F1 Pre-Season Testing 2015: Times, News and Reports from Day 4 in Barcelona
The second pre-season test came to a dramatic close in Catalunya on Sunday as McLaren's Fernando Alonso was airlifted to hospital following a crash midway through the final day in Barcelona.
Romain Grosjean finished Day 4 with the fastest time of the day, but the Formula 1 community was more pleased to learn Alonso was unharmed by the collision, McLaren releasing a statement, per Spanish newspaper Sport, which read:
"Today at 12:35 CET, while testing at the Circuit de Catalunya (Barcelona), during the fourth and final day of the current test, Fernando Alonso's McLaren-Honda car left the track at Turn Three, causing the right-hand side of his car to strike the wall.
Fernando was driven to the circuit's Medical Centre where the circuit's doctors gave him first aid. He was conscious and spoke with the doctors. However, as per usual procedure in such circumstances, he was then airlifted to hospital where he is undergoing precautionary checks. We will issue a further update in due course.
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The initial plan was for Alonso's McLaren team-mate Jenson Button to take over following the crash, but the manufacturer decided not to run again on Day 4.
Grosjean had more fortune in his last spree for success in Catalunya, setting the fastest time of the entire test with a lap of one minute and 24.067 seconds on super-soft tyres.
Here's a look at the fastest lap times from Day 4 in Barcelona, provided by Sky Sports:
| 1 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1m24.067s | 111 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m24.321s | 131 |
| 3 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1m24.941s | 104 |
| 4 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1m24.956s | 73 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1m25.345s | 129 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Toro Rosso | 1m25.604s | 88 |
| 7 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m26.312s | 76 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1m26.591s | 36 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1m27.956s | 20 |
Grosjean's time caps off a highly fruitful second test for Lotus in particular, who finished with the fastest time on three of the four days, Pastor Maldonado topping the pile on Thursday and Saturday.
It was also an impressive session for Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, however, who finished second in the Day 4 standings with a lap time of one minute and 24.321 seconds.
Although Rosberg was almost three-tenths of a second slower than Grosjean, it's worth taking into account that the German recorded that time on medium tyres.
As F1 Updates pointed out, the Mercedes star could have expected to register a far superior time had he been on the softs or super-softs like some of his peers:
Rosberg was also the most heavily involved driver on the day with a big tally of 131 laps to his name while Lotus retired Grosjean earlier, content with the work put in during his Sunday session.
The red flags were busy throughout the day, too, and ended with Felipe Nasr giving Sauber a conundrum after coming to a standstill at Turn Six just as the second test was coming to an end.
Still, the Brazilian's fastest lap of one minute and 24.956 seconds was sufficient enough to place fourth, Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat only just edging him into third.
Nico Hulkenberg also made his first 2015 appearance for Force India, but saw his day cut relatively short after just 36 laps, with Crash.net confirming car troubles in the afternoon session:
Ferrari had a quiet day as Sebastian Vettel finished more than two seconds off Grosjean's pace, but the German will be somewhat happy just to have gotten more laps on the board, 76 in total.
The European season won't begin until May, when the Formula 1 teams will return to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix, but a host of teams will be pleased with their work in the second pre-season test.
Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari in particular may be boosted by the small steps taken to ensuring their 2015 campaigns are a success, with Grosjean ensuring the former finished on a rampant high.
Lewis Hamilton overcame his illness issues to get some useful time in Catalunya while Mercedes team-mate Rosberg showed on Day 4 that he will very much be one to watch again this season.
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