F1 test morning session in Barcelona – Ferrari returns, Lewis Hamilton on track: day four results. Mercedes remains on top during the fourth morning of F1 testing.

F1 test morning session – Ferrari back on track, here is Hamilton: results and standings from day four in Barcelona

F1 test, Mercedes stays in front
The fourth morning session of shakedown running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has come to an end, and the pecking order remains unchanged. After topping the timesheets on day three, Mercedes confirmed itself at the top once again, with a still very lively Kimi Antonelli.

The young driver from Bologna is believed to have improved on yesterday’s time by around three tenths, getting close to the 1:16 mark with a lap of 1:17.081. As on previous days, it must be stressed that these are not official lap times, and therefore the use of the conditional is necessary.

What does stand out, however, is the excellent showing of the Mercedes W17, which continued its planned programme without any issues. Antonelli’s run was clean and consistent, during a morning session that, incidentally, did not feature any red flags.

The Italian driver is reported to have finished 1.6 seconds ahead of the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. For the seven-time world champion, the session also included a spin at the exit of La Caixa, although without any consequences. The British driver would then have been overtaken at the very end of the session by Oscar Piastri, by a margin of two tenths of a second.

A logical uphill start to testing also appears to be confirmed for Cadillac, with Sergio Perez reportedly three seconds adrift of the penultimate position, occupied by Liam Lawson.

Barcelona test day four morning: results

In the afternoon session, Aston Martin is expected to make its first appearance, having arrived at the Catalan circuit yesterday. The team overseen by Adrian Newey experienced a slight delay in its development programme and therefore chose to take to the track a few days later than its competitors.

Aston Martin is expected to run with a black livery, as the official race livery has not yet been unveiled.

As the teams transition into the afternoon session, the narrative remains centered on the impressive reliability of the Mercedes package and the growing anticipation for Aston Martin’s first laps. While the gap between the frontrunners and the new entries like Cadillac is currently significant, the focus for many remains on data collection rather than outright qualifying pace. With more track time scheduled for the coming hours, engineers will be looking to capitalize on the clear conditions to finalize their baseline setups before the paddock moves toward the heat of Bahrain.