Day Two Final Standings
- Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – 1:22.716s
- Jenson Button (McLaren) – 1:23.181s
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – 1:23.628s
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 1:23.743s
- Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 1:23.744s
- Adrian Sutil (Force India) – 1:24.215s
- Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) – 1:25.483s
- Max Chilton (Marussia) – 1:25.598s
- Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) – 1:26.316s
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 1:26.655s
- Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 1:27.878s
As a Lotus fan, the words 'THANK CHRIST' have never came out of my mouth accompanied by much needed relief. Although set on a drying track it's not much to take away, but it's a bloody start! Romain Grosjean was followed by another let down of testing in the form of McLaren's Jenson Button but really, it doesn't really matter beyond this point. If testing pace is no relation to race pace during the season, then wet testing is just a waste of time. It would be a lot more cost effective for the teams just to pack up for the day and go home, but then I'm not sure if the spectators pay to watch testing or not so it wouldn't exactly be fair.
I haven't a terrible lot to say on the matter, there's nothing that can be taken away from wet running other than seeing how the cars react under the conditions. However one would think that after one session the teams would have all they need. No point in chancing a collision or crash. The forecast for the next two days is set to improve, let's up the action does too.
Day Three Final Standings
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:20.558s
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 1:21.266s
- Adrian Sutil (Force India) – 1:21.627s
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – 1:22.305s
- Valtteri Bottas (Williams) – 1:22.468s
- Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) – 1:22.553s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull) – 1:22.658s
- Sergio Perez (McLaren) – 1:22.694s
- Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) – 1:23.223s
- Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – 1:23.380s
- Davide Valsecchi (Lotus) – 1:23.448s
- Jules Bianchi (Marussia) – 1:24.028s
- Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) – 1:24.235s
I'd like to start this post off by wishing my favourite superstar Kimi Raikkonen a very speedy recovery. The Flying Finn was due to begin his test today but has succumbed to food poisoning... Or is just really, really hungover.
On a completely dry day, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time over any of the Barcelona days. The Brit put in blinding laps to top the time sheets and will be hoping that his form carry's over into Melbourne. One thing to note about every team is how close the grid was. Liittle under 4s seperates 13 drivers which is an encouraging display, very delighted to see.
Bianchi's Second Chance
Jules Bianchi who suffered a recent career defeat when he lost out to Adrian Sutil (opinion coming VERY SOON) for the Force India seat got a second chance when Marussia offered him a race seat. This was following the immediate dismissal of Luiz Razia after his sponsors failed to provide the team with the funds that were promised. The team had no hesitation in cutting their loses and signing up this ever impressive young man to partner fellow rookie Max Chilton.
Bianchi also represents the sports 4th French driver, If there was ever a case to pull out of those tragic desert/Asian races and return to Europe, it is this very statement. Imagine the riots there would be if Britain didn't run a Grand Prix this year. There wouldn't be any, because anybody in Formula 1 rolls over and simply buries their dignity because Bernie says so. It's a joke he couldn't be bothered to lower his prices to accommodate a 20th GP this season.
Bernie needs to be reminded that it's not his 'yes men' who pay to see races, it is us. The real fans.
Day Four
This is it. The final day to make a mark and stand your ground. Another day of drying running means the teams will simply be trying to showcase their speed. Personally, the results of today will be the closest in terms of race pace. Not exact readings, but very closely related.
Final Standings
1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 1:20.130s
2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 1:20.494s
3. Jenson Button (McLaren) – 1:21.444s
4. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 1:21.541s
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) – 1:21.658s
6. Paul di Resta (Force India) – 1:21.664s
7. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – 1:22.415s
8. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 1:22.514s
9. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) – 1:22.524s
10. Charles Pic (Caterham) – 1:23.115s
11. Jules Bianchi (Marussia) – 1:23.167s
12. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) – 1:23.628s
13. Max Chilton (Marussia) – 1:24.103s
I have to say, this was probably my favourite day of any test. What a grid! Everybody thought Lewis Hamilton had pulled off a wonder feat yesterday by stunning everyone with the fastest time set, and then his dark horse of a team mate Nico Rosberg breaks his team mates 2013 record by 0.5s!
The end result certainly looks like it should come the first race, except from Red Bull cause they would have to be special and look like they're struggling (idiots). Great to see Kimi back in action and set some more consistent laps, he even done far fewer laps than anybody above him, he is certainly looking to be a contender for a podium down under.
Nico Hulkenberg finishes off Sauber's pre season campaign in style after grabbing himself a top 5 finish. Today also marks the first time that Caterham have got the better of their closest rival Marussia in any of the Barcelona days. Charles Pic set a faster time that either of the Marussia drivers who each had a go out on track.
Daniel Ricciardo and Valterri Bottas were among the disappointments, both have shown that they have quicker pace than their rivals but each failed to make any relevant impact on today's proceedings. Bottas's team mate Pastor Maldonado couldn't break into the top 5.
It has been a terrific few weeks of testing, and I have really enjoyed writing up about them even if my posts have been ridiculously late. Expect more frequent blog posts and a lot more from me in the future.
Thank you very much for reading!
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