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Kubica becomes third different leader as Valencia test ends - Renault move to the top of the timesheets in Spain

Published by Christine

Robert Kubica put Renault at the top of the timesheets in the third and final day of testing at Valencia, making it a different team at the top each day. The Renault has been the talk of the test with it's innovative and unusual exhaust system, and the car hovered around the top of the timesheets before Kubica grabbed top honours towards the end of the day.

Kubica in the rebranded Renault and matching helmet
Credit: f1photos.org / cc

Sutil led the timesheets for a good proportion of the day, giving Force India some much-needed exposure, whilst Jarno Trulli was stuck in the slower times. The power steering on the Lotus was not fixed in time, so Trulli completed just under 40 laps without setting a laptime, and more crucially, without any assistance at the wheel.

Massa was in trouble early on when he had to pull to a halt out on track with smoke pouring from his Ferrari. Flames were spotted in the vicinity of the prancing horse, and there was a twenty-minute red flag while the car was rescued. Massa wasn't seen out on track again until well into the afternoon.

With three days of testing complete, we are none the wiser in terms of times and pace, but it has been interesting to see who has had problems, and which teams are being vocal about which parts of their plan. More to come next week when the testing moves on to Jerez.

PositionDriverTeamTimeLaps
1Robert KubicaRenault1:13.14496
2Adrian SutilForce India1:13.201117
3Jenson ButtonMcLaren1:13.553105
4Mark WebberRed Bull1:13.936105
5Felipe MassaFerrari1:14:01780
6Timo GlockVirgin Racing1:14.207114
7Pastor MaldonadoWilliams1:14.299101
8Sergio PérezSauber1:14.458104
9Michael SchumacherMercedes1:14.537110
10Sébastien BuemiToro Rosso1:14.80173
11Narain KarthikeyanHRT1:16.53563
12Jarno TrulliTeam LotusNo Time38

All content in the series F1 Testing 2011