The latest pre-season test at Jerez drew to a close on Thursday, as the six remaining teams continued to put their new cars through their paces. Nick Heidfeld gave the BMW team something to cheer with the quickest time.
With Force India and Renault having returned to their factories ahead of the final day, the action was a bit thin on the ground for the session, with only Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari putting in any serious running, as the rain of earlier in the week returned to disrupt everyone's running.Heidfeld's time of 1:20.052 was a slower pace than the preceding days, but nevertheless showed an improvement for a BMW Sauber team that have looked somewhat suspect in the testing completed to date. Heidfeld ended the day nearly four tenths of a second ahead of Raikkonen, who was the only other runner to complete more than 60 laps.
Lewis Hamilton was third fastest, albeit over a second off Heidfeld's pace. The Brit suffered a low-speed crash which cost him track time after he went off the circuit and damaged his rear wing. The incident was blamed on a "gust of wind", possibly eliciting childish giggles down the pit lane.
The other three drivers in action had quiet days, with Mark Webber finishing in fourth place after 47 laps and Kazuki Nakajima ending fifth for Williams. The final spot on the timesheets went to Jarno Trulli, who damaged his front wing to bring his day in the Toyota to an abrupt end.
The teams now have a few days off before the pre-season testing fun resumes next week in Barcelona.
| Today's Times | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Car | Best Time | Laps |
| 1 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:20.052 | 123 |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:20.404 | 112 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren - Mercedes | 1:21.272 | 58 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull - Renault | 1:22.219 | 47 |
| 5 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams - Toyota | 1:22.226 | 54 |
| 6 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:23.119 | 38 |
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