Seven teams set personal bests on final morning in Barcelona
Friday 28 February 2020 13:05, UK
Daniel Ricciardo topped the timesheets ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on a fast final morning of testing as the majority of the F1 grid revealed their 2020 pace.
After five days of keeping their cards close to their chests, seven teams posted their personal bests of the winter on Friday morning.
The fastest of those were Renault, quiet midfield runners before the final day, as Ricciardo set the pace with a 1:16.276 on C5 tyres, marginally quicker than Leclerc, who set Ferrari's best time, and Hamilton on the same compound.
The fastest laps of F1 Testing
Intriguingly, there was only half a tenth to split Leclerc in the Ferrari and Hamilton in the Mercedes, the standout team of 2020 so far.
Hamilton may not have matched Valtteri Bottas' week one time but still set his best of the test, and completed close to 100 laps in his final stint in the W11 before the season starts in Melbourne.
Bottas is replacing him this afternoon.
Sergio Perez's time was also impressive in the Racing Point, just three-tenths off the pace despite lapping on a tyre which was two 'steps' harder, the C3.
Carlos Sainz was fifth as McLaren also started to push a little harder, ahead of George Russell in the Williams.
And despite finishing seventh and eighth, Daniil Kvyat and Romain Grosjean also posted their teams' - AlphaTauri and Haas - fastest times of 2020.
Conspicuous by their absence at the top of the timesheets were Red Bull, with Alex Albon bottom and well over a second off the pace. Albon also had a spin into the gravel in the final hour.
There will therefore be plenty of focus on Max Verstappen this afternoon as wait and see whether Red Bull will join their rivals towards the top of the timesheets.
LUNCHTIME TIMESHEET
1. Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, 1:16.276. 65 laps, C5 tyres
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +0.084, 76 laps, C5 tyres
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +0.134, 90 laps, C5 tyres
4, Sergio Perez, Racing Point, +0.382, 43 laps, C3 tyres
5. Carlos Sainz, McLaren, +0.544, 65 laps, C4 tyres
6. George Russell, Williams, +0.595, 43 laps, C5 tyes
7. Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri, +0.638, 59 laps, C4 tyres
8. Romain Grosjean, Haas, +0.761, 86 laps, C4 tyres
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, +1.139, 62 laps, C5 tyres
10. Alex Albon, Red Bull, +1.527, 59 laps, C3 tyres
