Valtteri Bottas on top as 2017 F1 pace picks up in Barcelona
Valtteri Bottas was the pacesetter for Mercedes on the third day of the Barcelona test as the quickest cars broke into 1m19s bracket for the first time in the hybrid era.
We are starting to see what sort of pace the 2017 cars have, and there is clearly a lot more to come by the end of next week’s second and final test.
As usual, Mercedes split the running between its two drivers, while Renault and Toro Rosso also opted to give both of their drivers track time during the day.
A visiting Nico Rosberg was on hand as Bottas set his time of 1m19.705s on ultrasoft tires in the morning, before handing the W08 to Lewis Hamilton. The team completed 170 laps as it continues to log impressive mileage.
"I think it was another good session," stated Bottas. "We completed lots of mileage and the entire program that we'd planned to do - including some long and short runs, collecting information on the different tire compounds. We did some aero work to start with in the morning when the conditions were cold, then moved onto testing different settings on the car. It was a pretty straightforward day again, so I think everyone has done a great job so far. The car is running well and it's feeling better and better."
"The main thing is I got my first race run done today with no problems at all," added Hamilton. "Everything's worked well, which I'm happy about. The car is running smoothly and we're just running through setup items to tick off boxes at this stage. This is testing, so on the first week you never chase times. When you bring out a new car you don't have all of the components to be able to switch and make changes and work through everything you want to do - that's something that filters through over the days. Next week we should have a better opportunity to dial in the car, but for now we're focusing on mileage."
Ferrari had another good day as Sebastian Vettel ran 139 laps and set the second best time also, like Bottas, dipping into the 1m19s range – but setting his best time on softs, indicating that the SF70H has some pace.
Daniel Ricciardo returned to Red Bull duty and was able to get some decent running in after achieving little on Monday due to power unit issues.
"I definitely learned more about the car and the tires today and really started to feel the downforce," said Ricciardo. "For example, Turns 3 and 9 are now pretty impressive. I think when we start doing 60 laps in the heat you’re going to see some physical limits being pushed for us drivers. This afternoon we found a problem with the exhaust. We had check that, which took some time, but before that we had a pretty good run of nearly 20 laps, which was important for understanding the tyres. For now we haven’t got too involved in performance runs. Hopefully next week we can push it a bit more and then see what we’ve got."
Jolyon Palmer set the fourth best time of the day for Renault, despite being hampered by a spin into the gravel, before handing the car to Nico Hulkenberg for the afternoon.
"It’s a positive that we could complete more laps today," said Hulkenberg. "My time in the afternoon was slightly limited with some minor issues, but they were a valuable 42 laps and with some quality work done. We are constantly improving our understanding of the car and I learnt a few bits and bobs myself."
On what was a relatively uneventful day the big story involved Lance Stroll. The Canadian had another trip into the gravel trap at the end of the morning session, and then crashed into the tire wall at Turn 6 in the afternoon. He had at least completed 98 useful laps after doing only 12 on Tuesday.
McLaren had a better day than hitherto, with Fernando Alonso completing 72 laps, although he was some way off the pace of Mercedes even on ultrasofts.
Marcus Ericsson was back in the Sauber, while Romain Grosjean had his first proper run in the Haas after doing a filing day on demo tires on Saturday.
Dany Kvyat and Carlos Sainz took turns in the Toro Rosso, while test driver Alfonso Celis Jr. took over the wheel of the Force India.
"A bit of a frustrating morning for me today because we lost some valuable track time due to a drivetrain issue," explained Kvyat. "It’s a shame for myself and the team, because we should be using the time to add laps to our tally… But, on a positive note, when the car is running it feels good and there’s always something positive found by the engineers and myself. My feeling with the car is also improving lap after lap. We just need to keep our heads down and continue to work as hard as we are already doing.”
Tomorrow’s fourth and final day of the first test has been reserved for wet-weather tire testing on an artificially soaked track.
Wednesday results:
1. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1m19.705s [AM]
2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1m19.952s
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1m21.153s
4. Jolyon Palmer (Renault) 1m21.396s [AM]
5. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 1m21.791s [PM]
6. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1:21m824s
7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m22.090s [PM]
8. Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1m22.118s
9. Lance Stroll (Williams) 1m22.351s
10. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1m22.598s
11. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 1m23.540s [PM]
12. Alfonso Celis (Force India) 1m23.568s
13. Dany Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1m23.952s [AM]
