The new week brings us one step closer to the official start of the 2017 Formula 1 season, and most importantly to one of the final preparation stages of the teams ahead of the new championship, the second Formula 1 pre-season test session. Another four days at the Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona, where Scuderia Ferrari will try to bulid on the positive feedback received after the first pre-season testing session, that took place last week, and gave the Maranello team many reasons to be satisfied with the technical development of the SF70H, the Scudera Ferrari car with which team principal Maurizio Arrivabene hopes to be able to bring the Italian team back in the fight for first place.
Sebastian Vettel will be on the Spanish circuit on Tuesday, ready to run the SF70H as much as possible in order to further gather important data for the team.
Stay tuned for live commentary and in-depth coverage from the Circuit de Catalunya (please refresh the page for the latest updates).
17:58 A 1:21.589 sees Nico Hulkenberg in seventh place, with 26 laps on the board.
17:52 Weather conditions update – A flew clouds have formed over the Circuit de Cataluyna, and the track temperature has dropped to 26 degrees.
17:44 Force India are the third team to clock up over 100 laps today, after Scuderia Ferrari and Williams.
17:33 Sebastian has completed 120 laps is still on the track! Another very productive day for Scuderia Ferrari!
17:27 Valtteri Bottas has overtaken Esteban Ocon in the standings, with a lap time of 1:21.313.
17:09 Sebastian Vettel has set a 1:19.906, adding more laps to his 100+ tally.
16:56 The McLaren of Vandoorne is back on track after another engine change.
16:47 Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon and Felipe Massa are now the only ones on the track.
16:38 Seb improves to 1:19.986, buy stays third.
16:37 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) has improved his time to 1:24.028 on the medium tyre.
16:25 Sebastian Vettel is the first driver to set 100 laps! The German driver is currently P3 with a personal best of 1:20.296.
16:14 Bottas improves to 1:21.988.
16:03 Massa, Hulkenberg and Bottas are currently in the Spanish circuit.
15:57 Another personal best from Sebastian Vettel as he continues on the soft tyres. A lap of 1:20.355 keeps him within six tenths of the Williams.
15:45 Valtteri Bottas makes his first appearance of the day.
15:35 Sebastian Vettel appears on track and sets down his best time of the day so far: a 1:20.387, on the Soft tyre.
15:32 Weather conditions update – Track temperature is currently at 31 degrees, with the air temperature at 18 degrees.
15:20 Still just the Force India of Ocon currently lapping on the Circuit de Catalunya.
15:12 Esteban Ocon is the first to take to the track, resuming Force India’s test programme.
15:00 We’re back underway at the Circuit de Catalunya!
14:00 The chequered flag comes out and that’s it for the morning session!
13:50 Force India driver Esteban Ocon has improved on the super soft tyre to a 1:21.347, good for a provisional fifth place.
13:47 Improvement for Magnussen, who gets his fastest lap up to a 1:21.676.
13:38 The fastest times of winter testing so far
1) Valtteri Bottas, Day Three, Ultrasofts, 1:19.705
2) Felipe Massa, Day Five, Supersofts, 1:19.726
3) Sebastian Vettel, Day Three, Softs, 1:19.952
13:35 Massa sets a 1:19.726 which takes him to P1. The former Ferrari driver is using the Super Softs.
13:26 Renault have struggled so far, with the team trapped in the garage with a car issue. Palmer lost power and rolled down the pit lane earlier in the session.
13:19 Only Ricciardo on the track, with a new set of Supersoft tyres.
13:10 A personal best for Esteban Ocon in the Force India – 1:22.82, good enough for sixth place.
12:57 Ferrari have completed 52 laps so far.
12:51 Lewis Hamilton has also made progress, his fastest lap now stands at 1:20.456, also on the soft tyres.
12:46 Kevin Magnussen sets a 1:23.374 on the medium tyres, while Daniel Ricciardo has again improved – a 1:20.077 on the soft tyre
12:28 Sebastian Vettel improves his personal best with a lap of 1:21.136. It’s a lap which also contained the fastest sector two we’ve seen so far today too.
12:26 Pascal Wehrlein has set his first lap of the day, although it is a rather slow 1:31.491.
12:19 Ricciardo improves with a 1:20.106 on the Soft tyre.
12:14 Pirelli says those unmarked tyres Vettel ran on earlier are prototype mediums made at its Izmit facility. It often uses test and practice sessions to trial developmental rubber.
12:08 Hamilton and Massa are currently the only drivers on the circuit
12:04 Sebastian Vettel is out on the medium tyre and imporves to a 1:21.321.
11:54 Hamilton now sets a 1:21.080, just three tenths off Ricciardo’s lap.
11:42 17 laps for Hamilton and the Mercedes W08. Sebastian Vettel has completed 30 laps and is now in the pits.
11:28 Felipe Massa has set a personal best of Testing with a 1:21.867.
11:22 Stoffel Vandoorne has improved his time to a 1:22.698.
11:16 A new fastest lap of the day, a 1:20.964 from Daniel Ricciardo, which is not too far away from last week’s quickest lap.
11:05 And another improvement from Seb on this latest lap, going below 1:22 for the first time today. It’s a 1:21.912 from the four-time champion, one second up on the rest so far.
10:59 Sebastian Vettel is back in action and once again improves his benchmark, to a 1:22.235
10:57 Felipe Massa continues to improve for Williams, with his best a 1:22.927, while Esteban Ocon is up to third with a 1:23.772.
10:49 Esteban Ocon and Daniil Kvyat have set their first times of the day. Ocon manages a 1:24.228 on the soft compound, while Kvyat starts with a 1:36.220 on the medium band.
10:45 The Brazilian sets a 1:23.044 with the Soft tyre. Palmer, Ocon and Kvyat are also on the track.
10:43 Felipe Massa in the Williams jumps up to second, setting a 1:23.334.
10:33 Ricciardo has spun at sector three, but no major issues and the Australian is back on his way.
10:27 Stoffel Vandoorne has joined the pace-setting Vettel on track, but he’s some two seconds slower on the soft tyre. A 1:24.346.
10:25 A 1:22.422 for the Ferrari, as Seb improves.
10:22 Sebastian Vettel sets the new fastest lap of the session, a 1:25.231.
10:19 If Pirelli’s predictions prove correct, we’ll end up seeing lap times which are 10 (TEN!) seconds quicker by the end of the week. If this turns out to be true, we will be heading for record times around this configuration of the Circuit de Catalunya.
10:16 All teams have now completed their installation laps within the first ten minutes of the green flag.
10:10 Lewis Hamilton sets the first lap of the day, a 1:32.216.
10:06 Sebastian Vettel joins the track, as Ferrari hopes to build on their strong week of week one.
09:56 Here’s the line-up of drivers who will be taking to the track today.
Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
Force India – Esteban Ocon
Williams – Felipe Massa
McLaren – Stoffel Vandoorne
Toro Rosso – Daniil Kvyat
Haas – Kevin Magnussen
Renault – Jolyon Palmer & Nico Hülkenberg
Sauber – Pascal Wehrlein
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