Testing came to an end this afternoon at Paul Ricard with the ten teams having spent two days preparing for Monte Carlo and the final day running the longer, faster ‘1EV2 SC’ configuration of the French test facility in readiness for the Canadian Grand Prix. However, rain showers, some heavy, blighted much of the final day rendering the lap times rather inconclusive.
Jarno Trulli set the pace for Toyota with a best lap of 1:31.360s, recording his best lap on his 12th lap of 26. Nelson Piquet put in 60 laps, more than any other runner, recording the second fastest time of the day in his Renault, just under three-tenths of a second off Trulli’s best.
Pedro de la Rosa was on duty for McLaren Mercedes today and set the third fastest time ahead of Sebastian Vettel back in the new Toro Rosso STR3. Turkish Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa ran a limited programme in his Ferrari and set the fifth fastest time ahead of BMW Sauber regular Nick Heidfeld.
Red Bull protégé Sebastien Buemi had a run in the Red Bull Renault and managed the seventh best time ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India Ferrari, Jenson Button in the Honda and Adrian Sutil in the second VKM01. Nico Hulkenberg brought up the bottom of the timesheets as Williams Toyota opted to give the young German racer some additional F1 mileage.
After a soggy end to the Paul Ricard test programme, the F1 team’s next take to the track on Thursday as practice for the Monaco Grand Prix gets underway.
Paul Ricard - 16/05/2008
1 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF108 - 1:31.360 (+ 0.000 ) - 26 laps
2 . N. Piquet - Renault R28 - 1:31.634 (+ 0.274 ) - 60 laps
3 . P. de la Rosa - McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 - 1:32.143 (+ 0.783 ) - 53 laps
4 . S. Vettel - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR3 - 1:32.480 (+ 1.120 ) - 49 laps
5 . F. Massa - Ferrari F2008 - 1:33.246 (+ 1.886 ) - 19 laps
6 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.08 - 1:33.371 (+ 2.011 ) - 30 laps
7 . S. Buemi - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:34.064 (+ 2.704 ) - 16 laps
8 . G. Fisichella - Force India Ferrari VJM01 - 1:34.071 (+ 2.711 ) - 31 laps
9 . J. Button - Honda RA108 - 1:36.501 (+ 5.141 ) - 19 laps
10 . A. Sutil - Force India Ferrari VJM01 - 1:43.877 (+ 12.517 ) - 13 laps
11 . N. Hulkenberg - Williams Toyota FW30 - 1:44.741 (+ 13.381 ) - 35 laps.
