2012 Formula 1 in-season test in Mugello

Day 1:
Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets during the first day of testing in Mugello on a drying track, but heavy rain in the afternoon halted the session, thus ending any chance for teams to test their upgrades. The torrential rain marked the end of an uneventful first day. Nico Rosberg had run the most on Day 1 with a tally of 49 laps.

 1.  Fernando Alonso        Ferrari                 1m22.444s
 2.  Mark Webber            Red Bull-Renault        1m23.648s
 3.  Jean-Eric Vergne       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m23.891s
 4.  Jerome d'Ambrosio      Lotus-Renault           1m24.048s
 5.  Nico Rosberg           Mercedes                1m24.100s
 6.  Kamui Kobayashi        Sauber-Ferrari          1m24.736s
 7.  Oliver Turvey          McLaren-Mercedes        1m25.303s
 8.  Jules Bianchi          Force India-Mercedes    1m25.475s
 9.  Rodolfo Gonzalez       Caterham-Renault        1m27.197s
10.  Charles Pic            Marussia-Cosworth       1m27.359s
11.  Valtteri Bottas        Williams-Renault        1m29.179s
12.  Gary Paffett           McLaren-Mercedes        1m50.898s
13.  Michael Schumacher     Mercedes                No time

 

Day 2:
Romain Grosjean and Kamui Kobayashi clocked the fastest time during the second day of track action in Italy. Grosjean’s laptime came early in the session, only to be equaled by Kobayashi in the afternoon.
Michael Schumacher was on a heavy schedule; the German managed to lap the Italian circuit 144 times, more than any other driver.
Highlights of the day were Force India’s lack of running due to hydraulic problems, and Timo Glock’s power steering problem which limited his runs.

 1.  Romain Grosjean        Lotus-Renault           1m21.603s
 2.  Kamui Kobayashi        Sauber-Ferrari          1m21.603s
 3.  Sebastian Vettel       Red Bull-Renault        1m21.825s
 4.  Mark Webber            Red Bull-Renault        1m21.997s
 5.  Felipe Massa           Ferrari                 1m22.257s
 6.  Jean-Eric Vergne       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m22.422s
 7.  Daniel Ricciardo       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m22.588s
 8.  Michael Schumacher     Mercedes                1m23.404s
 9.  Charles Pic            Marussia-Cosworth       1m23.982s
10.  Vitaly Petrov          Caterham-Renault        1m24.312s
11.  Gary Paffett           McLaren-Mercedes        1m24.480s
12.  Timo Glock             Marussia-Cosworth       1m24.499s
13.  Paul di Resta          Force India-Mercedes    1m24.749s
14.  Bruno Senna            Williams-Renault        1m24.842s

 

Day 3:
Romain Grosjean continued his and Lotus’ promising pace; the Frenchman posted the quickest lap of the week to remain on top throughout Day 3.
Ferrari introduced an upgraded F2012, featuring new bodywork and exhaust, but the Scuderia’s hopes of extensive testing suffered a huge hit when Fernando Alonso crashed his car at turn 12.Caterham driver Heikkei Kovalainen was the busiest driver of the day, completing 138 laps.

 1.  Romain Grosjean        Lotus-Renault           1m21.035s
 2.  Sebastian Vettel       Red Bull-Renault        1m21.267s
 3.  Fernando Alonso        Ferrari                 1m21.363s
 4.  Daniel Ricciardo       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m21.604s
 5.  Sergio Perez           Sauber-Ferrari          1m22.229s
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg        Force India-Mercedes    1m22.325s
 7.  Pastor Maldonado       Williams-Renault        1m22.497s
 8.  Nico Rosberg           Mercedes                1m22.579s
 9.  Oliver Turvey          McLaren-Mercedes        1m22.662s
10.  Paul di Resta          Force India-Mercedes    1m23.002s
11.  Heikki Kovalainen      Caterham-Renault        1m23.169s
12.  Timo Glock             Marussia-Cosworth       1m23.466s

After most teams had run updated cars in Mugello, Formula 1 now awaits the Spanish Grand Prix week on May 11 to further unfold things. With 4 different drivers from 4 different teams winning the first 4 races, it is still very hard to predict the 2012 season.