Rubens Barrichello topped the timesheets on the second day of testing at Jerez de la Frontera today as the weather continued to compromise pre-season preparations.

Like everybody in the Jerez paddock, Sebastian Vettel was hoping for dry weather on Thursday but failed to see the dream become a reality. The German did enjoy a problem-free day car wise, however, as he prepares to hand the Red Bull RB6 to team-mate Mark Webber for the remaining two days of the current test in Spain.

The Lotus team hopes that the weather will not cause as many problems in the air as on the ground tonight as several parts are flown into Jerez follow Heikki Kovalainen's accident on Thursday. Having crashed shortly after 1 o'clock, the Finn and his team was forced to sit out for the remainder of the day.

Although it may be considered of rather academic interest in testing, Vitaly Petrov was higher up the timesheets than ever before in Jerez on Thursday as he managed the day's second best lap time behind Rubens Barrichello despite hoping for a dry race track.

Nico Rosberg was pleased to have practiced a number of pit-stops in Jerez on Thursday but couldn't hide his irritation over the weather in Spain, which once again prevented teams from making the most of pre-season testing.

Today's times from Jerez, the second day of testing at the Spanish track

Rubens Barrichello has confirmed that six teams have posted the fastest time in as many days at Jerez as its second test session continued on Thursday. The Brazilian Williams driver led the way from Vitaly Petrov's Renault and Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull as Lotus missed half the day following a crash for Heikki Kovalainen.                 

Adrian Sutil is confident that the Force India team can be a regular points finisher this year and that, furthermore, it should also be able to achieve a number of top three results. The Silverstone-based outfit came of age in 2009 in the shape of second and fourth place finishes for Giancarlo Fisichella and Sutil at Spa and Monza respectively.

Heikki Kovalainen crashes in his first outing for Lotus forcing the team to stop testing on day two of the third winter test in Jerez.

Could the fact that the US F1 website is currently down, mean that the North Carolina team has finally pulled the plug.

Mid Session Times: Jerez 18-02

The Lotus team has been forced to skip the rest of Thursday at Jerez after a driving error by Heikki Kovalainen damaged the car shortly after 1 o'clock. With no spare components available, the team now awaits a delivery from its base in Norfolk, expected within the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Campos edge closer to making the grid but USF1's F1 future hangs in the balance, plus other gossip.

With the adverse weather conditions continuing to disrupt proceedings at Jerez this week, the Force India team has elected to modify its testing line-up at the Spanish circuit. Having driven on Wednesday morning, Scotland's Paul di Resta is back in the cockpit today.

Álvaro Parente has revealed that he is no longer a test and reserve driver of the Virgin Racing team after sponsorship from a key backer fell through. Having represented the outfit at its launch in London in December, Brazilian Luiz Razia remains as the sole reserve alongside Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi.

Former F1 driver Takuma Sato today announced his participation in the 2010 IZOD Indycar Series.

There is increasing speculation that US F1 is on the verge of admitting that it will not be in Bahrain for the season opener and could indeed fail to appear at all this season.

Wednesday's reports of US F1 possibly not making the grid this season have been receiving with a rapid reaction of internet rumours, not least that 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve could make a return to Formula 1 with the Stefan GP team, which still hopes for a place on the grid.

The ninth day of pre-season testing and the second of this week's test in Jerez gets underway at 9am on Thursday morning. Sebastian Vettel confirmed on Wednesday that five different cars have been quickest on as many days in Andalucía so far, with yet more rain forecast for today…

Karun Chandhok has responded to internet rumours on Thursday by stating that he has not signed a contract to be part of the Stefan GP team this year. Hope of joining the Formula 1 grid appears to have risen for the Serbian hopefuls after reports emerged that US F1 may elect not to compete in 2010.

Former Formula 1 driver Takuma Sato will be joining KV Racing in the Indycar Series for the upcoming season. After his adventure with Super Aguri, which came to a sudden end in 2008 when the team went bankrupt, the Japanese driver was unable to find a racing seat in F1 so has decided to join Indycars as of this season.

The Lotus Formula 1 team had a reasonable start of its new Formula 1 adventure on Wednesday. The team joined the other teams at Jerez, Spain, for a four-day test. The team completed over 300km with test driver Fairuz Fauzy. The only problem the Malaysian driver faced was a lack of power steering