Schumacher Surprises In Testing

On a better day for the teams at Valencia, Ralf Schumacher put his Toyota at the top of the timing sheets for the first time this year, pipping the two Renaults and Fernando Alonso. Ferrari fielded both drivers again, and Nick Heidfeld placed his BMW just 0.2s behind Heikki Kovalainen. Anthony Davidson finished the day in eleventh, splitting Jenson Button and James Rossiter. Red Bull also had two cars running with David Coulthard and Mark Webber, and Kazuki Nakajima propped up the bottom in his Williams.

The car again felt good and in the afternoon I had the chance to work on set-up which seemed to go quite well. I am still optimistic about this car’s potential but it is too early to say where we stand compared with the others. Ralf Schumacher.

Renault continue to look strong, and after a promising couple of days, both Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen placed their cars in the top three after completing a combined 232 laps in the the R27s. And with the weather being so much better, Renault weren’t the only team clocking up the mileage today. Fernando Alonso completed 98 laps and Heidfeld did 100, focussing on tyre development. David Coulthard drove the new RB3, while his team mate Mark Webber shook down the recently built second chassis. And finally, Honda subbed Rubens Barrichello today for Jenson Button. The British driver continued work on the 2007 challenger – the RA107 – but as of yet the team are really yet to make much of an impression on the new year time sheets.

1. Schumacher – Toyota – 1m11.297s

2. Fisichella – Renault – 1m11.520s

3. Kovalainen – Renault – 1m11.643s

4. Alonso – McLaren – 1m11.710s

5. Heidfeld – BMW – 1m11.988s

6. Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1m12.359s

7. De La Rosa – McLaren – 1m12.361s

8. Massa – Ferrari – 1m12.419s

9. Kubica – BMW – 1m12.857s

10. Button – Honda – 1m12.927s

11. Davidson – Super Aguri – 1m13.142s

12. Coulthard – Red Bull Racing – 1m13.450s

13. Rossiter – Honda – 1m13.728s

14. Webber – Red Bull Racing – 1m13.794s

15. Nakajima – Williams – 1m14.131s

Formula One, F1, Winter Testing, Ralf Schumacher, Toyota