Jerez test - day four: 15 December.

McLaren-Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton topped the times on day four at Jerez on Friday, as the final test session of the year drew to a close.

Hamilton, who completed 100 laps in total, was just under a tenth up on Heikki Kovalainen, who was 'best of the rest' for Renault. The weather was dry and sunny all day, and as such, Hamilton's team-mate, Fernando Alonso, who was third, enjoyed perfect conditions on his first outing for his new team.

The Spaniard was delighted to get his run in the McLaren, managing around 90 odds laps, his best a 1m 19.747s, at least according to the timesheets supplied by the Woking-based outfit. Renault had him slightly slower on a 1m 19.866s, while the official Jerez website said he didn't run with the necessary timing equipment and as such they had no time for the double world champion.

Despite that though Alonso was happy: "I'm pleased that I was able to drive the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car earlier than expected and would like to thank Renault and Flavio Briatore for agreeing to this. I'm really excited about the future," he stated.

McLaren CEO, Martin Whitmarsh meanwhile was satisfied with their preparations for 2007: "Today has seen the completion of the 2006 test programme with an encouraging session in Jerez this week. The primary focus of the three pre-Christmas tests has been the learning process between ourselves and Bridgestone. We have been able to gather valuable data on how to get the best out of the Bridgestone Potenzas and we are currently feeding this back into the MP4-22 programme.

"The drivers have also been working through various development programmes for the MP4-22, such as suspension, aero and set-up work. With Lewis we have also spent time on activities such as putting him out in traffic so that he builds experience of running with other cars."

Renault's Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella led the way after the McLaren's in second and fourth positions respectively, both having spent the day focusing on tyre testing and assessing the wear rates over long runs.

"It's been a good day for me today and my results seem interesting," said Kovalainen. "Everybody worked hard once again today. We need to analyse the data in order to be ready in January to start testing with the new car. These last sessions gave us a good view on different areas such as the tyres and the new gear box."

"This was a good conclusion to a productive session," added Fisi. "The data we gathered will definitely help us for our work in 2007. I am now more comfortable with the new tyres. I am quite satisfied with our week."

Further down the pack, James Rossiter rounded out the top five for Honda, with Christian Klien and Marco Andretti on track in the sister cars. Klien was tenth overall, while Andretti had to settle for the 15th best time, although as this was his first day in an F1 car he did pretty well.

"This week we have continued our programme of understanding the Bridgestone tyres, primarily focusing on long runs. Over the last three weeks, the impressive reliability of the RA106 has allowed us to complete 8000kms on the new specification tyres. This has been a successful start to our winter test campaign and also a fitting way to end the year," summed up Honda chief engineer for vehicle performance, Mark Ellis.

"The whole team has contributed enormously to the progress we have made and we are looking forward a short break before resuming testing in January. It has been a pleasure to give Marco Andretti his first drive in a Formula One car today; he approached the day in a mature and professional manner well in advance of his years and performed well."

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica was next up in sixth, the Pole spending the day working on the gearbox as well as doing some long runs. In total he did 125 laps, the most of anyone runner on track, while Sebastian Vettel was also busy in the other F1.06 and he did 117 and was eighth overall.

"This was the final day of the three day test and, as the BMW Sauber F1 Team had almost completed its entire programme during the first two days, was used to validate the data gathered on Wednesday and Thursday," explained a statement from the Swiss-based outfit.

"Today was not only the final day of the Jerez test, but the final day of testing for 2006. The test team members will now have some well earned holidays, and the next time the team is in 'action' will be at the launch of the 2007 car at Valencia on the January 16."

Ferrari's veteran test driver, Luca Badoer was sandwiched between the two BMW's in seventh, just five hundredths off Kubica. The Italian did just 38 laps though, due to an engine problem, which ended his day prematurely. Marc Gene was thus left to do most of the work for the Scuderia, focusing on the development of new components, the adaptation of the car to the new tyres and overall reliability. Gene's best time though was somewhat slower and left him languishing 12th on the timesheets.

Of the rest, Toro Rosso had three drivers' on track, with Vitantonio Liuzzi leading the way in ninth, while Champ Car star, Sebastien Bourdais was 13th and Scott Speed 16th.

Liuzzi for the record though ran in a Red Bull Racing 'A' team car, which had been loaned to him for the day, while Speed only did a few laps as a result of his off on Thursday, which left him with some pain in one of his hands. It was a significant day for Cosworth however, who supplied their engines to STR in '06, as it will be the last time they will fire up one of their V10s in F1 - at least for the foreseeable future.

"Luckily, after two days acclimatising himself, Sebastien was up to speed and was able to complete our final day's programme," explained STR chief engineer, Laurent Mekies. "On the technical front, we were again concentrating on a familiarisation programme with the Bridgestone Potenza tyres. They were the same as those we tried last week. The stable weather meant we were also able to try major changes to car set-up with a view to understanding how these were affected by tyres, while also evaluating new brake materials."

The only other runners on track, were Super Aguri's Takuma Sato and Williams' Alex Wurz, split by around four tenths of a second, the former faster in his Honda-powered interim car on a 1m 20.854s.

"I have really enjoyed my first test of the winter. It has been the first opportunity for me to drive since the Brazilian Grand Prix and so I was very much looking forward to it," said Taku. "To get back into an F1 car and drive for the whole three days testing, which is a long time, has been really enjoyable.

"Every day we completed over 100 laps, which is very encouraging. We have tried new controls and it was obviously my first time to run the new Bridgestone Potenza tyres, so I am very happy and believe that this has been a very positive test for the team."

F1 testing now resumes after the Christmas-New Year holiday period in January.

Leading times (December 15) - Jerez:

1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes1min 19.493secs 100 laps
2. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault1min 19.586secs 92 laps
3. Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Mercedes1min 19.747secs 94 laps##
4. Giancarlo Fisichella Renault-Renault1min 19.798secs 109 laps
5. James Rossiter Honda-Honda 1min 19.835secs 64 laps
6. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber1min 19.894secs 125 laps
7. Luca Badoer Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 19.899secs 38 laps
8. Sebastian Vettel BMW-Sauber1min 20.069secs 117 laps
9. Vitantonio LiuzziToro Rosso-Cosworth1min 20.191secs 72 laps
10. Christian Klien Honda-Honda 1min 20.461secs 57 laps
11. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda1min 20.854secs 114 laps
12. Marc Gene Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 21.015secs 98 laps
13. Sebastien BourdaisToro Rosso-Cosworth1min 21.277secs 100 laps
14. Alex Wurz Williams-Toyota1min 21.368secs 64 laps
15. Marco Andretti Honda-Honda 1min 21.888secs 67 laps
16. Scott SpeedToro Rosso-Cosworth1min 23.315secs 15 laps

Weather/Track conditions: Dry and sunny all day.

## There seems to be some dispute over the best time set by Alonso. Indeed Renault has him down as having been about a tenth slower than McLaren - his best according to them a 1m 19.866s. The official Circuito de Jerez site meanwhile maintains he did not carry a transponder and therefore has no time registered for him.

All times unofficial