Formula 1 2013

[TheAdmiral]

Nico Rosberg sent Mercedes to the top of the timesheets as pre-season testing resumed at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday.

Marginally behind Rosberg was Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, despite the Finn setting the fewest laps of anyone because of data-logging issues. Like Rosberg, Raikkonen's best time came in the final hour of running when his E21 was fitted with the medium tyres.

The third-quickest time on the opening day was set by Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari F138. The Spaniard marked his first test appearance of the year by recording the most laps of anyone - 110 in total.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel set the fourth-fastest time of the day as Red Bull continued the development of their new RB9 machine. The German was fastest of all at the lunch break, but was overhauled in the afternoon, despite improving his time using the medium-compound tyre.

Pastor Maldonado clocked the fifth-fastest time for Williams on the day when the team launched their new Renault-powered FW35. The Venezuelan driver, who briefly topped the timesheets in the morning, completed 86 laps - the second-highest number of the day.

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:22.616, 54 laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 1:22.623, 44 laps
3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:22.952, 110 laps
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:22.965, 66 laps
5. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:23.733, 86 laps
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:23.884, 73 laps
7. Sergio Perez, McLaren, 1:24.124, 77 laps
8. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:24.144, 82 laps
9. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1:25.124, 68 laps
10. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:26.747, 65 laps
11. Charles Pic, Caterham, 1:27.534, 49 laps

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/2/14276.html

Williams and Caterham may have to drop the controversial vanes that sit in the 'Coanda channel' of their 2013 Formula 1 cars after being advised that the FIA considers them to be illegal.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105623

 

[TheAdmiral]

 

[Smallville22]

Vettel quickest on second morning

Sebastian Vettel put Red Bull firmly in control of the second morning of Formula 1's first pre-season test at Barcelona.
The reigning world champion ended more than half a second clear of the chasing pack, having improved his own benchmark several times over the course of the morning's running.
His ultimate best, a 1m22.197s, came after a late one-lap run on Pirelli's soft compound.
Lewis Hamilton, getting his first taste of the Mercedes W04 at Barcelona, was Vettel's nearest challenger despite being more than 0.529s down the road.
Hamilton's focus appeared to be longer runs on the hard tyre, and it was on the orange compound that he set his fastest lap and the outright best in the final sector.
Sergio Perez, the man who replaced Hamilton at McLaren, came within 17 thousandths of a second of the Briton's run following his own late soft-tyre run.
Perez's late rally pushed Ferrari's Fernando Alonso down to fourth, the Spaniard having set his outright best with more than an hour of the session to run.
On his first day in the Williams FW35, Valtteri Bottas was the morning's second busiest, and fifth fastest, driver.
The Finn managed 53 laps before Williams elected to stop early, its aero programme complete.
That was in stark contrast to Lotus and Kimi Raikkonen, whose morning was massively restricted by a gearbox change.
The Finn managed just four laps, none of them timed, just one day after speaking of his frustration as a data issue limited Lotus's mileage.
Less than one second covered Daniel Ricciardo, Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg in the fight for sixth, with the Toro Rosso man eventually claiming the honours.
That left Charles Pic and Max Chilton bringing up the rear of the field, ahead of the stricken Lotus.

 

[Smallville22]

Perez puts McLaren on top on day two

New McLaren driver Sergio Perez set the fastest lap on the second day of Formula One testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
The Mexican, who has moved from Sauber to replace 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton at the team, completed 97 laps - nearly one-and-a-half times the Spanish Grand Prix race distance - with a best time of one minute 21.848 seconds on the soft tyres.
Perez did a series of shorter runs in the morning and then longer ones in the afternoon focusing on familiarising the driver with systems and procedures including the cockpit switches and radio messaging.
Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel had been the fastest before lunch, although testing times must be treated with caution since teams are working through different programmes, but was forced to end his session early.
"We had some issues with reliability today and we couldn't do as many laps as we wanted," said the German, who was still second fastest overall (1:22.197) and did 84 laps. "It was nothing disastrous, just small things that hampered us today."
The team's race engineering coordinator Andy Damerum said the problems would be resolved by the start of Thursday's session with Australian Mark Webber.
"The stops we had today weren't too serious...we know where the issues are," he added.
Kimi Raikkonen was third on the timesheets for Lotus (1:22.697) although the 2007 champion was sidelined for much of the morning and part of the afternoon by a gearbox problem.
Hamilton, now with Mercedes, was fourth fastest in 1:22.726 after completing a whopping 121 laps - the most of any driver - with his best lap set on the hard tyres in the morning.
"We had a good day and it was nice to get so many laps in," said the Briton. "We're making continual steps forward in terms of our understanding of the set-up and the tyres.
"The guys are working really hard both here and at the factory and it's encouraging to see the amount of work that's being put in. We're focusing on our own programme and just getting on with it."
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fifth fastest.
The second test of the pre-season ends on Friday. The first race is in Australia on March 17.

Results:

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps

1. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m21.848s 97

2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m22.197s +0.349 84

3. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m22.697s +0.849 43

4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m22.726s +0.878 121

5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m23.247s +1.399 76

6. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m23.561s +1.713 98

7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.718s +1.870 70

8. Paul di Resta Force India 1m23.971s +2.123 62

9. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1m24.205s +2.357 88

10. Max Chilton Marussia 1m25.115s +3.267 67

11. Charles Pic Caterham 1m26.243s +4.395 102

 

[Smallville22]

Alonso sets early day-three pace

Fernando Alonso led the way on Thursday morning in Barcelona Formula 1 winter testing.
The Ferrari was quickest for the majority of the four-hour session.
Alonso and Williams's Pastor Maldonado swapped the top spot for a spell as both did short runs on soft tyres, but Alonso then started edging clear with repeated small improvements.
Nico Hulkenberg ultimately got closest for Sauber, lapping 0.286s adrift of Alonso on a quick soft-tyre run of his own.
Romain Grosjean took the Lotus over from Kimi Raikkonen and completed the top three.
Mercedes made a slow start to the morning, focusing on data-gathering. That meant a long garage sojourn while the various measuring appendages were removed, after which Nico Rosberg got up to fourth.
Following his early dice with Alonso, Maldonado concentrated on much longer runs, completing an ample 79 laps before lunch.
He will hand over to team-mate Valtteri Bottas for the remainder of the day.
Jenson Button completed the top six for McLaren.
Adrian Sutil's return with Force India gathered plenty of interest. The German was fully engaged with the team's development programme, starting off with aerodynamic tests before lapping a second off the pace in seventh.
Mark Webber was back in eighth at the end of a low-key morning for Red Bull.
The session ran smoothly, with no red flag interruptions.

 

[Smallville22]

Alonso dominates testing in Barcelona

Fernando Alonso went fastest on the penultimate day of Formula 1's first winter test at Barcelona.
The majority of teams dedicated the afternoon to the first full-race simulations of 2013, meaning that the morning order was largely unchanged.
It also meant Alonso, who eventually worked his way down to a 1m21.875s before lunch, stayed on top for the remainder of the third day in Catalunya.
His time is the fastest seen so far at Barcelona and almost half a second quicker than the corresponding soft-compound best of 2012 winter testing at the track.
As was the case in the morning, Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean occupied second and third respectively, both within four tenths of a second of Alonso's time.
Grosjean was the first of the day's runners to complete a full race simulation, which included four pitstops.
Thanks largely to that stint he also ended as Thursday's busiest driver on 119 laps.
Others ran long-race simulations of their own, although some were interrupted when Giedo van der Garde's Caterham stopped on the Turn 3 entry 15 minutes before the session's end.
Van der Garde had been one of the afternoon's few improvers, and had just set his best time - a low 1m26s - before causing the stoppage.
Max Chilton also improved in the Marussia, while Valtteri Bottas, taking over from Pastor Maldonado in the FW35, ended the day sixth, fractions of a second behind his team-mate.
Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil, Mark Webber and Jean-Eric Vergne occupied seventh through to 10th, just as they did at the close of the morning.
Both Webber and and Vergne broke into triple figures on the lap count.
Sutil meanwhile will hand over to Force India's 2012 reserve driver Jules Bianchi, his main rival for a 2013 drive with the team, for the final day tomorrow.

Results

1. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:21.875 - 97 laps

2. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber - 1:22.160 - +0.285 - 91

3. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:22.188 - +0.313 - 119

4. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1:22.611 - +0.736 - 108

5. Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 1:22.675 - +0.800 - 79

6. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:22.826 - +0.951 - 68

7. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:22.840 - +0.965 - 71

8. Adrian Sutil - Force India - 1:22.877 - +1.002 - 78

9. Mark Webber - Red Bull - 1:23.024 - +1.149 - 108

10. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:23.366 - +1.491 - 106

11. Max Chilton - Marussia - 1:25.690 - +3.815 - 58

12. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham - 1:26.17s - +4.302 - 83

 

[Smallville22]

Hamilton tops rain-hit final morning

Lewis Hamilton capitalised on the break between rain showers to set the fastest time on the final morning of the Barcelona test week.
Rain marred the first few hours of running, but at least offered a chance to sample the wet and intermediate tyres.
A brief period of respite in the weather then allowed most teams to put in a reasonable number of slick-shod laps before the next shower shortly before the lunch break.
Hamilton and Mercedes were first to give slicks a go and were soon on top.
There followed a frantic period of improvements as teams experimented with how various compounds of slick tyre behaved on a drying track.
Felipe Massa, Jules Bianchi and Jenson Button all appeared at the head of the order, before Hamilton reclaimed the top spot with a 1m23.282s on medium Pirellis.
Button completed the morning second for McLaren, 0.351 seconds behind, followed by Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso and Bianchi's Force India.
There were plenty of red flags and incidents when the weather was at its worst.
Massa slid into the gravel at Turn 4 just 10 minutes into the morning, Giedo van der Garde put his Caterham off at the final corner, and both Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez and Vergne had similar incidents at Turn 5.
Webber parked his Red Bull with an issue just as Gutierrez caused his stoppage, and van der Garde prompted a fifth red flag when he stopped after Campsa just before lunch.
Valtteri Bottas did not set a flying lap time as Williams was focused on pitstop practice, but did complete 23 in/out-laps.

 

[Smallville22]

Hamilton fastest on final day of Barcelona test

Lewis Hamilton went fastest for Mercedes on a rain-hit final day of winter testing at Barcelona.
The Briton had capitalised on a break between showers in the morning session to go top, and his position was assured as the rain returned to further disrupt the afternoon.
On top of the inclement weather teams also had to navigate a series of red flags as a total of eight stoppages punctuated the day.
Hamilton himself caused the penultimate red when he stopped between Turns 6 and 7 with little more than 20 minutes to go.
The day was then brought to a premature halt as Jules Bianchi, taking over from Adrian Sutil at Force India, also stopped out on track just before the first turn.
The sodden afternoon meant there was no change in the morning order.
Jenson Button therefore ended the final day second ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, Bianchi and Esteban Gutierrez.
Sauber's rookie was one of the busiest drivers in the afternoon, although he too caused a red when he slid off and into the gravel at Turn 4 early on.
He resumed quickly and eventually clocked up 96 laps, making him the day's busiest man.
Giedo van der Garde put Caterham ahead of Ferrari as he edged out Felipe Massa by just over one tenth of a second.
Mark Webber, Max Chilton and Romain Grosjean meanwhile rounded out the top 10.
Williams men Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado - who shared the morning and afternoon respectively - managed a combined 36 laps without setting a time.
Bottas put in the lion's share on a morning he dedicated to pitstop practice, while Maldonado put in 13 laps in the wet afternoon.
The third and final winter test of 2013 will take place at Barcelona next week, running from February 28 to March 3.

Testing times:

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m23.282s 52

2. Jenson Button McLaren 1m23.633s +0.351 70

3. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m24.071s +0.789 80

4. Jules Bianchi Force India 1m25.732s +2.450 96

5. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m26.239s +1.957 61

6. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m27.429s +4.147 50

7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m27.563s +4.281 80

8. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m27.616s +4.334 64

9. Max Chilton Marussia 1m29.902s +6.620 51

10. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m34.800s +11.518 41

11. Valtteri Bottas Williams no time 23

12. Pastor Maldonado Williams no time 13

 

[Smallville22]

RIP Dave Charlton 1936-2013

South African racing legend Dave Charlton, who started in 11 world championship grands prix from 1967-1975, died last weekend at the age of 76.
Yorkshire-born Charlton, whose family emigrated to South Africa while he was still a child, was a regular in his home round of the world championship.
He took his best finish at Kyalami in 1970, finishing 12th in a Lotus 49C run by respected local outfit Scuderia Scribante. A year later he raced a factory-Brabham BT33 in the South African Grand Prix
His sole outing for Team Lotus came in the 1971 British Grand Prix as team-mate to Emerson Fittipaldi, one of a number of Formula 1 outings in Europe. After qualifying 13th, his engine expired on the second lap.

 

[TheAdmiral]

Paddy Lowe to leave McLaren for Mercedes later this year

Paddy Lowe will move to Mercedes after his current contract with McLaren comes to an end later this year.
The confirmation of Lowe's departure makes it likely that he will now be put on gardening leave by his current team until the end of this year, with McLaren having now appointed Tim Goss as its new technical director.

Renault unveils first V6 turbo images

Renault has unveiled the first images of the new V6 turbo engine that it believes will help attract fans back to Formula 1. The new 1.6-liter turbocharged unit has already run extensively on the dyno at Renault's Viry-Chatillon facilities, but will not have its track debut until the start of next year.

Gilles Simon working on F1 engine for Honda

The German-language Speed Week reports that Frenchman Gilles Simon, Ferrari's engine boss during the ultra-successful Jean Todt era, could already be working with Honda.

Renault eager to supply engines to fewer teams in Formula 1

Renault is eager to reduce the number of customer teams it supplies in Formula 1, dismissing talk that it could provide engines to half the grid.

Amid uncertainty about the engine plans for a number of teams for the switch to V6 turbo engines in 2014, Renault said on Monday that it was keen not to spread its supply too thinly.

There is a possibility of Toro Rosso partnering with Renault for 2014.
Force India is still undecided between Ferrari and Mercedes engines. Mercedes would like to stick with supplying three teams, and Ferrari would like to have a third team running its engine. Sauber does not have a deal with Ferrari beyond this season.
Since Cosworth is not working on a turbo, Marussia will be without a power plant for 2014. There are rumors that they may make a deal with Renault.
With the exception of Red Bull, the current teams running Renault engines do not have contracts after this season.
For those of you wondering about the PURE engine, that program was suspended in July 2012 due to a funding problem.

 

[Smallville22]

Ferrari doubt they will be fastest in Australia

Ferrari are unlikely to have the fastest car when the Formula One season starts in Australia next month but they hope to be close enough for Fernando Alonso to make the difference, according to team principal Stefano Domenicali.
"The situation at the moment seems to be alright, alright with the programme that we have," the Italian said.
"The target is to be close together with the leading cars...I would be very surprised if it was the quickest (car) at the first race. But if we are all close together in a couple of tenths, then the season is really long and everything is possible."
Ferrari started last season with a car that was tricky to drive and some way off the pace but Alonso kept them in the hunt with some remarkable drives while the team pulled out all the stops to narrow the performance gap.
By mid-season, the Spaniard had a comfortable lead in the championship that was then eroded in the latter half by a resurgent Sebastian Vettel who reeled off a string of wins for Red Bull.
The end result was Vettel's third successive title but the German and Alonso were still fighting for it all the way to the final race in Brazil.
Domenicali said the situation was very different from February last year, when Brazilian Felipe Massa first tested the F2012 and rang Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo to tell him the bad news.
"It's another world," said Domenicali. "It's a totally different situation but we cannot underestimate that everyone is doing a good job, and as far as we can see from the tests I don't see a lot of changes in respect of what we saw at the end (of last year)."
Eight drivers from four teams - Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Lotus - have been fastest over the eight days of testing so far although the Red Bull drivers have also sounded happy with their car's performance.
Domenicali said the biggest challenge all teams faced in the first few races would be the new-version Pirelli tyres, designed to degrade quicker and create more pit stops.
"We need to make sure that we are close to the best car and then the team and drivers have to make the difference," he added. "In Australia it is not the end of the championship, it's just the start. We need to be careful and stay cool."
The season starts in Melbourne on March 17.

 

[Smallville22]

Ecclestone wants long Melbourne deal

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone insists he is willing to extend Melbourne's grand prix contract for the long term.
Melbourne's future as a grand prix venue has come under increasing doubt, with Ecclestone hinting at the start of the 2012 season that the race could be dropped and that F1 could walk away from Australia when the current contract expires in 2015.
Melbourne officials meanwhile have expressed their desire to keep the race, but with a reduced hosting fee.
Ecclestone said he was keen to extend F1's deal with Albert Park officials and secure the sport's future in Australia.
"Everybody loves Australia, and it's good to be there," Ecclestone told the Australian Grand Prix's official podcast.
"I understand we do get a little bit of criticism but I don't know why. We're happy with Melbourne and I'd be happy to sign a 50-year contract.
"We don't have a problem with Melbourne; we hope we're going to be [there] forever."
Ecclestone also played down the significance of growing complaints about the cost of the race after an Australian newspaper revealed the hosting fee was more than £20 million per year.
Asked what the fee secured, Ecclestone said: "to get a Formula 1 event, the same as anyone else in the world.
"Melbourne probably doesn't need to be put on the map, but that's what Formula 1 does for a city: it gets an awful lot more worldwide television coverage than other events Melbourne has.
"You start wondering, 'are we really wanted in Melbourne?'
"Whenever these sorts of things happen I'm told don't be silly about that, it's just one or two people making noise.
"It appears to be [wanted] now, [and] we're happy for Formula 1 to be there."

 

[Smallville22]

GV: Lopez wins Senna 1991 gloves auction

Lotus owner Gerard Lopez has paid £22,000 for a pair of gloves worn by the late Ayrton Senna during his title-winning 1991 campaign.
The gloves were auctioned in aid of the Grand Prix Mechanics Charitable Trust at a Motor Sport Magazine Hall of Fame event in London on Monday night.
The framed gloves had been donated by former McLaren team co-ordinator Jo Ramirez.
The auction raised a total of £92,000 for grand prix mechanics.

 

[TheAdmiral]

And then there were none: All the empty seats Formula 1 have been filled! Adrian Sutil will partner Paul di Resta this year, and at Marussia, Luiz Razia is out and Jules Bianchi is in!

 

[TheAdmiral]

More driver news: Caterham has announced Alexander Rossi and Ma Qing Hua as reserve drivers.

 

[Smallville22]

Hamilton leads morning and afternoon runs in Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton ended the third day of the final pre-season Barcelona test on top of the timesheets.
The weather was the best seen so far and the Mercedes driver's morning effort of 1m20.558s, set on Pirelli's soft tyre, proved quicker than anyone could manage in the afternoon. It is also the fastest lap seen at the Spanish circuit in 2013.
For some time nobody got within a second of Hamilton, but Felipe Massa eventually did in the afternoon. The Ferrari driver had several short runs on both soft and supersoft rubber.
His best of 1m21.266s on the supersoft moved him ahead of Adrian Sutil's Force India, just before a wheel came off the F138 and brought out the red flags.
Sutil, who was second fastest in the morning, ran a race simulation in the afternoon, but his earlier 1m21.627s effort was still good enough for third.
Despite delays in the arrival of new Williams parts, and his subsequent late start to the day, Pastor Maldonado ended up fourth.
He handed the FW35 over to F1 rookie Valtteri Bottas for the afternoon. After several runs on harder tyres, he got within 0.2s of his team-mate to finish fifth.
Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez was next thanks to his efforts in the morning. Like Sutil and Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne, he focused on longer runs in the afternoon.
Mark Webber spent much of the day doing aero work or trying the harder tyres. After the late red flag, he had a quick run on the soft tyre and set 1m22.658s to end the day seventh fastest for Red Bull.
Thanks to Kimi Raikkonen's illness, Romain Grosjean returned to the Lotus for the afternoon and set a best of 1m23.380s for 10th spot.

Times (Driver/Team/Time/Gap/Laps)

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m20.558s 117

2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.266s + 0.708s 94

3. Adrian Sutil Force India 1m21.627s + 1.069s 109

4. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m22.305s + 1.747s 34

5. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m22.468s + 1.910s 31

6. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m22.553s + 1.995s 99

7. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m22.658s + 2.100s 59

8. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m22.694s + 2.136s 101

9. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m23.223s + 2.665s 114

10. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m23.380s + 2.822s 46

11. Davide Valsecchi Lotus 1m23.448s + 2.890s 16

12. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1m24.028s + 3.470s 74

13. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m24.235s + 3.677s 126

 

[Smallville22]

Hamilton ends testing with fastest lap of the year

Lewis Hamilton wrapped up his pre-season testing with Mercedes in eye-catching style on Saturday with a lap that was easily the fastest seen so far this year in Barcelona.
The 2008 Formula One world champion, who will make his Mercedes race debut in Melbourne on March 17, lapped a dry Circuit de Catalunya in one minute 20.558 seconds to top the penultimate day's timesheets.
Germany's Nico Rosberg will complete testing for the team on Sunday.
Although too much should not be read into what happens at the test track, Hamilton's lap was more than a second quicker than his fastest time in qualifying for last year's race there (1:21.707).
It was also well inside Kimi Raikkonen's 2008 race lap record of 1:21.670.
Hamilton's 117 laps on Saturday, equal to 545km, took the Briton's pre-season total distance covered in the new F1 W04 car to 2,585km with Hamilton setting the fastest time on two of the 13 days so far.
"We were able to get through all the test items that we wanted to achieve by the end of my programme. There's still a lot of work ahead of us to get to where we want to be but the team is doing a great job," he told reporters.
"The reliability, the mileage and the step-by-step improvements that we have achieved during the three tests are all very encouraging.
"Whilst we've been focusing on our own performance, we definitely haven't seen the full potential of our competitors yet, so it's difficult to predict where we might be," added the 28-year-old.
His former McLaren team mate Jenson Button took notice on Friday when he said: "The one team that has been consistently quick has been Mercedes more than anyone else."
Ferrari's Felipe Massa was second on the timesheets, also wrapping up his pre-season testing, in a time of 1:21.266, while Adrian Sutil was third for Force India after an impressive 109 laps by the returning German.
Massa had to stop on track with less than half an hour remaining when the left front wheel came off.
The team, whose F138 car has also looked a lot more competitive than the old F2012 this time last year with Fernando Alonso saying it was "200 times better", blamed a problem with the suspension.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean made an unexpected return to the Lotus after flying home to Paris on Friday night, thinking his testing work was over, only to be summoned back to Spain when team mate Raikkonen reported sick.
Italian reserve Davide Valsecchi filled in for Raikkonen in the morning.
"I certainly didn't expect to be in the E21 again today so it was an interruption to a day off, but as interruptions go it was a pretty good one," said Grosjean.
"I was able to assess the new rear front wings; both of which feel improved over the initial versions. We ran with high fuel today so it wasn't about lap times in the afternoon, but it's all valuable data we're getting for the car."
Australian Mark Webber wrapped up his testing for champions Red Bull before his home race with the seventh fastest time.
"We had a few small issues with the car today which delayed us a couple of times and while it wasn't ideal I think we still learned plenty," he said.
"In terms of the overall feeling at the end of my spell of testing, I think we've done well and we have made a step forward."

Results

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.558s

2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:21.266s

3. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:21.627s

4. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:22.305s

5. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:22.468s

6. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:22.553s

7. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:22.658s

8. Sergio Perez McLaren 1:22.694s

9. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:23.223s

10. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:23.380s

 

[TheAdmiral]

Bernie Ecclestone has granted Lewis Hamilton's dog a paddock pass so that it can travel with the Mercedes driver to races. - See more at: http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/102149.html#sthash.drCcb0zd.dpuf

 

[Smallville22]

Raikkonen fit enough for final day of test

Kimi Raikkonen was well enough to return to the Lotus cockpit for the final day of winter testing at Barcelona on Sunday after missing day three of the test due to illness.
The Finn had been scheduled to take over from Romain Grosjean for Saturday and Sunday.
But he was struck with suspected food poisoning and had to take Saturday to recover.
Grosjean had already left the track, so reserve driver Davide Valsecchi was called up to begin running for Lotus until the Frenchman made it back to Barcelona.
Lotus team boss Eric Boullier said on Saturday night that Raikkonen was expected to be fit enough to drive on Sunday, and he duly took to the track when the session began.
Grosjean remains on standby to take over in case of further problems.

 

[Smallville22]

Rosberg keeps Mercedes on top

Nico Rosberg topped the final morning of pre-season Formula 1 testing as Mercedes continued to set the pace at Barcelona.
After team-mate Lewis Hamilton ended up fastest on day three with a 1m20.558s, Rosberg led the way early on day four.
His best of 1m21.277s remained quickest for some time before the German and Fernando Alonso''s Ferrari started a sequence of short runs on the soft-compound Pirelli rubber.
Just after the session's halfway mark, Alonso managed a 1m21.024s lap, but almost immediately the Mercedes recorded 1m20.723s.
Alonso moved the mark to 1m20.606s in the final hour, only for Rosberg to make sure of the fastest time with 1m20.130s. He later set a 1m20.180s and has thus produced the two best laps of 2013 Barcelona testing so far.
Alonso eventually managed a 1m20.494s before switching to the super-soft, on which he failed to improve.
Almost a second behind the Ferrari came Jenson Button's McLaren. The 2009 world champion spent the early part of the session on harder rubber, but had a late run on unmarked Pirellis (suspected to be the soft compound) to end up third.
The midfield battle was close, with a tenth covering the Force India, Sauber and Williams times at one stage.
Sauber’'s Nico Hulkenberg ultimately pipped Paul di Resta’s Force India for fourth, with Pastor Maldonado completing the top six.
Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel concentrated on the harder rubber compounds and was only seventh fastest.
Gearbox problems struck Kimi Raikkonen on his installation lap and his Lotus only made it back out in the closing moments of the session.