Seven-times world champion tops day two of Jerez test
Michael Schumacher set the fastest time for Mercedes GP on day two of the latest pre-season Formula One test at Jerez.
The seven-times world champion completed 112 laps of the 4.428-km Spanish circuit in all, setting a best lap of one minute 20.352 seconds.
Schumacher ended the day less than a tenth of a second quicker than Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who was fastest on day one of the four-day test.
"It clearly was a productive day, and obviously I am happy about that," Schumacher said. "We were focusing on long runs and being able to produce such a lot of mileage is positive in terms of reliability. It also gives us good data for the test days to come and for the developments we are working on.
"We are moving forward as we should during the testing period but at the same time, we are aware we have to keep pushing."
Jenson Button was third quickest for McLaren after taking over driving duties from Lewis Hamilton.
Completing a series short runs in the team's new MP4-26 chassis, Button set a best time of of 1min 21.009secs.
Toro Rosso again looked in decent shape, with Jaime Alguersuari ending the day fourth. Even so, the Spaniard span at turn nine to trigger a red flag.
World champions Red Bull once more concentrated on long runs with the RB7 rather than ultimate lap time as Mark Webber finished fifth overall with a 1:21.613.
Late crash
Force India's new VJM04 was sixth in the hands of Adrian Sutil, while Sauber rookie Sergio Perez, second on Thursday, had to be content with seventh place after a late crash which caused some front-end damage to the C30.
Renault's Vitaly Petrov had a spin on his way to ninth place on his final outing at Jerez before handing over to Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna for the remainder of the weekend. The pair are both in the running to replace the injured Robert Kubica at the team.
Virgin Racing's Timo Glock finished ahead of Petrov in eighth, while Pastor Maldonado was another to bring out the red flags, on this occasion for over an hour, when he caused substantial damage to his Williams after spinning off.
The Venezuelan rookie finished the day in 10th place having completed 38 laps, the fewest of any driver on Friday.
Lotus driver Jarno Trulli also suffered from restricted running, a mechanical problem limiting him to 40 laps as he brought up the rear.
Times:
1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:20.352 112 laps
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:20.413 116
3. Jenson Button McLaren 1:21.009 69
4. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:21.214 72
5. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:21.613 113
6. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:21.780 73
7. Sergio Perez Sauber 1:21.857 56
8. Timo Glock Virgin 1:22.208 57
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:22.493 65
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:22.591 37
11. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 1:23.216 40
All times unofficial
The seven-times world champion completed 112 laps of the 4.428-km Spanish circuit in all, setting a best lap of one minute 20.352 seconds.
Schumacher ended the day less than a tenth of a second quicker than Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who was fastest on day one of the four-day test.
"It clearly was a productive day, and obviously I am happy about that," Schumacher said. "We were focusing on long runs and being able to produce such a lot of mileage is positive in terms of reliability. It also gives us good data for the test days to come and for the developments we are working on.
"We are moving forward as we should during the testing period but at the same time, we are aware we have to keep pushing."
Jenson Button was third quickest for McLaren after taking over driving duties from Lewis Hamilton.
Completing a series short runs in the team's new MP4-26 chassis, Button set a best time of of 1min 21.009secs.
Toro Rosso again looked in decent shape, with Jaime Alguersuari ending the day fourth. Even so, the Spaniard span at turn nine to trigger a red flag.
World champions Red Bull once more concentrated on long runs with the RB7 rather than ultimate lap time as Mark Webber finished fifth overall with a 1:21.613.
Late crash
Force India's new VJM04 was sixth in the hands of Adrian Sutil, while Sauber rookie Sergio Perez, second on Thursday, had to be content with seventh place after a late crash which caused some front-end damage to the C30.
Renault's Vitaly Petrov had a spin on his way to ninth place on his final outing at Jerez before handing over to Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna for the remainder of the weekend. The pair are both in the running to replace the injured Robert Kubica at the team.
Virgin Racing's Timo Glock finished ahead of Petrov in eighth, while Pastor Maldonado was another to bring out the red flags, on this occasion for over an hour, when he caused substantial damage to his Williams after spinning off.
The Venezuelan rookie finished the day in 10th place having completed 38 laps, the fewest of any driver on Friday.
Lotus driver Jarno Trulli also suffered from restricted running, a mechanical problem limiting him to 40 laps as he brought up the rear.
Times:
1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:20.352 112 laps
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:20.413 116
3. Jenson Button McLaren 1:21.009 69
4. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:21.214 72
5. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:21.613 113
6. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:21.780 73
7. Sergio Perez Sauber 1:21.857 56
8. Timo Glock Virgin 1:22.208 57
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:22.493 65
10. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:22.591 37
11. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 1:23.216 40
All times unofficial
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