Barcelona Testing 2 – Day 1: Webber Leads in the Rain
For the first day of the second week of private testing in Barcelona (at the Circuit de Catalunya), it was Mark Webber who set the fastest time. The Red Bull driver pushed towards the end of the session on a drying track, while showers had hit the track almost all day. The weather forecast isn't expected to improve tomorrow...
The rain began last night in Barcelona, widely wetting the track this morning at the start of private testing. Showers fell on the circuit regularly, leaving little room for performance today. A lull at the end of the day allowed Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton to engage in a duel in the very last minutes of the session, taking turns each with the fastest time of the day. In the end, it was Webber in the Red Bull who claimed the fastest time on soft (yellow) tires. Lewis Hamilton also recorded his best time on soft tires but abandoned the duel with Webber 5 minutes before the end of the session to switch to medium tires, which are less performant.
In the end, Webber is a second and six-tenths ahead of Hamilton (Mercedes). Jean-Eric Vergne set the third fastest time at the very end of the session, also on soft tires. The Frenchman admitted in a press conference that he did not know where Toro Rosso stood in relation to the competition.
Valtteri Bottas finished in 4th place. The Williams driver mainly completed short stints (less than 10 laps). Pérez’s McLaren is 5th ahead of Gutiérrez and di Resta. Massa finished the session in 8th position and at the side of the track. The Ferrari driver ran out of fuel. Often triggered to understand the car’s fuel consumption and the limit not to exceed, this incident caused a 10-minute session interruption at the end of the day. Nevertheless, Massa was one of the most diligent on track. In a press conference, he noted the significant tire degradation, while understanding that it’s the same for the competition and that ultimately they remain competitive in comparison to them on this issue.
Max Chilton was behind the wheel of the Marussia. He was ahead of Charles Pic in the Caterham and Romain Grosjean. The Lotus driver did not drive much, with only 52 laps to his name. Grosjean was one of the drivers who went off track today along with Gutiérrez and Hamilton. However, there were no incidents reported with the cars.
Note that only Massa and Hamilton performed race simulations. Tomorrow, track conditions are also expected to be challenging, with rain all day. Find more information on the team programs via this article.
Results of the private tests in Barcelona – Thursday, February 28 /f1/news/15040-barcelona-test-schedule-february-28-march-3-2013.html:
| No | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Webber | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:22.693 | 90 | |
2 | Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:24.348 | +1.655 | 113 |
3 | Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:25.017 | +2.324 | 59 |
4 | Bottas | Williams F1 Team | 1:26.458 | +3.765 | 85 |
5 | Perez | Vodafone McLaren Mercedes | 1:26.538 | +3.845 | 100 |
6 | Gutierrez | Sauber F1 Team | 1:26.574 | +3.881 | 92 |
7 | di Resta | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:27.107 | +4.414 | 57 |
8 | Massa | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:27.541 | +4.848 | 112 |
9 | Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | 1:28.166 | +5.473 | 78 |
10 | Pic | Caterham F1 Team | 1:28.644 | +5.951 | 83 |
11 | Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:34.928 | +12.235 | 52 |
