Vettel wraps up final Barcelona test day on top for Ferrari - Scuderia lead the way as Mercedes actually break down
Published by Christine
Ferrari finished on top for the final day of pre-season testing, making that five of the eight days with the fastest time. Today it was Sebastian Vettel's turn behind the wheel, and he completed 142 laps, the most of the day, finishing ahead of second place Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso.
Mercedes were still splitting their driver duties with Lewis Hamilton finishing 5th overall, however the Brit did suffer with some reliability troubles. After patching up a transmission issue, Mercedes put Nico Rosberg in the car, with the German completing 70 laps but finishing last on the timesheets.
Renault struggled for another day with Jolyon Palmer sidelined by an hydraulic problem. He did manage to complete 90 laps by day's end but that didn't stop him feeling frustrated.
It's good because if [Magnussen] did same number laps as me, we're in trouble as a team. It's good he had four trouble-free days, I wish I had four trouble-free days but it is what it is. It's unlucky but I'm quite pleased from a team point of view that he's at least given us a direction and a good understanding of the car.
- Phil Charles, Chief Engineer, Toro Rosso
Haas also ran both their drivers today with Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez sharing the day's programme. Between them they completed 91 laps. Meanwhile, Rio Haryanto was back in the car for Manor and he only completed one installation lap in the morning but motored on to 58 by the end of the session.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:22.852 | 142 |
| 2 | C Sainz | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:23.134 | 133 |
| 3 | F Massa | Williams Martini Racing | 1:23.644 | 129 |
| 4 | S Pérez | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:23.721 | 60 |
| 5 | L Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:24.133 | 69 |
| 6 | D Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing | 1:24.427 | 123 |
| 7 | J Button | McLaren Honda F1 Team | 1:24.714 | 121 |
| 8 | J Palmer | Renault Sport F1 Team | 1:24.859 | 90 |
| 9 | M Ericsson | Sauber F1 Team | 1:25.031 | 132 |
| 10 | R Grosjean | Haas F1 Team | 1:25.255 | 66 |
| 11 | E Gutiérrez | Haas F1 Team | 1:25.422 | 25 |
| 12 | R Haryanto | Manor Racing MRT | 1:25.899 | 58 |
| 13 | N Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:26.140 | 70 |
Vettel also ran the halo cockpit protection device in the morning for a single installation lap, and came away with reasonably positive vibes for the idea - although he did admit it wasn't the best looking design in the world.
Worth pointing out that @ToroRossoSpy completed 1049 laps in eight days. The proven 2015 Ferrari package appears to be bulletproof...
adamcooperf1
Considering stable #F1 regs, it is impressive that #Seb5's best lap today is some 2.7 seconds faster than he managed in 2015 SpanishGP Quali
Packing up and going home. All the used #F1Testing tyres will be placed into trucks and taken to be recycled.
It's a wrap! P12, 58 laps and a 1:25.899 for @RHaryantoracing. It's "Adios" @Circuitcat_eng & "G'day" @ausgrandprix. Well, nearly.
As Manor so rightly say, that's all for pre-season testing! An interesting couple of weeks that have shown Ferrari have kept up their improving pace from last year, although we have yet to see Mercedes do anything other than rack up the miles. It looks to be very tight in the midfield, and Haas had a mixed test but impressed more than many expected. I can't wait to see how it all shakes out in Melbourne!
