Barcelona F1 test two day four
Live Text
Sort by
Scratch that. Just Hamilton on track (on mediums). Hartley pits.
Raikkonen back in after rolling through the pitlane just now for some start practice. Just Hamilton and Hartley on track.
Raikkonen back into the pitlane as Hamilton heads out to join Hartley on track.
Meanwhile Raikkonen can't string a fastest lap together as he goes quickest again in sector one but falls a couple of tenths short with his latest ultrasoft effort.
Sirotkin pumps in a 1m20.250s. He's sixth in the Williams, using soft tyres.
Raikkonen quickest in the first sector, but the lap isn't any better overall. Not the first time he's done that.
And the Williams driver posts a 1m20.377s using soft Pirellis. He's seventh.
The answer is no, and Grosjean returns to the pits. His time is 0.352s slower than Raikkonen's best time of the day.
Another cooldown lap for Grosjean. Could he go for a fourth quick one?
Grosjean's time is just over three-tenths slower than Magnussen's quickest from yesterday on the same supersoft compound.
Grosjean improved in sector one and sector three and improves his time to a 1m18.590s on the supersofts. He's still second.
Another cooldown lap from Grosjean. Yesterday, Magnussen did two quick ones, with cooldowns in between, then was set to improve on his third push lap before aborting. Let's see what Grosjean can do.
Main man improving at the moment is Grosjean (Sutton Images)
Ricciardo is in the high 1m20s using medium Pirellis. He's on his 38th lap of the day.
Information
Alonso caused the first red flag of the day when he stopped at Turn 7 with oil spilling from his McLaren-Renault. The team says it's now carrying out an engine change.
And Grosjean improves to a 1m19.098s.
Grosjean personal best in sectors one and two...
The Renault is in the garage with a gearbox issue - it has only done four laps today.
Grosjean has done a cool-down lap and maybe will go again.
Karun Chandhok
Very impressed with the front end of the Toro Rosso. Of course the top three teams look very good but Hartley is able to carry good speed into the apex of Turn 4 and the nose stays nicely tucked in. The Honda engine sounds less rough than last year too.
In contrast Sirotkin looks to really be struggling with mid-corner grip here. He's quite inconsistent and I'm not sure if that's cause or effect to be honest.
But some laps he has mid-corner oversteer and on other laps he carries speed in and just understeers wide. Not sure if perhaps there's some frustrated overdriving going on.
In contrast Sirotkin looks to really be struggling with mid-corner grip here. He's quite inconsistent and I'm not sure if that's cause or effect to be honest.
But some laps he has mid-corner oversteer and on other laps he carries speed in and just understeers wide. Not sure if perhaps there's some frustrated overdriving going on.
Grosjean improves to a 1m19.176s on supersofts. He's second overall.
Hamilton heads onto his 47th lap. He's on mediums as the Mercedes continues to run well. Last time round was a 1m22.402s.
Karun Chandhok
Kimi just came past on his ultrasofts and it looked like he had quite a bit of understeer so maybe the tyres aren't getting switched on. I'm not surprised the time was slower.
Twitter
Raikkonen backed off after his push lap. He goes again, but it's quite a way off – 0.6s slower than his best.
Raikkonen backed off after his push lap. He goes again, but it's quite a way off – 0.6s slower than his best.
Ricciardo wheelspins his way out of the Red Bull garage for another lap.
Raikkonen with the fastest first sector so far on ultrasoft tyres, but he doesn't improve overall.
Hartley back into the pits on that run. Didn't see him come in but a run to the window and stare into the distance as he got wheeled into the garage suggests he stayed on supersofts.
Hartley sets a personal best, 1m19.572s.
Heading for lap 50 already - Sirotkin settling into F1 with Williams
Information
If you're just joining us, the main news of this morning can be summarised in three words: crash, bang, wallop. But really we need some more words after each of them, so here they are:
* Crash: Leclerc causes the day's second red flag, spinning into the gravel at Turn 12. We're not sure he actually spanked the barrier, but there was a bit of work going on to repair them afterwards. Poetic licence with the word 'crash', perhaps.
* Bang: McLaren's stopped on track again with some kind of leak. Hopefully we'll know soon what's happened. Poetic licence again.
* Wallop: Raikkonen's quickest so far for Ferrari on a 1m18.238s, 1.2s clear of Hamilton and Mercedes.
A fair bit of poetic licence but today's our last chance to make an Alan Partridge reference in Live. What a test day.
* Crash: Leclerc causes the day's second red flag, spinning into the gravel at Turn 12. We're not sure he actually spanked the barrier, but there was a bit of work going on to repair them afterwards. Poetic licence with the word 'crash', perhaps.
* Bang: McLaren's stopped on track again with some kind of leak. Hopefully we'll know soon what's happened. Poetic licence again.
* Wallop: Raikkonen's quickest so far for Ferrari on a 1m18.238s, 1.2s clear of Hamilton and Mercedes.
A fair bit of poetic licence but today's our last chance to make an Alan Partridge reference in Live. What a test day.
Renault is going to race its new concept front wing at the season-opener after success with it in testing: 
We might not have to wait too long to get our first 50-lap knocking though. Hartley's onto lap 49, while Sirotkin's on his 46th.
We've got three cars on track as Sirotkin flashes past to start another tour for Williams. Grosjean's pit after 49 laps, so he'll stay one short of a half-century for a while.
Information
In terms of laps completed, Grosjean leads the way on 47. Then it's Hartley on 45 and Sirotkin on 43.
At the bottom end of the list are two Renault teams: Alonso/McLaren on seven and Sainz/Renault on four.
At the bottom end of the list are two Renault teams: Alonso/McLaren on seven and Sainz/Renault on four.
Autosport
Tributes have been pouring in for motorsport journalist and broadcaster, and long-time Autosport man, Henry Hope-Frost after his death yesterday. A special tribute in the F1 paddock at Barcelona is planned for lunchtime today: 
Ocon makes another gain on soft tyres, getting to a 1m19.667s.
Hamilton back out there now and lapping on the medium tyre.
Raikkonen pits, while Hartley improves to 1m19.905s.
By: Geoff Creighton
Published:
Page:
