Bottas tops final morning in Austria

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time on the final morning of in-season testing in Austria, with teams enjoying much better weather conditions compared to yesterday’s wash out

The Finn seized the top spot early in the session and gradually improved to clock a 1:10.029 in his Mercedes-powered FW37. Bottas edged out yesterday’s pace setter Pascal Wehrlein, who is testing in the partially upgraded Force India after running with Mercedes yesterday.

The defending champions have Nico Rosberg in the W06 Hybrid today, with the Austrian Grand Prix winner posting the third fastest time after carrying out some aero work early on.

It took nearly one hour before McLaren-Honda’s Alonso made his way out to the track. The Spaniard ran a series of new aero elements on his MP4-30, including the new shorter nose, en route to P4 in the morning standings.

Fifth was Sauber rookie Felipe Nasr in the Ferrari-powered C34, while former GP2 Series title rival Palmer posted the sixth fastest time in the Lotus E23.

Ferrari test driver Esteban Gutierrez also had a slow start to his session, as he emerged from his box even later than Alonso. The Mexican initially conducted some aero tests before picking up the pace to finish seventh in the morning classification.

Daniel Ricciardo had a busy final morning at Spielberg, as the Red Bull driver completed the highest number of laps (75) to claim eighth place.

Bottom of the time sheets was Formula One debutant Marco Wittmann, who is testing for Toro Rosso as a reward for his DTM title success last year. The 25-year-old enjoyed a productive morning in the Renault-powered STR10, as he got some 68 laps under his belt.

The final day of in-season testing will resume at 1pm, local time in Austria.

For live coverage of the second day of testing in Spielberg, click here

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter