Jolyon Palmer on P1 after last test day Barcelona
Published on 13 May 2015 by Mike Motilall
Jolyon Palmer was the fastest, on Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, on the last of the two-day testing. The Lotus test- and reserve driver noted a 1:26.080 on the super softs, and was just over four tenths quicker than Pacal Wehrlein in his Mercedes.
Due to illness, Wehrlein was forced to do a no show on Tuesday, but was fit enough on Wednesday, to take care of the test Mercedes had planned. The young German was P2 with a 1:26.497. Pierre Gasly was only able to do 37 laps in the Red Bull on Wednesday. With a 1:26.683 the Red Bull Junior ended the day as third.
Gasly was also one of the persons that caused the session to be stopped due to a red flag. The Frenchman had come to a halt at the end of the pit lane. Carlos Sainz had also caused a red flag situation earlier, when his Toro Rosso, upon entering the pits, also came to a standstill. The Spanish driver drove 126 laps, and with a 1:28.997 was left on P8.
Scuderia Toro Rosso were not focused on fast lap times on Wednesday. The emphasis, for the Faenzan team, was gathering aerodynamic data and to work on the setup of the car. During the afternoon session, Sainz drove long runs to be able to assess the tyres.
Again the Williams team only did a few number of laps. Alex Lynn, after 54 laps and with a 1:26.967, finished behind of Jenson Button in his McLaren on P5. Felipe Massa did some 52 laps on Tuesday, bringing the total in two days’ time for Williams, to 106 laps. As a comparison: Mercedes drove no less than 283 laps during the two days.
Esteban Ocon was allowed to drive at Force India and did 94 laps, his fastest time was a 1:27.520. He was sixth. Esteban Gutierrez, after quite a while, was able to get behind the wheels of a Formula 1-car again. The Mexican drove his Ferrari 120 times around the track, and finished seventh with a 1:27.930.
Raffaele Marciello, behind the wheels of the Ferrari on Tuesday, was not on top of his game in the Sauber on Wednesday. The Ferrari-junior did a 1:28.829, and with that he finished last. Before lunch, the Italian caused a red flag situation by parking his Sauber in the tyre wall in turn three.
F1 Collective Test – Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya – Wednesday 13 May
1 Palmer Lotus 1:26.080 87 2 Wehrlein Mercedes GP 1:26.497 +0.417 137 3 Gasly Red Bull Racing 1:26.683 +0.603 75 4 Button McLaren 1:26.927 +0.847 100 5 Lynn Williams 1:26.967 +0.887 52 6 Ocon Force India 1:27.520 +1.440 94 7 Gutierrez Ferrari 1:27.930 +1.850 119 8 Sainz Toro Rosso 1:27.997 +1.917 126 9 Marciello Sauber 1:28.829 +2.749 75
