Summary of the first week of testing in Barcelona

The drivers completed the first week of testing in Barcelona following the Jerez test. Williams F1 Team took the first laps of the FW35 on the Catalunya circuit, preferring to test the old version from 2012 for the first session in order to have a better comparison with the new Pirelli tires. Force India having still not announced its second driver for this season, Vijay Mallya's team offered a day of testing to Adrian Sutil before his rival Jules Bianchi takes over today. Like Felipe Massa who only took the wheel of the F138 after three days of testing reserved for Fernando Alonso, the Frenchman had to face rainy conditions for his only day of testing of the week. Marussia F1 Team preferred to devote the first week of testing to Max Chilton, Luiz Razia not having completed a single lap in Barcelona at the wheel of the MR02.

Sergio Pérez set the benchmark time with a time of 1'21"848 on the second day, while last year's best time was 1'22"030 (by Kimi Räikkönen). The pilot McLaren is the only one with Fernando Alonso (1'21"875) to have passed the barrier of 1'22 per lap this week. The best times were achieved on soft tires, the super softs having practically not been used (only five sets of tires). With the medium tires, Nico Rosberg was the fastest with a time of 1'22"616 achieved on the first day. The grooved tires were present today with the rainy conditions of the last day, allowing the teams to test the new cars in all situations even if the temperatures were particularly cool. On average, times vary by five tenths between different types of tires.

Fernando Alonso, who was absent at Jerez, was the most active on track with 283 laps. Max Chilton, who had the four days of testing at his disposal, follows with 241 laps. Conversely, Kimi Räikkönen only completed 87 laps over the first two days of testing after encountering telemetry and gearbox problems on his E21. Sauber F1 Team has been the most active team since the start of testing with the new cars. Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutiérrez completed 3055km behind the wheel of the C32 while Red Bull Racing completed 2848km with the RB9 driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Mercedes AMG F1 is in third place with 2742km covered on the W04 Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. There Ferrari F138 was the most active this week on the Catalunya circuit ahead of the Sauber C32. With 1559km covered, the Flèche d'Argent is third of the week.

In race simulation, Pirelli estimates that the Australian Grand Prix should be contested over three stops, the average in Barcelona having been four pit stops.

Results Day 1
1. Rosberg, Mercedes 1?22??616 Medium
2. Raikkonen, Lotus 1?22??623 Medium
3. Alonso, Ferrari 1?22?952 Medium

Results Day 2
1. Perez, McLaren 1?21??848 Soft
2. Vettel, Red Bull 1?22??197 Soft
3. Raikkonen, Lotus 1?22??697 Medium

Results Day 3
1. Alonso, Ferrari 1?21??875 Soft
2. Hülkenberg, Sauber 1?22?160 Soft
3. Grosjean, Lotus 1?22?188 Soft

Results Day 4
1. Hamilton, Mercedes 1?23??282 Medium
2. Button, McLaren 1?23?633 Medium
3. Vergne, Toro Rosso 1?24??071 Soft