Barcelona Testing II – Day 1: Massa sets the fastest time of the year at Barcelona

Felipe Massa set the fastest time of the day with 1:23.500. This marks the fastest time of the week as well as the overall fastest time of the tests held in Barcelona. The record was previously held by Romain Grosjean with 1:24.067. The Brazilian clocked his time at 2:30 PM when the sun was shining and with soft tires, unlike Romain Grosjean who used super-soft tires last week.

Felipe Massa therefore sets a very good time with room for improvement. He is more than 7 tenths ahead of Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber. The Swede set his time on super-softs, which are much faster tires than the softs.

In third place of this session is the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. It only hit the track this morning, plagued by the power unit. The MGU-K, which recovers kinetic energy, nearly failed, and the team was unable to fix the problem in the afternoon.

Kvyat for Red Bull finishes in 4th place. The newcomer at Red Bull completed 75 laps. Following are Grosjean in a reliable Lotus and Räikkönen with the Ferrari. Sainz in the Toro Rosso is 7th and caused the main red flag of the day by going off the track.

McLaren also encountered setbacks. The team ended its day by lunchtime due to a hydraulic problem with the Honda engine, which forced the team to replace the entire power unit. With only a few days left of testing, this is not a good sign, especially since this year teams are limited to 4 engines per season or face penalties. The team managed to complete only 7 laps today, leaving Button understandably in last place.

Finally, Force India, which has been running with a 2014 VJM 2015 version since the start of the season, specified that it might only start the week tomorrow. No running, therefore, for the Indian team today.

The results of the Barcelona Private Tests – Day 1: Thursday, February 26, 2015: