The first week of testing in Barcelona ended with another day of Mercedes domination on the Catalonia circuit. 24 hours after having released their new secret boot called DAS (Dual Axis Steering) allowing them to play on the angle of their front wheels with their steering wheel - the FIA has already indicated that this system will be banned ... in 2021 only -, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas relegated the competition far behind in Montmelo. The Finn achieved the best time since the start of practice on Wednesday (1'15''732 in C5 tires, the most tender, 65 laps completed) clearly ahead of his British teammate (+ 0''784 in C5, 73 turns). This first test period ended fairly well for Renault and Esteban Ocon, 3rd (+ 1''370 in C4, 76 laps) while Daniel Ricciardo, himself, experienced a mechanical problem that forced him to stop temporarily before start again to complete up to 93 laps (7th, 1'17''574 in C4).
"I'm not worried"
Mattia BinottoAfter only 1.5 hours of driving on Friday morning, Sebastien Vettel (Ferrari) had a stop (engine problem). With a new power unit, the German finally turned 100 times but the best time of the SF1000 (1'18''384) is very far from the Silver Arrow which also completed many more laps (494 against 354). “We are not as fast as our competitors. Mercedes and Red Bull are going fast but we haven't looked for performance yet, we will do it next week. I'm not worried, we have time, ”said Mattia Binotto, the boss of Scuderia. Lance Stroll has taken over from Sergio Pérez to confirm the good provisions of Racing Point (4th, + 1''606, 116 laps) whose single-seater is powered by a Mercedes engine and strongly inspired by the 2019 Silver Arrow.
Max Verstappen (8th, + 1'904 in C2, 86 laps) then Alexander Albon (10th, + 2''422 in C2, 83 laps) had a studious day on Red Bull as did Antonio Giovinazzi who swallowed 152 laps driving the Alfa Romeo with encouraging results (6th at 1''1737 in C5). Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) signs the 9th time (+ 2''051 in C4, 59 laps), Romain Grosjean (Haas) is 12th (+ 2''652 in C3, 48 laps). The teams will return to the track next Wednesday for the last three days of winter testing. The season kicks off on March 15 in Melbourne.
All done for the day, and the week! # F1Testingpic.twitter.com / uMHfQBiBTf
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