Palmer puts Lotus on top but can’t match Rosberg

2015 F1 season

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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.

DriverCarBest timeLapsDifference
1Jolyon PalmerLotus-Mercedes E231’26.08087
2Pascal WehrleinMercedes W061’26.4971370.417
3Pierre GaslyRed Bull-Renault RB111’26.683750.603
4Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Honda MP4-301’26.9271000.847
5Alex LynnWilliams-Mercedes FW371’26.967520.887
6Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes VJM081’27.520941.440
7Esteban GutierrezFerrari SF15-T1’27.9301191.850
8Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso-Renault STR101’27.9971261.917
9Raffaele MarcielloSauber-Ferrari C341’28.829752.749

2015 F1 season

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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12 comments on “Palmer puts Lotus on top but can’t match Rosberg”

  1. Wooaaaa…;l’j dfiny whf bywp f

    Sorry, fell off my chair when I saw it.
    Woah! McLaren did 100 laps in one day!!!

    1. Sean (@spaceman1861)
      14th May 2015, 0:39

      I giggled :D

  2. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. I wouldn’t bet on Gutierrez being out of a career just yet @crammond.

        1. Return with Haas seems very much on the cards. Then a swift exit with Haas as well

      2. You guys are all just young whippersnappers. (Says the guy who became an F1 fan in 1965)

        1. ’64, kiddo ;-)

          1. @scalextric – Ha, made my day. :-)

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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!

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