Barcelona F1 test summary: Rosberg and Mercedes on top
The new-look Mercedes squad gave itself huge cause for optimism at Barcelona by ending Formula 1's final pre-season test of 2013 on top of the timesheets
The new-look Mercedes squad gave itself huge cause for optimism at Barcelona by ending Formula 1's final pre-season test of 2013 on top of the timesheets.
Team newcomer Lewis Hamilton - who claims to be loving life after leaving his former job in Woking for one in Brackley - set a blistering pace on Saturday, which was bettered by team-mate Nico Rosberg one day later.
Rosberg's 1m20.130s lap was set on the soft tyre and left him 0.3s clear of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.
Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and others claimed that the Mercedes performance could not be taken as conclusive proof of its pace due to the uncertainty over what fuel load the F1 WO4 was running.
Alonso's final-day time was good enough for second overall with Hamilton's Saturday pace securing him third, ahead of Felipe Massa and Jenson Button.
While the long-run pace of both Sauber and Force India on Sunday was fractionally adrift of what Button's McLaren managed, both also showed good single-lap pace with Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil in the top seven.
Lotus once again suffered reliability problems and also lost Kimi Raikkonen for a day due to illness. This allowed reserve driver Davide Valsecchi to share the E21 with Romain Grosjean - the Friday pacesetter - on Saturday.
Williams introduced Red Bull-style sidepods as part of a major aerodynamic upgrade, leaving Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas delighted with the extra downforce on offer.
Friday's big-news story meanwhile was the late-night arrival of Jules Bianchi at Marussia, Luiz Razia having lost his drive over a sponsor shortfall.
The team many expect to lift the winning constructors' trophy in two weeks' time, Red Bull, failed to show its hand, Mark Webber's pace-setting time on the opening day the only indicator of the RB9's true speed.
Combined times
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.130s 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m20.494s + 0.364s 3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m20.558s + 0.428s 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.266s + 1.136s 5. Jenson Button McLaren 1m21.444s + 1.314s 6. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1m21.541s + 1.411s 7. Adrian Sutil Force India 1m21.627s + 1.497s 8. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m21.658s + 1.528s 9. Paul di Resta Force India 1m21.664s + 1.534s 10. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m22.305s + 2.175s 11. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m22.468s + 2.338s 12. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m22.514s + 2.384s 13. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m22.553s + 2.423s 14. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m22.658s + 2.528s 15. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m22.694s + 2.564s 16. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m22.716s + 2.586s 17. Charles Pic Caterham 1m23.115s + 2.985s 18. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1m23.167s + 3.037s 19. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m23.223s + 3.093s 20. Davide Valsecchi Lotus 1m23.448s + 3.318s 21. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.628s + 3.498s 22. Max Chilton Marussia 1m24.103s + 3.973s 23. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m24.235s + 4.105s Distance by driver
Driver Team Laps Kms 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 251 1168 2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 230 1070 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 222 1033 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 206 958 5. Max Chilton Marussia 202 940 6. Sergio Perez McLaren 201 935 7. Charles Pic Caterham 199 926 8. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 197 917 9. Jenson Button McLaren 194 903 10. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 191 889 11. Romain Grosjean Lotus 186 865 12. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 174 809 13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 173 805 14. Adrian Sutil Force India 171 796 15. Paul Di Resta Force India 169 786 16. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 165 768 17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 152 707 18. Pastor Maldonado Williams 151 702 19. Mark Webber Red Bull 149 693 20. Valtteri Bottas Williams 147 684 21. Jules Bianchi Marussia 136 633 22. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 50 232 23. Davide Valsecchi Lotus 16 74 Distance by team
Team Laps Kms 1. Mercedes 481 2239 2. Ferrari 428 1992 3. McLaren 395 1838 4. Sauber 388 1806 5. Caterham 373 1736 6. Force India 340 1582 7. Marussia 338 1573 8. Toro Rosso 325 1512 9. Red Bull 314 1461 10. Williams 298 1387 11. Lotus 252 1173
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