Formula One’s preseason continues on Thursday with the final day of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
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1300: That’s lunch, wrapping up one of the best sessions from a analysis standpoint so far. Yesterday afternoon was also very good with several race simulations.
Here’s how the times look. Four hours of track time to come this afternoon and then that’s it until Friday practice for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
1. Daniel Ricciardo – Renault – 1:16.276 – 65 laps
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – +0.084s – 76 laps
3. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – +0.134s – 90 laps
4. Sergio Perez – Racing Point – +0.382 – 43 laps
5. Carlos Sainz – McLaren – +0.544s – 65 laps
6. George Russell – Wiliams – +0.595s – 43 laps
7. Daniil Kvyat – Alpha Tauri – +0.638s – 59 laps
8. Romain Grosjean – Haas – +0.761 – 86 laps
9. Kimi Raikkonen – Alfa Romeo – +1.139s – 62 laps
10. Alex Albon – Red Bull – +1.527 – 59 laps
12:25: Another change at the top of the order as Ricciardo sets a 1:16.276 in the Renault. That’s just 0.084s quicker than Leclerc’s time.
Going to be a busy day in terms of quick lap times — always worth remembering that this is not like a qualifying session where teams have everything set up to extract the absolute maximum from the car.
1215: Leclerc lowers the benchmark to a 1:16.360. Shortly afterwards, Hamilton’s run on a C5 tyre puts him 0.140s behind that new lead time. Very similar conditions as those two times were set so close together. Hamilton had a very quick final sector, showing how well that Mercedes is handling through the most technical part of this circuit.
1200: Albon spins off at Turn 12. The rear end of that Red Bull car still doesn’t look particularly stable through some corners.
1100: Leclerc doing some running on the softest tyre, Pirelli’s C5. His headline time is a 1:16.457, but that’s still some 0.7s off the quickest time Bottas and Mercedes set on the same tyre last week.
0945: Grosjean runs wide at Turn 1. Haas made a change to its schedule this morning and both Grosjean and Magnussen will have a stint in the car. The traditional changeover point for teams is the one-hour lunch break between the sessions.
0900: Here’s the driver plan for Friday, which is the final day of track action before the Australian Grand Prix.
Who is who last day edition (second version) #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/nVDOW2J8Rs
— Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (@Circuitcat_eng) February 28, 2020