Jerez - Day 4, halfway though the last day.
<table class="text_small" width="100%" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#eaeaea"><td height="20" align="center">1</td> <td align="left"> Barrichello</td><td align="center">Williams</td><td align="left"> 1m19.832s</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"><td height="20" align="center">2</td> <td align="left"> Kobayashi</td><td align="center">Sauber</td><td align="left"> 1m20.601s +0.769</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eaeaea"><td height="20" align="center">3</td> <td align="left"> Alonso</td><td align="center">Ferrari</td><td align="left"> 1m21.074s +1.242</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"><td height="20" align="center">4</td> <td align="left"> Buemi</td><td align="center">Toro Rosso</td><td align="left"> 1m21.213s +1.381</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eaeaea"><td height="20" align="center">5</td> <td align="left"> Senna</td><td align="center">Renault</td><td align="left"> 1m21.990s +2.158</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"><td height="20" align="center">6</td> <td align="left"> Vettel</td><td align="center">Red Bull</td><td align="left"> 1m22.222s +2.390</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eaeaea"><td height="20" align="center">7</td> <td align="left"> Button</td><td align="center">McLaren</td><td align="left"> 1m22.278s +2.446</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"><td height="20" align="center">8</td> <td align="left"> Rosberg</td><td align="center">Mercedes</td><td align="left"> 1m22.773s +2.941</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eaeaea"><td height="20" align="center">9</td> <td align="left"> D'Ambrosio</td><td align="center">Virgin</td><td align="left"> 1m22.985s +3.153</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"><td height="20" align="center">10</td> <td align="left"> Di Resta</td><td align="center">Force India</td><td align="left"> 1m23.111s +3.279</td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#eaeaea"><td height="20" align="center">11</td> <td align="left"> Kovalainen</td><td align="center">Lotus</td><td align="left"> 1m24.023s +4.191</td></tr></tbody></table>
A few questions asked by viewers.
We've had a question on McLaren's progress. Graham Lamond from North Yorkshire says: "Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned by McLaren's lack of showing so far? They have missed one test (planned), but now are saying they are short of parts. Seems like a lot of lost opportunity over two tests."
AUTOSPORT.com features editor @TeamAnglais replies:
"It isn't just you, we've had quite a lot of questions this morning from folk concerned about McLaren. The team deliberately waited until Jerez to test the MP4-26 for the first time. Valencia was still used to gather useful data on tyres and some new parts, so that wasn't a total loss.
"If you remember the first couple of days at Valencia, a lot of teams didn't do much more than installation laps, systems checks and basic set-up work. It wasn't until here that we really got to see some proper comparable stints.
"So for McLaren at Jerez, it's still learning about the new car, getting over teething troubles etc. We still haven't seen anything approaching a long run, so we can't possibly know how it compares to Red Bull and Ferrari. Given the red flags so far today and forecast rain for this afternoon, it will probably be a couple of days into Barcelona before we get any indication as to where it stands."
Nicole Chatrath says: I heard that the teams had to change their set-ups to get more constant times out of the Pirelli tyres. Is that true? If it is, is the Red Bull running well because they have managed to have constant times such as 1m22s for some laps? Next question, how would you rank the different teams by what you know by know?
AUTOSPORT.com features editor @TeamAnglais answers:
"As you would expect with new cars and new tyres at the start of a season, all the teams have been trying a wide range of set-ups to A) get the best performance out of each of the four compounds, and B) make the tyres last for as long as possible during a stint. We have seen laptimes remain much more consistent over longer runs the further we get into testing, which suggests they're having some success.
"By what I know, I wouldn't attempt to rank the teams because I'd almost certainly get it wrong. We haven't seen enough yet.
"The Red Bull has looked extremely impressive on track and has kept its fast times more consistently than anyone else so far. But Ferrari has shown similar form while posting faster outright times. As for McLaren, it is still several days behind in new car mileage, having only used its car for the first time here. We won't really be able to compare them until the end of the Barcelona test, perhaps even Bahrain."
Some analysis of Barrichello's run from @TeamAnglais:
"Rubens Barrichello's 1m19.832s this morning has bettered the fastest laps of the first three days of this test (Massa 20.7, Schumacher 20.3, Heidfeld 20.3).
"The time came on the first of an eight-lap stint and the drop-off (1.5s slower seven laps later) suggests he wasn't on the super soft tyre.
"No disrespect to Williams, but if the FW33 can do a 19.8 without resorting to super low fuel and super soft tyres, it makes the 20.3s from earlier in the test look pretty meaningless. You have to wonder how quick the front runners could go if they really went for it."
