Formula 1

Max Verstappen remains on top as Barcelona Test concludes

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Max Verstappen ended the final day of testing in Barcelona on top, as he had at the start of the day, with his early morning time remaining the fastest set at the end of the day, as many teams worked on their long run simulations.

The Dutchman, still on a high after his maiden Grand Prix victory on Sunday, racked up the mileage in the RB12, completing 118 laps as he pushed the new specification Renault engine, to evaluate its readiness ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Stoffel Vandoorne remained second fastest to Verstappen after setting his time on the super-soft tyre in the morning, before moving to long run simulations in the afternoon, whilst testing some new parts for the McLaren Honda F1 team. The Belgian completed 108 laps for the Woking based squad, a decent days work for the Japanese Super Formula driver.

Pascal Wehrlein, driving the W07 for Mercedes AMG PETRONAS on Wednesday, instead of Esteban Ocon who had been scheduled to drive for the German team for day 2, moved himself up to third place in the timings during the afternoon session after completing a qualifying simulation on the soft tyre. The German also completed the most laps of the day at 133.

Esteban Gutierrez was fourth fastest for the Haas F1 Team, after spending the afternoon completing short runs on the super-soft tyre, in contrast to the aerodynamic evaluation programme the team were running through on the medium tyre, during the morning session.

Scuderia Ferrari academy driver Antonio Fuoco, who was driving the SF16-H for the Maranello-based squad on Wednesday, was fifth fastest. After only running the medium tyre during the morning, the 19-year-old switched to the soft tyre as he completed a similar qualifying simulation to that of Sebastian Vettel on Tuesday. The youngster had completed 118 laps by the end of the day, which should have yielded plenty of data for the red team to work with.

Daniil Kvyat brought out the red flags during the afternoon, when the STR11 stopped on track following the completion of a race simulation, caused by an engine failure. The former Red Bull man’s morning session time was as fast as he went all day, with getting laps on the board more of a priority for the Russian than setting fastest laps.

Kvyat admitted to having to change his driving style to master the Scuderia Toro Rosso, and is hoping the test day will have given him that extra confidence behind the wheel. Despite the stoppage the Russian was still able to rack up a solid total of 116 laps.

Alfonso Celis Jr was seventh fastest for the Sahara Force India squad, after bolting on the super-soft tyres at the end of the day to bump him up a spot from this morning. Whether his efforts will appease Sergio Perez, who was unhappy that neither of the team’s main drivers were able to take part in this weeks test, is yet to be seen.

The time set by Kevin Magnussen during the morning session was the Dane’s fastest time of the day, which meant he was eighth fastest at the end of the session, after concentrating on test evaluation runs for the Renault Sport F1 team during the afternoon.

Felipe Massa continued to test the double-decker rear wing for the Williams Martini Racing team, and clocked up 94 laps in the FW38, with no doubt plenty of data for the Oxfordshire-based squad to evaluate following the session.

The Brazilian posted the ninth fastest time of the day, ahead of Manor Racing Reserve Driver Jordan King, who despite bringing out the red flags briefly during the morning session, managed to rack up 91 laps for the Banbury-based squad by the end of the day.

Circuit de Catalunya – In-Season Test Day 2 (PM)

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