Rookie F1

As today was the final day of testing a dose of good weather would send the teams off in style as they pack up for Melbourne, and it just so happens they got what they hoped for. Mercedes again found themselves at the top of the pile with Rosberg putting is a huge 131 laps and the fastest time seen in Barcelona during both testing sessions. For a team that debuted in Jerez with a raft of issues that had many questioning Hamilton’s decision, this was a welcome leaving present.  Alonso was the only other driver to go sub 1:21 with Button just under a second behind.

Hulkenberg put is a time only a tenth slower than the McLaren and continued to show that the team is still able to cope with tyre degradation, but questions reain over realiability with a technical issue stopped a race simulation. Raikkonen returned to the garage having recovered from his short illness but was faced with another gearbox problem that forced him to miss most of the morning. However the team remained positive and noted the good progress made. Di Resta was very close to the Lotus and with the slightly warmer temperatures gave them more useful data on the tyres.

The Williams duo were out again together and were split by Vettel who has left testing wanting a little more time as not all the boxes have been ticked, one aspect being more consistency with the tyres. Williams however were happy with their realiability and the race trim they had evaluated. Pic got ahead of both Marussia drivers and Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso split Bianchi and Chilton. The STR8, as explained by the team, is a new car and with that they have had a tricky testing season, but a productive one.