Barcelona F1 test day four
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Hamilton sets a session best middle sector, but then almost crashed into the trundling Williams of Kubica at the entry to the final chicane.
Hamilton still improved his lap as he had to cut the chicane.
Hamilton still improved his lap as he had to cut the chicane.
Albon heads out to add to Toro Rosso's five laps.
HAMILTON has set a fastest first sector so far.
HAMILTON has set a fastest first sector so far.
Leclerc has dived into the pits, then returns to the track.
Kubica tours slowly over the finish line, but still improves his lap to a 1m46.476s.
Grosjean also heads out, while Kubica has set a personal best first sector.
Oohh, tidy. Hamilton is heading out on the C3 tyre. Is he fancying a 1m17s?
Kubica is still on the C4 tyre, and has those huge sensors behind the front wheels.
It's a personal best middle sector on Kubica's out lap. But that likely says more about his fastest lap so far...
Kubica is out to add to the 10 laps Williams has completed. It's more than Toro Rosso (five).
Leclerc has lapped exclusively on the C2 tyre this morning. After his barmy 1m18.475s earlier in the run, he's zoned out to a 1m21.335s, five laps later.
Big lock up for Leclerc at Turn 1, but that's not unusual this morning. The sun is hidden at that corner and it's likely it's just really cold.
Stopwatch
Leclerc finds another two tenths next time around to put in a 1m18.475s. Hamilton's fastest middle sector wasn't a sign of an instant attempt to take top spot back, as he's just cruised past the pits slowly.
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Let's see where we're up to on lap counts so far:
Grosjean - 25
Leclerc - 21
Giovinazzi - 20
Ricciardo - 18
Gasly - 13
Stroll - 13
Hamilton - 13
Norris - 13
Kubica - 9
Albon - 5
Grosjean - 25
Leclerc - 21
Giovinazzi - 20
Ricciardo - 18
Gasly - 13
Stroll - 13
Hamilton - 13
Norris - 13
Kubica - 9
Albon - 5
Stopwatch
Leclerc moves back ahead of Hamilton with a 1m18.613s.
Both the Mercedes and the Ferrari are on the white-marked C2 tyres, and Hamilton managed the fastest second sector of anyone on his outlap.
Our two fastest men so far today - Hamilton and Leclerc, have both headed back out.
Stroll does improve, using the C3 tyres, to a 1m20.842s. Kubica's latest low-speed aero run also results in a small improvement to a 1m52s!
Grosjean improves to a 1m19.304s on C2 tyres. We've also got Stroll set to go faster by the looks of things.
Kubica is back on track, doing more aero sensor work for Williams, which is playing catch-up on its testing programme here this morning. A large lap count and lots of early jobs ticked off would be a successful day for the troubled team.
Gasly returns to the Red Bull pit, and almost absent-mindedly drives into a small cone in front of his bay. Good avoidance skills in the end.
Hamilton pits, having had a slow middle sector that included a wobble at Turn 10.
Hamilton has put in a new fastest first sector...
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Mercedes technical chief James Allison said last night the team would "focus a little bit more on performance" today, and that early 1m18s from Hamilton backs that claim up.
Gasly moves up to fifth with a 1m20.4s.
Giovinazzi has gone fourth - running the C5 tyres, we think - and Gasly goes seventh with a 1m22.978s on the yellow C3s.
Hamilton gets a lively snap of oversteer at Turn 1 and has to scramble to keep the car on the track for Turn 2. Admirable commitment rather than just bailing out to the run-off area like most would.
We are used to seeing Mercedes hide its true pace in testing, but its times so far this week have been particularly understated. Is it supremely confident, or does it have things to worry about?
Here's something else we've not really said this week: a Mercedes goes fastest! 1m18.800s for Hamilton, by far the fastest time we've seen from the Silver Arrows this week.
Here's something we haven't really had to write this week - a Mercedes goes second. Hamilton puts in a 1m19.029s on the same C2 compound as Leclerc is running.
Stopwatch
Leclerc finds another tenth to get down to a 1m18.832s on the C2 tyre.
Hamilton, Norris and Kubica all paint the timing screens green for personal bests. They are sixth, seventh and eighth.
Stopwatch
Bigger improvement from Leclerc next time around, and he moves to the top of the times by one second with a 1m18.960s.
Leclerc improves to a 1m20.055s, still on C2s, to re-take second from Ricciardo.
Norris gets down to work, kicking off with a 1m30.8s. It looks like he's on the C5 tyres, the softest in the range, which is probably in reaction to the cold conditions and out of the hope that he can at least get some temperature into them quickly rather than having to wait a few laps to warm up a harder compound.
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Lap count with an hour gone:
Grosjean - 17
Ricciardo - 12
Leclerc - 9
Giovinazzi - 8
Norris - 8
Stroll - 7
Albon - 5
Gasly - 5
Kubica - 4
Hamilton - 2
Grosjean - 17
Ricciardo - 12
Leclerc - 9
Giovinazzi - 8
Norris - 8
Stroll - 7
Albon - 5
Gasly - 5
Kubica - 4
Hamilton - 2
The braking zone for Turn 1 is in the shade this morning and repeatedly catching drivers out. Leclerc has just run wide there again.
Norris is back out in the McLaren after having the world's slowest off at Turn 5 earlier. Good news, Lando fans, he's successfully negotiated the corner this time, and at much higher speed.
Jake Boxall-Legge
Leclerc was circulating with a number of small cameras and sensors stuck to the front wing, measuring areas such as clearance and flex - just to make sure the wing’s working as it should. One of the pieces attached to the front wing endplate’s just come clean off, leaving an expensive piece of kit and wires on the track just before Turn 10. Ferrari is going to want that back.
Renault had its DRS back in action yesterday for Hulkenberg, and it's clearly happy with how that went, because Ricciardo is using it as well this morning. He's just improved to a 1m20.719s.
Ricciardo - also on C2s - goes second with a 1m20.776s.
By: Geoff Creighton
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