Kimi Raikkonen was fastest on the final day of the first F1 test before the 2017 season. The Ferrari driver’s time was 1:20.872 min. Second and third were Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Jolyon Palmer (Renault).
Timing screen tells the story at the end of Thursday. @RGrosjean P4 with 118 laps. #F1Testing @Circuitcat_eng. ? pic.twitter.com/Y9CCIDGrxX
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) 2 March 2017
#F1 – Räikkönen ends the first four days of #F1Testing on top for @ScuderiaFerrari at @Circuitcat_eng pic.twitter.com/2bKkhBAeCK
— FIA (@fia) 2 March 2017
The day started with wet tyres test. The track was artificially watered – overnight and at noon.
Eight teams took part in the final day’s sessionof the first pre-season F1 test
Williams announced in the morning that the team would not participate in Thursday’s test. Then Daniil Kvyat from Toro Rosso did only an out/in lap and stopped with an engine problem. Neither he, nor his teammate Carlos Sainz did any more running for the day.
“We arrived in Barcelona at the start of the week with a wonderful new livery and we were quite excited to start the new season. We were hoping to have completed many more laps than what we’ve actually done during this first pre-season test”, Toro Rosso’s team principal Franz Tost commented.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t complete our programme because of some reliability issues. Therefore, we are missing some data, especially regarding the softer tyres. Having said that, when the car has been out on track we’ve got a very promising feedback, so we just need to keep working hard with our partner to sort out all the reliability issues. Both Carlos and Daniil have got to grips quickly with the STR12 and are gaining confidence rapidly. Their impressions has also been generally quite positive. All in all, it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride to begin with, but we are confident that we will get everything under control next week during the second test in order to be ready for the first race of the season in Australia.”
Mercedes missed half of the Thursday. Lewis Hamilton remained in the box until almost noon because of an electrical issue. The team fixed the car before lunch but decided together with the British driver to send out Valtteri Bottas. Thus Hamilton effectively had no running today.
