After 12 days of testing, pre-season is finally over and the next time the cars will be run in anger will be first practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
Mercedes showed itself to have the quickest car throughout the three pre-season tests, with the 2014 double championship-winning team really displaying its pace during the final test at Barcelona. Both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton topped the times, with neither driver using the supersoft tyre to do so.
There was encouragement for Williams at the final test while Ferrari also looked strong, but Red Bull struggled with reliability issues on the final day and Daniel Ricciardo says it has yet to show its true pace.
One encouraging day of more than 100 laps for McLaren was surrounded by more limited running, with Force India's 2015 car almost surpassing the total number of laps McLaren managed this pre-season despite the VJM08 only running for the first time on Friday lunchtime.
The final rundown of laps completed and best times set - including the tyre used - at the final test is available below.
Tyre compound key: (ss) = supersoft, (s) = soft, (m) = medium, (h) = hard, (p) = prototype, (i) = intermediate, (w) = wet
Pos | Driver | Team | Time (tyre) | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:22.792 (S) | 254 |
2 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:23.022 (S) | 124 |
3 | V. Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:23.063 (SS) | 179 |
4 | F. Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:23.262 (SS) | 205 |
5 | K. Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:23.276 (SS) | 215 |
6 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:23.469 (SS) | 271 |
7 | F. Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:24.023 (SS) | 299 |
8 | C. Sainz | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:24.191 (SS) | 218 |
9 | R. Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1:24.200 (SS) | 191 |
10 | M. Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:24.276 (SS) | 245 |
11 | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:24.527 (SS) | 224 |
12 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1:24:638 (S) | 200 |
13 | N. Hülkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:24.939 (SS) | 235 |
14 | S. Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:25.113 (SS) | 130 |
15 | K. Magnussen | McLaren-Honda | 1:25.225 (S) | 39 |
16 | J. Button | McLaren-Honda | 1:25.327 (SS) | 138 |
17 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1:25.947 (M) | 158 |
18 | P. Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1:26.705 (S) | 176 |
With differing programmes throughout the back-to-back tests in Barcelona, some drivers were actually quicker during the second test. Below are the combined lap totals and best times for each driver from both the second and third tests at the Circuit de Catalunya, with only 2015 cars included.
Pos | Driver | Team | Time (tyre) | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:22.792 (S) | 451 |
2 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:23.022 (S) | 325 |
3 | V. Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:23.063 (SS) | 357 |
4 | F. Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:23.262 (SS) | 348 |
5 | K. Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:23.276 (SS) | 379 |
6 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:23.469 (SS) | 453 |
7 | F. Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:24.023 (SS) | 452 |
8 | R. Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1:24.067 (SS) | 302 |
9 | C. Sainz | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:24.191 (SS) | 406 |
10 | M. Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:24.276 (SS) | 411 |
11 | P. Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1:24.348 (SS) | 349 |
12 | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:24.527 (SS) | 447 |
13 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1:24:574 (S) | 402 |
14 | N. Hülkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:24.939 (SS) | 235 |
15 | S. Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:25.113 (SS) | 130 |
16 | K. Magnussen | McLaren-Honda | 1:25.225 (S) | 39 |
17 | J. Button | McLaren-Honda | 1:25.327 (SS) | 183 |
18 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1:25.947 (M) | 375 |
19 | F. Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1:25.961 (S) | 79 |
20 | J. Palmer | Lotus-Mercedes | 1:26.280 (S) | 77 |
21 | P. Wehrlein | Mercedes | 1:28.489 (H) | 48 |
22 | S. Wolff | Williams-Mercedes | 1:28.906 (M) | 86 |
And the combined lap totals for each team from the final four days of testing, with Mercedes for once not top of the pile...
Pos | Team | Laps |
---|---|---|
1 | Sauber-Ferrari | 544 |
2 | Ferrari | 486 |
3 | Toro Rosso-Renault | 442 |
4 | Williams-Mercedes | 384 |
5 | Mercedes | 378 |
6 | Lotus-Mercedes | 367 |
7 | Force India-Mercedes | 365 |
8 | Red Bull-Renault | 358 |
9 | McLaren-Honda | 177 |