Circuito de Jerez: 2013 Testing Day Four

Kimi Raikkonen finished the final day of the Jerez test at the top of the time sheets, just edging out Force India’s test driver and candidate for a 2013 race seat, Jules Bianchi. The Finn completed a total of 123 laps over the two days he was behind the wheel of the new Lotus, which turn out to be the last two of the four-day test in Jerez.

Raikkonen set the best time of the day on a short run with the soft tyre during the afternoon running, which was extended by 30 minutes to make up for a delay caused by track repairs around lunchtime.

A pot hole developed at Spain’s Jerez track between Turns 10 and 11, where drivers run wide over the kerb. Marshals were able to repair the damage with quick-drying cement, and testing resumed after a 50-minute delay.Sebastian Vettel was third overall for Red Bull Racing, ahead of Esteban Gutierrez, who made solid progress as he became more confident with the Sauber C32.

But the fact was that Vettel had one of the most impressive laps of the day, a time of 1:18.565 set in the morning. Although it was over 0.6s slower than Felipe Massa’s headline time from Thursday, Vettel’s lap was set on hard tyres. With the difference between compounds said to be roughly 0.5s per step, it was proof that there is still plenty of pace left in the Red Bull.

Toro Rosso continued its good form as Jean-Eric Vergne took fifth spot for a second consecutive day.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04), who was limited by brake failures to only 15 laps Wednesday, got another go at his new car, recording a total of 145 laps. His best time was the sixth fastest of day, putting him just in front of Sergio Pérez, who replaced him at McLaren.

Valtteri Bottas was eighth for Williams as the Finn brought last year’s FW34 to the end of its frontline career.

The extra time seemed to be a blessing in disguise for Ferrari (which had lost all of its morning running when the F138 came to smoky halt). Test driver Pedro de la Rosa had completed just two laps as he aimed to learn as much information as possible to take back to the team’s simulator in Maranello and had to wait until the afternoon to get back on track. He managed complete 51 laps by the end of the day with a best time of 1:20.316.

Charles Pic completed an impressive 109 laps in the Caterham after suffering technical issues on Thursday and finished 0.121s ahead of Luiz Razia in the Marussia. Di Resta rounded off the timesheets with a 1:23.435 as he spent his afternoon focusing on heavier fuel after taking over the Force India from Bianchi.

Final day four times:

Times

	Driver	Car	Best time	Laps
1.	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus E21	1:18.148	83
2.	Jules Bianchi	Force India VJM06	1:18.175	56
3.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull RB9	1:18.565	96
4.	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber C32	1:18.669	142
5.	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso STR8	1:18.760	92
6.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes W04	1:18.905	145
7.	Sergio Perez	McLaren MP4-28	1:18.944	98
8.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams FW34	1:19.851	92
9.	Pedro de la Rosa	Ferrari F138	1:20.316	51
10.	Charles Pic	Caterham CT03	1:21.105	109
11.	Luiz Razia	Marussia MR02	1:21.226	82
12.	Paul di Resta	Force India VJM06	1:23.435	49

Amalgamated times:

	Driver	Car	Best time	Laps
1.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari F138	1:17.789	227
2.	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus E21	1:18.148	123
3.	Jules Bianchi	Force India VJM06	1:18.175	56
4.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus E21	1:18.218	149
5.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull RB9	1:18.565	198
6.	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber C32	1:18.669	252
7.	Jean-Eric Vergne,	Toro Rosso STR8	1:18.760	177
8.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes W04	1:18.766	162
9.	Jenson Button	McLaren MP4-28	1:18.861	120
10.	Lewis Hamilton	Caterham CT03	1:18.905	160
11.	Sergio Perez	McLaren MP4-28	1:18.944	179
12.	Paul di Resta	Force India VJM06	1:19.003	240
13.	Daniel Ricciardo	Lotus E21	1:19.134	153
14.	James Rossiter	Force India VJM06	1:19.303	61
15.	Mark Webber	Red Bull RB9	1:19.338	174
16.	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber C32	1:19.502	178
17.	Valtteri Bottas	Toro Rosso STR8	1:19.851	178
18.	Pedro de la Rosa	Ferrari F138	1:20.316	51
19.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams FW34	1:20.693	155
20.	Charles Pic	Caterham CT03	1:21.105	166
21.	Luiz Razia	Marussia MR02	1:21.226	113
22.	Max Chilton	Marussia MR02	1:21.269	107
23.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham CT03	1:21.311	152