For the second successive day, Toyota tops the timesheets at Silverstone, as Jarno Trulli posts a best time 0.128s faster than his nearest rival, Kimi Raikkonen, who, according to speculation could be partnering the Italian next season.
The Italian spent the morning continuing set-up work for next month's British Grand Prix, while also doing some work on the engine and other systems. The team changed the suspension settings in the afternoon so Trulli missed some track time. Then, just as he was returning to action the British weather intervened. The track had remained dry for most of the day until a heavy shower midway through the afternoon. After a further delay the Italian was able to return to the track for half an hour of further running and ended with the day's fastest lap.
"In general it was a positive day," said Trulli, "even though it's difficult to judge comparative performance because it's always very windy here. The morning went pretty well for us testing set-up and tyres and I felt pretty comfortable with the car. Then we changed the suspension settings so we lost some time around the lunch break.
"After the rain in the afternoon we only had about a half an hour more of meaningful work. But this was just typical of the problems that we can face during testing. Overall the running I have been able to complete has been good so I would say that we are in reasonable shape here."
"That was a day of various interruptions and the running was limited as a result," admitted Gerd Pfeiffer. "We had a similar programme to yesterday, concentrating primarily on set-up work for next month's Grand Prix. Jarno took over from Ralf and had another positive morning, despite a number of red flags. Early in the afternoon there was a delay as we changed the suspension settings. Then the rain arrived just as we were hoping to go out again. The problem was made worse by the fact that it would be raining at some parts of the circuit and not at others. At least we did not have any issues with reliability on the track. Jarno will return to the cockpit tomorrow as we look to finish the test with a positive day."
Second quickest was Raikkonen in the Ferrari, as both the team and driver ignore media speculation as to the Finn's future role with the team.
The Melbourne winner worked mainly on developing new aerodynamic and mechanical solutions and on finding the best set-up on the car for the Silverstone circuit. He completed 62 laps on his way to posting a best time of 1.21.548.
Third quickest was Alexander Wurz in the Williams, though there is confusion over how many laps the Austrian completed. While most sources claim Alex completed 45 laps, the Grove outfit's timesheets say it was just 45.
Wurz lost track-time in the afternoon following a suspected hydraulics problem, one of several drivers to bring out the red flags today.
"We're currently trying out a new aero package and have been working through revised set-ups to compliment it," sad test team manager Dickie Stanford. "We'll now spend the evening preparing the car for Nico who will run tomorrow on our last day."
Fourth up was Pedro de la Rosa, who also encountered a technical problem, losing time following an oil leak as the Woking team continued with its development programme for the MP4-22.