Formula 1 Pre-Season Testing: 5 Observations from Day 3 at Barcelona
With over half of the 12 days of pre-season testing now done and dusted, the Formula One teams are now well into their winter schedules.
Well, all apart from McLaren, whose racing director, Eric Boullier, told ESPN F1 on Friday that his outfit are "50 per cent behind on our plan."
If McLaren were 50 per cent behind on Day 2, one dreads to think about just how far behind the Woking-based team are now after a third day that promised so much but once again delivered precious little.
McLaren are just one of the teams that figure into our Day 3 summary, with Williams, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Sauber and Ferrari also featured.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for McLaren
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It is a reflection of McLaren-Honda's ongoing struggles to run reliably that their car managed more laps when it was broken.
In the hands of Fernando Alonso, the MP4-30 completed 59 laps on Day 2—the team's most successful single day of the winter in terms of mileage—despite having to cope with a faulty MGU-K seal, a problem first identified on the opening day.
With Honda's Yasuhisa Arai telling the team's official website that an updated part was expected to arrive on Saturday, it was expected that Day 3 would finally see McLaren make significant progress in their pre-season preparations.
But it didn't turn out that way.
The car lost power after just seven laps in the morning session, leaving Jenson Button stuck in the garage as the team carried out repairs.
Button returned to the track to complete a further seven laps before lunch but did not reappear until over two hours of the afternoon session had passed, with the team later confirming that the new seal had also developed a problem.
McLaren ended the day with the least amount of laps, with Button managing just 24 in total.
Williams Follow in Mercedes' Footsteps
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Mercedes' games of musical chairs on Days 1 and 2 have arguably been the most notable occurrences in what has been a relatively straightforward second test.
The Silver Arrows were forced to recall reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein to step in for an ill Lewis Hamilton on Day 1, with Nico Rosberg handing the car over to Hamilton on the second day in what the team referred to as a "precautionary measure" in light of the German's sore neck.
And the reigning world champions appear to have set a trend as Williams, Mercedes' primary engine customer, interchanged their drivers on Day 3.
In a move that, according to F1 journalist Tobias Gruner, was made with Saturday's poor weather forecast in mind, Felipe Massa took to the wheel for the morning session before Valtteri Bottas took over for the afternoon.
Massa—who on Day 2 offered hints of Williams' true pace by finishing third on the time sheets—added a further 55 laps to his Friday tally of 88.
Bottas, meanwhile, failed to set any meaningful times in his stint as the team prioritised pit-stop practice.
Max Verstappen Covers More Miles for Toro Rosso
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Despite Carlos Sainz Jr.'s off-track excursion on Day 2, the second pre-season test has been a huge success for Toro Rosso, who according to Sky Sports' Live Blog are now second only to Mercedes in terms of laps completed this winter.
Max Verstappen's 94 laps on Day 1 were followed up by Sainz's century on the second day, with the former returning to the cockpit on Saturday to record more laps than anyone.
Verstappen set the fastest lap of the morning session on the supersoft tyres, per F1 journalist Tobias Gruner, and ended the day with 129 laps under his belt.
He might have recorded even more, but a clutch issue—as a direct result of several practice pit stops, chief race engineer Phil Charles told the team's official website—meant the teenager's day ended a little prematurely.
Verstappen's success is more good news for engine supplier Renault, whose updated power unit also led the way in terms of mileage on Day 2, when Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo recorded an unbeaten 143 laps.
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Sauber's Progress Slows
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Like Toro Rosso, Sauber's pre-season has gone better than expected thus far, with the high point being Felipe Nasr's table-topping exploits on Day 3 at the Jerez test.
However, the Barcelona test, in truth, has been a little scruffy for the Swiss outfit as Sauber show signs of regressing to their normal position.
Nasr's collision with Susie Wolff on Day 1 disrupted the team's program, and although Marcus Ericsson made up for the lost time on Thursday by completing 113 laps, Sauber endured their worst day of the winter on Saturday.
Ericsson didn't set a lap time until the stroke of lunch—Autosport Live reported on Twitter that Sauber had suffered "technical troubles"—and the team were then playing catch-up for the remainder of the day, recording just 53 laps in total.
Sebastian Vettel Recovers Strongly After Early Embarrassment
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Taking over from Kimi Raikkonen for the final two days of the second test, Sebastian Vettel seemed to be half-asleep as the green light shone at the end of the pit lane.
The four-time world champion spun into the gravel on his first out-lap of the day, a mistake that undoubtedly left his face as red as both his new Ferrari and the red flag that signified the session's suspension.
After repeating his antics of a year ago in helping the marshals remove his car from the scene, Vettel soon returned to the track and enjoyed what was yet another good day for Ferrari.
With the German focusing on "aerodynamic and set-up work," according to the team's official website, Ferrari passed the 100-lap mark for the first time this week, finishing with 105 laps to Vettel's name.
Although Vettel's 100 per cent record of finishing at the top of the time sheets for the Scuderia was lost—his best time was only good enough for sixth—pure pace was clearly not on the Day 3 agenda for Ferrari, who continue to look strong.
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