F1's pre-season testing regime came to an end with a five-day blitz at Jerez. Only four teams took part, but the spread of times was enough to cause plenty more intrigue ahead of next week's season opener in Melbourne.
Throughout the week, the Brawn GP squad remained super-competitive, with Rubens Barrichello topping the opening day's times and Jenson Button finishing clear on day three. The only blot on the team's inexorable progress was Fernando Alonso pipping Barrichello to top spot on day 2. There was an issue for the re-branded team, as a technical issue forced Button to sit out the afternoon running on the second day.Renault were on the pace throughout their three days of testing, with Alonso's day-topping time added to by quick times by Alonso on day 1 and Piquet Jr on day 3. The only blot on the copybook for the French team was an early crash by Alonso on the opening day, which limited his time on track.
The only team to complete the entire five days was Williams, who were in need of some serious development time after dropping their cockpit fins following safety concerns. The team spent the first two days stuck at the bottom of the timesheets, but improved throughout the test, with Nico Rosberg shadowing Button's fast time on day three and Kazuki Nakajima fastest on the last day, albeit beating only McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen in the process.
As for McLaren, another team that needed a testing boost, they missed the opening day's running, and struggled through days two and three still looking all at sea, but in the hands of Heikki Kovalainen, their pace improved dramatically on the final two days. With the team forcing aerodynamic changes onto the MP4-24 in a desperate bid for some speed, the Finn topped the day four times, and eventually broke the 1:18 barrier on the final day, albeit losing out to the even quicker Nakajima.
The five day Jerez extravaganza brings the pre-season testing ahead of F1 2009 to an end, with still plenty of questions to be answered regarding the relative pace of the ten teams. Though Brawn GP seem to have the edge, few will fully believe their renaissance until as and when they produce a similar performance at a GP weekend.
Aside from the Brawn fireworks, Ferrari, BMW, Renault and Toyota have all shown bursts of speed over the winter, while Williams, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren may well be in for a slow start to the season. In the end though, it is only testing , and anything could really happen.
Roll on Melbourne.
Day 1 Times -
1 Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) 1:19.236 (107), 2 Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:19.819 (40), 3 Nico Hulkenberg (Williams-Toyota) 1:20.015 (69).
Day 2 Times -
1 Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:18.343 (103), 2 Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) 1:18.398 (62), 3 Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) 1:18.892 (12), 4 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:19.513 (85), 5 Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) 1:19.783 (123).
Day 3 Times -
1 Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) 1:17.844 (114), 2 Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) 1:18.071 (66), 3 Nelson Piquet Jr (Renault) 1:18.382 (128), 4 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:19.121 (118).
Day 4 Times -
1 Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:18.202 (85), 2 Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) 1:20.023 (103).
Day 5 Times -
1 Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) 1:17.494 (102), 2 Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:17.946 (84).
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