Vettel and Ferrari top timesheetsposted in F104 | 03 | 2016
FERRARI'S SEBASTIAN VETTEL topped the timesheets on the final day of the second official pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
The former world champ (pictured) clocked a fastest time of 1min 22.852secs in his SF16-H, shod with super-soft Pirelli rubber. With team-mate Kimi Raikkonen leading the way on two of his four outings, it means Ferrari was fastest on five of the eight days over the two test weeks.
Vettel's time, set in the morning, was 0.282s faster than Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr lap of 1:23.134s, again set before lunch and on Pirelli's new-for-2016 ultra-soft compound.
Related: Best of Geneva Motor Show 2016
Third-fastest on the day was the Williams of Felipe Massa. The brazilian jumped from 10th to third after fitting his car with super-softs, and lapping just 0.792s behind Vettel.
There was frustration for triple world champ, Lewis Hamilton. On his final run in the morning session, before handing the car over to team-mate Nico Rosberg, Hamilton's car — which had completed 638th laps over the eight days — broke down with a transmission problem. The glitch delayed Rosberg's running in the afternoon.
Despite that, Hamilton finished fifth-fastest, with Rosberg down in 13th. Significantly, neither of the Mercedes drivers used any of the soft compounds.
Sixth-fastest was the Red Bull — again on softs — of Daniel Ricciardo was sixth quickest on a set of softs. The Aussie was followed by the McLaren of Jenson Button who, despite setting his best lap being on ultra-softs, was still almost two seconds off the pace.
F1 Pre-season test, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona (Day 4 of 4):
1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Ferrari-Ferrari 142 laps 1m 22.852s;
2. Carlos Sainz Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 133 laps 1m 23.134s;
3. Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes 129 laps 1m 23.644s;
4. Sergio Perez Mexico Force India-Mercedes 60 laps 1m 23.721s;
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 69 laps 1m 24.133s;
6. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-TAG-Heuer 123 laps 1m 24.427s;
7. Jenson Button Great Britain McLaren-Honda 121 laps 1m 24.714s;
8. Jolyon Palmer Britain Renault-Renault 90 laps 1m 24.859s;
9. Marcus Ericsson Sweden Sauber-Ferrari 132 laps 1m 25.031s;
10. Romain Grosjean France Haas-Ferrari 66 laps 1m 25.255s;
11. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Haas-Ferrari 25 laps 1m 25.422s;
12. Rio Haryanto Indonesia MRT-Mercedes 58 laps 1m 25.899s;
13. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 70 laps 1m 26.140s.
Related: Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen tops final day of F1 test
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Jim McGill