Romain Grosjean went from the bottom of the times sheets on Thursday to the top of them on Friday.
Making his final appearance in the Lotus E21 before the first race of the season, Grosjean set the quickest time around the Circuit de Catalunya today with a lap of 1’22.716.
Rain disrupted activity at the track for the second day in a row. The tenth day of testing began on a very wet circuit with more rain falling.
It took until the lunch break for the track to dry sufficiently for drivers to be able to use slick tyres. Much of the afternoon running was dry, but few drivers elected to carry out long runs.
Nico Rosberg was an exception, completing well over 100 laps in the Mercedes.
The latter minutes of the session were disrupted by a red flag caused when Giedo van der Garde came to a halt on the run to turn five.
The Caterham was recovered in time for the cars to return to the track but another stoppage for Pastor Maldonado with five minutes to effectively ended the session.
Two other stoppages earlier in the day were caused by Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean, both of which also appeared to experience technical failures.
Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | Tyres | |
1 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault E21 | 1’22.716 | 88 | Soft | |
2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28 | 1’23.181 | 72 | 0.465 | Medium |
3 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault FW35 | 1’23.628 | 74 | 0.912 | Soft |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault RB9 | 1’23.743 | 65 | 1.027 | Medium |
5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari C32 | 1’23.744 | 79 | 1.028 | Medium |
6 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes VJM06 | 1’24.215 | 62 | 1.499 | Medium |
7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8 | 1’25.483 | 61 | 2.767 | Soft |
8 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth MR02 | 1’25.598 | 75 | 2.882 | Soft |
9 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault CT03 | 1’26.316 | 48 | 3.600 | Medium |
10 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes W04 | 1’26.655 | 120 | 3.939 | Medium |
11 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari F138 | 1’27.878 | 102 | 5.162 | Medium |
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LSL1337 (@lsl1337)
1st March 2013, 16:11
Was Alonso only on race sim, or what?
Eddie (@wackyracer)
1st March 2013, 16:15
Yeah, he was and Rosberg was doing long runs
@HoHum (@hohum)
1st March 2013, 16:14
Renault powered cars seem over represented in the technical fault dept. Should we be worried?
Kimi4WDC
1st March 2013, 16:19
Don’t recall any of them catching fire as some others :))
oakrichardson (@oakrichardson)
1st March 2013, 16:46
didnt heidfelts (spelling?) catch fire when he drove for renault?
BasCB (@bascb)
1st March 2013, 23:26
maybe – testing extreme engine mapping, might be super fast later?
@HoHum (@hohum)
1st March 2013, 16:16
Tyres ?
petebaldwin (@)
1st March 2013, 16:32
Yes. 4 each.
Jubameister
1st March 2013, 16:34
“Black round Pirellis”
-Juha Kankkunen
OmarR-Pepper (@)
1st March 2013, 16:39
HAHAHA what an outburst!!!!!!
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
1st March 2013, 16:42
If you don’t have Sky you won’t know what I’m on about, but I find Rachael Brooks so funny in the post test interviews. She clearly knows nothing about F1 because of the extent she depends on the times. Just today she practically said, “Well done Romain, you were quickest today and that means you’re going to win the championship. How do you feel about this?” Also, she seemed genuinely worried for Rosberg when he found himself second bottom on the time sheets, to which she responded to by asking in a concerned manner: “was there a problem?”. And its not just Brooks, Simon Lazenby too seems to congratulate drivers after being well placed. Sky, please don’t put us F1 fans through this pain. F1 is not just “any sport” like the others you cover and takes an individual far more specific than just “any sports reporter” to host a half relevant bit of coverage. You saw sense, you got rid of Georgie, now do the decent thing and get rid of Simon and have Martin “Brilliant” Brundle as your flagship host and commentator. One more thing, Rachael Brooks is never allowed near an F1 paddock again.
andae23 (@andae23)
1st March 2013, 16:57
This is the problem of broadcasting testing: it’s BORING! Only the people who know more than the average fan can appreciate this dullness. So for the others, Sky must make it a show, so that the fans don’t feel like they’ve wasted their time when Sky says “Grosjean’s fastest, but it doesn’t matter one single bit.”
In my opinion, broadcasting testing is pointless. I like seeing the cars going around a corner, but the commentary with guests who say things I read a week ago frustates me. Last week and two weeks before, I quite liked watching photos of the cars and following Twitter saying: “red flag, no idea for who, where and what’s the problem.”
Brace (@brace)
1st March 2013, 17:25
As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t mind watching 8 hours of on board footage of various cars.
But that’s the problem with F1 and it’s delusional quest of “bringing new audience”.
It’s like trying to make a meat meal for a vegetarian. Either he is going to stop being vegetarian by eating the meal with meat in it, or the meat will be replaced with soy and the result is, he won’t be tasting the meat at all in the end.
andae23 (@andae23)
1st March 2013, 18:52
Yes please!!
BasCB (@bascb)
1st March 2013, 23:27
I loved having the speed stream last year, where they did some of the FP sessions by just showing the FOM footage without any commentary. A lot of on board, and hearing the engines almost constantly. Heaven.
The Saint
1st March 2013, 17:38
Easy on Brooks, she doesn’t have to know everything and she’s a fast learner. And my friend, you will hate all the f1 websites at present, for they’re all doing what you accuse curvy Rachel of: declaring those at the top of the sheets as winners …. !
Of course you’re right, Melbourne and Malaysia will reveal all. Meantime sit back and let your stress levels slide with a close appraisal of Brooksey!!
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
1st March 2013, 17:09
I got a quick look at the Sky Sports broadcast after work, and I must say that the Red Bull seemed to be sliding around a lot on the exits of corners. I saw it quite a few times on one lap alone. Obviously, I don’t know if it had anything to do with what tyres he was on, but maybe a sign that the Red Bull isn’t quite as easy to drive as some of its predecessors. At least when you compare it to the likes of some of the other cars, notably the Lotus and McLaren (The only other two I got a good look at today).
@HoHum (@hohum)
1st March 2013, 17:31
And that is precisely why we like to watch testing. We might read that driver X set a very fast time and see an accompanying photo of his car but we have no idea if this is the sort of pace driver X will have during a 60 lap race or whether it was a heroic effort that was lucky not to end in disaster and totally unrepresentative of race performance.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
1st March 2013, 21:40
I haven’t watched today’s testing at all, but from my observations of yesterday’s testing I found exactly the opposite to be true. That could be purely down to the tyres or set-up as you have said though.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
1st March 2013, 19:44
The Red Bull is looking to be very reliable: I believe so far they’ve only had the one stoppage with Vettel due to a software glitch? If so, and the car is as reliably quick as it appears, I think Vettel is looking a good candidate for placing your bets on winning the title…