Final Barcelona test begins, with Romain Grosjean on top - Last chance for season preparations gets underway
Published by Christine
Lotus hit the ground running on their return to testing, with Romain Grosjean leading the way for the first day of the final week in Barcelona. The team missed the previous test in Catalunya after pulling out on the first day with suspension issues, but have returned with a car they say feels as good as new.
Grosjean pipped Jenson Button to the top spot, after the McLaren driver headed up the morning and much of the afternoon. Long runs were part of many team's plans, with no less than six squads hitting the century. Vitaly Petrov was driving for Caterham in place of the expected Heikki Kovalainen, as the Finn was feeling under the weather.
A couple of updates from the ground:
Longer runs for Nico this afternoon with a total of 128 laps completed by the end of the day... Michael will be in the F1 W03 tomorrow.
MercedesAMGF1
113 laps completed and our boy Jean-Eric shows no sign of being tired, well done!
Stomach feeling better, only some temperature now hopefully fighting the bug off. Been following the test, Vitaly did great program today
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:23.252 | 73 |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:23.510 | 64 |
| 3 | Sergio Pérez | Sauber | 1:23.820 | 118 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 1:23.830 | 102 |
| 5 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:23.992 | 128 |
| 6 | Jean-Éric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:24.216 | 113 |
| 7 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1:24.305 | 98 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:24.318 | 105 |
| 9 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham | 1:24.876 | 123 |
| 10 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 1:25.587 | 58 |
