Thursday was a big day for Ferrari as Mercedes’ concerns mount.
MONTMELO, Spain—February 27th– Many racing fans wondered whether the Scuderia Ferrari Team would get results during pre-season testing. Wondering ended on Thursday at the Circuit de Catalunya during the second of three days in the final week of testing. During a tremendous 145-lap performance. Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets a 1:16:841.
It was a day of four red flag situations–more than any other time during a two-week testing period that will end today.
For defending champion Lewis Hamilton, Thursday’s testing experience was an entirely different story from Vettel’s. An engine issue caused by an oil pressure anomaly shut down the engine and stopped the car at turn six, ending Hamilton’s day after 14 laps. The event happened in the afternoon session, and Hamilton was unable to return to the track.
The Mercedes team, which had experienced good results up to that point, now has engine concerns–issues magnified by the Williams’ team experience. Running with Mercedes engines, Williams has had three failures during the test period. To make matters worse, Mercedes had an electrical problem last week.
On the bright side for the teams., Pierre Gasly (along with Sergio Perez), has had a great testing period, and Thursday was no exception. He finished with the second-best time. In third was Lance Stroll in the Racing Point. Canadian Nicolas Latifi drove the best Williams car of the day. Lando Norris took fifth in his McLaren. Max Verstappen finished a disappointing sixth when he encountered a wet patch at turn four just before lunch and got stuck in the gravel trap, bringing out a red flag.
Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was seventh. Bottas drove early in the morning and, on one occasion, ran wide at turn five and nearly struck the wall.
Esteban Ocon was the best Renault in eighth, while teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, took 11th. Kevin Magnussen was ninth in the American Haas F1 car, and Red Bull’s Alex Albon finished tenth. Antonio Giovinazzi, who ended up 12th in the Alfa Romeo, spun at turn four mid-way through the morning. He flew backward, struck the wall, and damaged his rear wing. The Italian, who managed to limp his car back to the pits, could only complete 92 laps overall.
Most of the drivers on Thursday afternoon were running many laps to prepare for race distances, and that approach could happen again during today’s final day of testing. It will be the last time teams will have a chance to perform in real-time before the season-opening race in Australia, which will be held on March 15 at Albert Park.
