Ferrari on top during penultimate morning test

Published on 09 March 2017 by Stefan Meens

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap in the morning session of the penultimate test day for the 2017 Formula 1 season. The Ferrari driver’s 1:19.024 was three tenths quicker than Lewis Hamilton (P2) in the Mercedes and over as second faster than Esteban Ocon (Force India), who completed the top three.

Red Bull Racing send out Daniel Ricciardo in the new RB13. The Australian completed 41 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. His best effort was a 1:20.8 in a session that saw little drama.

The drama that did occur, landed on the plate of McLaren. The British team, plagued by unreliability in both test sessions, struggled once again to run without problems. Stoffel Vandoorne was the first driver with technical issues when his car stopped after having just left the pit lane.

The team was able to fix to problems but a few minutes before the session ends, the Belgian had to abandon his car once again. This time it is at turn 10. McLaren therefore only managed 32 laps, one better than Renault.

On the other end of the reliability scale, Sauber and Williams both completed more than 80 laps by respectively Lance Stroll and Marcus Ericsson.

Pre-Season Test 2 - Circuit de Barcelona-Cataluyna - Thursday 9 March 2017

RESULTS DAY 3 - MORNING SESSION

1.	Vettel		Ferrari		1:19.024		60	
2.	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:19.352	+0.328	52	
3.	Ocon		Force India	1:20.161	+1.137	51	
4.	Kvyat		Toro Rosso	1:20.416	+1.392	33	
5.	Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:20.824	+1.800	41	
6.	Magnussen	Haas F1		1:20.863	+1.839	44	
7.	Vandoorne	McLaren	        1:21.348	+2.324	32	
8.	Palmer		Renault	        1:22.418	+3.394	31	
9.	Ericsson	Sauber		1:23.330	+4.306	88	
10.	Stroll		Williams	1:24.863	+5.839	85