csconstantine.com: Mark Webber fastest on morning of final day

Monday, 21 February 2011

Mark Webber fastest on morning of final day - ESPN F1

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The Red Bull was fastest again on Monday morning © Sutton Images

Red Bull's Mark Webber went to lunch at the head of the field on the final day of testing at Barcelona.

The RB7 has looked impressive all week, so it was no surprise when Webber clocked a 1:23.442 to take the top spot ahead of early pacesetter Sebastien Buemi.

Just like team-mate Sebastian Vettel on Saturday, Webber set his hot lap on the first attempt of a two-lap, qualifying-style run, with a drop off of nearly one second as the tyres degraded on the second lap.

Pastor Maldonado was third fastest in the Williams ahead of Adrian Sutil in the Force India.

Lotus brought an early end to its test when Jarno Trulli crashed heavily at turn nine. A problem with the car speared him off the track and due to a lack of spares the team decided to pack up and head home.

"Unfortunately the day was cut short due to the accident Jarno suffered this morning at turn nine," chief operating officer Mike Gascoyne said. "It was not his fault - it was caused by a car failure and we were missing a part we needed to put the car back together which meant we had to cut day four short."

Despite the ignominious end, Trulli said he was happy with the car's performance so far.

"It's obviously disappointing to have the test cut short like this but these things happen in motor racing," he said. We started the day well and until the accident happened I had picked up where I left off yesterday - the car has good balance, pace we can build on and has the potential to help us take the fight to the midfield, so I'm leaving here feeling confident about the season ahead and am looking forward to the next test, wherever that will be."

Meanwhile, McLaren appeared to make progress with the reliability of the MP4-26 and Lewis Hamilton racked up an impressive 66 laps in the morning. That tally was only matched by Felipe Massa in the Ferrari, as both concentrated on long runs over headline times.

Renault had problems with its KERS unit, keeping Nick Heidfeld in the garage for much of the morning and restricting him to just 22 laps. It is hoping for more extensive running in the afternoon.

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