Heikki Kovalainen led the way on the second day of pre-British Grand Prix testing at Silverstone today (Wednesday), as red flags, changeable conditions, light rain and blustery winds saw the young Finn quite literally blow his rivals into the weeds.
Kovalainen ultimately ended up just under four tenths of a second to the good after covering 72 laps of the track, though for much of the day he had been as much as six tenths clear, concentrating on set-up work, development of new mechanical parts and the evaluation of a new-spec front wing before McLaren-Mercedes team-mate
Lewis Hamilton takes over the wheel on the last day.
Toyota's
Jarno Trulli – the hero of Magny-Cours by registering the Japanese squad's first podium finish in more than two years – continued his impressive form with the second-quickest time at
Silverstone, before he hands over to team-mate
Timo Glock for the final day. The experienced Italian – who claims he is driving ‘better than ever' in this his twelfth season in the top flight in 2008 [see separate story –
click here] – enjoyed a trouble-free day, conducting 95 laps focussed on set-up work and aerodynamic development.
“Today's main focus was preparation for the British Grand Prix,” the 33-year-old explained afterwards, “and it was a good day. We managed to do a lot of laps and we learned several useful things. It all went smoothly and we ran without any real issues.
“There was a lot of gusting wind out there today, which can make direct comparisons difficult. Still, we made some progress with our set-up and aerodynamics programme. We are obviously looking to build on our result from last Sunday's French Grand Prix. Now I hope we will be in good shape for another strong race here next week.”
