Rosberg pips Raikkonen to top time in Barcelona
2013 F1 testing
Nico Rosberg led the way as F1 testing resumed at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The Mercedes driver set the fastest time in the last half-hour of the session, producing a 1’22.616 on medium tyres.
But the team again did not enjoy a trouble-free day. Rosberg was sidelined by a gearbox fault in the morning.
Moments after he set the day’s top time Kimi Raikkonen almost replicated it on the same tyres. He ended up second-fastest, 0.007s off the Mercedes.
Sebastian Vettel led the times for most of the afternoon, but ended up fourth-quickest on a 1’22.965.
Fernando Alonso had his first day at the wheel of the Ferrari F138 and did most of his running on the hard tyres. He ended the test third-fastest having covered more laps than anyone else.
The Williams FW35 logged an impressive 86 laps in Pastor Maldonado’s hands following its launch this morning. He ended the day fifth.
Stoppages for Sauber and Caterham caused the day’s two red flags.
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | Tyres | |
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes W04 | 1’22.616 | 54 | Medium | |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault E21 | 1’22.623 | 44 | 0.007 | Medium |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari F138 | 1’22.952 | 110 | 0.336 | Medium |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault RB9 | 1’22.965 | 66 | 0.349 | Medium |
| 5 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault FW35 | 1’23.733 | 86 | 1.117 | Soft |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8 | 1’23.884 | 73 | 1.268 | Hard |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28 | 1’24.124 | 77 | 1.508 | Medium |
| 8 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes VJM06 | 1’24.144 | 82 | 1.528 | Medium |
| 9 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari C32 | 1’25.124 | 68 | 2.508 | Hard |
| 10 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth MR02 | 1’26.747 | 65 | 4.131 | Soft |
| 11 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault CT03 | 1’27.534 | 49 | 4.918 | Hard |
Image © F1 Fanatic | f1fanatic.co.uk
Calum (@calum) said on 19th February 2013, 16:08
All that black heat proofing material at the back of the Merc must have made the difference!
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31) said on 19th February 2013, 16:11
What was the best time from last year’s pre-season test at this circuit?
BaKano (@bakano) said on 19th February 2013, 23:31
The best time of 2012 tests at Barcelona was 1’22.030 by Raikonnen on the last day of the tests.
For reference, the fastest time achieved on the first day testing in Barcelona in 2012 (21-Feb) was 1’23.265 achieved by Vettel.
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31) said on 20th February 2013, 10:03
Thanks!
BasCB (@bascb) said on 19th February 2013, 16:16
Would be good if they had a car that could upset the order regularly. Imagine a season where all of Mercedes, Williams, McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Lotus, Sauber and Force India would have a realistic shot of winning :-)
bag0 (@bag0) said on 19th February 2013, 16:26
Nah, compared to that season the others would be boring.
Deepak (@ideepak) said on 19th February 2013, 16:27
@bascb
It would be a DREAM!
It would be outright slaughter and pure competition where only the best shine!!!
I pray 2013 is like that! What fun is it to see domination?
Aimal (@aimalkhan) said on 19th February 2013, 16:37
It would be boring for you all because Fernando would just win all the races. ;)
Deepak (@ideepak) said on 19th February 2013, 16:44
@aimalkhan
I love Alonso, dont mind his domination at all. I was rooting for him in Brazil last year.
Im just saying its much better to see a slaughterhouse with cut throat competition than seeing the same face over and over again.
Ryan (@ryanisjones) said on 19th February 2013, 23:32
Remember all of the politics when that happened at the beginning of last season with 7 different winners in 7 races. Teams were saying how it “wasn’t good for the sport” lol. Fans were having the best time!
Shreyas Mohanty (@shreyasf1fan) said on 19th February 2013, 17:02
true!
Tayyib (@m0nzaman) said on 19th February 2013, 18:21
Agree Alonso would beat everyone. :)
Robbie (@robbie) said on 20th February 2013, 5:40
I think if there was backlash at all about the 7 different winners, it was because of the way (namely the regs) that saw lottery tires throw everyone huge curve balls in the first half particularly. The complaints were more about the tires having too much effect on the outcome than desireable. If there were actually 7 different winners who won through driver skill primarily, then that would truly be fantastic and drivers wouldn’t have lottery tires to offer as a reason. And I don’t think it has to take spec cars to achieve that.
lluismf said on 19th February 2013, 19:47
If Massa lets him pass and gives him positions in pole, yes!
Aimal (@aimalkhan) said on 19th February 2013, 21:52
I like how everyone seems to conveniently forget the trouncing Alonso gave to Massa before the last few races of the season.
F1fanNL (@f1fannl) said on 19th February 2013, 21:56
@aimalkhan
I like how everyone seems to conveniently forget Massa had to fear for his seat halfway through the season. So was it a case of Alonso trouncing Massa or Massa under-performing heavily?
JCost (@jcost) said on 20th February 2013, 6:41
He was far from dominant when Lewis was his team8…
I Love the Pope said on 19th February 2013, 17:05
That is a spec series. No thanks.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1) said on 19th February 2013, 21:53
I don’t want a spec series! I doubt it’d be total Alonso domination anyway: one could argue both Vettel & Hamilton have more “natural” speed.
Prof Kirk (@prof-kirk) said on 20th February 2013, 6:37
We will never truly know who is the outright fastest driver in the field, maybe Alonso is over rated and has always been given a much better spec car than his team mate through out his career? Maybe Charles Pic is the freakiest driver in the whole field if given the same equipment, the same treatment, the same track conditions? We will never really know in Formula 1…
…and I like not knowing.
HoHum (@hohum) said on 19th February 2013, 16:22
Some good news at last for Mercedes, cue all the pundits stories on how clever Hamilton was to leave McL for Merc. At least until tomorrow.
dan (@f190) said on 19th February 2013, 16:50
haha, So true !
Jason (@jason12) said on 19th February 2013, 21:05
:D
Yea, let’s savour the moment whilst it lasts.
Adam Kibbey (@kibblesworth) said on 19th February 2013, 16:29
Good show by Rosberg, that certainly was a dramatic improvement after being stuck in the garage for a large portion of the test!
I know that testing isn’t going to give us a reliable indication of how the cars are going to perform in the season because of various factors, however I am reassured that the Mercedes seems to be on par with the rest of field. I think Hamilton is going to do very well this season, as his past record seems to indicate that he is able to get some serious speed out of a car that isn’t the best on the grid. As long as the Mercedes isn’t too far of the pace of the front-runner, I think Hamilton will be able to get himself on the podium more or less consistently and might even secure a couple of wins.
ak said on 19th February 2013, 16:35
All that is fine . Its the last part of your comment that is crucial for his success . He needs to be more consistent .He needs to grind in the 4th and 5th place finishes when not on top . That , makes all the difference . Best example : vettel in early 2012
Adam Kibbey (@kibblesworth) said on 19th February 2013, 16:54
He seemed to be pretty consistent in 2012, really. If you discount his DNFs, which were mainly due to reliability issues out of his control, Hamilton scored points in pretty much every race, and scored 7 podiums, 3 of which were wins. And considering that he retired from the lead in 3 of his DNFs, that would have amounted to 10 podiums which is pretty good going.
I’d say that Hamilton needs luck more he needs consistency to be honest.
dan (@f190) said on 19th February 2013, 17:09
I Agree, he just needs the luck.
His consistency in 2011 was fantastic, just a shame it was consistency to crash with Massa. Last year he drove some fantastic races and really should have won the WDC. Such a shame Mclaren threw it away.
I just Hope both Hamilton and Rosberg get a good car which is reliable. If Hamiton has the luck Schumacher had last year, he’s in for a rough season !
tmekt (@tmekt) said on 20th February 2013, 1:15
It’s not down to luck, it’s down to unreliable car.
Sheila (@st91) said on 19th February 2013, 16:33
Interesting… Vettel was only 1 tenth faster with mediums than the time with hards in the morning, he must had more fuel, he is the one who improved less…
Obi-Spa Kenobi (@obi-spa-kenobi) said on 19th February 2013, 22:39
Didn’t Pirelli say the times between compounds would be closer this year/
ltsh (@ltsh) said on 19th February 2013, 16:40
Marussia eight tenths quicker than caterham. Good show by them:D
clappy (@danielc) said on 19th February 2013, 16:50
I know people say testing means nothing but merc do look top 5 top 4 team to me guys.I hope their good though because it would be a travesty imo if Hamilton only wins 1 championship the guy is so talented , he could still go down as 1 of the greats Last year e was mega .Hamilton won 4races and the most poles it just shows how bad reliability was .Hamilton could of finished with 7 wins he defo would of won Abu Dhabi , Singapore he was leading but could of come 2nd , as Vettel was close and brazil he would of won imo .Lewis could of won the last 3 races .I know some might say to many ifs and maybe’s but Hamilton was leading these races far into the Grand Prix.
How good would it be to see the big 3 at it again I can only dream lol
Francis Nderitu said on 19th February 2013, 16:58
Having followed the action the whole day. I think the only point is that the lotus is the closest challenger to the Red Bull so far. The time set by Rosberg is not representative to the other teams and thus I say the teams to watch out for are Red Bull, Lotus, Mclaren, Ferrari, Force India and Mercedes. All teams follow that order but I stand to be corrected
surya said on 19th February 2013, 17:11
something Interesting in this pic
surya said on 19th February 2013, 17:11
surya said on 19th February 2013, 17:12
something Interesting in this pic
Oskar (@oskar) said on 19th February 2013, 17:14
1:22,9 from Alonso was on hard or medium tyres?
Sheila (@st91) said on 19th February 2013, 17:52
According to most sites he was on medium tyres
Oskar (@oskar) said on 20th February 2013, 8:44
Hard tyres would be a surprise. Thanks!
Aled Davies (@aledinho) said on 19th February 2013, 17:32
@st91 if that is true it would point to Red Bull perhaps putting more fuel in as they no doubt would have seen the times tumbling so maybe they put another couple of laps worth of fuel in Sebs car to not show too much pace?
The hadline times are great and being a Hamilton fan it’s good to see Rosberg topped the times, but what I’d like to know is how consistent his longer runs were earlier in the days when compared to say Alonsos and Vettels? That’s the sort of info that gives you a better picture, obviously you still dont know what fuel they had at the time but its a better indication than the fastest lap they did all day.
Anyone have any of that info available?
Sheila (@st91) said on 19th February 2013, 17:51
Vettel’s best lap in the morning was 1:23.046 with hard tyres and his best on mediums was 1:22.965 more or less only a tenth between them so he obviously had more fuel when he was on mediums.
And on this page you have all test lap times f1tests.info
verstappen (@verstappen) said on 19th February 2013, 18:23
What to say? We don’t know the programmes everybody follows. Based on recent history however, I dare say Caterham and Marussia aren’t sandbagging.
For the rest: let’s see in Australia
nidzovski (@nidzovski) said on 19th February 2013, 18:54
Kimi: 44 laps are enough. I’m fast anyway. Where is my ice cream?
tmekt (@tmekt) said on 20th February 2013, 1:18
They had problems with their data transfer system.