Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Recommended for you

Pedro Acosta leads MotoGP standings after opener – but history says it’s no title guarantee

MotoGP
Thailand GP
Pedro Acosta leads MotoGP standings after opener – but history says it’s no title guarantee

Analysis: Mercedes versus its F1 customer teams – how can the gap be so large?

Formula 1
Australian GP
Analysis: Mercedes versus its F1 customer teams – how can the gap be so large?

How the Red Bull-Ford F1 engine project fared on its Australian GP debut

Formula 1
Australian GP
How the Red Bull-Ford F1 engine project fared on its Australian GP debut

Mercedes drew first blood in F1 2026 - but did Ferrari miss a prime opportunity?

Feature
Formula 1
Australian GP
Mercedes drew first blood in F1 2026 - but did Ferrari miss a prime opportunity?

McLaren has 0.5-1s performance gap to close to Mercedes after F1 Australian GP

Formula 1
Australian GP
McLaren has 0.5-1s performance gap to close to Mercedes after F1 Australian GP

Mercedes has "a fight on our hands with Ferrari" as true F1 pace order revealed

Formula 1
Australian GP
Mercedes has "a fight on our hands with Ferrari" as true F1 pace order revealed

Verstappen wants FIA to take action over F1 2026 rules

Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen wants FIA to take action over F1 2026 rules

Norris continues criticism of "very artificial" F1 2026 rules

Formula 1
Australian GP
Norris continues criticism of "very artificial" F1 2026 rules

Romain Grosjean fastest for Lotus as Mugello Formula 1 test ends

Romain Grosjean put the seal on an impressive test at Mugello for his Lotus team by going fastest on the final afternoon

His best - a 1m21.035s set with two hours of the afternoon to run - was the quickest any driver managed across the three days.

The Frenchman had also topped the second day of running at the Italian circuit, Lotus having opted to alter plans and give him both days of testing following the day one washout.

Sebastian Vettel's morning best was enough to keep him second for Red Bull, less than one tenth of a second ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard had set the early running in a Ferrari featuring revisions to its exhaust exits and rear bodywork, but an hour in he went off and nudged the wall at Turn 12, leading to delays of more than two hours for the Scuderia.

Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo closed to within a quarter of a second of Alonso in the afternoon, ending the day fourth fastest.

Sergio Perez finished six tenths of a second down the road in fifth, having triggered one of several red flags on the final day when his Sauber stopped on the main straight at the exit of the pitlane.

Nico Hulkenberg, taking over from Paul di Resta for the final afternoon, was less than one tenth of a second slower in sixth.

Di Resta was initially tucked up behind his Force India stable-mate, but late improvements from Pastor Maldonado, Oliver Turvey and Nico Rosberg forced him down to 10th.

Rosberg (Mercedes) set new bests on his final two tours to jump into eighth, 0.082s behind Maldonado's Williams.

Turvey meanwhile completed a low-key test for McLaren, which opted not to run either of its two race drivers, by finishing ninth ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock.

Kovalainen was the busiest driver of the day, completing 138 laps in the Caterham.

Pos  Driver                 Team                    Time     
 1.  Romain Grosjean        Lotus-Renault           1m21.035s
 2.  Sebastian Vettel       Red Bull-Renault        1m21.267s   + 0.232s
 3.  Fernando Alonso        Ferrari                 1m21.363s   + 0.328s
 4.  Daniel Ricciardo       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m21.604s   + 0.569s
 5.  Sergio Perez           Sauber-Ferrari          1m22.229s   + 0.879s
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg        Force India-Mercedes    1m22.325s   + 0.975s
 7.  Pastor Maldonado       Williams-Renault        1m22.497s   + 1.147s
 8.  Nico Rosberg           Mercedes                1m22.579s   + 1.229s
 9.  Oliver Turvey          McLaren-Mercedes        1m22.662s   + 1.312s
10.  Paul di Resta          Force India-Mercedes    1m23.002s   + 1.652s
11.  Heikki Kovalainen      Caterham-Renault        1m23.169s   + 1.819s
12.  Timo Glock             Marussia-Cosworth       1m23.466s   + 2.116s

All Timing Unofficial
Previous article Turbo-charged: the challenge of F1's new rules
Next article Nico Rosberg says Mercedes still chasing fast-corner speed

Top Comments

Latest news