Barcelona Day 5: Vettel uses softest tire to go quick
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 | – |