F1 News
Date: 14/February/2012
A quick glance at the Jerez F1 test results might have prompted some to put a quick bet on Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher for the 2012 world championship.
That’s because the pair were listed as first and third, respectively, at the end of the opening test session of the year. But all was not as it seemed, since Mercedes was the only team - other than backmarkers HRT - still using last year’s 2011-spec car, without the new technical restrictions.
Fastest man Rosberg said: “I’m happy with the testing that we have achieved here in Jerez, and we learned a lot about the Pirelli tyres and a few other things for the new car. You can’t really compare the lap times with other teams, but it was interesting to learn a lot with our 2011 car.”
The Ross Brawn-run team has gambled that running last year’s car with the new Pirelli tyres - plus 2012 development parts - will allow them to steal an advantage over the opposition.
The downside is that Mercedes will now have just two (four-day) tests at Barcelona in which to prepare their 2012 racer prior to the March 18 season-opener at Melbourne’s Albert Park.
Brawn believes the extra info will prove ‘very useful’:
“We have had a productive and busy three days in Jerez running the MGP W02 car for the final time. Simultaneously the final preparations have been taking place back at the factory for the first test with our 2012 car in Barcelona.
“Michael and Nico have been able to complete some valuable mileage this week, and enhanced our understanding of the new season’s Pirelli tyres which will prove very useful once the new car in is on track.”
New Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was a surprise quickest of the 2012 machines, the Frenchman finishing second overall with a best lap time 0.8sec from Rosberg and 0.1sec ahead of Schumacher.
After setting his fastest lap on his 2012 debut, during day three of four, Grosjean said:
“I am one of the happiest guys in the world right now. It’s been a really good day for me. We were fastest in the morning then we completed some longer runs in the afternoon. For sure there’s margin for improvement in the tests ahead, but it’s a great start to the year.”
Grosjean was 0.4sec faster than the next-best 2012 car of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who was followed on the timesheets by the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and world champion Sebastian Vettel.
The second pre-season test starts at Barcelona on February 21, when Mercedes will aim for a speedy debut with their new car.
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