Hamilton remains the reference at Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton achieved the best time in the tests F1 in Barcelona with a time of 1'20"558 achieved this morning with the soft tires. The pilot Mercedes remained in the spotlight this afternoon as the teams carried out long stint programs, remaining one of the fastest drivers in the paddock and concluded his day of testing by covering 117 laps. Felipe Massa managed to reduce the gap on the best time by putting on the super soft tyres, but the Ferrari driver still finished seven tenths behind the 2008 world champion. The resident of the Team concluded his winter tests with a big scare after losing the front left wheel of his F138 on the straight in the final minutes of the session.

Adrian Sutil stands out with Force India by ending the day with the third fastest time even though he is already more than a second behind the best time. The German was one of the most active on the track with 109 laps covered. Williams completes the top five with its two drivers. Pastor Maldonado remains fourth ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas who took the wheel of the FW35 this afternoon. The Grove stable tested new pontoons Red Bull on the news car. Esteban Gutiérrez is the last driver less than two seconds behind Lewis Hamilton's reference time.

Mark Webber ranks seventh ahead of Sergio Pérez and Jean-Eric Vergne who both passed the 100 lap mark. Romain Grosjean replaced reserve driver Davide Valsecchi this afternoon, Kimi Räikkönen being unwell, to continue testing for Lotus who only completed 62 laps of the track today with the E21. The Frenchman finished in tenth place ahead of the Italian. His compatriot Jules Bianchi had a good first day of testing with Marussia, setting the 12th fastest time in the session and already showing solid potential against his teammate Max Chilton. Caterham F1 Team once again completes the timesheet with Giedo van der Garde.

Results ? Day 7 Barcelona

1/ Lewis Hamilton? Mercedes? 1'20"558? 117 rounds
2/ Felipe Massa? Ferrari? 1'21 »266 (+0 »708)? 94 rounds
3/ Adrian Sutil? Force India? 1'21"627 (+1"609)? 109 rounds
4/ Pastor Maldonado? Williams? 1’22”305 (+1”747)? 34 rounds
5/ Valtteri Bottas? Williams? 1’22”468 (+1”910)? 31 rounds
6/ Esteban Gutiérrez? Sauber? 1'22"553 (+1"995)? 99 rounds
7/ Mark Webber? Red Bull ? 1’22”658 (+2”100)? 59 rounds
8/ Sergio Pérez? McLaren ? 1'22 »694 (+2 »136)? 101 rounds
9/ Jean-Eric Vergne? Toro Rosso ? 1'23 »223 (+2 »665)? 114 rounds
10/ Romain Grosjean? Lotus? 1'23 »380 (+2 »822)? 46 rpm
11/ Davide Valsecchi? Lotus? 1’23”448 (+2”890)? 16 rounds
12/ Jules Bianchi? Marussia? 1'24"028 (+3"470)? 74 rounds
13/ Giedo van der Garde? Caterham? 1’24”235 (+3”677)? 126 rounds