Jerez test - day three: 15 December.
Ferrari team leader, Michael Schumacher was quickest Thursday at Jerez, as the Scuderia locked out the top two places on the timesheets.
Schumacher managed 67 laps in total, despite spinning off this morning on his second lap, when he lost it in turn two and planted his F2004 M in the gravel trap. Although conditions were generally better today, it was still very cold to begin with and damp, something that caught out the returning German.
Ferrari team leader, Michael Schumacher was quickest Thursday at Jerez, as the Scuderia locked out the top two places on the timesheets.
Schumacher managed 67 laps in total, despite spinning off this morning on his second lap, when he lost it in turn two and planted his F2004 M in the gravel trap. Although conditions were generally better today, it was still very cold to begin with and damp, something that caught out the returning German.
Schumi was concentrating on the development of the Scuderia's new V8 engine, his best lap a 1 minute 18.953 seconds, around two tenths slower than Wednesday's top time, set by Franck Montagny [a 1m 18.804s].
Felipe Massa was next up in the sister Ferrari, the Brazilian completing a programme relating to Bridgestone tyre development, which he began on Tuesday. He managed over 120 laps, the most of any single driver, while running in an F2005 fitted with a V10 engine, restricted to simulate the power of a V8.
Renault meanwhile led the 'chasing pack', with Franck Montagny and Heikki Kovalainen third and fourth fastest respectively. Both drivers pursued tyre and set-up evaluation programmes and despite a wet circuit early in the day, which prevented any useful running, the team ran problem-free completely over 200 laps. Montagny conducted set-up work, followed by tyre compound development with Michelin; conversely, Kovalainen completed a programme of tyre construction evaluation, prior to a set-up programme focusing on 2006.
"We had another very productive day, once again completing a high mileage with both drivers," said Renault chief test engineer, Christian Silk. "The poor conditions in the morning meant we had to push hard to get today's work done, but the team and both drivers delivered. The car continues to look competitive in simulated V8 configuration, and we made good progress with our tyre development."
Further down the pack, Anthony Davidson was fifth for Honda, three tenths up on Adam Carroll, who was running in the sister 'Concept car', and who was eighth overall.
Ricardo Zonta came in sixth in the new Toyota TF106, while Juan Montoya was seventh and Olivier Panis ninth. Montoya had an engine failure on track shortly before lunch, but McLaren got him back out on track by 15.30 [local time] to continue his programme.
"During the pre-Christmas tests, we have been working on various engine, tyre and software development programmes and have got some good feedback overall," said the Colombian. "The last couple of days of testing this week have not always seen smooth running, however as we didn't go out until mid-morning yesterday because of the cold weather, there were also a lot of red flag stoppages. I had a small problem with the software on my MP4-20B, and then the issue today with the engine. I will be spending Christmas with my family at a ski-resort in Europe, and I am already looking forward to getting back to testing in early January and continuing to work towards the 2006 season."
Pedro de la Rosa rounded out the top ten in the second McLaren and like Montoya, he was focused on continuing the Mercedes-Benz V8 and Michelin tyre development process in the interim MP4-20B.
"Since the first test on Monday November 28, I have covered over 3,150kms in the McLaren Mercedes MP4-20B," summed up de la Rosa. "We have completed the work allocated to the pre-Christmas running and have some positive results. The team will now continue to work at the McLaren Technology Centre and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines over Christmas, taking a lot of feedback from our running, and we will start to test again on Wednesday January 11."
Of the rest, Williams duo, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber were eleventh and thirteenth respectively, although both had a less than productive day, each spinning once and also stopping out on track, the latter managed just 25 laps.
The only other runner in action was Nick Heidfeld, who was on track for BMW Sauber and who was sandwiched between the two Williams'. In the morning the German continued with cooling system tests and ran engine functionality checks. He then started to work with Michelin on a tyre evaluation programme, however heat damage was discovered in the afternoon as a consequence of a defect exhaust pipe. Hence he managed just 38 laps.
Testing now continues on Friday, when reigning world champion, Fernando Alonso will join proceedings. McLaren, Toyota and BMW Sauber however will not be on track all having concluded their programmes today.
Leading times (15 December) - Jerez:
1. Michael Schumacher Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 18.953s 67 laps B
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari* 1m 19.060s 97 laps B
3. Franck Montagny Renault-Renault* 1m 19.066s 120 laps M
4. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault* 1m 19.100s 119 laps M
5. Anthony Davidson Honda-Honda 1m 19.877s 114 laps M
6. Ricardo Zonta Toyota-Toyota 1m 20.035s 106 laps B
7. Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1m 20.168s 67 laps M
8. Adam Carroll Honda-Honda 1m 20.170s 93 laps M
9. Olivier Panis Toyota-Toyota 1m 20.342s 93 laps M
10. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1m 20.492s 117 laps M
11. Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1m 20.597s 46 laps B
12. Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 1m 20.700s 38 laps M
13. Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1m 21.453s 25 laps B
[M denotes Michelin tyres / B denotes Bridgestone tyres / * denotes V10 engine.]
Track conditions: Damp and cold in the morning, later dry and sunny.
All times unofficial - courtesy of the Circuito de Jerez website.