Sebastian Vettel the fastest in Barcelona
Published on 04 March 2016 by Mike Motilall
Ferrari-driver Sebastian Vettel finished the second four day preseason test as the fastest driver. The German clocked his time in the morning session. After that, there wasn’t any serious attempt to beat the time set by the four time world champion. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez remained respectively second and third. Their fastest times were also on the time sheet before lunch.
As some are busy cleaning up the paddock, after lunch the teams head out one more time to gather some more precious data before the new season starts. Just like in previous afternoon sessions, the most teams focus on the long runs. Some even practice pit stops and starts.
Given the fact that Esteban Gutierrez was only able to do a small amount of laps, due to persisting mechanical problems, he takes over control from Romain Grosjean for the final hour at Haas F1.
At McLaren, they can look back at a resonable productive test session. Jenson Button laps the circuit a little over one hundred times. At the start of the final 30 minutes, his car even gets strapped on to the ultra-soft tyres. However, the Englishman is unable to improve his fastest time.
At Scuderia Toro Rosso, during the final part of the session, different bodywork is also tested. By no means is the focus, for the Faenza based team, on doing fast laps. Sainz is apparently enjoying himself in Toro Rosso’s new weapon, because when the flag is out, the Spaniard is still on the circuit.
When the calm has finally returned in the paddock, we see Rosberg’s Mercedes at the bottom of the time sheet. The German makes an effort in the dying minutes, but remains a few tenths down on Rio Haryanto.
Pre-season test II, day 4 - Circuit de Catalunya – Friday 4 March 2016:
1. Vettel Ferrari 1:22.852 142 2. Sainz Toro Rosso 1:23.134 +0.282 133 3. Massa Williams 1:23.644 +0.792 129 4. Perez Force India 1:23.721 +0.869 60 5. Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.133 +1.281 69 6. Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:24.427 +1.575 123 7. Button McLaren 1:24.714 +1.862 121 8. Palmer Renault 1:24.859 +2.007 90 9. Ericsson Sauber 1:25.031 +2.179 132 10. Grosjean Haas F1 1:25.255 +2.403 66 11. Gutierrez Haas F1 1:25.422 +2.570 25 12. Haryanto Manor F1 1:25.899 +3.047 57 13. Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.140 +3.288 70
