Final sprint in Catalonia! On Friday, the Formula 1 racing teams will be testing one last time in Barcelona. How do the World Cup favorites Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari present themselves? And how is it going for German stars Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher?
sport.de reports live for you from 9:00 a.m from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya!
+++ Haas (again) with problems +++
It’s not just Fernando Alonso who is currently forced to wait after his Alpine engine went on strike after just 45 minutes and triggered a red flag. Now it also affects Nikita Mazepin: Haas has just announced that a leak has been discovered, which is now being investigated by the pit crew. The two previous test days had not gone off without problems.
+++ Verstappen flexes his muscles +++
What’s in the RB18? Max Verstappen wants to know and clearly surpasses his previous best time of the day! He ended up with a 1:19.765, almost a second quicker than George Russell in the Mercedes.
+++ Vettel in the 1:20 club +++
While Russell (34 laps) has parked his car in the pits, it’s now up to Vettel to put in some fast laps. With a 1:20.934 he moves up to fourth place.
+++ Ferrari in good early form +++
Things are going well at Scuderia Ferrari. On the first two days of testing, the reds reeled off a whopping 303 laps and thus showed enormous consistency. Charles Leclerc’s F1-75 still makes a good impression today. The Monegasque has completed 18 laps so far, his fastest time being a 1:22.788 with the C2 compound. However, team boss Andrea Binotto made it clear that Ferrari will not be among the favorites in the new season: “To be honest, I don’t think we’re the strongest team.”
+++ Verstappen in front of a new mega contract? +++
Hot speculation in the paddock: As the Dutch “De Telegraaf” reports, Max Verstappen is close to a new mega contract with Red Bull. You can read here how much the world champion should earn after signing!
+++ Russell shows fast laps +++
In the new season, the focus will also be on new Mercedes signing George Russell. The young Brit has to prove in what is probably the fastest car that he has the ability to claim podium finishes.
Today he is gaining important experience in his new company car. Russell is currently on 28 laps, most of them in the field, and he’s also going fast. With a 1:20.767 he moves up to second place, just behind Max Verstappen.
+++ Schumacher takes a close look +++
Mick Schumacher has a break until 2:00 p.m. before he gets into the Haas himself and replaces Nikita Mazepin. Until then, the German will take a very close look:
+++ Jolyon Palmer on the Alpine problems +++
Ex-racing driver Jolyon Palmer keeps a close eye on what’s happening in Barcelona. In view of the problem with Fernando Alonso’s Alpine, he makes a first, pessimistic assessment: “It’s obviously a big blow for Alpine, I don’t think we’ll see them back on the track anytime soon.”
+++ Verstappen has a free ride +++
Max Verstappen can roll. The world champion is currently the sole driver on the track after Lando Norris also pitted. Verstappen already has 23 laps on the clock. The Dutchman wants to make full use of the dry track conditions before the blue rain tires are put on in the afternoon. Because then the slope is artificially watered.
+++ Drivers have the green light and step on the gas +++
As soon as they are allowed back on the track, the drivers step on the gas pedal. First Verstappen crossed the finish line with a 1:21.192, then Albon, Mazepin and Zhou also improved their personal best times. The world champion then goes one better and sets a 1:20.683 for the first time with C3 tires.
+++ Alpine is in touch +++
Alpine announces the reason for the test suspension. Accordingly, Fernando Alonso asked to park the car at turn 13 because of too much pressure loss. The A522 with the new Renault engine is now towed into the pits and examined. In the meantime, the rest of the teams are back on their feet, with enough time left until the lunch break at 1:00 p.m.
+++ A quick look at the times +++
Until the track is released again, all teams are doomed to wait. Let’s hope that the red flag was waved for the only and last time today after two interruptions yesterday. In the meantime, we look at the times driven so far. How much significance they have remains to be seen:
Alonso (Alpine) 1:21.242 (C3 – 12 laps)
Norris (McLaren), 1:21.397 (C3 – 9)
Verstappen (Red Bull), 1:22.614 (C2 – 13)
Leclerc (Ferrari), 1:22.778 (C2 – 11)
Vettel (Aston Martin), 1:22.859 (C2 – 12)
Gasly (AlphaTauri), 1:24.319 (C4 – 13)
Russell (Mercedes), 1:24.592 (C2 – 17)
Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 1:24.938 (C2 – 7)
Mazepin (Haas), 1:31.204 (C3-5)
Albon (Williams), 1:46.860s (C3 – 5)
+++ Red flag after around 45 minutes! +++
Alonso again! After the Spaniard drove briefly into the gravel, the engine apparently went on strike. Red flags are displayed as the Alpine pilot climbs out of the smoking A522. All other drivers have to go back into the pits – bitter!
+++ Verstappen drives new best time of the day +++
It’s still a bit early to really look at the times of the ten riders. But it’s worth taking a closer look at world champion Max Verstappen, after all, Red Bull hadn’t really got going on the previous test days. The Dutchman is on the harder C2 compound and now clocks a lap of 1:22.614.
This set the fastest time of the first half hour. For comparison: On Wednesday Verstappen drove a total of 147 times around the Circuit de Catalunya, his fastest lap was a 1:22.246, also with C2 tyres. Another comparison: The fastest lap to date was achieved by Lando Norris on Wednesday in his McLaren (1:19.568, C4).
+++ Vettel plain text on the Russian GP +++
With clear words and as one of the first F1 stars, Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel reacted to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on Thursday. The four-time world champion boycotted a race in Russia and at the same time called on Formula 1 to act. on. Click here for the video!
+++ Mazepin in the white Haas +++
A first picture of the new livery of the Haas car: Nikita Mazepin drives in white, only the front wing is black. The Russian national colors can no longer be seen in the garages of the racing team.
+++ Alonso not fully awake yet? +++
Alpine pilot Fernando Alonso gets to know the gravel after a few laps. The A522 is probably not damaged. Like all drivers, the Spaniard is also on the road with the test grids to collect important data.
+++ Who drives in the morning, who in the afternoon? +++
This test day is also divided into two sessions, separated by a lunch break. Each team has one driver in the car:
Mercedes: Russell in the morning, Hamilton in the afternoon
Red Bull: Verstappen, Perez
Ferrari: Leclerc, Sainz
McLaren: Norris, Ricciardo
Alpine: Alonso, Ocon
AlphaTauri: Gasly, Tsunoda
Aston Martin: Vettel, Stroll
Williams: Latifi, Albon
Alfa Romeo: Zhou, Bottas
Haas: Mazepin, Schumacher
+++ It’s getting crowded on the slopes +++
All ten Formula 1 teams are now represented on the racetrack, including Haas driver Nikita Mazepin. Its livery is white with a black front wing.
+++ Let’s go! +++
Who is the first driver to drive out of the pits? World Champion Max Verstappen! At Red Bull they certainly want to achieve different results today than the day before when Sergio Pérez was struggling with problems for a long time. After all, the RB 18 only drove around four hours yesterday.
Sebastian Vettel and George Russell also hit the track early.
+++ Haas takes a stand against war +++
Before the last day of testing, Mick Schumacher’s Team Haas took a stand on the war in Ukraine. The US racing team with close ties to Russia will field its car in white livery this Friday, the colors of Russian title sponsor Uralkali will not be visible. Haas usually competes in red, blue, and white, the colors of the Russian flag.
+++ Leclerc unstoppable on the second day of testing +++
After Ferrari had already attracted attention on the first day of testing in Barcelona with places two and three, Charles Leclerc grabbed the top position on Thursday with a best time of 1:19.689 minutes ahead of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren).
The Scuderia have clocked up more kilometers than any other team. After two days of testing, Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz completed a total of 303 laps. In comparison, Mercedes managed 233 laps.
+++ Welcome to the last day of testing in Barcelona +++
It can go so fast: This Friday, the Formula 1 teams will be out on the track for the last time in Barcelona to test their cars. An exciting difference to the dry previous days: In the afternoon the track will be artificially irrigated to give the teams the chance to test Pirelli’s new intermediates and rain tires in the wet. One or the other slide is therefore possible!
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