Lotus sets quickest lap time on first day of last pre-season test at Barcelona – Formula 1 news
Lotus driver Romain Grosjean sets the quickest lap time during the first day of the last pre-season test held at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
During the day, Grosjean completed 73 laps with the fastest lap time of 1 minute 23.252 seconds on soft tyres. Moreover, at the start of the session Grosjean’s pace was quite normal but he improved his pace as the day progressed and was successful in setting
the best time of the day.
Lotus missed most of the test run in the second test during the last week when the team discovered a problem with its new car E20’s suspension, which was mounting. However, the team made its come back after resolving the issue with the new chassis and the
fastest lap time set by Grosjean has proved out to be quite encouraging for the team.
McLaren driver Jenson Button dominated with his best time of 1 minute 23.510 seconds for most of the day, which was set during the morning session until Grosjean set the fastest lap time afterwards. Furthermore, Button completed only 64 laps during the first
day but setting the second best lap time with hard tyres was quite encouraging for him.
Sauber team driver, Sergio Perez completed 118 laps during the day and set the third fastest lap time of 1 minute 23.820 seconds. Moreover, Sauber’s car ran out of fuel and stopped on track just before lunch.
Red Bull Racing driver, Mark Webber set the fourth fastest lap of 1 minute 23.830 seconds after completing 102 laps during the day in RB8. Webber was followed by Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg who remained the busiest driver on track during the day after
completing 128 laps and setting the fifth fastest time of 1 minute 23.992 seconds in W03.
Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso came sixth after completing 113 laps with his best time of 1 minute 24.216 seconds. Moreover, Vergne seemed more dedicated to the pit stop practice during the afternoon session of the first day. Force India’s Paul di Resta
came seventh in setting the fastest time after completing 98 laps with his best time of 1 minute 24.305 seconds.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa completed 105 laps and set the eighth fastest time of 1 minute 24.318 seconds. However, the team’s focus was on testing the parts of the car rather than on race simulations.
Vitaly Petrov of Caterham set the ninth fastest time of 1 minute 24.876 seconds after completing 123 laps during the day which was the most productive day for him since he had joined the team last week.
Williams’ Pastor Maldonado after setting the series of fast lap times last week completed 58 laps during the day and set the tenth fastest time of 1 minute 25.587 seconds.
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