Oliver White
On a sad day for Formula One, Lewis Hamilton topped is 2007 team mate and world champion Fernando Alonso. It is the first time both drivers have run on track in the same cars, and Hamilton beat Alonso by 0.25s, sandwiching Heikki Kovalainen in second place. Giancarlo Fisichella finished the final test of the year in fourth, just ahead of James Rossiter and Robert Kubica.
The final test of the year was also a first for Marco Andretti, who tested for Honda and ended up 15th, 1.4s behind the Honda of Christian Klien. Ferrari ran both test drivers – Luca Badoer and Marc Gene – who finished in seventh and twelfth respectively. Sebastian Bourdais improved from his previous performances to complete his Toro Rosso testing debut four from the bottom in 13th.
The late 2006 testing season was dominated mainly by Ferrari and McLaren, but Honda also performed well with Rossiter and Barrichello. Super Aguri improved with the introduction of their interim car – last years Honda – and Toro Rosso debuted French ChampCar champion Sebastian Bourdais, and Fernando Alonso finally got a chance to test a McLaren after a late agreement with Renault. The French team did well with Kovalainen and Fisichella, but in comparison to Ferrari and McLaren seemed off the pace – unexpected performance from the world champion.
1. Hamilton – McLaren – 1m19.493s
2. Kovalainen – Renault – 1m19.586s
3. Alonso – McLaren – 1m19.747s
4. Fisichella – Renault – 1m19.798s
5. Rossiter – Honda – 1m19.835s
6. Kubica – BMW – 1m19.894s
7. Badoer – Ferrari – 1m19.899s
8. Vettel – BMW – 1m20.069s
9. Liuzzi – Red Bull Racing – 1m20.191s
10. Klien – Honda – 1m20.461s
11. Sato – Super Aguri – 1m20.854s
12. Gene – Ferrari – 1m21.015s
13. Bourdais – Toro Rosso – 1m21.277s
14. Wurz – Williams – 1m21.368s
15. Andretti – Honda – 1m21.888s
16. Speed – Toro Rosso – 1m23.315s
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