The final day of running in the 2019 F1 season came to an end with a Mercedes on top, piloted by one of the team’s junior drivers.
As teams continued their evaluation of Pirelli’s new 2020 rubber and current tyres, George Russell used the 2020-specification C5 compound to set the day’s best time. This was eight-hundredths of a second slower than Valtteri Bottas managed using 2019 rubber yesterday.As on Tuesday, Ferrari set the second-quickest time, Charles Leclerc having taken over from Sebastian Vettel in the SF90. Leclerc’s test ended early when he crashed at turn 14. According to Ferrari, Leclerc lost control on a kerb and hit a barrier, causing extensive damage to the car.
Racing Point set the third-quickest time of the test courtesy of Lance Stroll. He was followed by Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Esteban Ocon, the latter the only driver to do all of both days.
Pietro Fittipaldi, eighth-fastest behind Alexander Albon, had his first run for Haas since the in-season test at Circuit de Catalunya six months ago.
Conditions remains favourable and every team covered well over 100 laps of running, including Williams who shared their car between Roy Nissany and new 2020 race driver Nicholas Latifi. Nissany again ended the session at the bottom of the times, over three-and-a-half seconds slower than his team mate.
| Pos. | Car number | Driver | Team | Model | Best time | Gap | Laps | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W10 | 1’37.204 | 145 | C5 2020 | |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF90 | 1’37.401 | 0.197 | 103 | C5 2019 |
| 3 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | RP19 | 1’37.999 | 0.795 | 132 | C5 2020 |
| 4 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | STR14 | 1’38.166 | 0.962 | 146 | C5 2020 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | MCL34 | 1’38.729 | 1.525 | 112 | C5 2020 |
| 6 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | RS19 | 1’38.950 | 1.746 | 128 | C4 2019 |
| 7 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | RB15 | 1’39.181 | 1.977 | 139 | C4 2019 |
| 8 | 51 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas | VF-19 | 1’39.682 | 2.478 | 135 | C5 2019 |
| 9 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | C38 | 1’39.811 | 2.607 | 115 | C5 2020 |
| 10 | 40 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | FW42 | 1’40.188 | 2.984 | 107 | C4 2020 |
| 11 | 41 | Roy Nissany | Williams | FW42 | 1’43.892 | 6.688 | 38 | C4 2020 |
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Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
4th December 2019, 15:41
There’s something about a Nissany at the rear, far slower than anyone else, that feels familiar.
ColdFly (@)
4th December 2019, 16:08
Probably had his test paid for by Latifi.
Like those stunning girls in the club with ugly girlfriends ;)
Derm
4th December 2019, 16:48
Hopefully for Williams sake they don’t go the same way as Jordan and Minardi did after they gave a Nissany a go behind the wheel!
On a more serious note – surely this was a complete waste of time for Williams? How can you get any meaningful data from a car being driven so far below it’s limit?
Phylyp (@phylyp)
4th December 2019, 16:13
Seems cruel to send him back into a Williams after giving him a taste of the Merc: “Here, taste this elixir. Now get back into the line. Not there, go behind the French dude in the yellow shirt.”
RB13
4th December 2019, 16:16
LOL
My thoughts exactly. Imagine the first laps back in the Williams
Chaitanya
5th December 2019, 3:17
He did testing for Mercs last year in Hungary and even then he was on par with Bottas and Lewis. He really needs a seat in top team to show his fill potential.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
5th December 2019, 17:13
Williams are a top team … it’s just they were uncharacteristically under-performing … rather consistently … until now.
hobo (@hobo)
4th December 2019, 21:03
So… experienced race winner in own car and C4 2019s has nearly identical lap time to rookie in not-own car on C5 2020s.
*Galifinakis calculating gif*
TheTradesman (@motogpfan)
5th December 2019, 7:15
What is the difference in tires? I know the C5 is at least a few 10th faster . Not sure if the 20’ tires are superior. I wouldn’t read too much into it. A young driver is probably trying to impress, an experienced driver is trying to test
ColdFly (@)
5th December 2019, 7:33
Not even sure what you try to imply there.
As they taught in school: two equations with four variables cannot be solved (for all variables)
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
5th December 2019, 1:22
The kerb at turn 14 has been nicknamed, Seb.
Warheart (@warheart)
5th December 2019, 8:43
Are we bashing Vettel even when Leclerc crashes?
Karl
5th December 2019, 19:13
Yeah, that was Seb’s influence on Leclerc like in Baku.
Let’s blame him again like we blame all around.
Probably, that’s 4,88 kg extra fuel again at Ferrari made Leclerc so fast vs Vettel, who knows now how many he had all the season?)
Andy Bunting (@wildbiker)
5th December 2019, 8:05
Cheerio VB. Welcome GR!
Destian Light
5th December 2019, 14:29
GB slower on better rubber. You are not smart.