Jerez Test Day Two: Hamilton & Coulthard On Top

The second day of testing was completed yesterday at the Spanish Jerez circuit and every team was present. Again, some drivers went out on slick tyres to assess them for Bridgestone with the possibility of smooth rubber being re-introduced in 2009. At the end of the day it was Lewis Hamilton who went fastest on his return to the cockpit, this being the first time he has driving a Formula One car at pace since the Brazilian Grand Prix. His McLaren was stripped of all electronic aids and the Briton apparently enjoyed the experience, having recently driven in the electronic-free GP2 series. Right behind Hamilton was David Coulthard in the Red Bull Racing car, lapping just 0.05s slower.

Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were both on hand for Ferrari and they managed third and fourth quickest after a good day’s running. Pedro De La Rosa spent his morning finishing off work from the previous day and then took to slick tyres for the afternoon, while Nelson Piquet Jr ran his Renault up into sixth, hinting at a possible improvement from the Enstone team.

Seventh place, surprisingly, went to Christian Klien in the Force India. Having driven for the team at two test sessions now, Klien impressed the team’s personnel and outpaced the vastly more experienced Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisi was running in the ‘India after his old stable, Renault, suggested he might want to look at other available seats for 2008.

I felt more comfortable today and was quite happy with the grooved tyres, but when I went to the slicks there was a lot of understeer. Unfortunately on my best lap there was traffic, but overall a good day. Giancarlo Fisichella.

Sebastian Vettel split the ‘Indias in eighth in the STR, but even more impressingly managed to get that high without using slick tyres. The plucky young German is having a great off-season and with the hand-me-down improvements from Red Bull, they could be taking a sizable leap forward next year. Second STR pilot Sebastien Bourdais went into twelfth driving the 2007 car with electronic aids turned off. The drivers swapped motors after lunch so the team could better assess the modifications made.

BMW ran both their ’08 drivers again and the German/Swiss team continued their trouble-free running. Nick Heidfeld did have a stoppage on the circuit earlier in the day, but aside from this they have had a reliable off-season so far. Just as he did yesterday, Heidfeld ran 2009 spec slick tyres while Robert Kubica stayed on grooved rubber.

Nicos Rosberg and Hulkenberg were in the Williams again, Hulkenberg lapping 0.4s slower than Rosberg. Toyota had a productive day with Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi while Honda fielded just Rubens Barrichello and sister team Super Aguri ran Anthony Davidson (who outpaced Barrichello) and Andreas Zuber.