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Grosjean fastest as Mugello test ends

The Frenchman had also topped the second day of running at the Italian circuit.
2 min read4 May '12
Staff WriterStaff Writer

Romain Grosjean put the seal on an impressive test at Mugello for his Lotus team by going fastest on the final afternoon.

His best - a 1m21.035s set with two hours of the afternoon to run - was the quickest any driver managed across the three days.

The Frenchman had also topped the second day of running at the Italian circuit, Lotus having opted to alter plans and give him both days of testing following the day one washout.

Sebastian Vettel's morning best was enough to keep him second for Red Bull, less than one tenth of a second ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard had set the early running in a Ferrari featuring revisions to its exhaust exits and rear bodywork, but an hour in he went off and nudged the wall at Turn 12, leading to delays of more than two hours for the Scuderia.

Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo closed to within a quarter of a second of Alonso in the afternoon, ending the day fourth fastest.

Sergio Perez finished six tenths of a second down the road in fifth, having triggered one of several red flags on the final day when his Sauber stopped on the main straight at the exit of the pitlane.

Nico Hulkenberg, taking over from Paul di Resta for the final afternoon, was less than one tenth of a second slower in sixth.

Di Resta was initially tucked up behind his Force India stable-mate, but late improvements from Pastor Maldonado, Oliver Turvey and Nico Rosberg forced him down to 10th.

Rosberg (Mercedes) set new bests on his final two tours to jump into eighth, 0.082s behind Maldonado's Williams.

Turvey meanwhile completed a low-key test for McLaren, which opted not to run either of its two race drivers, by finishing ninth ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock.

Kovalainen was the busiest driver of the day, completing 138 laps in the Caterham.

Pos  Driver                 Team                    Time     
 1.  Romain Grosjean        Lotus-Renault           1m21.035s
 2.  Sebastian Vettel       Red Bull-Renault        1m21.267s   + 0.232s
 3.  Fernando Alonso        Ferrari                 1m21.363s   + 0.328s
 4.  Daniel Ricciardo       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m21.604s   + 0.569s
 5.  Sergio Perez           Sauber-Ferrari          1m22.229s   + 0.879s
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg        Force India-Mercedes    1m22.325s   + 0.975s
 7.  Pastor Maldonado       Williams-Renault        1m22.497s   + 1.147s
 8.  Nico Rosberg           Mercedes                1m22.579s   + 1.229s
 9.  Oliver Turvey          McLaren-Mercedes        1m22.662s   + 1.312s
10.  Paul di Resta          Force India-Mercedes    1m23.002s   + 1.652s
11.  Heikki Kovalainen      Caterham-Renault        1m23.169s   + 1.819s
12.  Timo Glock             Marussia-Cosworth       1m23.466s   + 2.116s

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Grosjean fastest as Mugello test ends - Introduction | Autocar India