Lotus test driver Jolyon Palmer headed the final day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, though his best lap was well off the benchmark set yesterday.
Palmer’s 1’26.080 lap was the fastest of the day, but some 1.7 seconds off the time Nico Rosberg set for Mercedes on the first day of the test.
Pascal Wehrlein, who missed out on driving for Force India yesterday due to illness, took over from Rosberg in the W05 today and was second fastest. Pierre Gasly swapped the Toro Rosso he drove yesterday for a Red Bull and was third.
Jenson Button gave heart to McLaren’s struggling campaign with the fourth-fastest time and 100 laps on the board.
However in terms of mileage once again no one could touch Mercedes. Wehrlein covered 137 laps – nine fewer than Rosberg managed yesterday – and between them Mercedes covered more than four-and-a-quarter race distance in two days.
Raffaele Marciello returned to Sauber having tested for Ferrari yesterday, but spoiled his run with a crash at turn three in the morning. He was able to return to the track later on.
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | ||
| 1 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus-Mercedes E23 | 1’26.080 | 87 | ||
| 2 | Pascal Wehrlein | Mercedes W06 | 1’26.497 | 137 | 0.417 | |
| 3 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull-Renault RB11 | 1’26.683 | 75 | 0.603 | |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda MP4-30 | 1’26.927 | 100 | 0.847 | |
| 5 | Alex Lynn | Williams-Mercedes FW37 | 1’26.967 | 52 | 0.887 | |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes VJM08 | 1’27.520 | 94 | 1.440 | |
| 7 | Esteban Gutierrez | Ferrari SF15-T | 1’27.930 | 119 | 1.850 | |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault STR10 | 1’27.997 | 126 | 1.917 | |
| 9 | Raffaele Marciello | Sauber-Ferrari C34 | 1’28.829 | 75 | 2.749 |
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Biggsy
13th May 2015, 17:42
Wooaaaa…;l’j dfiny whf bywp f
…
Sorry, fell off my chair when I saw it.
Woah! McLaren did 100 laps in one day!!!
Sean (@spaceman1861)
14th May 2015, 0:39
I giggled :D
RichyB (@richyb)
13th May 2015, 18:08
It’s strange seeing a lone veteran like Button among an entire timing chart of new and unproven youngsters. Even as a 23 year-old myself, you start feeling really old (rightly so, most of those drivers are younger than me!), thinking back to watching Button’s Australia 2000 debut, as a 7 yr old on TV. Time never stops. Sorry, random thought for the day lol.
Sven (@crammond)
13th May 2015, 18:35
Imagine how I feel. Button was the first driver in F1 younger than me. When he retires, I´ve seen 2 generations of drivers debut and go.
Though one might add, with Gutierrez there was at least one driver in todays test who is past his career.
BasCB (@bascb)
13th May 2015, 19:08
I wouldn’t bet on Gutierrez being out of a career just yet @crammond.
Todfod (@todfod)
14th May 2015, 6:30
Return with Haas seems very much on the cards. Then a swift exit with Haas as well
bull mello (@bullmello)
14th May 2015, 4:03
You guys are all just young whippersnappers. (Says the guy who became an F1 fan in 1965)
Scalextric (@scalextric)
15th May 2015, 2:07
’64, kiddo ;-)
bull mello (@bullmello)
15th May 2015, 4:35
@scalextric – Ha, made my day. :-)
PeterG
13th May 2015, 18:42
Elsewhere the new Indycar aero kits have seemingly brought back an old problem-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQZ0mnJKllU
That wasn’t an issue with the standard Dallara kit thats been used 2012-2014 & the ease which that chevrolet kit took off is a serious worry one would think.
bull mello (@bullmello)
14th May 2015, 4:00
Good day for Jolyon Palmer. Glad to see him do fairly well in the Lotus.
Also a decent day for Jenson Button and McLaren/Honda.
Apex Assassin
14th May 2015, 18:05
No wonder Fezza’s upgrades didn’t work. They have Gutierrez in the car! BaDoer would be a better choice!