Vettel closes in on Barcelona benchmark

Time to Valtteri Bottas carried out this morning at the Barcelona tests on the Mercedes W08 was not beaten after the break, but Sebastian Vettel nevertheless returned to contact. The pilot of the Ferrari SF70H failed just 2 tenths short of the Flèche d'Argent while running on soft tires. The four-time world champion was the most diligent on the track, even if it was the Silver Arrow which was the most present on the track.

Daniel Ricciardo completed the top three, but the Red Bull RB13 did not pass the 70 covered laps due to an exhaust problem. Jolyon Palmer (Renault) keeps the 4th fastest time with 4 tenths ahead of his teammate Nico Hulkenberg who completed around ten laps less than the Briton. Marcus Ericsson finished 6th in the Sauber C36, exceeding 120 laps covered.

Lewis Hamilton remained discreet this afternoon. The four-time world champion only completed the 7th time, concentrating on the race simulations having covered almost a hundred laps, which makes the W08 the most diligent on the track today. The Mercedes driver is ahead of Haas VF17 of Romain Grosjean who has not passed the 60 loop mark.

Lance stroll took a series of laps to make up for the delay taken the day before, but the driver of the Williams FW40 went off the track again in the middle of the afternoon and was unable to pass the 100 lap mark. The Canadian finished with the 9th time ahead of the McLaren MCL32 Fernando Alonso. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso), Alfonso Celis Jr (Force India) and Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) complete the time sheet.

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