Mercedes AMG has well and truly put their poor start to 2013 pre-season testing behind them with Nico Rosberg claiming top honours in Barcelona overnight.
Rosberg’s time of 1:20.130 betters that of teammate Lewis Hamilton (1:20.558) from yesterday and is the fastest seen in all eight days of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. Just over three tenths behind Rosberg was Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 1:20.494) with Jenson Button (McLaren, 1:21.444) third quickest.
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull, 1:22.514) proved to be a little harder to interpret, managing only the eighth fastest time of the day. Trackside reports say Red Bull ran much of the day with unmarked tyres, making it hard to read Vettel’s pace.
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso, 1:23.628) was well off the pace, registering the second slowest time, with Charles Pic (Caterham) and Jules Bianchi (Marussia) ahead of him. We’re not too sure if that is a genuine sign of concerns for the STR8 or if it was merely a matter of the team concentrating on their own agenda. A little bit of both, perhaps?
“We had some shorter runs to do in the morning, during which we tried most of the tyre compounds, while getting through all the items on our job sheet,” Ricciardo said. “In the afternoon we managed a few long runs, which was good, as we hadn’t done many at this test, because of the bad weather. I think we learned a bit there. I’m now looking forward to Australia and hope that we’ll be able to produce some good speed at my home race.â€
Speaking with more positivity was Nico Rosberg who said after testing, “I’m pleased with our pre-season testing programme. We have achieved a lot of mileage and I can feel that the balance of the car is good.
“I have the general feeling that we are in a better position than in the second half of last year but this is testing not racing, of course. The conditions in the first race will be completely different to here as it will be much hotter in Melbourne and Sepang so we need to wait and see.”
With pre-season testing out of the way there’s just one more F1-free weekend to endure before the car roar into life in Melbourne.
2013 F1 pre-season testing – Barcelona II (Day 4)
- Nico Rosberg Mercedes – 1:20.130 (131 laps)
- Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 1:20.494 +0.364 (120 laps)
- Jenson Button McLaren – 1:21.444 +1.314 (122 laps)
- Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – 1:21.541 +1.411 (118 laps)
- Kimi Raikkonen Lotus – 1:21.658 +1.528 (50 laps)
- Paul di Resta Force India – 1:21.664 +1.534 (112 laps)
- Pastor Maldonado Williams – 1:22.415 +2.285 (42 laps)
- Sebastian Vettel Red Bull – 1:22.514 +2.384 (100 laps)
- Valtteri Bottas Williams – 1:22.524 +2.394 (31 laps)
- Charles Pic Caterham – 1:23.115 +2.985 (116 laps)
- Jules Bianchi Marussia – 1:23.167 +3.037 (62 laps)
- Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – 1:23.628 +3.498 (91 laps)
- Max Chilton Marussia – 1:24.103 +3.973 (49 laps)
2013 F1 pre-season testing – Barcelona II (Day 3)
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes – 1:20.558 (117 laps)
- Felipe Massa Ferrari – 1:21.266 +0.708 (94 laps)
- Adrian Sutil Force India – 1:21.627 +1.069 (109 laps)
- Pastor Maldonado Williams – 1:22.305 +1.747 (34 laps)
- Valtteri Bottas Williams – 1:22.468 +1.910 (31 laps)
- Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – 1:22.553 +1.995 (99 laps)
- Mark Webber Red Bull – 1:22.658 +2.100 (59 laps)
- Sergio Perez McLaren – 1:22.694 +2.136 (101 laps)
- Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – 1:23.223 +2.665 (114 laps)
- Romain Grosjean Lotus – 1:23.380 +2.822 (46 laps)
- Davide Valsecchi Lotus – 1:23.448 +2.890 (16 laps)
- Jules Bianchi Marussia – 1:24.028 +3.470 (74 laps)
- Giedo van der Garde Caterham – 1:24.235 +3.677 (126 laps)
2013 F1 pre-season testing – Barcelona II (Day 2)
- Romain Grosjean Lotus – 1:22.716 (88 laps)
- Jenson Button McLaren – 1:23.181 +0.465 (72 laps)
- Pastor Maldonado Williams – 1:23.628 +0.912 (75 laps)
- Sebastian Vettel Red Bull – 1:23.743 +1.027 (65 laps)
- Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – 1:23.744 +1.028 (79 laps)
- Adrian Sutil Force India – 1:24.215 +1.499 (62 laps)
- Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – 1:25.483 +2.767 (61 laps)
- Max Chilton Marussia – 1:25.598 +2.882 (75 laps)
- Giedo van der Garde Caterham – 1:26.316 +3.600 (48 laps)
- Nico Rosberg Mercedes – 1:26.655 +3.939 (120 laps)
- Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 1:27.878 +5.162 (102 laps)
2013 F1 pre-season testing – Barcelona II (Day 1)
- Mark Webber Red Bull – 1:22.693 (90 laps)
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes – 1:24.348 +1.655 (113 laps)
- Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – 1:25.017 +2.324 (59 laps)
- Valtteri Bottas Williams – 1:26.458 +3.765 (85 laps)
- Sergio Perez McLaren – 1:26.538 +3.845 (100 laps)
- Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – 1:26.574 +3.881 (92 laps)
- Paul di Resta Force India – 1:27.107 +4.414 (57 laps)
- Felipe Massa Ferrari – 1:27.541 +4.848 (112 laps)
- Max Chilton Marussia – 1:28.166 +5.473 (78 laps)
- Charles Pic Caterham – 1:28.644 +5.951 (83 laps)
- Romain Grosjean Lotus – 1:34.928 +12.235 (52 laps)