Barcelona F1 test day four
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Bottas comes out to play on the C4 tyres, and moves up to third with a 1m17.955s. That's Mercedes' fastest lap of the test so far.
Magnussen's had another go on this set of C3s and is half a second adrift of his personal best.
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And Leclerc is into the 100s for laps today, with 102 tours to his name.
Others yet to bat a century:
Giovinazzi - 96
Gasly - 89
Norris - 80
Albon - 71
Grosjean - 64
Hamilton - 58
Stroll - 54
Kubica - 48
Ricciardo - 34
Magnussen - 24
Bottas - 18
Others yet to bat a century:
Giovinazzi - 96
Gasly - 89
Norris - 80
Albon - 71
Grosjean - 64
Hamilton - 58
Stroll - 54
Kubica - 48
Ricciardo - 34
Magnussen - 24
Bottas - 18
Gasly starts this run with another push lap, and he moves up a place in the order to eighth with a 1m18.780s on C3 tyres.
Gasly has come back out in the Red Bull, not long after Leclerc. We're enjoying Ferrari and Red Bull appearing on track at similar times, although it does make updating our long run spreadsheets a bit more challenging! Both are on the C3 tyres again for these runs.
Magnussen has emerged on a set of C3s, and he sets a new personal best of 1m19.079s in the Haas.
The Ferrari still smokes when it sets off
Magnussen and Leclerc have headed out of the pits.
Gary Anderson
I think the McLaren is a bit nervous at the rear. Norris is having to be more cautious on the downshifts and then turn in. And the car is looking stiff on the kerbs so maybe aerodynamically it’s a bit peaky so you need the car in it’s ideal position at all times to keep the aero under control.
Bottas has pitted, so the C2-running Norris has the track to himself at the moment. His low 1m24s pace has now become high 1m24s on this long run.
We're going to add a couple more caveats to the long run numbers we presented earlier. If you remove two laps where Leclerc had traffic, his average comes down to 1m22.8s - three tenths slower than Gasly's run, without the big effort on the opening lap and subsequent need for a cooldown/recharge lap.
Norris is circulating on the C2 tyres, currently lapping at 1m24.0s.
Bottas's 16th lap of the afternoon is his fastest so far - a 1m18.1s for the man who sits fifth in the times.
The Ferrari clearly looks great on track, and has shown decent pace over shorter runs too. But Leclerc and Gasly both just did runs of 15 consecutive timed laps, and the Red Bull was on average half a second quicker. Gasly's average was 1m22.5s, omitting a slow-down lap after he pushed on lap one, while Leclerc's average was 1m23.0s.
That's not to say the Red Bull is half a second a lap faster on average than the Ferrari, as Leclerc didn't do a push-cooldown-push at the start like Gasly did, so the plan for those runs was slightly different. But they were both out for the same amount of time, on the same C3 tyre compound, at the same time of day, so it was interesting to track both stints. Gasly had a much steeper drop-off in pace to begin with after going hard to begin with, whereas Leclerc's stint was incredibly consistent and the drop-off was pretty gradual.
That's not to say the Red Bull is half a second a lap faster on average than the Ferrari, as Leclerc didn't do a push-cooldown-push at the start like Gasly did, so the plan for those runs was slightly different. But they were both out for the same amount of time, on the same C3 tyre compound, at the same time of day, so it was interesting to track both stints. Gasly had a much steeper drop-off in pace to begin with after going hard to begin with, whereas Leclerc's stint was incredibly consistent and the drop-off was pretty gradual.
While Gary Anderson signs the praises of the Ferrari, Kubica is making the admission that the new Williams is "compromised" 
Gary Anderson
The Ferrari is looking good again. It just looks right on track. When it touches the kerb at the chicane it doesn’t double-bounce. The pickup on the throttle out of T13 is impressive, they can just put the power down so the traction is strong. It has all the things you need to make a car go quick.
Leclerc is edging towards a century of laps
Stroll pits in the Racing Point.
Leclerc had 15 competitive laps on the C3 tyre there, with impressive pace.
Leclerc and Albon have pitted.
Albon looks like he has part of his bargeboard hanging down from just in front of the rear-left wheel.
Gasly pits the Red Bull.
Stroll misses out on his personal best by 0.06s. Mind you, he probably won't be that bothered as he's fighting himself for 11th.
Stroll has set a personal best first sector and a competitive middle sector.
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Stroll is on the C2 tyre.
Giovinazzi's had a massive lock-up at Turn 10 during his lengthy long run.
Giovinazzi has finally fallen out of the 1m23s and into the 1m24s on what has been a mighty long run on the C2s. Compared to the Toro Rosso, the Alfa Romeo is looking very good indeed.
Stroll is heading onto the track in the Racing Point.
Magnussen pits the Haas after a 12-ish lap run on the C3 tyres.
Edd Straw
Norris’s McLaren looks slightly unstable at the rear into the chicane - not as badly as it was here last year, but can’t be as decisive as some on turn in. Could be tyre dependent of course.
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The lapping contest continues to heat up, now it's:
Leclerc - 90
Giovinazzi - 85
Gasly - 81
Albon - 65
Grosjean - 64
Hamilton - 58
Norris - 58
Kubica - 48
Stroll - 47
Ricciardo - 34
Magnussen - 18
Bottas - 11
Leclerc - 90
Giovinazzi - 85
Gasly - 81
Albon - 65
Grosjean - 64
Hamilton - 58
Norris - 58
Kubica - 48
Stroll - 47
Ricciardo - 34
Magnussen - 18
Bottas - 11
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Tyre choices on track:
C2: Giovinazzi, Albon, Norris
C3: Leclerc, Magnussen, Gasly
C2: Giovinazzi, Albon, Norris
C3: Leclerc, Magnussen, Gasly
Gary Anderson
While the Red Bull rides the chicane kerbs well, the Sauber and the McLaren react more and both have a kind of double-bounce on the front axle as they land. It suggests they are running stiffer.
Edd Straw
Norris’s McLaren looks slightly unstable at the rear into the chicane - not as badly as it was here last year, but he can’t be as decisive as some on turn in. Could be tyre dependent of course.
Leclerc pulls off a wicked overtake on ex-GP3 team-mate Albon at Turn 1, with the assistance of DRS. We must tell ourselves, this is not a race.
Magnussen improves his PB to a 1m19.389s, but stays ninth overall.
Magnussen is setting personal bests here.
Gasly and Leclerc are both putting in impressive lap times on the C3 tyre, and aren't too far apart.
We don't know how much fuel is on board, but Giovinazzi's long run on the C2s is about a second per lap quicker than Albon on the same tyre, at least for the last five laps or so.
We don't know how much fuel is on board, but Giovinazzi's long run on the C2s is about a second per lap quicker than Albon on the same tyre, at least for the last five laps or so.
Edd Straw
The Red Bull is working well over the kerbs at the chicane. Gasly can be a bit more aggressive than, say, Giovinazzi in the Alfa which seems to react more when it hits them.
By: Geoff Creighton
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