Formula 1's man of the moment Sebastian Vettel topped the Thursday times as testing continued at Jerez in preparation for the four season-closing flyaway races.
Driving for Red Bull Racing, the team to which he will move from Toro Rosso next year, Vettel clocked his fastest time in the morning before the session was put on hold by showers shortly after lunch.
Despite the high likelihood of rain at the final four races, most teams elected to stay off the slippery, newly resurfaced track – opting for an afternoon working in the garage instead.
Second fastest man Nick Heidfeld was one of the few who braved the conditions in the afternoon, hoping to find a better wet-weather set up for the BMW F1.08.
“As we might have some rain during the forthcoming races we took this opportunity to work on the car’s wet weather set-up,” said the German.
Lucas di Grassi saw no advantage in running his Renault R28 in the wet, completing just 36 laps and setting the third fastest time, albeit a full second slower than Vettel.
The GP2 ace has been testing new developments for Renault all week as the team signs off its last few developments for the 2008 season.
“I’m getting used to the car and the more laps I do, the more confident I feel,” he said.
“We didn’t do any running in the wet, but we were able to test a few more parts this morning that the team will be taking to the race next week.”
McLaren was fourth fastest with Pedro de la Rosa taking over from Gary Paffett in the MP4-23.
Once again the Woking-based team focused on aero developments for the final four races as well as continuing work on its KERS unit for next year.
Alexander Wurz was fifth fastest in the Honda, with the Japanese team’s former race driver Takuma Sato not far off in the Toro Rosso.
Sato is the second new driver to take the wheel of the STR3 this week, as he and Sebastien Buemi take part in a shoot-out for a chance to drive for Toro Rosso next year.
Sato’s track time was restricted by the rain as the team was reluctant to run an all-new driver and car line-up in the treacherous conditions.
Nevertheless, Sato said he was pleased with his time in the car.
“By the end of the morning we began timed runs, so I could really feel the car and I started to enjoy the laps,” said the Japanese driver.
“Unfortunately in the afternoon it started to rain so we had to stop.
"That was a great shame, as I was looking forward to proper running in the afternoon.
“Although I couldn’t complete the day due to the weather conditions, I really enjoyed driving the STR3.”
Toyota’s test driver Kamui Kobayashi was seventh fastest ahead of Kazuki Nakajima who continued the development of Williams’s 2008/09 interim car, the FW30B.
The British team again ran a 2009 rear wing and diffuser, sized to the dimensions outlined in next year’s specifications.
According to the ’09 rulebook the rear wing must be no wider than 800mm, although it can be deeper and mounted higher, and the diffuser must be further back as well as shallower.
Meanwhile Ferrari again had the test track of Mugello to itself, with world champion Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel of the F2008 and setting a best time of 1m21.079s.
Felipe Massa will take over at the Tuscan circuit on Friday, having been at Ferrari’s other test track, Fiorano, today completing shakedowns of the cars that Ferrari will take to Singapore.
Source:http://www.itv-f1.com/
