The final test of winter testing has concluded in Barcelona. This was the second test at Barcelona and the third of the 2015 season. This is the last that we will see of the teams until their return to Melbourne for the season opener on March 15. It was a rather chilly temperature this time around in Barcelona and we saw both dry and wet conditions. The first day of the test was met with the occasional rain, whereas the next two days were dry, but overcast. The rain returned to say goodbye to the drivers, after a light rain swept the track in the morning of the final day of testing. Many drivers complained about the low grip on the track due to the lack of sun and heat. Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the test on day two.
Mercedes ran this test with both drivers in full health. Lewis Hamilton had an early end to his first day, after an ERS issue presented itself and forced the car into the garage after only 48 laps of running. The team wasn’t able to get the car repaired, but still finished with the third fastest time of the day. The second day, with Nico Rosberg in control, was much more successful. He set the fastest time of the day, with 106 laps under his belt. The team decided to run aerodynamic tests in the morning and setup management in the afternoon. Hamilton repeated his teammate’s success, topping the time charts on the third day. He still wasn’t able to make the 100 lap mark, running 76 laps. He was, however, able to run some more aero testing, setup analysis and performance tests. Rosberg wrapped up testing, only setting a time good enough for seventh. This slow time was due to the team “sandbagging” during 148 laps of tyre testing.
Williams had an extremely successful day of testing. Felipe Massa topped the charts in his first day of testing, after running 103 laps. This day was spent running reliability tests and making chassis adjustments. Valtteri Bottas came runner up on the second day of testing, following some aerodynamic tests, race simulations and practice starts. He completed 90 laps of testing. Massa returned for the third day of testing, setting the second fastest time, with 102 laps of experience. Day three was also spent running aero testing, but also some tyre degradation tests. Bottas topped the final day of testing. He ran performance tests while driving a combination of long and short runs throughout the 89 laps of testing.
Ferrari progressed throughout the test. Kimi Räikkönen ran 80 laps of setup analysis, practice starts and pit stop practices. Sebastian Vettel spent the second day running aerodynamic tests during long runs. He ran 143 laps without incident. It wasn’t until the third day that we saw the team run their first race simulations of the 2015 pre-season testing, with Räikkönen behind the wheel for 136 laps. Vettel spent the final day of the test running aerodynamic tests, race simulations and setup tweaks during 129 laps. During the course of the test, the team progressed from sixth on the charts to second in the final day.
Sauber was back near the top for the second test in Barcelona. The first day was spent running aero tests and practice starts in the morning, followed by race simulations in the afternoon and pace tests near the end of the day. Marcus Ericsson was second fastest of the day, with 122 laps completed. Felipe Nasr was in the car for day two, working on aerodynamic tests, race simulations and tweaking the car setup. He completed 141 laps to set the third fastest time of the day. Ericsson got back into the car for his final day of pre-season testing, running 123 laps. The day’s programme was the same as the first two days, but this day was met with a small mechanical issue. This issue with the power unit didn’t affect performance, but the team still only recorded sixth on the time sheets. Nasr was in the car for the final day of the test, in which the team focused on preparing for the first race of the season in Australia. The team was back near the top, setting the third fastest time after 159 laps.
Lotus spent their first day in Barcelona running setup evaluations, performance simulations and tests on the new front suspension they had developed during last week’s Barcelona test. Romain Grosjean was in the car for this day, running 75 laps to set a time worthy of fifth on the time sheets. The team took to the track on the second day, testing and tweaking their front suspension, running race simulations and taking various aerodynamic measurements. Pastor Maldonado ran a trouble-free 140 laps, getting sixth on the time charts. Grojean spent the third day doing much of the same things that he was doing the first day. He had no issues and ran 116 laps to maintain his fifth time of the day. The final day didn’t go as Lotus had hoped, after Maldonado put the car into the barrier. The team announced that a systems failure affected the brakes, forcing their driver to run off the track. The team was not able to get the car back out onto the track, as there was too much damage to the front wing and suspension. Maldonado managed to get to complete some more aerodynamic tests during the 36 laps prior to the accident, but was stuck at the bottom of the day’s times.
Toro Rosso had a few reliability issues this time at Barcelona. Carlos Sainz, Jr. was the first of the two drivers to experience some technical issues when he brought out the red flag for stopping on the track during the afternoon of the first day of testing. Despite this, he was still able to complete 86 laps. The team was focused on testing a new upgrade package that they had just fitted to the car. They were also taking aerodynamic measurements, doing some mechanical work. Their first day of testing was also hindered by an engine issue. The second day of testing with Max Verstappen was stopped about an hour short because of an electrical issue. Prior to this, he completed 139 laps of aero testing and race simulations. Sainz, Jr. also had his day of testing on the third day because of a minor electrical issue. He was still able to complete 132 laps, filled with data collection, setup work, race simulations and performance tests. The car was a bit faster this day, setting the fourth fastest time, as opposed to seventh that the team had set the first two days. Verstappen concluded testing after running 85 laps to get the fourth fastest time, as his teammate had done the day before. The final day was spent running more tests on their new upgrades.
Force India ran their 2015 car for the first time, after skipping out on the first test in Jerez and running the 2014 in the first Barcelona test. The team missed the first day of the second Barcelona test, but put Nico Hülkenberg in for the second and third days. They spent these days running reliability tests, with great results. They missed out on a lot of the morning in the second day of testing, but still managed to run 77 slow laps, giving them the slowest time of the day. Their speed improved on the third day, earning seventh on the time sheets after 139 laps. Sergio Pérez spent the final day of testing behind the wheel, running reliability tests. He managed a sixth fastest time of the day and 130 laps without an issue.
McLaren continued their struggle without Fernando Alonso, as he spent the test recovering from a concussion he received in an accident last test. They instead used Kevin Magnussen as a replacement. Jenson Button only spent seven laps out on the track in the first day, after a hydraulic leak warranted a complete power unit replacement. His second day was better, actually completing 101 laps and actually scoring the fifth time of the day. His day was largely trouble-free, stopping on track with only 20 minutes remaining in the day. Magnussen spent his only day in the car on Saturday, running 39 laps before an oil leak forced him to park the car. Despite this, he still set a time that was faster than Red Bull. Button hopped back into the car for his third and final day of the Barcelona test. After 30 laps of running, he had to retire the car.
Daniil Kvyat took the wheel for the first two days of testing for Red Bull. Aftering bringing out the red flag in the morning, the team was able to run some performance tests during short stints. The team had planned to switch to running longer stints in the afternoon, but a faulty part prevented them from doing so. He still earned fourth time of the day, running 75 laps. The team ended up having to wait overnight for a replacement of the faulty part. The team’s second day of testing was only worthy of eighth, finishing just above Force India. The team ran 84 laps of trouble-free aerodynamic tests. A sensor issue forced the team to stop the car on the track, but the issue was quickly repaired and the car was returned to the track. Daniel Ricciardo had another slow day, taking over for the final two days of the test. He set the slowest time of the day, after 128 laps of a combination of long and short runs. The team focused on setup changes. His final day in the car was much better. He didn’t run as many laps, only 72 laps, but he finished with the fifth fastest time of the day. The day was not without issue though. In the early morning, Ricciardo stopped the car at the end of the pit lane. The issue was found to be an ERS issue and the team spent the remainder of the morning fixing the issue. They returned to the track in the afternoon to complete the test.
All three of the pre-season tests are complete. The drivers and teams will return back to action on March 15 for the Australian Grand Prix.
