Scuderia Ferrari ended the three days of Formula One testing in Valencia again on the top of the speedchart but today the fast time belonged to the local hero whose debut in his new ride brought out many of the fans in Spain. Fernando Alonso not only had the thousands of fans on their feet as he wheeled the F10 red team car around the track but he also set the fastest time overall in combined times to kick start the 2010 season.

"I knew that many fans had been expected here, but this was something else. We're in the middle of the week and it's incredible to see so many people on the grandstand," Alonso smiled. "This was a very special day for me. Not only because I finally had my debut in red, but it's also my father's birthday, who was here with me. I enjoyed every single one of those 127 laps."


The twice World Champion ran 127 laps with his best of a 1:11.470, besting his teammate Felipe Massa who ran the first two days. The Brazilian's best was a 1:11.722 -- not that much of a difference between the two Ferrari drivers. Both were very pleased with the new contender for 2010.

"I've been waiting for this moment for months and finally it's here," Alonso said at the end of the day. "We worked at lot at the works over the last weeks, but I was still missing the experience on the track. Today I concentrated mainly on getting to know the car. There were many new things for me here, such as the Schubert helmet and the Brembo brakes I had never used before.

"I must say that I felt at ease immediately thanks to Felipe's work during the last days: the car went well and it was fast; it had a good set up, too, which is positive. It's absolutely impossible to say where we stand compared to the others: I didn't watch them closely, because I had too much work to do with my team. Anyway it's far too early to say anything. There are so many unknown factors."

The Sauber team, now with Ferrari power also put on a good show in the opening round or preseason testing. Pedro de la Rosa gave his homeland fans an extra bit of excitement with the second fastest time today. With 80 laps today in the C29, de la Rosa hit his best lap at 1:12.094, which was the fourth best combined three day time.

The Spaniard's Sauber teammate Kamui Kobayashi turned a top time on his only day in the new car yesterday at 1:12.056 to leave Spain with the third best combined time.

With the Winter test ban now over and the Formula One teams that were ready with their new cars took to the 4.051km (2.517-mile) Circuit Ricardo Tormo to shakedown their 2010 challengers.

Seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher made his official return on Monday surrounded by the press corps. Today, the German was third with a best time of 1:12.438 over the 82 laps he toured the circuit. Racing for the German marque Mercedes, his best time on the two days he raced the new MGP WO1 was today but in the combined test times, he managed to place seventh.

The German team, now in the silver arrows livery, has two homeland drivers and Nico Rosberg did not run today, like Schumacher he took to the track on two of the three days. Rosberg's best lap on Tuesday was a 1:12.899 which put him ninth in the combined times.

Reigning World Champion Jenson Button took his first runs today with his new team for this year. Making his debut in the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25, Button's best time was 1:12.951 with 82 laps around the circuit for the fifth fastest time today and in combined times, the Brit was 10th fastest of the 15 drivers that were present.

Button's teammate and the 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton took the new car out yesterday with a best lap time at 1:12.256 which was the fifth best over the three days.

Reserve driver for McLaren, Gary Paffett actually was the first to test the MP4-25 with a true shakedown on Monday. Paffett's time 1:13.846 landed him the final combined top spot.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari had both team drivers in Valencia to shakedown the SRT5 with Sebastien Buemi on the first two days and Jaime Alguersuari today. Buemi's best was a 1:13.823 yesterday which was 14 best overall. Today, the younger racer took to the track, covering 97 laps for his best time of 1:12.576, giving him eighth in combined times.

Robert Kubica ran the new Renault R30 on Monday and Tuesday before Russian racer Vitaly Petrov had a turn today. Kubica, of course, is not new to testing or F1 and the Pole was the fastest of the two with a time of 1:12.426 that placed him sixth fastest over the three days in combined times.

Petrov went out for the first time today and clocked off his best at 1:13.097 over 75 laps. His debut at Valencia and in the R30 was the 11th fastest combined time. The Russian, known as "Vyborg Rocket" in his homeland was the 2009 GP2 Series sub-champion but more importantly when he turns his first wheel in the first practice at Bahrain, he will make history as the first Russian driver in a Formula One Grand Prix event.

Like Petrov, Nico Hulkenberg, came to the attention of the Formula 1 teams as a GP2 Series driver. The GP2 2009 champion landed the seat in the Williams-Cosworth, teammate to the Rubens Barrichello. In today's test runs, the German put in 126 laps with a best time of 1:13.669.

Hulkenberg's fastest time today netted him 13th in combined times, just one slot behind his Brazilian teammate. Barrichello's best at 1:13.377 was on Tuesday after he did the shakedown of the FW32.

Created by: Deborah Kay-Knowling

Published: 2/4/2010 8:48:39 AM

Author : Nancy Knapp Schilke

Publication : MotorSport.com