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Grosjean Leads Fastest Test Times In Italy

MUGELLO, Italy- As the formula one grid returns to Europe next week in Spain, many of the teams came to this Northern part of Italy to participate in the in-season three day test at the Mugello International circuit on May 1-3 which saw an afternoon washout, and very big surprises up near the front.

Day one was a blessing for Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who took the morning session with a time of 1:22:444, which just edged out Red Bull’s Mark Webber by just over a second. Alonso performed 46 laps in total, but denied that that the recent Grand Prix updates to the car will make or break the season if the car does not work in Spain next week.

“We need to catch up in the race.” Said Alonso. “But if we do poorly in Spain, it does not mean our season is over.”

But the afternoon test was nothing short of being a disaster as the heavy rain made it impossible for the track’s emergency helicopter to take off. But despite drivers such as Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg of Mercedes could not improve their times, and many others decided that the risk was too high to put their cars out onto the track.

While the rain made the afternoon a problem on the first day, the second was clear all the way through, which made the times drop dramatically. Lotus driver Romain Grosjean came out strong in the morning session to set the best time of 1:21:603. This best lap was the top time all day, until only minutes from the day’s end when Sauber pilot Kamui Kobyaschi came out on his final lap and set an identical time with the help of soft tires. Schumacher received the award of the day with the completion of 144 laps throughout the sessions while both Sebastian Vettel and Webber finished in third and fourth, respectively in their Red Bulls.

But while Grosjean had a great second day of testing, the Frenchman stayed steady throughout the final day, with his Lotus setting the best time of all three days, clocking a 1:21:035, testing out the suspension and floor otions to his approved liking. Vettel was the closest to Grosjean, but was only two tenths of a second off, while Alonso was third fastest of the day. But for the Spaniard, the new package, which just arrived the night before, was working properly until Alonso ran wide and dislodged the front wing. The Ferrari itself took two hours to be repaired, with the left front corner of the car the issue. But nevertheless, Alonso could only complete 98 laps in total.

No reliability problems for Mercedes, as Rosberg got close to his teammates total laps for the day, clocking 129 laps and hoping that the result could assist for greater chances at the Circuit de Catalunya.

As the final day concluded, the benefit went greatly to Grosjean, as he managed to be the top driver who got all he needed to prepare for an improvement on his third place finish just recently.

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