Oliver White
The Sakhir circuit in Bahrain again saw action yesterday as the majority of Formula One teams tested again. McLaren returned their cars to the top of the list as Fernando Alonso posted the fastest lap of the day, 0.1s faster than his 2007 team mate Lewis Hamilton. Alonso managed 73 laps on his way to the top of the timing sheet, and once again outshone Ferrari by some margin. Felipe Massa was placed third, although he was 0.7s down on pace setter Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen was a further 0.1s down on his team mate, and the drivers completed 152 between them.
Renault returned to the top half of the timings on day three, with Heikki Kovalainen posting the fifth fastest lap, beating test driver Nelson Piquet Jr by 0.3s who ended up in in ninth by the close of day. Honda placed themselves in sixth and seventh for Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button resectively, and the pair of drivers completed an impressive 207 laps together.
Both drivers also completed full race simulation exercises in the hot track temperatures which has provided useful information for us. The test programme has gone well and we look forward to continuing the development with further new parts arriving for next week. Jacky Eeckelaert
BMW were relegated to tenth and eleventh, a surprising change in fortune after the first two days of blitzing the circuit. Nick Heidfeld had an engine change during the course of the day, and his run was therefore limited to just 65 laps. Toyota remained towards the bottom of the list, with Franck Montagny in thirteenth and Jarno Trulli in fifteenth, only just pipping last placed driver Scott Speed by 0.2s. A gear box problem was blamed for Trulli’s placing, although the Italian did manage 104 laps before the day ended.
1. Alonso – McLaren – 1m30.994s
2. Hamilton – McLaren – 1m31.094s
3. Massa – Ferrari – 1m31.718s
4. Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1m31.867s
5. Kovalainen – Renault – 1m32.032s
6. Barrichello – Honda – 1m32.115s
7. Button – Honda – 1m32.137s
8. Coulthard – Red Bull Racing – 1m32.220s
9. Piquet – Jr – Renault – 1m32.334s
10. Heidfeld – BMW – 1m32.451s
11. Kubica – BMW – 1m32.475s
12. Davidson – Super Aguri – 1m32.553s
13. Montagny – Toyota – 1m32.917s
14. Webber – Red Bull Racing – 1m33.034s
15. Trulli – Toyota – 1m33.062s
16. Speed – Toro Rosso – 1m33.255s
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