rosso ? 1'18"760? 177 rounds
8/ Nico Rosberg? Mercedes? 1'18"766? 162 rounds
9/ Jenson Button? McLaren? 1'18"861? 120 rounds
10/ Lewis Hamilton? Mercedes? 1'18"905? 160 rounds
11/ Sergio Pérez? McLaren? 1'18"944? 179 rounds
12/ Paul di Resta? Force India? 1’19”003? 240 rounds
13 / Daniel Ricciardo ? Toro Rosso? 1'19"134? 153 rounds
14/ James Rossiter? Force India? 1'19"303 ? 61 rounds
15/ Mark Webber? Red Bull ? 1’19”338? 174 rounds
16 / Nico Hulkenberg ? Sauber? 1'19"502? 178 rounds
17 / Valtteri Bottas ? Williams ? 1'19"851? 178 rounds
18/ Pedro de la Rosa? Ferrari? 1’20”316? 51 rounds
19/ Pastor Maldonado? Williams? 1'20"864? 155 rounds
20/ Charles Pic? Caterham? 1'21"105? 166 rounds
21/ Luiz Razia? Marussia? 1’21”226? 113 rounds
22/ Max Chilton? Marussia? 1’21”269? 107 rounds
23/ Giedo van der Garde? Caterham? 1’21”311? 152 rounds