2010 testing- December 3rd

Daniel Ricciardo ended the three-day test session in Jerez in scintillating form, as the Red Bull driver set the fastest time of the week to finish top of the timesheets. He completed 77 laps, and had a fastest lap of 1.17.418.

Conditions improved gradually across the day, so drivers who went out earlier were caught out.

Today, Ferrari gave the car to three drivers across the day: Pablo Sanchez, Daniel Zampieri and Zipoli. These were the top three finishers in this year’s Italian Formula 3 championship.

Toro Rosso allowed Mirko Bortolotti to drive 34 laps in the morning, before handding the seat over to Brendon Hartley.

There were many incidents over the day. Daniel Ricciardo’s car emitted a huge plume of smoke at the exit of the chicane, while JR Hildebrand had his runs spoiled with electronic problems. Paul di Resta and Daniel Zampieri both spun on track. All of these incidents (excluding Hildebrand) brought out the red flag for a while.

The unofficial times are as follows:

Pos Driver       Team            Time               Laps
 1. Ricciardo    Red Bull        1m17.418s            77
 2. Di Resta     Force India     1m18.736s  + 1.318s  53
 3. Paffett      McLaren         1m18.746s  + 1.328s  59
 4. Conway       Brawn           1m19.096s  + 1.678s  77
 5. Hulkenberg   Williams        1m19.226s  + 1.808s 106
 6. Baguette     Sauber          1m19.356s  + 1.938s  70
 7. Turvey       McLaren         1m19.358s  + 1.940s  32
 8. Ericsson     Brawn           1m19.382s  + 1.964s  49
 9. Di Grassi    Renault         1m19.602s  + 2.184s 123
10. Hildebrand   Force India     1m19.873s  + 2.455s  41
11. Sanchez      Ferrari         1m21.147s  + 3.650s  39
12. Zampieri     Ferrari         1m21.279s  + 3.861s  42
12. Zipoli       Ferrari         1m21.725s  + 4.307s  41
13. Hartley      Toro Rosso      1m22.493s  + 5.075s  50
15. Bortolotti   Toro Rosso      1m23.271s  + 5.853s  34
16. Tung         Renault         1m32.477s  + 15.059s  4

Sauber secures 13th 2010 F1 slot

The FIA has announced that Sauber has been granted an entry into the 2010 F1 season, which ends months of speculation about the team.

The original plan, to sell the BMW team to Qadbak, proved problematic, when doubts began to spread regarding the investors behind Qadbak. However, Toyota’s departure meant that there was a grid spot available for Sauber.

The statement from the FIA is as follows:

“The FIA has written to inform BMW Sauber AG that their application for an entry in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship has been successful.  Subject to their signing the Concorde Agreement, BMW Sauber will be awarded the 13th entry in the Championship, taking the place of the departing Toyota team.

The FIA has worked closely with the Commercial Rights Holder and the teams involved over recent weeks and is grateful for their support in achieving the best outcome for the sport.

An updated Formula One entry list will be published in due course.”

Bianchi signs long-term deal with Ferrari

Formula 3 Euroseries champion Jules Bianchi has been signed onto a long-term deal with Ferrari. It is currently unclear what role he will have within the team.

It is understood that he has signed a “multi-year contract” to form “part of the group of Ferrari drivers”. Besides Bianchi, Ferrari already have Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Giancarlo Fisichella, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene as part of their roster.

Bianchi said: “This is the first step on a journey that could turn out very nicely, but I’m equally aware that there is still a long way to go to get to Formula One”. His manager, Nicolas Todt, said: “We are very happy to do this long-term deal, which was completed a short time ago”. His role is undefined for the moment, but from now on, he will be at Ferrari’s disposal. His first Ferrari drive is obviously at this young driver test.”

It has also been reported that Bianchi will partner Sam Bird, at the ART GP2 team for 2010.