03/03/2012
NEWS STORY
 |
Sauber's Sergio Perez is quickest as the teams break for lunch on the penultimate day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The Mexican set his time of soft tyres during a qualifying simulation around half-an-hour before the lunch break. Shortly before, Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo had gone quickest, the Australian running on super-softs.
Interestingly, on a subsequent run, Perez, now on super-softs, was unable to beat his previous best time.
For much of the morning, Felipe Massa was quickest, the Brazilian setting his time of 1:22.413 early in the morning on supersofts.
After two days of domination by Lotus' Romain Grosjean, things were a little more difficult for Kimi Raikkonen this morning, the Finn unhappy with the steering on the E20. Having repeatedly complained about how the car felt, the Enstone outfit changed the steering column on the Finn's car.
Centre of attention however, is Mark Webber in a brand new RB8 featuring a number of radical updates (above), the crew working hard to prevent the media getting too close. In addition to a new front wing, the car features a new exhaust layout not entirely dissimilar to that of the Sauber.
McLaren is also running a heavily updated aero package, the Woking team determined to start the season as close to Red Bull's pace as possible.
Mid-Sessions Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Perez | Sauber | 49 | 1:22.094 | 126.845 mph |
| Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 50 | 1:22.155 | 0.061 |
| Massa | Ferrari | 44 | 1:22.413 | 0.319 |
| Di Resta | Force India | 45 | 1:22.446 | 0.352 |
| Senna | Williams | 36 | 1:22.480 | 0.386 |
| Kovalainen | Caterham | 44 | 1:22.630 | 0.536 |
| Webber | Red Bull | 41 | 1:22.662 | 0.568 |
| Rosberg | Mercedes | 58 | 1:22.932 | 0.838 |
| Button | McLaren | 17 | 1:23.409 | 1.315 |
| Raikkonen | Lotus | 14 | 1:25.620 | 3.526 |
Check out our Saturday gallery, here. More pictures to follow.