Vettel takes Barcelona circuit record with ease

Bluffing? Truly supersonic car? Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) in any case impressed the paddock of the Barcelona circuit (Spain) by setting several lap records this Thursday morning during winter testing. Before the lunch break, the German achieved a time of 1'17''182 with the hyper soft tires (pink sidewalls, the softest compound offered by Pirelli), nine tenths better than the previous record set by Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) the day before.

Before this hair-raising relay, the outsiders stood out. First of all, Stoffel vandoorne (McLaren) got off to a good start by monopolizing the top of the rankings during the first hour of the day. The Belgian then spent almost two hours locked in his garage, away from prying eyes.

Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) then Kevin Magnussen (Haas) replaced the McLaren MCL33 in first place. The Dane was running on super soft tires (red sidewalls), a harder version than his German opponent.

Two stables had a discreet start to the day. At the house of Red Bull, Max Verstappen was content to lead relays on soft tires (yellow sidewalls) and therefore did not tease the clock (10th in 1'19''842). On the side of Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas is in 7th place, but equipped with medium tires (white sidewalls), which may suggest a significant delta of improvement if the Finn takes the super soft tires.

Follow the rest of the winter tests live with our live-text.

Ranking Day 3 Barcelona morning:
1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) in 1'17''182 (super soft)
2. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) in 1'18''360 (+1''178) (super soft)
3. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) in 1'18''675 (+1''493) (super soft)
4. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) in 1'18''758 (+1''576) (super soft)
5. Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) in 1'18''855 (+1''673) (super soft)
6. Marcus Ericsson (Alfa Romeo Sauber) in 1'19''244 (+2''062) (super soft)
7. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) in 1'19''532 (+2''350) (mediums)
8. Robert Kubica (Williams) in 1'19''629 (+2''447) (super soft)
9. Sergio Pérez (Force India) in 1'19''634 (+2''452) (super soft)
10. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) in 1'19''842 (+2''660) (mediums)