Barrichello, whose Williams team have had an on-going fight with their KERS unit over the course of the four-day test, clocked a 1:19.832 early on Sunday morning to set the benchmark time for the day.His time proved to be unbeatable and with heavy rain falling late in the afternoon, any attempts at a final run for the P1 time were put to rest.
But despite being exceptionally quick, half a second up on the week's previous best time set by Michael Schumacher on Friday, the Brazilian's day was not without problems as he brought out the red flags an hour before the close of play when he stopped between Turns Five and Six.
His P1 time was also a one-off as immediately after setting it, Barrichello's times dropped by almost one-and-a-half seconds.
Second place on Sunday went to Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, who was 0.769s off the pace. He too had a few problems, spinning his C30 off the track and into the gravel during the morning session.
Fernando Alonso, who yet again was the busiest driver on track in his F150th Italia, claimed third place, 1.242s behind Barrichello as he worked on short runs during the morning session. Ferrari later swapped to long-distance heavy-fuel runs in the afternoon.
Sebastien Buemi showed promise in his Toro Rosso STR6, bringing the car home in fourth place while F1 was taken on a walk down memory lane as Bruno Senna stepped into the Lotus Renault R31 for the final day at Jerez.
The nephew of the late Ayrton Senna has been signed as a test driver for the team for this year's Championship and was given the chance to show what he can do. Lotus Renault spent the past two days evaluating Nick Heidfeld and Senna to see who will fill in for the injured Robert Kubica.
Senna brought his car home in fifth place, with a 1:21.400, which was 1.568s slower than the P1 time. But, perhaps more importantly, he brought the car home without any major mistakes and with only one spin, which he managed to keep off the gravel and away from the barriers.
Team Lotus will be happy to see Heikki Kovalainen finish in sixth place despite a water leak, beating the Mercedes GP of Nico Rosberg. The latter's day, though, was once again problematic as a rather frustrated Rosberg broke down on track during the morning's session.
Reigning World Champ Sebastian Vettel was next in line, ahead of the McLaren of Jenson Button. Both teams won't be worried about their apparent lack of pace as it must be noted that times were not what they were seeking as they focused mainly on long-distance runs.
Jerome D'Ambrosio, who spun in the gravel to bring out the day's first red flag, and Paul di Resta, who spun at the same place as the Belgian to bring out the day's last stoppage, completed the timesheets.
And for those wondering, some of the drivers did opt to put in a few laps in the rain late in the day using the intermediate Pirelli tyres. Buemi clocked a 1:36 and a 1:35, Alonso a 1:38 and a 1:40 while Rosberg and Barrichello both did 1:42s.
The next pre-season test is scheduled for Barcelona, beginning on 18 February.
Times
01. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:19.832 103 laps
02. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.601 + 0.769 86 laps
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:21.074 + 1.242 115 laps
04. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.213 + 1.381 90 laps
05. Bruno Senna Lotus Renault 1:21.400 + 1.568 68 laps
06. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 1:21.632 + 1.800 43 laps
07. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:22.103 + 2.271 45 laps
08. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:22.222 + 2.39 90 laps
09. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.278 + 2.446 70 laps
10. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:22.985 + 3.153 45 laps
11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:23.111 + 3.279 99 laps
Source: Planet-F1
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