Third and final day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, working again today alongside six other times at the Cheste circuit, near Valencia.

In front of around 35,000 spectators, Fernando Alonso made his official debut at the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 car. The Spanish driver worked mainly on finding the best set-up on the car and assessing its handling with various fuel loads. Fernando completed a total of 127 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.11.470, which was the best time overall at this test.

With the Valencia test ending today, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro will be back on track on 10th February at Jerez de la Frontera, with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has drawn quite a positive conclusion after the first three days of testing in Valencia with the new car for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. Along with the F1 teams, an impressive total of 59,100 spectators enjoyed the bright sunshine over the three days of testing.

Pedro de la Rosa
“After the roll-out on Monday this was my second day of testing with the new car and I’m happy it was another positive one. We learned a lot about the set-up of the car with these tyres, and also about the direction we have to go in with our work for the future.”

Michael Schumacher returned to the cockpit of the MGP W01 car in Valencia today for the third and final day of the first Formula One pre-season test session.

Following his first experience of the new 2010 car on Monday afternoon, Michael spent the early part of his first full day working on the set-up and developing the balance of the car. For the afternoon, the focus switched to long runs before a hydraulic problem on the car brought the day to a close one hour early.

 Michael completed 82 laps today and set the third fastest time - a 01:12.438.

 The next test for the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team starts on Wednesday 10 February in Jerez, Spain.

 Michael Schumacher: "I'm very happy to have been back in a Formula One car this week. We had a short run on Monday and then almost a full day today which has been good. The experience has been very positive and the car is running smoothly with just a small hydraulic leak which stopped us slightly early today. The main focus is on reliability and doing as many laps as we can so we're not too worried about looking at the lap times right now. It's a new challenge and a new experience for me this year but knowing Ross so well and working with him again has made it very easy and I feel at home in the team already. I'm feeling fresh and motivated and very positive about the season ahead. I can't wait to be back in the car to continue the programme in Jerez next week."

After  Sebastien  Buemi drove  for  the  past  two  days of  this  first  winter  test session,  it  was Jaime  Alguersuari's  turn  to  get  his  hands  on  the STR5.  A huge crowd of over 30,000 turned out to see our Spanish driver, although it's possible they were also there for De La Rosa and Alonso! Once Jaime's installation in the car had been checked, he soon got down to quick  and  consistent  lap  times  over  long  runs.  The  technical  programme included a repeat of yesterday's systems checks, an aero evaluation, scans of  running  on  different  fuel  loads  and  an  assessment  of  the  Bridgestone Soft and Supersoft compounds.

"It felt good to complete my first ever Formula 1 test session, as last season I   was   never   able   to   do   any   testing.   I   was   able   to   concentrate   on understanding  the  car,  without  having  to  think  about  it  in  terms  of  a  race weekend," said Jaime Alguersuari. "Personally, I felt much stronger in the car, as I have been training hard in the three months since I last drove in Abu Dhabi. Today was a positive experience and I'm looking forward now to   next   week   in   Jerez.   It's   too   early   to   say   much   about   the   car's performance, but it felt competitive."

TIMES (All timings are unofficial)

Pos Driver Car Time Laps

1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:11.470 127

2. Pedro De La Rosa BMW Sauber 1:12.094 80

3. Michael Schumacher MERCEDES GP PETRONAS 1:12.438 82

4. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:12.576 97

5. Jenson Button Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1:12.951 82

6. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:13.097 75

7. Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1:13.669 126