Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019

Ferrari ahead again on morning of final test day

2019 F1 season

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Sebastian Vettel put Ferrari back on top of the times sheets on the morning of the final day of testing ahead of the 2019 F1 season.

His best time of 1’16.221 was just one-hundredth of a second faster than team mate Charles Leclerc managed yesterday, and marks a further improvement in the quickest time seen so far in testing.

Mercedes also revealed more performance from their W10. Valtteri Bottas was second quickest on a 1’16.561 which is over a second quicker than anything the team had done in testing until today.

Two other drivers lapped under the 1’17 mark. Daniil Kvyat was third- fastest for Toro Rosso on a 1’16.898, 15 thousandths of a second ahead of Carlos Sainz Jnr in the McLaren.

Rom ain Grosjean, fifth, set Haas’s quickest lap of testing so far with a 1’17.076 in the VF-19. He covered a useful 73 laps for the team which was dogged by reliability problems yesterday.

The only red flag of the session was caused by Kimi Raikkonen, who came to a stop at turn three a few minutes before the lunch break.

Following Pierre Gasly’s heavy crash during the end of yesterday’s test, Red Bull completed repairs to their RB15 in time for Max Verstappen to join in from the first hour of running. However he only covered 29 laps, the fewest of any driver.

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2019 pre-season testing day eight morning times

Pos.Car numberDriverTeamModelBest timeGapLapsTyres
15Sebastian VettelFerrariSF901’16.22168C5
277Valtteri BottasMercedesW101’16.5610.34071C5
326Daniil KvyatToro RossoSTR141’16.8980.67752C5
455Carlos Sainz JnrMcLarenMCL341’16.9130.69259C5
58Romain GrosjeanHaasVF-191’17.0760.85573C5
63Daniel RicciardoRenaultRS191’17.1140.89352C5
77Kimi RaikkonenAlfa RomeoC381’17.2391.01861C5
833Max VerstappenRed BullRB151’17.7091.48829C3
911Sergio PerezRacing PointRP191’17.7911.57036C5
1088Robert KubicaWilliamsFW421’18.9932.77247C5

2019 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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25 comments on “Ferrari ahead again on morning of final test day”

  1. Anyone with tyre info?

    1. @lums maybe when you asked the article was still to be updated, but you have it on the table

      1. You are right. I commented right after the post.

  2. Four engines within seven-tenths. Is it too much to hope this sort of gap will carry through to the season proper?
    No need to answer that.

    (looks like I forgot that I’m not following F1 this year)

    1. I’m not following F1 this year

      @picasso-19d-ftw – Why?

      1. @phylyp No live coverage here. I don’t much like highlights, although if I’m honest they are not as bad as I originally feared, but certainly the appeal is reduced. And now we have way better coverage of Formula E, which means I can get my racing fix without the angst induced by clash of my environmental concerns! We’ll see what happens, I don’t intend to be dogmatic about it, but for me it’s really a matter of being completely immersed or disconnected, so if I don’t watch obsessively then I can well imagine not bothering much at all

        1. @picasso-19d-ftw Why not just stream it?

        2. @picasso-19d-ftw – ah, that’s a shame. Anyway, good you’ve got FE to keep you company!

          1. @phylyp yeah, it ain’t the same but it’s going the right way. Close racing, quality drivers, tight circuits that make the lack of speed less important. But that lack of speed can’t be denied. Still, I always have a positive attitude to FE after our experience at the 2015 finale: Agag gave my son a hot lap & I had one with the safety car driver. That sort of treatment commands loyalty!

            @mashiat well I did used to try that, it was a nightmare! :)

          2. Agag gave my son a hot lap & I had one with the safety car driver.

            @@picasso-19d-ftw – wow, that’s incredible!

          3. @phylyp yeah it was. Funny how it came about. My youngest lad (then 9) is in a wheelchair and the disabled parking was across a bridge from the stands… So guys with walkie talkies let us onto the track when it was clear and walked us down the start/finish straight to an access point, where they happened to be arranging rides for VIPs. Someone asked my son if he’d like a ride at which point my wife piped up that it was my birthday. They decided that therefore we should both have a ride in an i8 (sadly the Rimac turned out to be unavailable). In due course Alejandro Agag rocked up and took my beaming son around. I think he probably talked all way. Then I got the ride of my life with Brumo Correia. Nice car that i8!
            All the FE people were just so eager to make us feel special. The other kids did well out of the signing session later too. So even though my son couldn’t see a damn thing from the supposedly wheelchair-friendly stand (and it wasn’t much better for the rest of us TBH) we all had a day to remember. Family friendly motorsport for the win!

          4. @picasso-19d-ftw – now that’s how you build loyalty, not just with TV-friendly moments of the kind that F1 loves.

          5. @phylyp exactly.
            I may be naive(!) but I feel like the difference is between where the starting point is a vision which, if executed well, will lead to a financial success vs. a vision that consists of a goal of maximising profits and then doing whatever is possible to achieve that, so it’s almost incidental if it’s actually a good product. Agag is clearly hoping to make a return some day but he seems to start from a vision of a clean motorsport and a great product first. You can say the same for the real racers in F1, but I’m witholding judgement on Liberty for now (and indeed the FIA – for a long time it seemed less mission-driven than it should have). Still too early to say but they’re not Ecclestone, which is a start

  3. Apart from Red Bull and Toro Rosso wich I think are a bit out of position, this looks like it might be much more representative

  4. Ferrari ALWAYS quick in Barcelona testing. Almost just as many years quickest as they didnt win any title…

  5. OK, Mercedes has reveal its true pace yet still lagging behind Ferrari. Repeat theme of 2018…
    No worry, Hamilton will make up for the 0.4sec difference. We will hear more of “What a drive from Hamilton!”

    1. Jake (@jagged-jake)
      1st March 2019, 14:05

      Are you not obsessing about Hamilton? Do you think his main rival, Vettel will be folding his arms? Ferrari has shown excellent pace although is testing. I am excited about the 2019 F1 season.

  6. IvoI (@ivostivanov)
    1st March 2019, 14:04

    Renault seem to be quite slow…

  7. But still not faster than last season’s pole time. Just beat it already.

    1. No one is showing true pace yet.
      The track has brand NEW asphalt.
      So it wouldn’t be too hard to get the last years time. Even with simplified front wings.

  8. And the mclaren is up there in top 5…i looked out my window and saw pigs flying… Along with the tooth fairy, santa clause and the batman sign in the sky.

    1. Seriously. The fact that they’re not 4 seconds behind is encouraging.

    2. Don’t really see what the problem is, to many pessimists fans…the fact that mclaren could be a contender is no surprise for f1 lovers, usually they are competing fot the championship, they had some rough years, but mclaren is mclaren, never forget that!;)

  9. Anyone else think the black halos look better? I think the best look is with the black highlights on the Mercedes halo, it looks like an edgy fighter cockpit. SO much better than last year.

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