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2018 F1 test two: Vettel tops Day 3 for Ferrari

Vettel sets a new unofficial lap record around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with a blistering time of 1m17.182s.
2 min read9 Mar '18
Autocar India News DeskAutocar India News Desk
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Sebastian Vettel put Ferrari on top by over a second on the penultimate day of pre-season Formula 1 testing at Barcelona, as nobody got close to his unofficial lap record.

The Ferrari driver's morning hypersoft effort of 1m17.182s stood as the day's quickest by 1.178sec, as teams elected to focus largely on long-run pace in the afternoon session. That meant most of the times from the morning did not change in the afternoon, with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen using supersofts to end up second-fastest ahead of a slew of hypersoft runners.

Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly equipped the hypersofts in the final hour to move up to third, just 0.003sec behind Magnussen; Carlos Sainz did likewise and went fifth, behind Renault teammate Nico Hulkenberg.

Stoffel Vandoorne was sixth-quickest on the strength of his morning time, as McLaren finally got serious mileage this week, clocking 151 laps. Vandoorne finished one place ahead of Marcus Ericsson, who caused the day's sole stoppage when he spun his Sauber at Turn 4 with just over an hour left on the clock.

The otherwise uninterrupted running allowed teams to rack up impressive lap counts. Max Verstappen focused on race simulations and was second-slowest, but the Red Bull driver's 187-lap tally was only beaten by Vettel, who only reached 188 laps with bonus circulation after the chequered flag while conducting practice starts.

Gasly (169), Force India's Sergio Perez (159 laps) and Magnussen (153) all hit a century and a half, while Mercedes reached a combined tally of 181 across Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton got ahead of Bottas on a long run on medium tyres late in the afternoon.

Lance Stroll focused on long runs again and was slowest of all, having taken over the Williams from Robert Kubica for the afternoon session.

Test two, day three times

Sebastian VettelFerrari1m17.182s-188
2
Kevin MagnussenHaas/Ferrari1m18.360s1.178s153
3
Pierre GaslyToro Rosso/Honda1m18.363s1.181s169
4
Nico HulkenbergRenault1m18.675s1.493s79
5
Carlos SainzRenault1m18.725s1.543s69
6
Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren/Renault1m18.855s1.673s151
7
Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1m19.244s2.062s148
8
Lewis HamiltonMercedes1m19.296s2.114s84
9
Valtteri BottasMercedes1m19.532s2.350s97
10
Robert KubicaWilliams/Mercedes1m19.629s2.447s73
11
Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1m19.634s2.452s159
12
Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault1m19.842s2.660s187
13
Lance StrollWilliams/Mercedes1m20.262s3.080s67

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