Sebastian Vettel topped the time charts on the fifth day of testing at the second pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll completed the top three positions on the time charts on a day which started under damp and windy conditions.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team had a disrupted day of testing as Lewis Hamilton ground to a halt in the afternoon session with a Power Unit (PU) issue. Hamilton had completed just 14 laps when the reliability issue ended his session. The Briton propped up the bottom of the time charts on the penultimate day of testing.
Valtteri Bottas racked up 47 laps in the morning session and was seventh on the time charts. The Mercedes team later revealed that it was an oil pressure anomaly that had shutdown the power unit in Hamilton’s car.
Wet start to day 5 in Barcelona
The damp track at the start of the day caused the drivers to start the session on the intermediate tyres. The first red flag of the day was brought out by Antonio Giovinazzi as he hit the barriers and damaged his rear wing.
The hot Spanish sun rapidly dried up the track and the drivers switched to the slick tyres. The drivers were slipping and sliding into the gravel. Vettel after one such excursion set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 1m 16.841s on the softest compound tyres (C5). The German completed 145 laps on a good day of testing for the Italian team.
Gasly made up for lost time during the previous day of testing for the Scuderia AlphaTauri team. The Frenchman completed 139 laps as he recorded the second fastest lap time of 1m 17.066s, 0.225 seconds behind Vettel.
Stroll continued the good testing form of the Racing Point F1 team as he set the third fastest time on the medium compound tyres (C3), 0.277 seconds behind the fastest lap of the day. Stroll completed 130 laps in the process.
Williams making progress?
Nicholas Latifi recorded the fourth fastest time of the day and completed an impressive 160 laps even as he made an excursion through the gravel in the morning session.
Lando Norris was fifth on the time charts as he set the quick lap time in the morning session and completed 113 laps for the day. Norris was at the wheel for both sessions and Carlos Sainz will be at the wheel for McLaren for the last day of testing tomorrow.
Max Verstappen had a few excursions through the gravel and brought out the red flag even as he completed 31 laps and was sixth on the time charts. Alexander Albon added another 61 laps in the afternoon session to the Red Bull Racing team’s tally and was tenth on the time charts.
Esteban Ocon was in eighth position on the time charts and put in 37 laps. Daniel Ricciardo took over the wheel in the afternoon session and added another 59 laps as he finished in eleventh position for the day.
Kevin Magnussen was at the wheel for one of the better days of testing for the Haas F1 team. Magnussen completed 111 laps as he was ninth fastest with a lap time of 1m 18.225s.
Giovinazzi completed 92 laps after he returned to track after he damaged the car in the morning session and was twelfth on the time charts.
Ferrari had their best day of testing with the fastest lap and substantial mileage with 145 laps for the day. Mercedes after four solid days of testing hit trouble and will hope for a solid final day of testing tomorrow.
Results of Day 5 of Pre-Season Testing
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