Oliver WhiteRenault pilot Nelson Piquet Jr has topped the timing sheet on the final day of testing which was completed on Saturday at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The Brazilian toured the Montmelo track 112 times, the most of all the drivers present and in the two days of his running, has racked up 141 laps. Piquet’s fastest lap was 0.4s faster than local driver Pedro De La Rosa in the McLaren, who edged out Luca Badoer in the Ferrari, Badoer having driven the F2008 for the whole three-day test.
Badoer was said to have been very happy about the running he has managed at this test session, the Italian veteran concentrating on aerodynamic developments in an important mid-season push from the Scuderia. Although despite running very well, Badoer did have to park up his Ferrari at the end of the pitlane at one point during the day, the car having run out fuel.
We were able to work continuously and without any major technical problems. We saw interesting results from some new components, which might prove useful in the forthcoming races. On top of that, we also got through everything we had planned in terms of engine reliability work. Luca Badoer.
Nick Heidfeld took over from Robert Kubica for the final day, and the German driver went sixth fastest after mainly concentrating on tyre warm-up issues, the apparent cause of Heidfeld’s recent slump in performance. Rubens Barrichello stayed on from yesterday while Nico Hulkenberg was brought back for Williams. Although fuel levels are unknown, Hulkenberg did manage to lap faster than the Scuderia Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel, and was only 0.002s shy of Barrichello.
| 1. | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault | 1m20.076s | 112 Laps |
| 2. | Pedro De La Rosa | McLaren | 1m20.402s | 82 Laps |
| 3. | Luca Badoer | Ferrari | 1m20.680s | 63 Laps |
| 4. | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing | 1m21.037s | 92 Laps |
| 5. | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1m21.158s | 86 Laps |
| 6. | Nick Heidfeld | BMW | 1m21.295s | 88 Laps |
| 7. | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1m21.672s | 83 Laps |
| 8. | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams | 1m21.674s | 60 Laps |
| 9. | Sebastian Vettel | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1m21.880s | 72 Laps |
Image © Glenn Dunbar/LAT.
[…] June saw the teams return to Barcelona for another test. This time, Nelson Piquet Jr. managed a fastest lap time of 1m20.076s – it was in fact the fastest of the day. The difference of 3s can be compared to another team who attended each of the tests and fielded cars on the same days. […]