The second in-season test of the year concluded at the Circuit de Catalunya today with Pastor Maldonado setting the fastest time for Lotus.
Drier conditions saw quicker lap times and busier programmes for most teams than yesterday, three of which completed more than 100 laps of the Spanish circuit.
The busiest driver was McLaren tester Stoffel Vandoorne, who amassed over 600 kilometres of running, more than twice what he needed to earn his Formula One superlicence. Vandoorne also performed tyre testing for Pirelli, as did Force India’s Daniel Juncadella, who off and damaged the front of his car early on in the day.
However Caterham’s plan to run Robin Fijns in today’s test had to be abandoned as repair work on the chassis Kamui Kobayashi crashed yesterday could not be completed on time.
Susie Wolff had her first run in a test session this year for Williams and had a harmless spin on her way to the fifth-fastest time.
Meanwhile Mercedes evaluated a new design of exhaust designed to amplify the sound created by the new V6 turbo engines in a bid to counter criticised of the quieter sound they produce.
Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | ||
1 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault E22 | 1’24.871 | 102 | ||
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes W05 | 1’25.805 | 102 | 0.934 | |
3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari F14 T | 1’26.480 | 94 | 1.609 | |
4 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari C33 | 1’26.972 | 85 | 2.101 | |
5 | Susie Wolff | Williams-Mercedes FW36 | 1’27.280 | 55 | 2.409 | |
6 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari MR03 | 1’27.718 | 55 | 2.847 | |
7 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault RB10 | 1’27.973 | 73 | 3.102 | |
8 | Daniel Juncadella | Force India-Mercedes VJM07 | 1’28.278 | 91 | 3.407 | |
9 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29 | 1’28.441 | 136 | 3.570 | |
10 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault STR9 | 1’28.910 | 21 | 4.039 |
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Image © Lotus/LAT
DaveF1 (@davef1)
14th May 2014, 17:49
Maldonado and Chilton confirmed to save us from Mercedes domination.
Burkenheim (@burkenheim)
14th May 2014, 17:50
So I take it that Maldonado was the only driver who ran on super softs
Imre (@f1mre)
14th May 2014, 21:14
And maybe Susie Wolff.
Mike (@mike)
15th May 2014, 4:59
How do you figure that?
George Pereira (@jorsh)
15th May 2014, 7:28
Because she’s a woman, obviously.
For the record, her time was set on mediums – which would have placed her p8, ahead of Massa. Granted – you have to consider that this was a test but I figure that Williams was going as fast as it could on this track for qualifying. You have to respect that time for what it is, Susie Wolff flexed some proper muscle at this test.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th May 2014, 11:37
@jorsh Indeed, not bad to be only a quarter of a second off a WDC runner-up. Williams will know more about track grip levels to compare the days..
I am genuinely wondering now if Simona will beat Gutierrez and Van der Garde on pure pace once up to speed! But in the early season Sauber, it’s likely whoever was lightest would be fastest… not that a big weight handicap stopped Sutil matching or beating Esteban.
Chad (@chaddy)
14th May 2014, 17:50
On top of…. some kind of barrier?
Captain Shuntalot (@f1withmyson)
14th May 2014, 18:15
…or another car? Actually, 102 laps without taking out another car is what I would call a successful test for Maldonado.
Tango (@tango)
14th May 2014, 20:24
On top of whose car ? :D
Robbie (@robbie)
14th May 2014, 20:30
You beat me to it!
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
15th May 2014, 3:07
in other words , you got chilton’ed ;-)
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th May 2014, 11:41
Heh, I just wrote this on a picture of the Monaco incident the other day.. anyone who puts Maldonado in the wall has got to have balls.. who knows what the payback might be!
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th May 2014, 11:39
“Pastor mounted the Williams of Susie Wolff, leaving everyone present wondering if this was a macho aggressiveness or payback to the Williams team Pastor is still funding… A third group on twitter were surprised it took this long for Pastor to hit something”!
Amine
14th May 2014, 17:51
Those laptimes are far better than anything set during the last weekend! Fastest lap set by Vettel during the race was near 1:28. Maldonado (surprise!) set 1:24!
Is it a different layout? Am I missing something?
Amine
14th May 2014, 17:53
Oops! Hamilton’s Pole position was 1:25.232. But I still think the cars are getting faster..
Alexander (@)
14th May 2014, 18:03
They used super-soft tires when in qualifying they used mediums.
Bradley Downton (@bradley13)
14th May 2014, 17:54
First he get’s overtaken by a Caterham, now Vettel’s behind a Marussia in a test session…
I’m sure he’s starting to get a tad fed up ;)
Andrea (@awg-1922)
14th May 2014, 18:20
*gets
Dmitry (@albedo)
14th May 2014, 17:59
I find it very funny that videos on youtube with mercedes leaving pits with this exhaust were deleted. FIA guys don’t want us to understand that “megaphone” doesn’t improve the sound at all? The sound is the same. Really. Maybe a bit louder, but you don’t notice it until you hear a car with usual exhaust.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th May 2014, 18:02
@albedo
Not to nitpick but FOM are the commercial rights holders so when it comes to F1 videos being taken off YouTube it’s their domain, not the FIA’s.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th May 2014, 12:02
@keithcollantine As usual, FOM sweep up while the FIA takes the blame!
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
14th May 2014, 18:06
Christmas continues…
MagillaGorilla (@magillagorilla)
14th May 2014, 18:14
Does anyone know what lap and what tire Bianchi set that time on?
Yoshisune (@yobo01)
14th May 2014, 18:19
@magillagorilla
He used soft tyres: https://twitter.com/Marussia_F1Team/status/466609096855400449
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
15th May 2014, 5:42
What about Susie?
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th May 2014, 12:04
Nice time from Jules.. he ran well in the race too. Imagine if Williams had run a super-soft lap to put Susie on top.. commentators would have a field day trying to argue which driver deserved less to be on top at the tests!
Diceman (@diceman)
14th May 2014, 18:20
So it’s Maldonado vs Chilton for the title then.
Anders
14th May 2014, 19:07
It seems to me that Marussia has really taken a big step forward this season, they are now probably in the position to take the fight with Sauber. And do take in to account that they have the smallest budget in F1, They are definitely miles ahead of Caterham, which I personally think and hope would disappear next season.
Jack (@jmc200)
14th May 2014, 21:55
You want a team to “disappear”? Over 300 people are employed by Caterham, and their mortgages depend on that team existing. Plus it would reduce the grid to 20 cars, which would only add fire to the ridiculous 3 car plan.
Jack (@jmc200)
14th May 2014, 21:56
*Fuel to the fire…
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th May 2014, 11:44
Indeed, if anything a more equitable distribution of funds (think Premier League, rather than La Liga) would allow more people to be employed and Marussia/Caterham to be firmly on the back of the Sauber.. there could be hundreds more people employed in these lower grid teams, and at least 150 to put Caterham/Marussia on the tail of the midfield.
Fixy (@)
14th May 2014, 19:13
See Susie isn’t that bad? She may even have had a qualifying-spec car, best tyres and low fuel, but 2.4s slower than Maldonado under any circumstance as a rookie is not a bad result.
Jonathan Chalk (@jonchalk)
14th May 2014, 19:30
+1
I was going to say something similar – well done whatever the spec!
Tomas Andersson (@celebmir)
14th May 2014, 23:18
Go Susie! Would love to see her getting a seat.
GB (@bgp001ruled)
15th May 2014, 4:31
why would a driver get a qualy-spec car in a test? i mean: it would make much more sense to test the car in race conditions, right? and given that susie has never driven a current car, have her drive a qualy set-up makes even less sense!
respect: i think she did a great job. obviously i am paying more attention to her since she is a woman, but made a really good job. hope to see de silvestro doing tests soon…
sato113 (@sato113)
14th May 2014, 19:14
hang on, wasn’t tuesday completely wet? yet hamilton seems to have done dry running?
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
14th May 2014, 20:36
#Maldonado4WDC
Roland
14th May 2014, 21:12
Why does Williams waste test time with Suzy Wolff?
Oh right, her husband still owns $55 million worth of the team. How on earth he isn’t facing a conflict of interests bewilders me.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
15th May 2014, 8:19
I thought he sold up his shares in Williams a while ago? I could be wrong…
Dan Brown (@danbrown180)
15th May 2014, 10:38
Pretty sure Susie was involved with Williams before Toto
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th May 2014, 11:56
The exact same thing could be said with the other test drivers.. but Susie I can see having setup feedback skills/car development skills etc. from her long time in motorsport at the highest level e.g. Karting world championships.
The exact same thing is why Davidson is still employed by Mercedes to develop their car in-sim, same for Rossiter at Force India etc… these guys would also be thought of as ‘past it’, yet the young drivers are being groomed to race, while testers (think de la Rosa, Paffett etc.) are very valuable for their own role as well. De Silvestro is being groomed to race, Susie for testing.. Nasr is the one who will replace Massa at Williams, to keep the Brazilian sponsorships going once Massa retires.
kpcart
15th May 2014, 12:29
get over yourself, let her have a go, even if money is involved, how new is that in f1??????? people still make a deal out of it BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN and that is sexism.
Irejag (@irejag)
15th May 2014, 2:58
SUSIE!!!!! I have a massive crush on that woman lol
Irejag (@irejag)
15th May 2014, 3:00
To clarify, because I know some people may not like that comment. I admit I have a crush on her, but at the same time if you follow her on twitter and Facebook, you can see that she is a very determined and smart person who is willing to be patient and willing to learn. I find her very inspirational.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
15th May 2014, 8:20
So it’s official, Chilton and Maldonado are the two best drivers in formula 1.
Nickpkr251
15th May 2014, 12:10
Nope just fuel flow test for works teams.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
15th May 2014, 13:39
£10 to the person that guesses how many times this tired (and distinctly not funny) old ‘joke’ will do the rounds…
CarlD
15th May 2014, 21:48
Would it be possible to state on what tires the (best) times have been obtained?
This would certainly put the times in proper perspective