FORMULA 1 - 2010

[MIKA27]

Stefan GP close to announcing drivers

Zoran Stefanovic on Wednesday refused to be drawn on the identity of the drivers for his hopeful Formula One entrant Stefan GP.

The Serbian outfit is pushing hard to be included on the 2010 entry list, and it was reported earlier that Indian driver Karun Chandhok might have been signed for his $6m sponsorship purse.

It is widely expected that Kazuki Nakajima is already guaranteed one race seat, should Stefan GP be shone the green light to contest the forthcoming world championship with the withdrawn Toyota's 2010 package.

"We are in various negotiations, but it has not been sorted out completely

now," Stefanovic said in an interview with Italy's 422race.com.

"We are very close to (deciding) and very shortly we will be announcing

the drivers officially. At the moment not yet, but we are very near. But we still cannot confirm any names yet," he added.

Stefanovic would not say if Ralf Schumacher is being considered, but did reveal that at least one of Stefan's 2010 drivers "will be Japanese".

He also denied reports that, alongside spygate conspirator Mike Coughlan, sacked McLaren 'liegate' team manager Dave Ryan has been appointed to work with Stefan.

"No. I don't know how it came out, but Dave Ryan is not connected to our

team. Simply, he's not," Stefanovic said.

As for former Force India boss Colin Kolles, the Serbian businessman admitted that the Romanian-German "is in contact with us, but he's not part of the team".

[MIKA27]

Key USF1 figure leaves American team

A key member of the new American entrant USF1 is believed to have left the team.

Brian Bonner, the team's head of business development, is no longer working with USF1, amid rumours the YouTube founder and CEO Chad Hurley has ceased his backing of the Charlotte based operation.

Bonner, 50, is a former Indycar driver, and now co-director of the B4 Marketing company.

Another rumour is that Hurley could be interested in joining forces with Campos, the other embattled new F1 team, with the hopeful Serbian outfit Stefan GP also possibly involved.

At the same time, there are rumours that some other USF1 team members are growing impatient at delays in being paid.

Meanwhile, it is true that USF1's Charlotte headquarters is for sale, but the team is in fact a sitting tenant, with a lease through 2014.

MIKA: This is seriously bad news if true for the team.

[MIKA27]

Lotus sidelined after Kovalainen's crash

Lotus Racing have been forced to call an early halt to Thursday's test session in Jerez after Heikki Kovalainen damaged the front wing.

On his first day in the car, the former McLaren driver slid off a wet track into the gravel four hours in as rain again dominated proceedings in southern Spain, dislodging the nose.

With no spare immediately available, the Finn will now have to wait until tomorrow to continue putting the T127 through its paces.

Commenting on his Twitter page, Kovalainen said: "Had a crash and damaged front wing, session over for us. My mistake. Tomorrow we go again."

Confirming the damage on his page, Lotus' chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne added: "Slight off for Heikki.

"Knocked off the front wing. Spare on its way, but will not be here until 2am in the morning, so no more running today.

"Conditions drying up, so a shame not to get any dry running today."

It means for the remainder of the day Kovalainen will have to sit at the bottom of the timesheets, with his best lap a 1:33.554, nearly six seconds adrift of current pacesetter Rubens Barrichello in his Williams.

MIKA: It's a shame about HK but these are the conditions in which they are forced to race and as such, accidents are bound to happen. I am surprised Lotus didn't bother to take a spare or two as front wings are quite often damaged.

As for Rubens' times, he is the overall King of wet weather racing. He always has been, even in the Ferrari days where in wet weather, he was formiddable.

[MIKA27]

Hakkinen won't follow in Schu's footsteps

Mika Hakkinen has ruled out any talk of a comeback, insisting he won't follow in Michael Schumacher's footsteps.

Hakkinen and Schumacher were fierce rivals in Formula One a decade ago, however, the battle came to an end in 2001 when McLaren driver Hakkinen opted to take a sabbatical - and never returned.

And although a few years later Schumacher also quit the sport, the seven-time World Champion is back having opted to come out of retirement, signing a three-year deal with Mercedes GP.

Schumacher's return has prompted some questions about whether Hakkinen could consider a similar path. The 41-year-old Finn, though, insists that's not going to happen.

"No I did not (consider a comeback), because I knew with Formula One, you need a massive commitment from your life. You cannot just go there to think this is my hobby, you really have to work hard," he told XPRESS.

"(Michael's) return to Formula One was great news for Formula One, great for the fans of Formula One and great news for Michael's fans. Coming back to Formula One after retirement is a very personal thing. It is a very challenging sport.

"It won't be easy to just say 'I'm going to win'. There are a lot of tough competitors out there.

"But knowing Michael he will be fighting all the way through. He will get there but he has to learn new circuits. So there are a lot of elements which make his work very tough."

MIKA: Well this is very sad news indeed as I for one am a HUGE Hakkinen fan. I always had some hope for his return in the earlier years of his retirement from F1. The reality however is that MH has been away from F1 for 9 years whilst MS only 3. MH did compete in the DTM series and kept race fit however despite this, at least he is realistic about his own abilities and commitment issues as he does have a family.

I for one would selfishly love to see Mika Hakkinen back.

[MIKA27]

Massa: Not much achieved in two days

Another wet and windy day at Jerez left Felipe Massa bemoaning the conditions at Jerez where he has spent the past two days testing.

With time fast running out for the teams to get their 2010 challengers up to scratch and up to speed, the weather at Jerez has been anything but kind.

For the second successive day, rain and red flags dominated the proceedings, leaving Massa, who finished Thursday's running fifth on the timesheets, feeling rather frustrated.

"No, not really," he told Autosport when asked if the day had been any better than his first day out.

"It was pretty similar conditions: raining, stopping, raining, stopping. Today the track was even much worse because of the very strong wind.

"It was not so positive, but it's the same for everybody. It's important to be here, running in the wet and in the dry. It doesn't matter the conditions, it's important to run and make the mileage on the car.

"We are maybe the team who run the most so I think that's positive."

The weather, coupled with F1's new ban on refuelling, has also made it near to impossible to interpret the timesheets which had Sebastian Vettel quickest on Wednesday and Williams' Rubens Barrichello leading the way on Day Two.

But, pressed on the topic, Massa conceded that Vettel is likely to be one of Ferrari's main rivals, along with McLaren, who were second on Day One but tenth the following day.

"For sure he (Vettel) is one of our rivals," the Brazilian admitted. "I expect a good Red Bull, especially after the end of last season.

"But I hope we can be there fighting for the best position, together with Red Bull and McLaren, I would say. They can be pretty strong. But at the moment it's a bit too early to say so we are just concentrating on our job."

[MIKA27]

Rosberg: Difficult and frustrating

Despite coming through the day unscathed, Nico Rosberg wasn't all that excited about Merc's progress at Jerez, mainly because it was difficult to make any.

Taking over from team-mate Michael Schumacher on Thursday, Rosberg had to contend with heavy rain showers and strong winds, which caused havoc to Mercedes GP's planned programme.

The German, who finished fourth on the timesheets, managed 71 laps as the weather and five red flags played their part in disrupting proceedings.

"On the positive side, we achieved some good mileage today despite the conditions and completed a lot of our systems work," said Rosberg.

"It was useful for me to practice pit stops and get into the routine for the races.

"However it has been difficult and frustrating with the weather as we're obviously not able to learn as much as we could with a dry track.

"But that's the same for everyone and we will hope for an improvement over the next two days."

[MIKA27]

Sato gives up on F1, signs IndyCar deal

Former F1 driver Takuma Sato will race IndyCars this coming season after signing a deal to race for Jimmy Vasser's KV Racing Technology.

The 33-year-old, who has not raced since the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, will join fellow Japanese driver Hideki Mutoh on the 17-race series, which starts on March 14 in Sao Paulo.

"I have really missed racing and can't wait to get started in this new challenge with such a great team," Sato said.

"With such a great Champion as Jimmy leading the team, I am really confident we will soon be a strong combination.

"I am also really motivated by the chance to be fighting at the front of the field, something I have missed in recent seasons."

New team boss Vasser added: "I have no doubt that Taku will be right on the pace immediately. Taku's knowledge and experience will be a great asset and his great sense of humour and easy manner will add positive energy to our team."

A former British Formula Three Champion, Sato made his F1 debut for the Jordan team in 2002.

He switched to become a test driver for BAR-Honda the following season and was promoted back to a race seat late in 2003 after they parted ways with Jacques Villeneuve.

Sato's best F1 season was in 2004 when he finished eighth in the World Championship with 34 points, including his only podium finish at the United States Grand Prix.

MIKA: Taku was one of the better Japanese drivers to get into Formula 1 however, he was always quite reckless and no way near as controlled as K.Nakajima. Sato was always fast and if he got ahead, he was hard to catch, but unfortunately, he crashed way too often...

[MIKA27]

Chandhok: No Stefan GP deal

Indian driver Karun Chandhok has denied reports that he's signed a deal with F1 hopefuls Stefan GP.

Stefan GP are determined to find a place on this year's grid, a move that is looking ever more possible with reports that USF1 are on the verge of withdrawing from this year's Championship.

The Serbian outfit is taking steps to ensure they are ready should they be allowed to race. Not only have they signed a deal with former F1 team Toyota to use their 2010 car but they've also sent equipment to Bahrain, the venue for the first race.

As for drivers, reports claim that former Williams man Kazuki Nakajima has signed a deal to race while Chandhok has a test driver contract.

Chandhok, however, has denied the rumours.

"To clarify, at the moment there is no agreement with Stefan GP," he wrote on Twitter. "Trust me, if I have an F1 deal signed and confirmed, I would shout it out proudly from the roof tops."

[MIKA27]

Buemi targets regular points in 2010

Sebastien Buemi says he is much better prepared for his second season of Formula 1 and believes he will be able to finish in the points on a regular basis this year.

The Toro Rosso driver has tested for the last two days at Jerez, finishing fourth quickest on Wednesday and just 11th today after a hydraulics problem cost the team three hours of running.

But Buemi has done 136 laps in the two days, taking his total this pre-season to 466, and says that in contrast to year, he feels ready heading to the first race.

"I cannot even compare it to be honest," he stated. "I don't want to seem too sure of myself, but honestly I am a lot better prepared, physically, mentally, with the car.

"Before going to Melbourne last year I tested for only half a day with big issues on the car so I went without knowing what the car could do or what to think."

Buemi says he now feels like part of the team and is thinks he can be a regular points finisher in 2010.

"I am very confident, I feel good with the team, the engineers, I am like I was at home, so that's good," he added. "We are quite happy with the performance, that we will be where we want to be.

"I want to be regularly in the points, I want to be in front of my team-mate and I want to do a better job than last year."

[MIKA27]

Virgin: Reliability problems are solved

Virgin Racing has overcome the reliability issues that hampered its running early in the Jerez test, according to the team's technical director Nick Wirth.

Timo Glock had only done 26 laps in the car before today, due to last week's front wing mounting issue and the hydraulics glitch which limited the German to just 10 laps yesterday.

But with the car running well today, Glock managed 72 laps and set the eighth fastest time, albeit in changeable conditions he was quicker than Vitantonio Liuzzi, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Buemi and Heikki Kovalainen.

When asked about the mileage clocked up today, Wirth stated: "We needed it. Yesterday was a real challenge, the problems we had were tricky, not ones we had experienced before and it just required a lot of thinking.

"We eventually found the problem, but too late to get going. There was a lot of work last night to fix that problem and get everything ready for today - try and regroup and have a good day today.

"Timo had a very frustrating week last week, so it was nice to finally get him in. He seems to enjoy driving the car; he's got a big smile on his face today. The whole team, everybody put in a continuous effort and it's nice to finally see that rewarded. I just wish the poor guy could get some dry laps."

Although hoping for some dry running, Wirth is not concerned that the amount of wet testing will leave Virgin unprepared for the opening race in Bahrain.

"We are finding and fixing problems, we're not stopping because of the weather," he said. "We had another issue today and pretty much every issue we've had has fallen into the category of 'happy issues', which are problems that are not fundamental, but are new problems that we did not understand when we got into this project. It's just about fault-fixing, and we're all in the same boat."

[MIKA27]

Trulli: 2010 will be two-tier championship

The 2010 season will effectively see two separate championships take place within the expanded 13-team field.

That is the view of Lotus driver Jarno Trulli, who thinks that while the expected ‘big four’ will primarily battle amongst themselves for world title honours a fierce battle for the remaining points positions will take place between the other squads.

“I think this year we will have kind of two separate championships,” the veteran Italian said.

“There will be one for the top four teams – Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes – which have big budgets and are ready from last year. Probably Williams will try to stay there.

“And the rest will be a kind of second championship, and we will have to try to find a way to score some points.”

Despite pre-season testing now being at its half-way mark, the top teams have been reluctant to predict what the early 2010 pecking order might be given the potential for huge fuel load differences between the different cars.

Trulli also doesn’t attempt to analyse the testing picture so far, but the Italian – whose Lotus team has begun testing at Jerez this week – does say that the season should be full of intrigue and excitement whatever the order turns out to be.

“It’s difficult to predict who is going to be the leader [among] the top teams.

“But it will be an interesting championship, anyway – there are a lot of new drivers and teams, and it’s something different.”

Trulli, who has joined the revived Lotus team from Toyota, will enter the pre-season testing fray on Saturday when he tries out the new T127 for the first time.

[MIKA27]

I'm a Haakinen fan as well. I also think he was one of the few drivers that Schumacher actually respected. They never bickered like Schui did w Coulthard & Hill, among others.

I'll never forget a press conference after a race (although I've forgot which race ) when Schumacher, the winner, was so emotional at teh pre-race press conference he broke down in tears and passed mike on to Mika, who became equally moved and couldn't speak either. It was a rare expression of feelings from both of them.

I have fulll respect for Mika for quitting and staying away, rather than making a half-hearted comeback. Given his stong ties w Mercedes, I've no doubt we'll see him in the Mercedes pits quite frequently this year.

Magaste my friend - That particular press conference was during the 2000 Italian GP where Michael won the race followed by Mika Hakkinen in second and Ralph Schumacher 3rd. I have a gift for you.... The Link.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1816663/mich...own_on_live_tv/

Michael Schumacher really respected Mika, I agree with you there. Their battle at the 2000 SPA Francorchamps GP was my most favourite where Mika overtook MS and to this day is still talked about by the F1 press and fans as the greatest overtaking manouvre ever. After that race, it was MS who stated that Mika was his greatest rival and he respected Mika the most.

Ahhh.... The memories!

[MIKA27]

He's very expensive, both for his team and for his opponents. Vasser must have a lot of money for spares...

AGREED!

[MIKA27]

Klien could become McLaren reserve - Report

Christian Klien could become McLaren's new reserve and primary test driver.

Rumours at the Jerez test, repeated by the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper, suggest the 27-year-old Austrian is being considered to replace Pedro de la Rosa.

Spaniard De la Rosa was McLaren's main tester since 2003, but he is returning to the grid in 2010 with Sauber.

Gary Paffett is already a McLaren test driver, but he is staying in the DTM championship this year, moving team boss Martin Whitmarsh to confirm recently that the Woking based outfit needs "another driver".

48 grands prix veteran Klien, most recently the tester at BMW-Sauber and formerly Honda, said last week he is still hoping to find a race seat, but that "another year as a reserve driver would not be a catastrophe".

[MIKA27]

Mercedes must win to stay in F1 - Zetsche

The newly launched Mercedes GP team needs to win grands prix in order to maintain the support of its parent Daimler.

That is the clear message of the German carmaker's chief executive Dieter Zetsche, who told manager-magazin.com - in an interview to be published on Friday - that winning is "a condition" of the project.

Mercedes, along with its shareholder Aabar, has taken over the title-winning Brawn team and is fielding an all-German driver lineup this year featuring Michael Schumacher.

But Zetsche warned that, notwithstanding some expected defeats, if there are "clear signs" that Daimler's money could be better spent outside of F1, "we'll have to make a new decision".

"The fact that Aabar came along with us as an investor not only shows that we are distributing our risk, it is also a signal that the Formula One team must pay for itself," he added.

"We take our guidance from Gottlieb Daimler, who said 'The best, or nothing at all'," Zetsche said.

MIKA: I don't believe Zetsche has anything to worry about seeing MS and NR are driving for the team. To win races is a given, I have no hesitation about that.

On another note... Is it just me or does Zetsche look alot like... "The Monopoly dude!?"

[MIKA27]

Vettel rues the new refuelling ban

Sebastian Vettel has warned that F1's refuelling ban may lead to less exciting races in 2010.

The 22-year-old German, a championship favourite who was quickest at Wednesday's Jerez test in the new Red Bull car, said not allowing mid-race pit stops for additional fuel could make it harder for chasing drivers to catch up.

"It means there are far fewer strategic options," Vettel told Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell.

"As long as you can drive away in front, the new rules are fine. But if you start further back, you will be missing some of the tactical components that refuelling allowed," said the 2009 championship runner-up.

MIKA: Vettel is completely correct in that statement. I wonder what will occur by way of startegy, if any at all if there is no refuelling.

[MIKA27]

Jerez: Webber is the quickest of the quick

Mark Webber set a blistering pace on Friday where, thanks to a day of sunshine, he posted this year's fastest lap time at the Jerez circuit.

After finishing top of the timesheets with a lap of 1:19.299, the Aussie reported: "We're certainly showing some good form in terms of reliability, but we always need to work on performance - you never know what the other teams are doing.

"But we're in a good position at the moment to build up to the first race.

"It's close, but there's also quite a way to go, as other teams have no doubt planned developments for Bahrain.

"We're doing the work we need to do in order to understand the car more."

Report: After two days of rain and interruptions, Friday's running at the Spanish circuit kicked off under blue skies and with the track almost completely dry.

However, even the dry surface didn't stop the red flags from being waved as the action was halted on six occasions.

Heikki Kovalainen brought out the first red flag in the opening hour when the Lotus driver came to halt at Turn 9 with the team reporting that the "car stopped with a clutch sensor failure."

Lotus, though, were the only newcomers to run into problems as Virgin Racing, having a great start to the day, soon found themselves beached in the gravel.

Lucas di Grassi, who took over from team-mate Timo Glock for the final two days of testing, put in a respectable 1:31.6, which had the team crowing about that great "Friday feeling!" Five minutes later, di Grassi's VR01 was in the gravel and the red flags were once again being waved.

No soon had the action started than it stopped again, this time it was Kamui Kobayashi, who came to a halt out on track on his very first lap out of the pits.

"A festival of red flags so far," is how Ferrari described the first few hours of testing.

And hour of clear running on an ever-drying track followed, allowing Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso to put in some blistering laps as the trio moved ever closer to last week's leading time of 1:19.583, which was set by Lewis Hamilton.

Their charge, though, came to an end when Webber's RB6 broke down between Turns 8 and 9, red flag number four of the day.

The next stoppage of the day belonged, yet again, to di Grassi, whose VR01 stopped out on track at the Dry Sack hairpin.

There were also additional problems for Lotus with tech boss Mike Gascoyne revealing that a "cracked exhaust pipe" was the cause of Kovalainen's second delay of the day.

With the session once again green-lighted, the drivers continued putting in the laps with six of them hitting the 100 mark.

But while the lap counter climbed, the lap times dropped.

Webber, back on track after his earlier problems, stormed into the lead with a 1:19.4, easily outpacing Ferrari's Alonso.

The Aussie, though, wasn't done and continued to lap, dropping the benchmark time to a 1:19.299, 0.284s quicker than any F1 driver had gone at Jerez this year.

And with the cloud cover building over the circuit, causing the track temperature to drop, Webber's rivals were not able to match the Red Bull racer's pace.

Any chance they may have had with a final dash at the very end of testing was put to rest when Nico Hulkenberg caused the sixth red of the day.

So the day ended with Webber 0.816s ahead of Alonso, Button was third while Hulkenberg, who was the busiest driver with 137 laps to his name, finished in fourth place.

"We have done pit stop practices with the Hulk & race sims. Much better weather-wise today - clear skies = good!" Williams reported.

Seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher was fifth ahead of Robert Kubica, Adrian Sutil and Kamui Kobayashi. Kobayashi, though, only managed 28 laps as a fuel problem kept him off the track for large parts of the day.

Unofficial Times

1. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB6 1:19.299 114 laps

2. F. Alonso Ferrari F10 1:20.115 +0.816 132 laps

3. J. Button McLaren MP4-25 1:20.394 +1.095 101 laps

4. N. Hülkenberg Williams FW32 1:21.432 +2.133 137 laps

5. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP W01 1:21.437 +2.138 79 laps

6. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:21.916 +2.617 100 laps

7. A. Sutil Force India VJM-03 1:21.939 +2.640 69 laps

8. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:22.228 +2.929 28 laps

9. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso STR5 1:22.704 +3.405 120 laps

10. L. Di Grassi Virgin Racing VR-01 1:23.504 +4.205 34 laps

11. H. Kovalainen Lotus F1 T127 1:23.521 +4.222 68 laps

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Now Villeneuve downplays Stefan GP rumours

Jacques Villeneuve has stopped short of confirming he's in talks with Stefan GP, the team he believes he could be the best newcomer if they make it into F1.

Stefan GP are determined to find a place on this year's grid and could be helped by the USF1 team, who are rumoured to be halting their F1 operations thereby freeing up a place on the grid.

Already Stefan GP has sent equipment to Bahrain, the venue for the first race of the Championship, while signing drivers is also on the agenda.

One driver reportedly in line for a race-seat is 1997 World Champion Villeneuve. The Canadian, though, wouldn't confirm the rumours other than to say it would be a "great opportunity."

"It's really difficult to keep track of what's happening with the new teams. Does Stefan GP even officially have a place on the grid in Formula One?" he told Auto Motor und Sport.

"If they get a place in Formula One then that would be a great opportunity.

"As the team allegedly has Bernie Ecclestone as one of their supporters, you can assume that they will make it. And that they'll take it seriously.

"With the Toyota equipment they could become one of the best new teams. It seems to me Mr. Stefanovich is very serious about this project."

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Jerez Day Four: There's no stopping Button

Jenson Button's 1:18.871 proved to be unbeatable on the final - and very productive - day of testing at Jerez.

With the sun beating down on the track and little sign of the rain that dominated proceedings at the start of the week, Saturday's action got underway with Kamui Kobayashi the first to take the P1 slot.

However, minutes later the Sauber driver also became the first to bring out the red flags as his C29 ground to a halt right after the chicane.

Once the action was back up and running, Renault's Robert Kubica stormed into the lead with a 1:19.114, the fastest time set at Jerez this year, at least up until Button put in two short three-lap stints.

The first saw the reigning F1 Champ move up to second place behind the Pole while his second stint had him taking the P1 slot with an impressive 1:18.871. That was 0.243s quicker than Kubica's previous best.

Button's attack on the timesheets, though, was brought to a halt when Mark Webber stopped out on track near Turn 4, the second red flag of the day.

Although Red Bull struggled to identify the problem, the team opted changed Webber's Renault engine as a "precautionary" measure.

An impressive four-and-a-half hours of uninterrupted running followed Webber's incident during which many of the drivers concentrating on race simulations and pit stop practices.

Nico Rosberg's Mercedes GP W01 proved to be solid pace over a long distance as the German covered a 19 lap stint with a consistent pace in the mid 1:21s.

Jarno Trulli, on his first outing as a Lotus driver, put in just over 20 laps with an average pace in the 1:26s. "Jarno with no problems. Sticking with long runs to get mileage on the car," reported tech boss Mike Gascoyne.

"First long run pace was good but Jarno reported big rear drop off over last 5 laps. Need to protect the rear tyres more."

Button was charging around in the high 1:22s during his longer runs, matched by Fernando Alonso, who did 30 laps with an average time in the early 1:22s.

However, the action came to a halt when Nico Hulkenberg, who had completed a massive 137 laps at that point, stopped out on the start/finish straight.

The final hour of testing for the week saw Timo Glock improve his best to a 1:22.433. The German, though, managed the fewest laps of all the drivers due to a hydraulic problem that left him stranded in the pits.

And although some of the drivers ventured out for a late dash, only Rosberg was able to beat his previous best while any last minute attempts were brought to a halt by the day's fourth and final red flag, which belonged to Glock.

Unofficial Times

1. J. Button McLaren MP4-25 1:18.871 108 laps

2. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:19.114 +0.243 117 laps

3. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:19.188 +0.317 117 laps

4. V. Liuzzi Force India VJM-03 1:19.650 +0.779 80 laps

5. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP W01 1:20.061 +1.190 130 laps

6. F. Alonso Ferrari F10 1:20.436 +1.565 137 laps

7. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso STR5 1:21.053 +2.182 139 laps

8. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB6 1:21.194 +2.323 87 laps

9. N. Hülkenberg Williams FW32 1:21.919 +3.048 137 laps

10. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:22.433 +3.562 27 laps

11. J. Trulli Lotus F1 T127 1:23.470 +4.599 141 laps

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Alonso: Ferrari best car I've ever had

Fernando Alonso has declared the Ferrari F10 the best car he has ever driven - and says the team is yet to show what it can really do.

Ferrari was quickest throughout the first test of the winter at Valencia a fortnight ago, but has kept a lower profile during the past fortnight at Jerez.

However Alonso has set some eye-catching times on long runs, and he ended this week's test full of confidence.

"There are no reasons to be pessimistic," the double champion told Spanish media. "As of today, this is the best car I've ever had."

Having taken over from team-mate Felipe Massa on Friday, Alonso enjoyed the best of the weather at Jerez this week, and was able to accumulate plenty of mileage - logging 269 laps over the past two days.

"The two days that I tested it was sunny and the track was dry and I could work more than I thought so I'm very happy," he said. "We have done a good job in terms of reliability and long runs."

Alonso said he was not underestimating Ferrari's rivals - but warned them that the Italian squad had not displayed its real potential yet.

"Red Bull, McLaren and Renault have been very quick and they have shown their cards, while we are still hiding ours," he said. "We are going to analyse the data, but we are very optimistic. As of today, if I were in a different team I would be looking at Ferrari because everything is going very well.

"Maybe where Ferrari needs to improve is in the short runs with little fuel onboard. That's where the Red Bull and the McLaren have been quicker, and they will be the reference to try and improve the F10 in the next test in Barcelona."

The Spaniard's declaration comes after McLaren's Jenson Button said that he also reckoned Ferrari could be the team to beat.

"I think the Ferrari is a very strong car," Button said yesterday. "If you look at their runs today, they're very consistent. I think they have better consistency than anyone at the moment."

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Brawn pleased with 'intensive' test

Ross Brawn's only complaint with Mercedes GP's last two weeks of testing is the weather conditions encountered at Jerez.

Out of the eight days at the Spanish circuit, only three took place in dry - or at least relatively dry - conditions. However, that didn't stop the teams from getting down to business.

With Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg alternating days, Mercedes GP's preparations for the 2010 season were in full swing. And although the team led the way on only one of the eight days, Brawn says the team has made "good progress."

"The past two weeks in Jerez have seen an intensive period of testing for the team," said Brawn.

"It is very pleasing to have ended the test programme with two days of very valuable dry running for Nico and Michael.

"Although the conditions haven't been ideal over the two tests, we have been able to make good progress on the set-up of the car and completed a number of our systems evaluations.

"We still have a great deal of work ahead of us in Barcelona next week, but overall we're looking in good shape for the start of the season."

Rosberg, who was in action on the final day on Saturday, added: "We've made some good progress on our set-up comparisons and learnt a lot which will be useful to prepare for the final test in Barcelona.

"Being able to get the laps in dry conditions has been very helpful for me to get used to the car and systems."

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Sato: I didn't want to make up the numbers

Takuma Sato says that although he could have made a play for a race-seat with F1's newcomers, he opted instead for IndyCars as he wants to be competitive.

Sato hasn't competed in Formula One since Super Aguri dropped out of the Championship early in 2008. However, the Japanese driver, who previously raced for BAR, refused to give up the dream of making a return and entered talks with several teams ahead of this year's Championship.

But with only Campos Meta and USF1 still having seats available, Sato turned instead to the IndyCar Championship where he will race for the KV team.

Explaining his decision, the 33-year-old told Reuters: "I was always dreaming of continuing in F1 but I wanted a competitive car.

"Being competitive was something I missed in the last few seasons. There were seats available - with Campos or USF1 - but I don't feel it was appropriate.

"The name is F1 but I can't see those cars being competitive."

He added: "I was very close with Toro Rosso and Lotus and Renault but it's always something beyond your control. That's F1."

MIKA: Taku will be an asset to Indy cars as he is a fast driver and I feel his style will suit Indy.

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USF1 asks to miss first four races!

USF1 wants permission to miss the first four races of its debut season in 2010, team principal Ken Anderson has admitted.

With the Charlotte based outfit having responded to the latest wave of rumours by insisting "we are not gone", Anderson has now told the New York Times that USF1 is in financial trouble.

"We're working with the FIA to clarify how many races we can miss," he told the newspaper.

Anderson said the Concorde Agreement allows a team to miss three races per season, but the sport's governing body recently clarified that it would "constitute an infringement" of the rules.

He said he is waiting for a reply from Jean Todt, adding: "In an ideal world, we can miss the first four races and show up in Barcelona."

Anderson admitted that the FIA might turn down USF1's request and put the team out of business.

"I guess anything's possible. But what would be the point of that?" he said.

"Why would they give us a franchise and just, the first time there's a bump in the road, yank it and put it out of business? That's definitely not the message that I'm getting from them. They want to help us, not shut us down," added Anderson.

He said a quick answer from the FIA president "triggers funding and we're good to go".

"If it takes another week or two to make a decision, it keeps backing up," said Anderson.

He also clarified that Jose Maria Lopez remains under contract to race for USF1 in 2010, but did not contradict rumours that the Argentine could sign with another team.

"I'm sure he's weighing his options as well," Anderson admitted, also denying that YouTube's Chad Hurley and sporting director Peter Windsor had left the team.

MIKA: I don't know about you guys but I have said from the start that USF1 is a lost cause...

F1 is competative and as such, requires financial backing etc to ensure not only a vehicle is on the track but the entire team (employees) behind the scenes are financially secure. This is a new team who are already in financial trouble and they haven't even raced a single race!

There are a few teams waiting on the back burner like Steffan GP who seem to be working tirelessly to get a race spot on the 2010 grid. I say, Jean Todt should yank the USF1 team from the grid and replace with a team that is 'Good to go'.

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Wirth: We need to focus on reliability

Nick Wirth, Virgin Racing technical director has admitted the team is behind schedule thanks to a hydraulic leak which has limited the long-runs the team can complete.

"Despite our best efforts to cure the hydraulic problem which has beset our entire test, this was simply not achievable with the components that we had available in the field.

"The specific problem is that we have been losing hydraulic oil at a rate which has limited the number of laps we can achieve on each run and so we look forward to receiving updated parts for the Barcelona test, which we expect to fully resolve the problem."

Instead of introducing new aero parts in the Barcelona test, Virgin have had to change their development schedule to fit around the delays. They will now focus on reliability and long-runs.

"We will now need to continue focusing on reliability work when we would have liked to introduce our Bahrain-specification aerodynamic updates. The revised programme means we will be reserving our full set of aero warpaint for the first race."

However, Wirth isn't downbeat and ensures the team have gained valuable knowledge from their limited running, which he admitted wasn't on low-fuel.

"On a positive note, despite these issues, we have actually completed a lot of good race preparation work and it is satisfying to see the car's potential with minimum set-up changes or development, bearing in mind that we have consistently run with a healthy amount of fuel," added Wirth.

"Indeed, none of our lap times have been achieved with anything close to qualifying fuel and therefore we are not letting the frustrations in one specific area overshadow what has generally been an encouraging start to our development programme."

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Trulli happy with first T127 test

Jarno Trulli said he thoroughly enjoyed his first day behind the wheel of the new Lotus T127 in testing at Jerez yesterday.

Lotus used test driver Fairuz Fauzy for the car's shakedown and its maiden fully-fledged test day, before Heikki Kovalainen took over for Thursday and Friday - so Saturday was Trulli's first chance to try the T127 for size.

The Italian veteran completed 141 trouble-free laps - more than any other driver testing yesterday - and said he was already settling in well.

"It was a very positive day," Trulli said.

"I'm really happy about my first day testing with Lotus Racing and I was very lucky to have everything right on the car today with no major issues.

"We were able to put a lot of mileage on the car and get a lot of information out of it.

"I had the chance to start developing a real feel for the car and it's good to be here."

While fellow new team Virgin has lost mileage to technical problems, and Campos and US F1's cars have yet to even run, Lotus has been able to rack up plenty of laps at Jerez this week - to technical chief Mike Gascoyne's delight.

"Overall it's been a very encouraging four days," said Gascoyne.

"The main aim of the test was reliability and over the last two days of dry running we have found some directions in set up that will enable us to concentrate on the pace of the car in Barcelona."