Japanese wunderkind Kamui Kobayashi ended the second day of testing at Jerez today fastest in his new BMW Sauber, which insiders are saying could be the surprise of the season. Sebastian Buemi continued to impress in his Toro Rosso, meanwhile, and Britain’s Jenson Button posted the third fastest time behind the front two.
Meanwhile, the big names were somewhat further down the field. Michael Schumacher could only manage sixth fastest, with Ferrari new boy Fernando Alonso half a second off him in seventh. This was despite the two old-timers collectively posting the highest number of laps, both exceeding the 120 lap mark. Kobayashi did 103.
Mark Webber could only manage ninth out of ten runners, and although he was quick to play down the significance of the times yesterday, there will be concern that the new Red Bull is not up to scratch. But new arrivals Virgin were worse off: they only managed 11 laps in the hands of Timo Glock, his best time some seven seconds off Webber’s best.
The times from Jerez are as follows:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kobayashi BMW-Sauber (B) 1:19.950 103
2. Buemi Toro Rosso Ferrari (B) 1:20.026 121
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.618 83
4. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:20.629 67
5. Liuzzi Force India- Mercedes (B) 1:20.754 80
6. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:21.083 124
7. Alonso Ferrari (B) 1:21.424 129
8. Kubica Renault (B) 1:22.003 103
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.043 99
10. Glock Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:29.964 11
