F1 Pre-Season Testing 2017: Times and Thursday Analysis from Barcelona

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest lap time in both sessions on the fourth day of Formula One pre-season testing on Thursday in simulated wet conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

Continuing an excellent few days for Ferrari, the Finn posted a time of one minute, 22.305 seconds towards the end of the morning session after the track had dried out, with Romain Grosjean's Haas second on the timesheets and McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne third. 

However, Raikkonen then went one better in his afternoon outing and topped the leaderboard once again with an improved fastest time of one minute, 20.872 seconds and an impressive lap count of 93.

Mercedes, the pace-setters for most of the first three days of action in Spain, only emerged late in the morning session—with Lewis Hamilton opting not to run at all—and Williams did not appear due to a chassis issue. 

Williams remained absent in the afternoon, but Valterri Bottas took his lap total to 68—59 of those coming in the later session—while Grosjean enjoyed the most laps of any driver with 118.

Here's a look at the full timings following the afternoon session of Day 4 testing, per the FIA:

Afternoon Session Recap

After a damp simulation in Thursday's morning session, some were left quizzing why organisers decided to wet the track once more during the midday break, but nevertheless, drivers managed to improve their times.

Chief among those was the in-form Raikkonen, who followed up a thunderous morning performance with an even more outstanding afternoon display, in which he was again top of the fastest lap leaderboard.

Ferrari can look back on the first week of testing in Barcelona with pleasure, particularly thanks to the finish, and the Haas team will undoubtedly also be pleased with the experience Grosjean gained on Thursday.

Raikkonen wasn't far behind in laps counted, but Grosjean was the only driver to break the 100-lap mark on Thursday as L&T Motorsport hailed a promising day's action for the Frenchman:

It was unfortunate reigning champions Mercedes weren't able to get more time on the track in the morning, but Bottas helped make up for that absence with 59 laps in the afternoon, albeit finishing in P8 with a time of one minute, 23.443 seconds.

A sterling run from Max Verstappen, on the other hand, ensured Red Bull finished close to the top of the leaderboard, with the Dutchman less than a second off Raikkonen's pace:

Renault's Jolyon Palmer also impressed in the afternoon, clocking in with a fastest lap of one minute, 21.778 seconds on the softs, albeit only managing to get 39 laps on the board.

Morning Session Recap

Pirelli Motorsport‏ explained the theory behind the dampening of the track:

A slow start to proceedings saw only a handful of teams set a lap time on the wet tyres, with Red Bull's Verstappen logging a 1:40.357, roughly 20 seconds down on the pace from dry testing. 

The drying track then allowed the intermediates to be trialled and soon gave way to slicks. 

Raikkonen set his peak time on a soft tyre as he proved the Ferrari's pace once again.

Meanwhile, Vandoorne placed third after using ultrasofts, with McLaren having endured a torrid week in the main thanks to engine and pace issues.

Mercedes were nowhere to be seen early on in the day and explained an "electrical fault" was keeping their car in the garage, before Hamilton confirmed he would not be out on track at all:

"

Electrical fault kept us in the garage this morning, so I've decided with the team not to drive today as I wouldn't have learned much (1/2) pic.twitter.com/LS0Tr8aWdK

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) March 2, 2017"

"

Shame not to drive but it's been a great few days. The guys have done an awesome job. Can't wait to be back in the car next week! (2/2)

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) March 2, 2017"

However, late on in the morning session, Bottas, who had been scheduled to take over from Hamilton in the afternoon, hit the track briefly to set a time. 

Williams were the other absentees following rookie Lance Stroll hitting the wall at Turn 6 in Wednesday's afternoon session.

BBC Sport's Andrew Benson explained the situation:

It was a strange session of testing, with few teams opting to take the chance to try out the wet conditions but then sending out their drivers as the Barcelona sun produced a dry track.

The afternoon will see the same conditions, though, following an announcement from the track's official Twitter account:

It will be the final chance for the teams to run their cars on the Barcelona track ahead of a break over the weekend.