Jerez F1 test: Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari on top
Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari one-two in the first Formula 1 pre-season test of 2015 at Jerez, ahead of new team-mate Sebastian Vettel
The Scuderia's most recent world championship winner pipped Vettel's best from earlier in the week on the final afternoon of testing, going one tenth of a second faster on soft tyres than Vettel managed on mediums on the second day.
Ferrari topped three of the four days of the test, with its engine customer Sauber preventing a whitewash courtesy of Felipe Nasr leading the third day.
Jerez test reports |
Sun: Vettel leads opening day |
Mon: Vettel fastest again before rain |
Tues: Nasr puts Sauber on top |
Weds: Raikkonen ends week on top |
Sauber was at the sharp end every day, as both Nasr and Marcus Ericsson were given soft-tyre runs that resulted in the C34 always featuring in the top two of the standings.
The Swiss cars were split in the overall standings by Nico Rosberg, whose Mercedes team caught the eye more for its mileage over the course of the week than it did for its speed.
Rosberg's total of 308 laps was one shy of the number he and Lewis Hamilton managed combined at the first test in 2014, and Hamilton, despite suffering a water leak on day two and bringing out a red flag for a spin on day four, was still second in the mileage ranking - 100 laps behind his team-mate.
TOUGH WEEK FOR McLAREN AND RED BULL
Ferrari attempted to play down the Scuderia's performance this week, citing that the other big hitters were either sandbagging or in trouble on the engine front.
McLaren-Honda naturally grabbed plenty of headlines, although most of them were for the wrong reasons.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button managed six laps each on the first two days, but the project gained some momentum (and more mileage) by the end of the test.
Still, Alonso's second day was curtailed by a water leak, while an oil-fill miscalculation and a fuel pump problem prevented Button from having much more joy on the final day.
Honda's troubles allowed Renault to fly under the radar for the early part of the test, as Red Bull was blighted by engine problems and Toro Rosso limited its stint lengths to give rookies Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen useful mileage.
AUTOSPORT columns from Jerez |
Has Vettel got his mojo back? |
Is it a drama or a crisis at McLaren? |
The other engine in trouble |
Is Ferrari's recovery real? |
Red Bull ended the test only ahead of McLaren in terms of laps completed with 166, while Daniil Kvyat also suffered the embarrassment of having to run without a front wing on day two after damaging the only one the team had.
Elsewhere in the pitlane a calmly confident Williams had a quiet week that included a few long spells in the garage, while Lotus joined the test a day late, and then finished a few hours early on Wednesday due to a power unit problem with new supplier Mercedes.
COMPLETE TEST DATA
Combined testing times: Pos Driver Car Time Gap Day Tyre 1. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m20.841s 4 S 2. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m20.984s +0.143s 2 M 3. Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.545s +0.704s 3 S 4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m21.982s +1.141s 3 M 5. Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.019s +1.178s 4 S 6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m22.172s +1.331s 4 M 7. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m22.276s +1.435s 3 S 8. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m22.319s +1.478s 2 S 9. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1m22.553s +1.712s 4 S 10. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1m22.713s +1.872s 3 S 11. Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso-Renault 1m23.187s +2.346s 3 S 12. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m23.338s +2.497s 1 M 13. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1m23.802s +2.961s 4 M 14. Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1m23.975s +3.134s 4 M 15. Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1m27.660s +6.819s 4 M 16. Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1m35.553s +14.712s 3 I Tyre key - S: Soft M: Medium I: Inter Distance by driver: Pos Driver Laps Miles 1. Nico Rosberg 308 848 2. Lewis Hamilton 207 570 3. Kimi Raikkonen 200 550 4. Felipe Nasr 197 542 5. Marcus Ericsson 185 509 6. Carlos Sainz Jr 183 504 7. Max Verstappen 170 468 8. Sebastian Vettel 149 410 9. Felipe Massa 144 396 10. Pastor Maldonado 137 377 11. Valtteri Bottas 134 369 12. Daniel Ricciardo 84 231 13. Daniil Kvyat 81 223 14. Romain Grosjean 53 146 15. Jenson Button 41 113 16. Fernando Alonso 38 105 Distance by car: Pos Car Laps Miles 1. Mercedes 515 1417 2. Sauber-Ferrari 382 1051 3. Toro Rosso-Renault 353 971 4. Ferrari 349 960 5. Williams-Mercedes 278 765 6. Lotus-Mercedes 190 523 7. Red Bull-Renault 165 454 8. McLaren-Honda 79 217 Distance by engine: Pos Engine Laps Miles 1. Mercedes 983 2705 2. Ferrari 731 2012 3. Renault 518 1426 4. Honda 79 217
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