Sergio Perez has recorded the fastest time so far in any of the seven pre-season test days at Barcelona. And with just one day of testing to go before the Australian Grand Prix things are getting tight at the top of the timesheet.
Perez negotiated the Circuit de Catalunya in 1:22.094, just nine one thousandths ahead of Jenson Button. While Australian young gun Daniel Ricciardo was six one hundredths back. Indeed, less than one second covered the first nine drivers.
Lotus, fastest on the previous two days with Romain Grosjean at the wheel, were relegated to slowest in the hands of Kimi Raikkonen. The 2007 world champion complained about the steering in the E20 and the team lost around an hour to rectify the problem.
Light afternoon rain interrupted proceedings in the afternoon with most teams attempting race simulations. A few drivers went out on intermediates, while some chose to remain indoors.
Red Bull ran a new update, including revised exhaust layout and new front wing. However, seeing Webber only eighth fastest is not of any real concern. He did not do any qualifying-style runs and was still within touching distance of Perez.
Although, Webber is cautious about reading pre-season form and expects stiff competition in Melbourne. “Everyone today was in the 1m22s so that is not hanging around at Barcelona these days. So there are a lot of quick teams, a lot of fast cars and we need to continue to work hard,” Webber said in an interview with Autosport.
When asked if he thought the field was closer at the top than it had been in recent years Mark replied, “I think so, the pack is very tight. As I touched on several times that we have run, it is very tight between all the teams and Q2 [in Melbourne] will be interesting.”
[table "6" seems to be empty /][Source: Autosport | Pic: Sauber Motorsport AG]