Barcelona 2: The clock for Mercedes, consistency for Sauber

The Mercedes W06 Hybrid were the fastest this week in Barcelona, ​​Catalonia. In 1’22”792, Nico Rosberg once again largely beat the pole position of Lewis Hamilton last year (1’25″232). The Silver Arrows also proved relatively reliable with nearly 380 laps on the clock, even if Lewis Hamilton encountered an MGU-K problem on Thursday. They especially achieved their best performances on soft tires, when the competition passed super-soft tires for the same exercise.

The single-seaters powered by the German Power Unit showed themselves generally to their advantage as evidenced by the tests of the Williams FW37 Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, or the encouraging beginnings in terms of reliability of Force India, which put its VJM08 on track for the first time. One Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Pérez were able to complete 365 laps in two and a half days. At Lotus, the only downside will remain Pastor Maldonado's exit from the track this Sunday, reducing the Venezuelan's driving time.

With a Sauber team which has demonstrated foolproof consistency (545 tours in four days) and one Team who was able to complete race simulations, the Ferrari clan accumulated more than 1000 laps in four days.

At Red Bull, the ERS failure detected on the RB11 of Daniel Ricciardo this Sunday slowed down the progress of the team Milton Keynes who drove less than last week (around fifty laps). On the other hand, at Toro Rosso, and despite the engine problem suffered by Max Verstappen today, this last session was again productive, the Dutchman and his teammate Carlos Sainz completing almost the same mileage with 224 and 218 laps respectively.

As for McLaren and Honda, the week will once again have been complicated for the Anglo-Japanese duo. Hydraulic leak on Thursday, before a nice improvement on Friday and 101 laps accumulated by Jenson Button, reliability played tricks on the Woking team again on Saturday, with an oil leak interrupting the return to the wheel of Kevin Magnussen.

The teams will now head towards Australia and Melbourne where the first Grand Prix of the season will be contested on March 15.

Laps traveled by engine manufacturer: Mercedes 1494 (6954,5 km), Ferrari 1033 (4808,6 km), Renault 801 (3728,6 km), Honda 177 (823,9 km)

Laps covered by team: Sauber 545 (2536,9 km), Ferrari 488 (2271,6 km), Toro Rosso 442 (2057,5 km), Williams 384 (1787,5 km), Mercedes 378 (1759,5 km), Lotus 367 (1708,3 .365 km), Force India 1699 (359 km), Red Bull 1671,1 (177 km), McLaren 823,9 (XNUMX km)

Laps traveled per driver: Nasr: 300, Hag : 272, Rosberg: 254, Ericsson: 245, Hülkenberg: 235, Verstappen: 224, Sainz: 218, Räikkönen: 216, Massa: 205, Ricciardo: 200, Grosjean : 191, Bottas: 179, Maldonado: 176, Kvyat: 159, Button: 138, Pérez: 130, Hamilton: 124, Magnussen: 39.

Ranking Day 4 Barcelona 2:

1. Valtteri Bottas (Williams): 1’23″063? 89 rounds
2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari): 1’23″469? 129
3. Felipe Nasr (Sauber): 1’24″023? 159
4. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso): 1’24″527? 85
5. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): 1’24″638? 72
6. Sergio Pérez (Force India): 1’25″113? 130
7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes): 1’25″186? 148
8. Jenson Button (McLaren): 1’25″327? 30
9. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus): 1’28″272? 36

Ranking Day 3 Barcelona 2:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): 1’23″022? 76 rounds
2. Felipe Massa (Williams): 1’23″262? 102
3. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari): 1’23″276? 136
4. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso): 1’24″191? 132
5. Romain Grosjean (Lotus): 1’24″200? 116
6. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber): 1’24″477? 123
7. Nico Hülkenberg (Force India): 1’24″939? 158
8. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren): 1’25″225 – 39
9. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): 1’25″742? 128

Ranking Day 2 Barcelona 2:

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes): 1’22”792? 106 rounds
2. Valtteri Bottas (Williams): 1’23”995 – 90
3. Felipe Nasr (Sauber): 1’24”071? 141
4. Sebastien Vettel (Ferrari): 1’25”339 – 143
5. Jenson Button (McLaren): 1’25”590 – 101
6. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus): 1’26”705 – 140
7. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso): 1’26”766 – 139
8. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull): 1’26”965? 84
9. Nico Hülkenberg (Force India): 1’28”412 – 77

Ranking Day 1 Barcelona 2:

1. Felipe Massa (Williams): 1’23”500? 103 rounds
2. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber): 1’24”276 – 122
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): 1’24”881? 48
4. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull): 1’25”947 – 75
5. Romain Grosjean (Lotus): 1’26”177 – 75
6. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari): 1’26”327 – 80
7. Carlos Sainz Jr -(Toro Rosso): 1’26”962 – 86
8. Jenson Button (McLaren): 1’31”479 – 7

Find the results of the Barcelona tests in issue 2001 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and on newsstands from Wednesday.