The new new Lotus Cosworth T127 completed a successful first days test with Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy driving 76 laps in variable wet and windy conditions.
Jerez Second Test - Day 1 of 4
| Position | Team | Driver | # Laps | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Bull Racing | Sebastian Vettel | 99 | 1:22.593 |
| 2 | McLaren | Lewis Hamilton | 72 | 1:23.017 |
| 3 | Ferrari | Felipe Massa | 72 | 1:23.204 |
| 4 | Toro Rosso | Sebastien Buemi | 79 | 1:23.322 |
| 5 | BMW Sauber F1 | Pedro De La Rosa | 76 | 1:23.367 |
| 6 | Mercedes GP | Michael Schumacher | 111 | 1:23.803 |
| 7 | Force India | Adrian Sutil | 28 | 1:24.272 |
| 8 | Force India | Paul Di Resta | 74 | 1:25.088 |
| 9 | Renault | Vitaly Petrov | 55 | 1:26.237 |
| 10 | Williams | Rubens Barrichello | 109 | 1:27.320 |
| 11 | Lotus Racing | Fairuz Fauzy | 76 | 1:31.848 |
| 12 | Virgin Racing | Timo Glock | 10 | 1:32.417 |
Lotus was among the first teams out on track this morning with the track still wet track from overnight rain, and, despite a lack of power steering, due to supplier issues, Fauzy successfully fulfilled all of his and the team’s objectives for the day completing over 330 km’s more than enough for him to qualify for his FIA Superlicense..
Commenting on the Cars performance Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer, said:
“It’s been an excellent day for the whole team. Firstly I want to say a big thank you to Fairuz who did an excellent job today with the first proper day of running. With so much going on, such as doing systems checks, it can be a pretty disjointed day for the driver. When you add into that the changeable conditions, and also the fact we were running without power steering today, it could have been a tricky day for Fairuz but he didn’t put a foot wrong so well done to him and a big thank you.
With the car we had no major reliability issues – a few niggles with overheating which were quickly solved and then the car ran pretty faultlessly. The power steering issue will be fixed for tomorrow so all in all a very successful first day and a busy evening ahead preparing the car for tomorrow.”
Fairuz Fauzy was also delighted with his first drive of the Lotus Cosworth T127, saying:
“First of all I want to thank the team. To arrive here and complete 76 laps is fantastic. It was a big challenge, both to complete the 300kms I need for the Super Licence, and with no power steering it was difficult to drive in the dry, not so bad in the wet, so I was driving a bit conservatively but I am just very pleased.”
Among the other established teams Sebastian Vettel set fastest time of the day in the Red Bull RB6, followed by Lewis Hamilton in the Mclaren and then the Ferrari F10 of Felipe Massa.
Most laps of the day were completed by Michael Schumacher (111) in the Mercedes GP MGP-W01 with Rubens Barrichello in the Williams FW32 setting the second highest lap total of 109 laps. At the other end of the field Virgin Racing still seems to be struggling completing only 10 laps all day.
