Barcelona 1 review: Hamilton the fastest, Toro Rosso the most diligent

The first week of winter testing in Barcelona has just come to an end and it is time for the first accounting results. The first figures for 2018 must however be qualified by the weather factor, which largely disrupted the debates, particularly yesterday, reducing the number of runs even more compared to 2017.

In terms of pure performance, an element which was not at the heart of the teams' concerns during these four days, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) waited until the last day to sign the best cumulative performance in 1'19″333, on medium tires.

The Briton remains below his 2017 pole position, achieved in 1'19"149, in largely different conditions, which suggests a potential clear improvement to come for the Mercedes, but also the entire field if the The weather is here next week.

In terms of mileage, the pleasant surprise comes from Toro Rosso and the Honda block, which proved reliable throughout the week. Pierre Gasly notably completed 147 laps this Thursday, placing the Italian structure in the lead in terms of the number of laps completed. The Frenchman also spent the most time on track with 229 laps.

The favorites Mercedes and Ferrari did not encounter any major problems, even the Italians completed more laps among the engine manufacturers with the three teams Team Ferrari, Alfa Romeo Sauber and Haas.

The programs McLaren (track exitAlonso the first morning), Force India (sensor problem on the first day with Nikita mazepin), Or Red Bull (exit from track Verstappen today) were slightly disrupted.

Here is the results in figures for the past week, and more additional information will be found in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from this Monday evening. In the meantime, remember that our Guide F1 2018 is already available in digital version and on newsstands.

Best cumulative times per driver

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1’19″333 (mediums)

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) – 1’19″673 (soft)

Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) – 1’19″854 (hyper-soft)

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1’19″976 (medium)

Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) – 1’20″179 (mediums)

Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 1’20″317 (soft)

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 1’20″326 (mediums)

Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) – 1’20″506 (soft)

Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) – 1’20″547 (soft)

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) – 1’20″929 (super-soft)

Carlos Sainz (Renault) – 1’20″940 (mediums)

Lance stroll (Williams) – 1’21″142 (soft)

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) – 1’21″318 (soft)

Robert Kubica (Williams) – 1’21″495 (soft)

Sergey Sirotkin (Williams) – 1’21″822 (soft)

Esteban Ocon (Force India) – 1’21″841 (soft)

Sergio Perez (Force India) – 1’21″973 (soft)

Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) – 1’22″371 (soft)

Romain Grosjean (Haas) – 1’22″578 (soft)

Charles Leclerc (Sauber) – 1’22″721 (soft)

Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) – 1’23″408 (soft)

Nikita Mazepin (Force India) – 1’25″628 (mediums)

Kilometers traveled:

PILES

Gasly (Toro Rosso): 229 laps / 1065 km

Vettel (Ferrari): 218 laps / 1014 km

Bottas (Mercedes): 212 laps / 986 km

Sainz (Renault): 151 laps / 702 km

Vandoorne (McLaren): 147 laps / 684 km

Ericsson (Sauber): 143 laps / 665 km

Leclerc (Sauber): 140 laps / 651 km

Magnussen (Haas): 132 laps / 614 km

Sirotkin (Williams): 127 laps / 591 km

Hülkenberg (Renault): 122 laps / 567 km

Alonso (McLaren): 113 laps / 526 km

Ricciardo (Red Bull): 107 laps / 498 km

Verstappen (Red Bull): 102 laps / 474 km

Stroll (Williams): 100 laps / 465 km

Hartley (Toro Rosso): 95 laps / 442 km

Hamilton (Mercedes): 94 laps / 437 km

Räikkönen (Ferrari): 80 laps / 372 km

Ocon (Force India): 79 laps / 367 km

Pérez (Force India): 65 laps / 302 km

Grosjean (Haas): 55 laps / 256 km

Kubica (Williams): 49 laps / 228 km

Mazepin (Force India): 22 laps / 102 km

TEAMS

Toro Rosso: 324 laps / 1508 km

Mercedes: 306 laps / 1424 km

Ferrari: 298 laps / 1387 km

Sauber: 283 laps / 1317 km

Williams: 276 laps / 1284 km

Renault: 273 laps / 1270 km

McLaren: 260 laps / 1210 km

Red Bull: 209 laps / 972 km

Haas: 187 laps / 870 km

Force India: 166 laps / 772 km

ENGINE ENGINEERS

Ferrari: 768 laps / 3575 km

Mercedes: 748 laps / 3481 km

Renault: 533 laps / 2481 km

Honda: 324 laps / 1508 km

TAG Heuer (Renault engine rebadged at Red Bull): 209 laps / 972 km