Testing – Barcelona Day 5: Vettel on top, the machines start to suffer

The day started on a wet track in Barcelona, with rain having disrupted the paddock overnight. The drivers took the opportunity to use intermediate tires. Ocon was the first driver to set a time, but the first hour was ultimately quite calm, as teams preferred comparing their times on dry tracks, which are easier for engineers to work with.

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the day but had a few scares. He first went off the track too wide, returning to the track in a spin. He had another off-track excursion in the afternoon but still allowed the SF1000 to accumulate miles with no less than 145 laps. Only Williams did better with 160 laps. The Grove team had a lack of running due to an engine problem on Wednesday and made up for it today with Latifi.

Conversely, Mercedes began to show its limits. First, Bottas went off track in the morning. Then, in the afternoon, Hamilton could only complete 14 laps before having to leave his car on the side of the track, thus causing a red flag.

Max Verstappen also caused a red flag. He lost his Red Bull twice. The biggest crash was by Antonio Giovinazzi in the Alfa Romeo. The Italian lost grip while the track was still wet and hit the tire barriers with the rear, damaging his wing. He was able to get back on track without causing a red flag but lost a few hours of running.

In the end, Renault, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, and Red Bull are the four teams that did not exceed 100 laps of running today.

Results of the winter testing on Thursday, February 27 in Barcelona: