Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Result of the 2nd practice session :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:27.697
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:27.797 +0.100
3. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:28.412 +0.715
4. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:28.842 +1.145
5. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:29.265 +1.568
6. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing - 1:30.016 +2.319
7. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso - 1:30.071 +2.374
8. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:30.104 +2.407
9. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:30.205 +2.508
10. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:30.473 +2.776
11. Felipe Nasr - Sauber - 1:30.755 +3.058
12. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:30.980 +3.283
13. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:31.387 +3.690
14. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:31.395 +3.698
15. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - 1:32.303 +4.606
16. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:33.289 +5.592
17. Felipe Massa - Williams geen tijd
18. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - no time
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team - no time
20. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team - no time

Nico Rosberg on top again for Mercedes in 2nd practice :
Nico Rosberg pipped Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the top of the timesheets in the second free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix. Rosberg ended up exactly one tenth of a second quicker than his team-mate once both had completed their quick runs after switching to the soft-compound Pirellis. The German had slipped to third overall based on his pace on the mediums thanks to Ferrari pairing Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen bolting on the softs and temporarily taking first and second places. But at around the halfway point of the session, Rosberg set his fastest time on softs, beating Vettel by 0.715s. Hamilton then attempted to hit back, but despite setting the fastest time of the session in the middle sector of the Albert Park circuit, could not overhaul his team-mate. Vettel and Raikkonen held on to third and fourth places, with Raikkonen just over seven tenths slower than his team-mate but admitting over the radio that it was "not a very good lap". Valtteri Bottas was fifth fastest for Williams, 1.568s off the pace, but team-mate Felipe Massa was unable to run thanks to a water leak that was detected ahead of the session. Red Bull also had only one car running thanks to the need for an engine change on Daniel Ricciardo's machine. But team-mate Daniil Kvyat was sixth fastest, albeit 2.319s off the pace and only just ahead of Carlos Sainz, who was the fastest of Red Bull's 'B-team' drivers at Toro Rosso. Sainz, who also showed well in the first session, again had a strong run, but did suffer a brief spin on the entry to the Turn 15 left-hander with 26 minutes remaining. Lotus pairing Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean were eighth and ninth fastest, although both endured brief off-track moments early in the session. Maldonado ran wide onto the grass exiting Turn 15, while Grosjean slid through the gravel at Turn 3. Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 in the lead Force India, 2.776s off Rosberg's fastest time.
The Sauber team made its first appearance of the weekend after sitting out the opening session amid its court case with Giedo van der Garde. Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson were the first two drivers to head out onto the circuit, with the former ending up 11th quickest ahead of the second Force India of Sergio Perez. But Ericsson had a more troubled session thanks to a problem with the left-rear corner cropping up as he exited the final corner. Ericsson suspected a suspension problem, with the team saying that the wheel was rubbing on some bodywork, and he was unable to return to the track. After a troubled first session, during which both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen faced restricted running thanks to an air intake problem, McLaren again struggled. The Dane, filling in for Fernando Alonso, crashed at Turn 6 on his fifth lap after losing the rear end and being spat into the gravel while attempting to recover. Magnussen was uninjured, but his crash brought out the red flag for seven minutes while his car was recovered. Button ended the session 13th, 3.690s off the pace, and one place ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen, whose running was limited to just six laps because of a battery problem. Only 16 drivers were able to set a time thanks to the problems for Massa and Ricciardo, with Manor pairing Robert Merhi and Will Stevens also not participating. The Manor team is continuing to work to reinstall software needed to operate the car, a consequence of all of its hard drives being wiped prior to the planned auction of the teams assets that was cancelled once an investor was found.

Practice 3 : saturday 04.00u CET - 05.00u CET
Qualifying : saturday : 07.00u CET

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 1st practice session :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:29.557
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:29.586 +0.029
3. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:30.748 +1.191
4. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso - 1:31.014 +1.457
5. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:31.029 +1.472
6. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:31.067 +1.510
7. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:31.188 +1.631
8. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:31.261 +1.704
9. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari -1:31.310 +1.753
10. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:31.451 +1.894
11. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:31.570 +2.013
12. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing - 1:32.073 +2.516
13. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:32.247 +2.690
14. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:34.542 +4.985
15. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - no time
16. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - no time
17. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team - no time
18. Felipe Nasr - Sauber - no time
19. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team - no time

Nico Rosberg pips Lewis Hamilton in practice one :
Nico Rosberg edged Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to top the first free practice session of the new Formula 1 season by less than half a tenth of a second. Rosberg's first serious effort as the teams began their preparations for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix proved enough to top the session. His best lap of 1m29.557s fell less than two tenths shy of the fastest lap of the entire weekend at last year's Albert Park race. Reigning F1 world champion Hamilton languished in the lower half of the top 10 for the first part of the session, before clocking a 1m29.586s best to leap up to second. No one else could get within a second of the Mercedes duo, but Williams driver Valtteri Bottas got closest, lapping 1.191s slower than Rosberg to finish the session third fastest. Toro Rosso rookies Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen were fourth and fifth (separated by just 0.053s) for much of the session, before Ferrari new boy Sebastian Vettel split them with a late improvement. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was eighth quickest, just behind the second Williams of Felipe Massa. Pastor Maldonado began the new Mercedes-powered era at Lotus by setting the ninth fastest time, but team-mate Romain Grosjean failed to record a timed lap after his E23 required a change of its floor. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo recovered from an early hydraulic problem and a brief spin to round out the top 10. He complained of "aggressive" throttle response from the RB11's Renault engine, while team-mate Daniil Kvyat was concerned by a lack of assistance from the power unit in slowing the car down under braking. Kvyat finished the session just a fraction of a second clear of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, who are both making up for a late start to pre-season testing for Force India. Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen completed a combined 13 laps for McLaren-Honda, which curtailed its running early once the team discovered an engine problem. Both McLarens lapped more than two seconds slower than the Force Indias and roughly five adrift of the pacesetting Mercedes. Amid an ongoing legal wrangle with its former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde, Sauber did not run either of its cars in this session. The team refused to comment on the exact reason for Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson missing the session when contacted by F1 News. Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens also skipped the first practice session of the new season for the revived Manor GP/Marussia squad. After its 2014 computer hard-drives were 'wiped' (ready to be auctioned off when the team was in administration), it was unable to update its software in time for its revised '14 cars to run. The team hopes to be ready in time to run in practice two later on Friday.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

And practice 1 has started !!!

Here are the times for this weekend Formula1 1st race of season 2015 :

Friday 13 march :
1st practice session : 2.30u CET - 04.00u CET
2nd practice session : 06.30u CET - 08.00u CET

Saturday 14 march :
3rd practice session : 04.00u CET - 05.00u CET
Qualifying : 07.00u CET

Sunday 15 march :
Race : 0.600u CET

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

4 hours to go : Snacks - check - , green apples - check shwepps Agrum - check coffee - check , tea - check , Livestream F1 checked - check . Ready for Formula 1 1st practice session of season 2015 , 02.30u CET to 04.00u CET, 2nd practice session from 06.30u CET to 08.00u CET !!!

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Australian Gran Prix – Albert Park circuit - Melbourne 13-14-15 march
the first GP of the 2015 Formula One World Championship.
Mercedes is again the team to beat in this season
the battle behind Mercedes seems close, with Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari(at least i hope)
This year's F1 cars are certainly faster than last year.

2015: Teams and Engines(Power Unit)
Mercedes, Williams, Lotus and Force India (P.U. Mercedes)
Ferrari, Sauber and Manor/Marussia (P.U. Ferrari)
Red Bull and Toro Rosso(P.U. Renault)
Mc Laren (P.U. Honda)

Australian GP: some stats and news
Drs zone: first and second straight
Pirelli tyres: soft and Medium as last year
2014 winning strategy - 2 pitstop: lap. 12 and lap 38.

Season 2012 (the top five): Button(Mc Laren) – 2° Vettel – 3° Hamilton – 4 Webber – 5° Alonso
Fastest lap: Button - pole position : Hamilton 1'24''922

season 2013(the top five):1 Raikkonen (Lotus) – 2° Alonso – 3° Vettel – 4° Massa – 5° Hamilton
Fastest lap: Raikkonen - pole position : Vettel 1'27''407 * damp track

Last year 2014(the top five):
1° Rosberg (Mercedes) – grid position 3°
2° Magnussen – gr.pos. 4°
3° Button – gr.pos. 10°
4° Alonso – gr.pos. 5°
5° Bottas – gr.pos. 15°
Fastest lap: Rosberg
pole position : Vettel 1'44''231 * wet track

the winners at Melbourne (current pilots)
3 wins: Button (2009-2010-2012)
2 wins Raikkonen (2007-2013)
1 win: Hamilton(2008) Alonso(2006) Vettel(2011) and Rosberg(2014)

pole position (current pilots)
3 pole: Vettel(2010-2011-2013) Hamilton (2008-2012-2014)
2 pole: Button(2006-2009)
1 pole: Raikkonen(2007)

Fastest lap (current pilots)
5: Raikkonen (2002-2003-2006-2007-2013)
2: Rosberg(2009-2014)
1: Alonso(2005); Massa(2011); Button(2012)

Podium(winner+second+third) at Melbourne
5 (2+1+2) Raikkonen (two wins + one second place + 2 third place)
5 (1+2+2) Alonso
4 (1+1+2) Hamilton
4 (3+0+1) Button
3 (1+1+1) Vettel
2 (1+0+1) Rosberg.
One third place also for Massa

and good luck to everyone for the F1 game, in this forum
regards oberon

Short News : McLaren's Fernando Alonso pulls out of Australian Grand Prix :

Fernando Alonso has pulled out of the Australian Grand Prix after doctors advised him against getting back in a Formula 1 car just yet.
The Spaniard suffered concussion in a testing accident at Barcelona last month and, after spending three days in hospital, he has been recovering at home in Spain. Although doctors are happy with the progress he has made, with medical tests having been completed last night, the risk of another injury setting him back has prompted them to advise he steers clear of racing in the F1 season-opener. A statement issued by McLaren said: "Fernando's doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sustained in a testing accident on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk factors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion so soon after his previous one. "[This is] to minimise the chances of second impact syndrome, as is normal medical procedure when treating athletes after concussions. "In order to limit those environmental risk factors, specifically, his doctors have advised that he should not compete in the imminent Australian Grand Prix."
McLaren has already decided that Kevin Magnussen will drive alongside Jenson Button at Albert Park. The team added that Alonso believes he will be ready to resume racing at the second round of the championship in Malaysia on March 28. The statement added: "Fernando's doctors acknowledge that he feels fit and well, and that he regards himself as ready to race. "And, that being the case, they are comfortable with the fact that he has already recommenced physical training, with a view to preparing for a return to the cockpit of his McLaren-Honda car for the Malaysian Grand Prix. "Indeed, his doctors are supportive of that ambition, satisfied as they are that he sustained no damage whatsoever during his testing accident on February 22nd."

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

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Barcelona F1 test , day 4 last day of winter test : Valtteri Bottas keeps Williams on top :

1: Valtteri Bottas - Williams/Mercedes - 1m23.063s laps 89
2: Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1m23.469s + 0.406s laps 129
3: Felipe Nasr - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m24.023s + 0.960s laps 159
4: Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m24.527s + 1.464s laps 85
5: Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull/Renault - 1m24.638s + 1.575s laps 72
6: Sergio Perez - Force India/Mercedes - 1m25.113s + 2.050s laps 130
7: Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1m25.186s + 2.123s laps 148
8: Jenson Button - McLaren/Honda - 1m25.327s + 2.264s laps 30
9: Pastor Maldonado - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m28.272s + 5.209s laps 36


Valtteri Bottas's morning run on the super-soft tyres was enough to ensure Williams ended the final session of pre-season testing on top, as McLaren endured another difficult day. The Finn's qualifying simulation run before lunch yielded a time of 1m23.063s, 0.4 seconds clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who was on the same tyres. Such was Williams's confidence with its progress that the team chose to end its running at the Circuit de Catalunya early for the third consecutive day, packing up with 89 laps on the board.
After a flurry of super-soft runs in the morning, the focus switched to longer stints after lunch as teams finetuned their preparations for the season-opening grand prix in Australia on March 15. Sauber's Felipe Nasr was third quickest and achieved the highest lap tally with 159. Four drivers broke the 100-lap mark during a busy afternoon. Jenson Button was not one of those drivers, as McLaren's problems continued. The Briton missed most of the morning because of a sensor issue that required the team to remove the Honda power unit so it could fix the problem. He eventually got out just before lunch, but only made fleeting appearances in the afternoon as he put 30 laps on the board - the fewest of anybody. Mercedes topped the table in terms of laps completed across all three tests. Nico Rosberg covered 148 laps for the seventh fastest time on a low-key day for the world champion team. Meanwhile, Force India had another trouble-free day, despite its 2015 car having only made its debut on Friday, with Sergio Perez completing an impressive 130 laps. Pastor Maldonado was involved in the first crash of the four-day test when the Venezuelan went into the barriers at Turn 4 to bring out the second red flag. Lotus was unable to fix the car in time to get Maldonado back out and he ended the day bottom of the timesheets. Daniel Ricciardo, who finished fifth quickest, caused the first red flag of the day, when the Red Bull driver stopped at the end of the pitlane with an ERS problem, but he returned to clock up 72 laps. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was responsible for a third red flag when the Dutchman rolled to a stop at Turn 12 due to engine trouble not long after lunch. But Toro Rosso did an impressive job to repair the car to allow him to get back out for the final 10 minutes of the session and he ended fourth fastest.

Next Stop : Melbourne - Australia 13th - 15th march , 1st Formula 1 Race of the season

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Barcelona F1 test , day 3 of final test : Mercedes tops penultimate day with Hamilton :

1: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1m23.022s laps 76
2: Felipe Massa - Williams/Mercedes - 1m23.262s + 0.240s laps 102
3: Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1m23.276s + 0.254s laps 136
4: Carlos Sainz Jr. - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m24.191s + 1.169s 1laps 32
5: Romain Grosjean - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m24.200s + 1.178s laps 116
6: Marcus Ericsson - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m24.477s + 1.455s laps 123
7: Nico Hulkenberg - Force India/Mercedes - 1m24.939s + 1.917s laps 158
8: Kevin Magnussen - McLaren/Honda - 1m25.225s + 2.203s laps 39
9: Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull/Renault - 1m25.742s + 2.720s laps 128

Mercedes flexed its muscle ahead of the new Formula 1 season again on Saturday, as Lewis Hamilton topped the times on the penultimate day of testing in Barcelona. Having spent the first half of the afternoon in the garage as the team applied what it called an 'experimental' set-up, Hamilton finished with a soft tyre lap faster than Williams and Ferrari achieved on super-softs. When he initially emerged on the medium tyre just before 3pm, the world champion lapped within a second of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen's super-soft efforts, which were set amid a flurry of qualifying simulations before lunch. Hamilton's first taste of F1's 2015 soft rubber yielded a 1m23.262s, just 0.386s shy of Massa's morning time, but there was more to come. On his second run, Hamilton leapt to the top with his 1m23.022s more than two-tenths clear of the super-soft benchmarks, and a similar margin slower than Nico Rosberg's 1m22.792s from Friday. Massa and Raikkonen spent the majority of the afternoon conducting longer runs on the medium and hard tyres, the Ferrari driver completing a race simulation. Red Bull applied that strategy to its entire day, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing at the bottom of the times having focused on long runs on the medium rubber. It was another busy day at Circuit de Catalunya, with Mercedes and McLaren the only outfits not to break the 100-lap barrier. Kevin Magnussen's outing in the McLaren-Honda ended almost three hours early due to an oil leak. Deputising for Fernando Alonso, the Dane only managed 39 laps. Force India, meanwhile, enjoyed another promising day with its new VMJ08, which has completed 235 laps since breaking cover just before lunch on Friday. Nico Hulkenberg was Saturday's busiest driver with158 laps, and his time on the super-soft was eventually bumped down to seventh by Carlos Sainz Jr and Romain Grosjean's late runs on the compound. Sainz and Marcus Ericsson caused the day's only red flags, both stopping on track during the final hour.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Barcelona F1 test , day 2 of final test : Nico Rosberg fastest as Mercedes uses soft tyres :

1: Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1m22.792s laps 106
2: Valtteri Bottas - Williams/Mercedes - 1m23.995s +1.203s laps 90
3: Felipe Nasr - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m24.071s +1.279s laps 141
4: Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1m25.339s +2.547s laps 143
5: Jenson Button - McLaren/Honda - 1m25.590s + 2.798s laps 101
6: Pastor Maldonado - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m26.705s + 3.913s laps 140
7: Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m26.766s + 3.974s laps 139
8: Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull/Renault - 1m26.965s + 4.173s laps 84
9: Nico Hulkenberg - Force India/Mercedes - 1m28.412s + 5.620s laps 77

Nico Rosberg set the fastest lap of Barcelona Formula 1 testing so far on day two of the final test, while McLaren finally got some good mileage on the board. World champion team Mercedes fitted soft tyres to its car for the first time in pre-season testing late in the afternoon and Rosberg produced a 1m22.792s. That lap was 0.7s quicker than the previous best, set by Williams' Felipe Massa on the same tyre on Thursday, and 1.2s clear of Valtteri Bottas in the Williams who was his nearest challenger today. Rosberg was also one of six drivers to complete 100 laps or more on a day when teams spent much of their time focusing on long runs and race simulations.
Despite a late stoppage out on track, which brought out the red flag, McLaren and Jenson Button had comfortably their most successful day of testing this year. Button clocked up 101 laps - nearly half the total McLaren has achieved in nine previous days of testing combined - before coming to a stop between Turns 7 and 8. Meanwhile, the new Force India appeared in public for the first time just before lunch and proved to be very reliable. Nico Hulkenberg completed 73 laps, finishing six seconds off the pace and bottom of the timing screens, but the team said reliability is its focus having missed so much testing. Sauber's Felipe Nasr, who was quickest in the morning after a soft tyre run, ended the day third fastest, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel fourth, having completed several long runs and 138 laps. Button was fifth, 2.8s off the pace, with Lotus' Pastor Maldonado, who stopped at the pit entry towards the end of the day, sixth. Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen was seventh, but an electrical problem forced the team to stop running with around an hour to go. Daniil Kvyat, who caused the first red flag of the day when he stopped at the first corner during the afternoon session, was eighth quickest for Red Bull.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Barcelona F1 test , day 1 : Felipe Massa fastest on first day of final test :

1: Felipe Massa - Williams/Mercedes - 1m23.500s laps 103
2: Marcus Ericsson - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m24.276s 0.776s laps 122
3; Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1m24.881s 1.381s laps 48
4: Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull/Renault - 1m25.947s 2.447s laps 75
5: Romain Grosjean - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m26.177s 2.677s laps 75
6: Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1m26.327s 2.827s laps 80
7: Carlos Sainz Jr. - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m26.962s 3.462s laps 86
8: Jenson Button - McLaren/Honda - 1m31.479s 7.979s laps 7

Felipe Massa set the pace for Williams on the first day of Formula 1's final pre-season test at Barcelona as McLaren and Mercedes were hampered by mechanical issues. Massa bolted on a set of soft tyres and completed a three-lap qualifying simulation run in the afternoon, clocking a 1m23.500s. It's the fastest time set in Barcelona testing so far, with the Brazilian eclipsing Lotus's Romain Grosjean's leading time from the last test by just over four tenths. A late run on the supersoft tyres moved Sauber's Marcus Ericsson up to second quickest with Lewis Hamilton, who set the pace in the morning session on the medium tyres, third. However, Mercedes' Hamilton did not complete a single lap after lunch following a failure with the MGU-K that the team could not fix in time to get the car back out on track. McLaren's afternoon was also curtailed with a hydraulics issue, meaning Jenson Button managed just seven laps, of which only one was timed. Ericsson completed a race simulation in the afternoon, using the medium and hard tyres, and clocked 122 laps - the highest tally of the day. Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat, who brought the day's first red flag when he stopped at the pit exit in the morning, only did 30 laps in the afternoon. That brought the Russian's tally to 75, as he finished fourth fastest, 2.4s off the pace.
Carlos Sainz Jr stopped at Turn 10 in the afternoon, bringing out the red flag for the second time. The Toro Rosso driver completed 86 laps and ended up seventh, just ahead of Button who propped up the timing screens. Elsewhere, Grosjean completed 75 laps and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen 80 as they finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Barcelona F1 test , day 4 , final day for this week : Romain Grosjean fastest for Lotus ,Big crash Alonso with his McLaren-Honda :
1: Romain Grosjean - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m24.067s laps 111
2: Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1m24.321s 0.254s laps 129
3: Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull/Renault - 1m24.941s 0.874s laps 102
4: Felipe Nasr - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m24.956s 0.889s laps 73
5: Valtteri Bottas - Williams/Mercedes - 1m25.345s 1.278s laps 127
6: Carlos Sainz Jr. - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m25.604s 1.537s laps 88
7: Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1m26.312s 2.245s laps 74
8: Nico Hulkenberg - Force India/Mercedes - 1m26.591s 2.524s laps 36
9: Fernando Alonso - McLaren/Honda - 1m27.956s 3.889s laps 20

Romain Grosjean ensured Lotus ended the second Formula 1 pre-season test on top as Nico Rosberg used medium tyres to fire a warning for Mercedes' rivals at Barcelona. Grosjean, taking over from team-mate Pastor Maldonado, used Pirelli's super-soft tyres to put the E23 top of the pile for the third time in four days in Spain. But his best, a 1m24.067s, was only a quarter of a second faster than Rosberg managed despite the German being on tyres that Pirelli estimates are as much as two seconds a lap slower. The Mercedes driver started the day by spinning into the gravel but he shot up the leaderboard in the final hour, as yet again the team's new W06 ran without using either of Pirelli's two softest options. That could not be said for Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat, who was 0.6s slower than Rosberg using soft tyres. The Russian briefly set the pace before being toppled by Grosjean's super-soft run. Beyond the headline times, there were more troubles for McLaren-Honda. Fernando Alonso endured a difficult morning with minimal running, and when he did appear and started pushing he crashed at Turn 3 just before lunch and had to be airlifted to hospital. Though a CT scan revealed the Spaniard was unharmed in the crash, the team was not able to continue running despite Jenson Button being due to take over in the afternoon. McLaren's dramas mean the team leaves Barcelona having completed just 104 laps across the four days, a tally surpassed on Sunday alone by three Mercedes-powered teams - the factory outfit (129), Williams (127), and Lotus (111). Alonso's countryman Carlos Sainz Jr topped the morning session but he also crashed at Turn 3 after the lunch break, bringing out the red flags. The Toro Rosso driver did not continue. Three other drivers caused stoppages in the afternoon. Valtteri Bottas' Williams stopped at Turn 4 shortly after Sainz's crash, though the Finn recovered to set the fifth-best time, while Nico Hulkenberg's Force India suffered a terminal Mercedes engine failure. Felipe Nasr, who was fourth fastest on the super-soft tyre, caused the final red flag when he stopped at Turn 8 with 10 minutes remaining.

Next and final wintertest will be from thursday 26 february - sunday 01 march !!!!

Kind Regards
Shaky- Schumi

Barcelona F1 test , day 3 : Pastor Maldonado fastest for Lotus :

1 : Pastor Maldonado - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m24.348s - laps 104
2 : Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m24.739s 0.391s laps 129
3 : Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1m26.076s 1.728s laps 101
4 : Marcus Ericsson - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m26.340s 1.992s laps 53
5 : Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1m26.407s 2.059s laps 105
6 : Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull/Renault - 1m26.589s 2.241s laps 111
7 : Felipe Massa - Williams/Mercedes - 1m26.912s 2.564s laps 55
8 : Pascal Wehrlein - Force India/Mercedes - 1m27.333s 2.985s laps 81
9 : Valtteri Bottas - Williams/Mercedes - 1m27.556s 3.208s laps 49
10 : Jenson Button - McLaren/Honda - 1m29.151s 4.803s laps 24

Pastor Maldonado set the pace for Lotus for the second time in three days of Barcelona Formula 1 testing on Saturday. A mid-afternoon run on super-softs took Maldonado to a time of 1m24.348s, beating Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen - who had also used super-softs to set his best time in the morning - by three tenths of a second. The other big movement on the timing screens in the afternoon came courtesy of Marcus Ericsson. The Sauber driver progressed to fourth on soft tyres after missing the majority of the morning to gearbox problems. That put Ericsson just behind world champion Lewis Hamilton, as the Mercedes man stuck to medium tyres for his best runs. McLaren had another frustrating day. The new seal intended to resolve the Honda MGU-K problem that had compromised the first part of the week proved no better, and after a long pause in the garage, Jenson Button had to run with reduced power for the rest of the day. He was also involved in a late red flag, when both his McLaren and Verstappen's Toro Rosso parked in the pit exit in quick succession. Verstappen still led the lap tally for Saturday as he managed 129 circuits. Sebastian Vettel had a smooth end to a day that began with a spin into the gravel on cold tyres on his out-lap. He eventually clocked 105 laps for Ferrari and went fifth fastest. Red Bull's pitboard indicated that a race simulation was in prospect in the afternoon, but Daniil Kvyat returned to the garage after two stints had been completed. He was sixth overall. Seventh-placed Felipe Massa handed the Williams over to team-mate Valtteri Bottas for the afternoon. The Finn's programme was dominated by pitstop practice, and it was only in the final few minutes that he completed any full flying laps. Bottas slotted in between Pascal Wehrlein - as the Mercedes test driver completed his on-loan stint at Force India - and Button to end the day ninth-fastest.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Barcelona F1 test , day 2 : Daniel Ricciardo fastest on day for Red Bull :

1 : Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull/Renault - 1m24.574s - laps 143
2 : Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1m24.584s 0.010s laps 90
3 : Felipe Massa - Williams/Mercedes - 1m24.672s 0.098s laps 88
4 : Sergio Perez - Force India/Mercedes - 1m24.702s 0.128s laps 121
5 : Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1m24.923s 0.349s laps 89
6 : Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1m25.556s 0.982s laps 66
7 : Fernando Alonso - McLaren/Honda - 1m25.961s 1.387s laps 59
8 : Jolyon Palmer - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m26.280s 1.706s laps 77
9 : Marcus Ericsson - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m27.344s 2.770s laps 113
10 : Carlos Sainz Jr. - Toro Rosso/Renault -1m28.945s 4.371s laps 100

Daniel Ricciardo's morning time kept Red Bull on top at the end of the second day of Barcelona Formula 1 testing, as teams began race simulations in earnest. Ricciardo lapped in 1m24.574s on soft tyres before the lunch break, and that stood for the rest of the day, giving him the top spot by 0.010s over Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, which also did its best run in the morning. "It was definitely better than yesterday," Ricciardo told reporters at the track as the day's running ended. "We've been trying to get a day with 100 laps and it was good we did that today. "It's just testing, but it's encouraging seeing us on the top, or at least in that front group." World champion Lewis Hamilton reclaimed the Mercedes from Nico Rosberg for the afternoon - having recovered sufficiently from the fever that sidelined him on Thursday - while Rosberg needed to rest his back as a precaution following a trapped nerve earlier in the week.
Hamilton and Ricciardo both embarked on race simulations, with the Briton's top time of 1m24.923s - set on medium tyres - putting him fifth overall. Both simulations were interrupted by a red flag for Carlos Sainz Jr putting the Toro Rosso in the gravel at the fast Turn 9 right-hander at the back of the circuit. That was one of two afternoon red flags, with Marcus Ericsson causing the other when he stopped on the pits straight in the final half-hour. Felipe Massa made progress up the timesheet to put Williams third, vaulting forward with two short runs on soft tyres after a competitive longer run on mediums. That put him ahead of Sergio Perez - who got up to 121 laps in the 2014 Force India - and Hamilton, with just 0.349s covering the top five. Rosberg's morning time left him sixth.
Fernando Alonso was seventh for McLaren, getting up to a best-yet tally of 59 laps despite some concerns over the engine following Thursday's seal problem. Jolyon Palmer edged closer to the pace on his debut for Lotus and ended up eighth overall ahead of Ericsson and Sainz.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi