F1: Ferrari Tops In Testing, McLaren Fails To Set Lap Time

F1: Ferrari Tops In Testing, McLaren Fails To Set Lap Time

$RACE

Kimi Raikkonen put Ferrari on top of the test times Thursday as the first of 2 pre-season Barcelona Formula 1 tests came to an end.

Mr. Raikkonen ran the ultrasoft tires on his Ferrari racer late in the morning session to post a best time of 1:23.477, finishing the day over 8-tenths clear of Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat.

Mr. Kvyat also using the ultrasofts for his best lap time, managed over 90 laps in the RB12 to outpace Alfonso Celis, who completed another promising showing for Force India.

Renault had its more productive outing yet with Kevin Magnussen behind the wheel, as he emerging as the busiest man on track with 153 laps completed on his way to the 4th fastest time of the session.

Mr. Magnussen was the quickest of the drivers not running ultrasofts or supersofts, his best time set with softs, although he caused a late red flag when his car stopped at Turn 3 with 15 mins to go.

Max Verstappen was fastest of those on medium tyres, the Toro Rosso racer also going over the 100-lap mark to complete the Top 5.

Felipe Nasr finished 6th in the 2015 Sauber, ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, who drove the car in the afternoon, taking over from Lewis Hamilton.

The German Team’s reliability was again on display, the duo covering 185 laps between them.

Mercedes has covered 229 laps more than last year in the 4 days of the test at the Spanish track.

Haas wrapped up its 1st ever Formula 1 test with a solid outing, Esteban Gutierrez completing 89 laps before his car stopped on track with a problem 1 hr from the end.

Manor’s Rio Haryanto continued the team’s program for the 2nd day running, but his session came to an early finish after he crashed 90 mins into the afternoon session.

The Indonesian, the only driver to have spun or crashed during the test, lost control of his car at Turn 5 and ended up making contact with the wall.

Fernando Alonso had a disastrous day and became the first driver to fail to set a time in a session since the test started Monday.

The McLaren driver, on his 2nd day behind the wheel of the MP4-31, managed onlly 3 untimed laps early in the morning before a coolant leak prevented him from completing any more running.

Day 4, final testing times

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:23.477	80
2	D. Kvyat	Red Bull	1:24.293	96
3	A. Celis Jr	Force India	1:24.640	75
4	K. Magnussen	Renault	1:25.263	153
5	M. Verstappen	Toro Rosso	1:25.393	110
6	F. Nasr	Sauber	1:26.053	121
7	N. Rosberg	Mercedes	1:26.187	86
8	L. Hamilton	Mercedes	1:26.295	99
9	F. Massa	Williams	1:26.483	54
10	E. Gutierrez	Haas	1:27.802	89
11	R. Haryanto	Manor	1:28.266	51
12	F. Alonso	McLaren	no time	3

Have a terrific weekend.

Paul Ebeling

HeffX-LTN

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