Test in Jerez, last day: best time for Bourdais, Hamilton still in the lead among the 2009 cars

Lewis Hamilton again set the fastest time among motorized cars today, on the final day of testing in Jerez. Although Sebastien Bourdais achieved the best overall time with the 2008 Toro Rosso, the Englishman managed to lap in 1.19.632 at the wheel of his McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 equipped however with a 2008 rear wing. Third time for Fernando Alonso who showed clear improvements on the Renault R29.

The Spaniard appeared relieved at the newfound potential of his car after the first frustrating tests.

“After doing so many laps with the car yesterday, we focused more on the set-up today to better understand the car and make it easier to drive” commented the two-time world champion. “In general we must be very happy, we managed to do a lot of laps and the car responded well to the changes made, so I think we found good solutions. The car's handling is improving every day and although there is a lot of work to do before the start of the season, we are undoubtedly going in the right direction” added Alonso.

Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest with Williams, almost half a second behind the Renault driver while Mark Webber was fifth with Red Bull Racing. The Australian's morning was affected by a mysterious mechanical problem and later caused the only red flag of the day when he remained stationary on the track. However, the team said it was encouraged by the first week of testing with the new car.

Kazuki Nakajima completed a total of 34 laps but concentrated on pitstop practices and did not set any times.

Pos Driver Team Lap Time
 1. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:17.472 117      
 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:19.632 94      
 3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:19.846 109      
 4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:21.217 70      
 5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:20.738 92
 6. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) No time 34