Just two days after the conclusion of the British Grand Prix, the teams prepared to run some more laps around Silverstone. This was the final test of the season, meaning that most teams opted to loan their cars to some young drivers in order to comply with the FIA’s regulations regarding testing. We saw many new faces around the garage.
All of the teams were present at the test, with the exception of Sauber. The Swiss operation opted out of the test in order to save money. This was not the first time that Sauber has missed a test, as they opted out of the first pre-season test because the car was not ready, as well as the test following the Spanish Grand Prix because they had not made any updates to the car.
There was a sizable gap between the top three drivers of the first day: with just over three seconds between Fernando Alonso and Alex Lynn. Alonso’s fastest time was set in the morning and was sure to remain the fastest, as rain soaked the circuit in the afternoon. Esteban Ocon was the second fastest of the day for Mercedes, having been borrowed from Renault for the test.
Ocon wasn’t the only driver on the circuit in a Mercedes car; Manor driver, Pascal Wehrlein, also got behind the wheel of a Mercedes, although it was the 2014 car. With this car he completed some tyres tests for Pirelli’s new 2017 tyres.
The highlight of the day was the use of the Halo on the Red Bull of Pierre Gasly. Red Bull had previously tested their version of the Halo, which included a windscreen, but they opted to run the version which Ferrari has tested. The concept didn’t win over the love of the Red Bull team bosses, who have announced that they will vote against the safety device in the meeting regarding the implementation of the device.
Ocon ran the most laps of the day, with an astonishing 123 laps, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ran the fewest laps. The Italian team managed only 19 laps in the morning. In the afternoon, rain and a power unit issue kept the car trapped in the garage.
Despite the rain, the day was relatively uneventful, with the only stoppage being for a wooden pole from the lighting gantry on the start/finish straight which had fallen onto the circuit in the afternoon.
Kimi Räikkönen was the fastest for Ferrari on the second day, setting the fastest time of the two-day programme following afternoon showers. He took the lead from Esteban Ocon for Mercedes, who held the fastest time for the majority of the day. Ocon clocked up the most mileage once again, having run 139 laps during the day, for a grand total of 262 laps.
Some of the drivers from the regular season got behind the wheel of their cars for the second day of the test. Kimi Räikkönen, Valtteri Bottas and Jolyon Palmer took over testing duties for their respective teams. Young drivers Jordan King and Sergio Sette Camara also made appearances on the second day of the test.
Red Bull had originally planned to run some more tests on the halo head protection device during the day, but they changed their mind and the device didn’t make an appearance on the car. Williams ran some tests on a radical double-decker rear wing which we also saw in the last test in Barcelona. Pascal Wehrlein was testing the 2017 tyre compounds for Pirelli using the 2014 Mercedes car.
The day was uneventful again, with only a little shower in the afternoon. There were no red flags to interrupt the day.
Bold indicates the fastest lap time of the test
