Hamilton Dominates Spa Test Day One

After almost two years away from the Formula One spotlight, the legendary circuit Spa Francorchamps bore the brunt of a modern F1 car again as eleven drivers pounded the 6.968 Km track. Completing a massive 83 laps in his McLaren, championship leader Lewis Hamilton went to the top of the order sheet with a time 0.4s faster than second placed man Robert Kubica. Running on the slightly modified configuration, McLaren reported a positive test, despite the damp start to the day.

BMW had a good day, as did Ferrari and Felipe Massa who ended up third after 65 laps. Ralf Schumacher continued his momentum from an improved race at Silverstone and finished in fourth, ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr. in the Renault R27.

Red Bull Racing continue to iron out their gear box issues, having been plagued by them for most of the season so far. Coulthard could only manage 55 laps while the team try to understand what is going wrong the device. In the sister team, Vitantonio Liuzzi also suffered ‘box problems, and will hand the car over to ChampCar champion Sebastien Bourdais tomorrow. Bourdais has tested for the team before the season start last March and is expected to be announced as a driver for next year. While that is entirely a rumour, Sebastien is keen on F1, as is the team on him.

Super Aguri, Honda and Spyker all ran test drivers, James Rossiter, Christian Klien and Giedo van der Garde respectively, while Williams ran full time driver Nico Rosberg who completed 60 laps to finish in ninth.

Formula One, F1, Testing, Spa Francorchamps, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren