Barcelona Day 5: Vettel uses softest tire to go quick

Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel

Overnight rain left the Barcelona circuit to start Day 5 of F1 preseason testing but dried up by mid-morning.

Sebastian Vettel headed a disrupted second morning of the second Formula 1 2020 pre-season test, setting a 1m16.841s benchmark on the softest Pirellis made – the C5 compound.

But it was ugly as Vettel spun twice in this year's inferior Ferrari. Not only is it hard to get any time out of the car, their advantage using the softest rubber was not where it should be.

The first red flag was caused by Antonio Giovinazzi, who ended his morning running early after a spin and wall contact at Turn 4.

Max Verstappen brought out the second red flag when he beached his Red Bull at Turn 5 with just over an hour remaining on the clock, while Vettel added the third.

Verstappen was able to re-appear for the final 30 minutes of running, with no visible damage to his RB16.

Mid-Day Times

POS DRIVER NAT TEAM TIME LAPS TIRE
1 Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari 1m16.841s 49 Softest C5
2 Lance Stroll CAN BWT Racing Point F1 Team 1m17.118s 30 Medium C3
3 Nicholas Latifi CAN ROKiT Williams Racing 1m17.313s 43 Soft C4
4 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m17.573s 43 Hard C2
5 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m17.738s 30 Hard C2
6 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas 1m17.985s 47 Medium C3
7 Esteban Ocon FRA Renault F1 Team 1m18.013s 36 Soft C4
8 Kevin Magnussen DEN Haas F1 Team 1m18.225s 31 Medium C3
9 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m19.670s 16 Medium C3
10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m22.566s 35 Hard C2
11 Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team No time set 0
12 Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Racing No time set 0
13 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas No time set 0