Driver Bruno Senna
Chassis / engine FW34-01 / RS27-5326/1
Location Jerez de la Frontera 4.428km
Objectives Continued systems checks, set-up work and mileage for Bruno
Weather Cold and sunny
Ambient & track temps 14ºC / 21ºC

The third day of the Williams F1 team 2012 Jerez test would see Bruno Senna take ove from team-mate Pastor Maldonado. Senna was keen to get out for his first run in the FW34. He would take to the track early running on the softer Pirelli tyres. He would set his first lap time of the Jerez circuit with a 1m:28.803. The day was again chilly as Bruno set a 1m:25.208 to currently be fourth. Bruno would pit but would return to the track for a second run. He would improve with a 1m:25.142 followed by a 1m:24.498 and a 1m:24.321. Fastest at this time was Grosjean with a 1m:18.901..

Bruno would again pit after a eight lap run. After his mechanics made setup changes to use car he would return to the track completing a practice start on his way ot of the pit lane. He would set a 1m:22.006 on his second lap, improving on the next lap with a 1m:21.978. He would complete a further three laps before pitting again. One of The Williams team would confirm that qualifying type laps are on their test programme at Jerez. Another run from Bruno would see him set times ranging from a 1m:26s through to a 1m:22s. Bruno had completed thirty four laps as the days testing moved into the afternoon. Grosjean was still fastest with his 1m:18.419.

Bruno would return to the track for his fifth run again finding time with a 1m:21.293. Bruno would continue his run setting times in the 1m:22s. He would again pit and after a short break would return to the track. This time he would complete two runs the first of eight laps and the second longer. These two runs would see him set times in the high 1m:22s to the mid 1m:23s. Rosberg had set a new quickest time with a 1m:17.613. Bruno would break for lunch after having completed seventy four laps.

Bruno would head back out after his mid day break. He would be running with a periscope gauge on this run. On this run Bruno's times would be in the 1m:26 to 1m:27s bracket. After a handful of laps Bruno would pit. After a short stop he would return to the track on the medium tyre, having completed eighty six laps at this time. His next series of laps would see him in the 1m:25s but with a red flag he was forced to pit.

With the session restarted Bruno would head back out with about one hour left in the day. He would return to doing laps in the 1m:25s. As the afternoon moved on Bruno would move past the one hundred lap mark. Bruno would pit again coming back out for a final run in the last thirty minutes. Bruno would complete one hundred and twenty five laps by the end of the day in what was a productive session for the Williams team.

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: I am very pleased with both Bruno's first day in the car and the team's performance today. We managed to finish the whole test programme without any issues, completing 125 laps in total. Bruno's feedback has been very precise and we now look forward to continuing to understand and optimise the car set-up during the final day of testing here in Jerez tomorrow.

Bruno Senna: It was a great day today. Although there is a lot of work to do outside the car as well as in it, it was very satisfying to finally get behind the wheel. We have had a very productive day and managed to cover all of the things we needed to. We found some interesting things out about the tyres in particular. I feel that there is a lot of potential in the FW34 and also in myself driving the car. The team has done a great job and I’m happy we have had a trouble-free day. I’m now looking forward to continuing our test programme tomorrow to learn more about the car.

The Williams F1 Team will be back on track tomorrow, Friday 10 February, with Bruno Senna continuing in the FW34 for the final day of the test.

DRIVER      	 TEAM 		  	TIME       BEST / TOTAL
						   LAPS
1 N Rosberg 	 Mercedes 		1:17.613   53 / 118
2 R Grosjean 	 Lotus F1 Team 		1:18.419   31 / 117
3 S Vettel 	 Red Bull Racing 	1:19.297   43 / 96
4 L Hamilton 	 McLaren Mercedes 	1:19.464   32 / 80
5 J E Vergne 	 Toro Rosso 		1:19.734   28 / 79
6 S Perez 	 Sauber F1 Team 	1:19.770   30 / 48
7 F Alonso 	 Ferrari 		1:20.412   18 / 67
8 B Senna 	 Williams F1 Team 	1:21.293   36 / 125
9 G Van der Garde Caterham F1 Team 	1:23.324   49 / 74
10 J Bianchi 	 Sahara Force India 	No time    0 / 2