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
shares
comments

Turbo-charged: the challenge of F1's new rules

Nico Rosberg says Mercedes still chasing fast-corner speed

The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold

The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Jonathan Noble

The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold

The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose

The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Alex Kalinauckas

The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose

How football has posed difficult questions for F1

How football has posed difficult questions for F1

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
GP Racing

How football has posed difficult questions for F1 How football has posed difficult questions for F1

The fans that offer a ray of light in an increasingly partisan F1

The fans that offer a ray of light in an increasingly partisan F1

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

The fans that offer a ray of light in an increasingly partisan F1 The fans that offer a ray of light in an increasingly partisan F1

Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Alex Kalinauckas

Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023 Japanese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip

How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip

Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out

Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
British GP
GP Racing

Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out Why the reality of F1 engineering debriefs isn't what Drive to Survive makes out

How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation

How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
GP Racing

How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation How Tsunoda has eliminated a crucial F1 limitation

Subscribe