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| Mark Webber Webber topped the time charts on Day 1, Romain Grosjean put Lotus back at the top on Day 2 and drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on Day 3 & 4 of the final pre-season test in Barcelona |
After four gruesome days of testing, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg clocked the fastest
time of the final winter test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. The German clocked
his fastest lap on the final day of the test on soft tyres after completing 131 laps, the
maximum of the day. Rosberg also completed the maximum number of laps in the week with an
overall total of 251 laps in two days of testing. This is the second time Rosberg put
Mercedes at the top of the time sheets having achieved the feat once before on Day1 of the
second pre-season test.
Following him in second was Fernando Alonso who completed 222 laps in total. The
Spanish driver clocked his fastest time and secured second place on the final day of the
test on soft tyres after circling the circuit 120 times.
Lewis Hamilton's fastest time on Day 3 helped him secure a third place in the overall
classification of the entire test. He clocked his fastest lap on soft tyres and completed
117 laps on Day 3 and 230 laps in total. Both the Mercedes drivers have put the team on
top of the time sheets twice each in both the Barcelona tests. Mercedes team might have
started the pre-season tests on a low after a few teething problems at Jerez, but have
finished on a high after putting ample of mileage on the W04 and clearing all doubts
regarding the reliability of the car.
Rosberg, Alonso and Hamilton remain the only drivers under a minute and 21 seconds.
Following them was Ferrari’s Felipe Massa who clocked the second fastest of
Day 3 on a set of super-soft tyres which also was the fourth fastest time
overall.
Jenson Button's third fastest time on Day 4 made him the fifth fastest driver in the
seconds pre-season test. He completed 122 laps on Day 4 and 194 laps in the entire test.
Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber team followed with the sixth fastest time on the grid which the
German clocked on the final day of the test.
Force India driver, Adrian Sutil who returned to the wheel of an F1 car after a year
was the seventh fastest in the four days of the test. The German clocked his fastest time
on Day 3 of the test having completed 109 laps on soft tyres and was the third fastest
driver of the day.
Kimi Raikkonen put in his personal best on Day 4 and set the eighth fastest time
of the second Barcelona test. While some gearbox trouble on the E21 restricted the Finn
from being able to put more than 50 laps on the car on the final day, Kimi himself
suffered from illness on Day 3 forcing the Enstone based to replace him with David
Valsecchi and Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman clocked the fastest time on Day 2 of the
test, putting Lotus on top of the time sheets for the third time in the pre-season tests
this year.
Force India’s Paul di Resta followed with the ninth fastest time of the final
test. He clocked his fastest time on the final day of the test having completed 112 laps
that day, and 169 laps in total.
