Schumacher tops Barcelona timesheet
Michael Schumacher has put Mercedes GP on top of the timesheets today after a few qualifying laps saw him top Alonso by more than 0.3 seconds. Nico Rosberg also confirmed the improvements in Mercedes' updates aero package as he ended the day in third.
Today marked the first day of the much anticipated aerodynamic update of the W02 after struggling through previous winter test sessions. Although the team will continue to test tomorrow, along with Williams, Hispania, Ferrari and McLaren, the team chose to give Nico Rosberg a go with the upgraded package as well.
The oher teams have hereby finished their pre-season winter testing and will now prepare for the Australian GP.
Apart from the top times, Rubens Barrichello's times are interesting as well, as his longer runs showed a much lower tyre degradation than many expected from previous testing days. The times of the Williams driver only dropped off about a second over 10 laps.
Results
| Pos. | .Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes Grand Prix | 01:21.268 | 67 |
| 2. | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:21.614 | 141 |
| 3. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes Grand Prix | 01:21.788 | 22 |
| 4. | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 01:22.073 | 67 |
| 5. | Rubens Barrichello | Williams | 01:22.233 | 89 |
| 6. | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber | 01:22.315 | 98 |
| 7. | Jaime Alguersuari | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 01:22.675 | 72 |
| 8. | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 01:22.933 | 64 |
| 9. | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus F1 | 01:23.437 | 138 |
| 10. | Paul di Resta | Force India F1 | 01:23.653 | 42 |
| 11. | Adrian Sutil | Force India F1 | 01:23.921 | 26 |
| 12. | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 01:24.108 | 11 |
| 13. | Jenson Button | McLaren | 01:25.837 | 57 |
| 14. | Jerome d` Ambrosio | Virgin Racing | 01:27.375 | 46 |
