Kovalainen tops final testing

Eurosport - Sun, 27 Jul 10:35:00 2008

McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen topped the fourth and final day of Formula One testing at Jerez.

2008 German GP McLaren Kovalainen - 0

The Finn lapped in 1:18.385 ahead of the summer testing ban, quicker than Sebastien Bourdais in the Toro Rosso and Red Bull's David Coulthard.

Kovalainen's time was the fastest of the four days, quicker than that set by the other Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel on Wednesday.

He tried out the new aerodynamic solution on the front wing after taking over from test driver Pedro de la Rosa for the final day.

Felipe Massa had his first outing in the Ferrari since the German Grand Prix last weekend and was fifth quickest on Friday.

"I am pleased with the way the day went," he said. "We saw some things which should be interesting for the upcoming races and we carried out an intensive investigation on the set-up of the car.

"There is so much data at our disposal that will help us to be as well prepared as possible for Hungary.

"The fight for the title is still very open and we will leave nothing to chance in pursuing our objectives."

The next testing session will be at Monza from August 27th.

Testing day four times:

1. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) 1:18.385 83 laps

2. Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) 1:18.746 78 laps

3. David Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:19.494 59 laps

4. Romain Grosjean (Renault) 1:19.561 82 laps

5. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:19.611 62 laps

6. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) 1:19.724 66 laps

7. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1:19.915 71 laps

8. Adrian Sutil (Force India) 1:19.965 43 laps

9. Jenson Button (Honda) 1:20.532 61 laps

10. Kamui Kobayashi (Toyota) 1:20.878 61 laps

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 11 of 11

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  1. But what about the chin? That must have an effect on the drag co-efficients surely?

    From adrianday101, on Sun 27 Jul 10:21PM

  2. Coultard used to drive for mclaren with hackinen when he won the the championship!

    From yelnoc, on Sat 26 Jul 10:31PM

  3. David Coulthard one of the greatest drivers - never. He IS one of nices guys in the sport - and that is the problem

    One of the reasons Micheal Schumaker is the greates driver who has ever lived is that he is absolutly ruthless. Take the day he took Damon of after he had crashed - ruthless.

    I have a gut feeling Hamilton is the same. Great gut of the track but on the track ruthless. Its the way they pas people.

    Richard Simmons

    From Richard S, on Sat 26 Jul 5:37PM

  4. For steve.bingham64 - I agree with you! Coulthard in a MaClaren will be invisible. He would trounce Hamilton and Heikki, Schummi and Senna, Prost and all. He would be the greatest driver that ever lived. Pity the stupid MaClaren managers didn't and can't appreciate his obvious talent. Pity he is in the downlow of the sport. However if MaClaren wakes up to the truth and convince him not to retire, please let me know.

    From go2tss, on Sat 26 Jul 3:47PM

  5. hjlio oi, do you know anything about F1 ??
    If you put Coulthard into the Mclaren, he would walk all over hamilton and heikki. DC is a very highly rated driver and has done much for the sport and safety of the drivers. I am a big Hamilton and Mclaren fan but that is just silly talk. Hamilton has got a lot of talent yet to come out and he WILL be a world champion, but if you changed him into DC's car he would still have the same problems as DC does now.

    it annoys me when people say they support the sport but only support one team or driver and think all others are rubbish, sorry but they are the top drivers in the world and you can put Kimi into the force india and he would still be at the back half of the field, because of the car not the driver.

    From steve.bingham64, on Sat 26 Jul 11:07AM

  6. "hjlio oi"

    Dont be a idiot Hamilton is faster than Heikki tho the Team is the best on the Grid, best teamwork out there

    Mclaren's Dumbo Wings (Front Wing) looks awful but if it does its job then excellent

    Come on Hamilton Come on Heikki you 2 can stun Ferrari again

    From marsbarsrnice, on Fri 25 Jul 11:34PM

  7. even Coulthard if you give Hamiltons car will win the title 4sure.lol

    From hjlio oi, on Fri 25 Jul 11:33PM

  8. Can Identical Twins Be Different Sexes???

    The cars are n0t identical,and for good reason ;)

    From hjlio oi, on Fri 25 Jul 11:13PM

  9. Kovalainen is a great test driver and racer but Hamilton has the edge when racing.
    If there were team orders why did he not come second to Hamilton's first?

    From TYGERZI, on Fri 25 Jul 10:42PM

  10. adem42001,
    You mean better then Hamilton? but he is,
    only team orders stopping him to be the one...

    From hjlio oi, on Fri 25 Jul 10:20PM

  11. hi good job keep go like this u will get better than before

    From adem42001, on Fri 25 Jul 7:56PM
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