Posted on 22nd February 2015
At the final day of the Barcelona test, Romain Grosjean ensured Lotus ended the second Formula 1 pre-season test on top as Nico Rosberg used medium tyres to fire a warning for Mercedes’ rivals at Barcelona.
Grosjean, taking over from team-mate Pastor Maldonado, used Pirelli’s super-soft tyres to put the E23 top of the pile for the third time in four days in Spain. His best lap time of a 1.24.067 was only a quarter of a second faster than Rosberg who finished the session in second place who managed despite him being on tyres that Pirelli estimates are as much as two seconds a lap slower.
Rosberg started the day by spinning into the gravel but he shot up the leaderboard in the final hour, as yet again the team’s new W06 ran without using either of Pirelli’s two softest options.
Daniil Kvyat ended the session in third place after briefly set the pace before being toppled by Grosjean’s super-soft run ahead of Felipe Nasr in fourth place and Valtteri Bottas in fifth place who stopped on the track.
Alonso’s countryman Carlos Sainz Jr topped the morning session but he also crashed at Turn 3 after the lunch break, bringing out the red flags. The Toro Rosso driver did not continue but finished the session in sixth place ahead of Sebastian Vettel in seventh place and Nico Hulkenberg in eighth place.
But beyond the headline times, there were more troubles for McLaren-Honda. Fernando Alonso endured a difficult morning with minimal running and when he did appear and started pushing, he crashed at Turn 3 just before lunch and had to be airlifted to hospital.
Though a CT scan revealed the Spaniard was unharmed in the crash, the team was not able to continue running despite Jenson Button being due to take over in the afternoon. Driving for Pleasure will keep you updated on Alonso's condition as and when information is available.
McLaren’s dramas mean the team leaves Barcelona having completed just 104 laps across the four days, a tally surpassed on Sunday alone by three Mercedes-powered teams – the factory outfit (129), Williams (127), and Lotus (111).
Three other drivers caused stoppages in the afternoon session at the final day of testing in Barcelona. Valtteri Bottas’ Williams stopped at Turn 4 shortly after Sainz’s crash, though the Finn recovered to set the fifth-best time, while Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India suffered a terminal Mercedes engine failure.
Felipe Nasr caused the final red flag when he stopped at Turn 8 with 10 minutes remaining.
Day Four Timesheet:-
1. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:24.067, 111 laps
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:24.321, 131 laps
3. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:24.941, 104 laps
4. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:24.956, 73 laps
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:25.345, 129 laps
6. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:25.604, 88 laps
7. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:26.312, 76 laps
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:26.591 36 laps
9. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:27.956, 20 laps
Sarah Jones
