Sebastian Vettel set the pace on the final morning session of 2016 Formula 1 pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
It was a productive start to the day for the German, who first emerged from the Ferrari pit garage with his SF16-H sporting the ‘halo’ cockpit protection design trialled by his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen on Thursday.
Vettel set a best time of 1:22.852 on the super-soft tyre and completed 54 laps in total. He finished three tenths clear of Carlos Sainz Jr, who improved late in the morning on the ultra soft Pirelli compound. The Spaniard managed 57 laps.
Sergio Perez jumped to third mid-way through the session on the super-soft, while Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Mercedes on the medium tyre, with a 1:24.113. However, it wasn’t a trouble-free morning for the three-time champion.
His W07 ground to a halt in the closing stages of the morning with a transmission issue. He is set to hand the car over to team-mate Nico Rosberg, who will conclude pre-season running for Mercedes.
Daniel Ricciardo was fifth on the soft tyre, with Jenson Button sixth for McLaren and Jolyon Palmer seventh for Renault. Marcus Ericsson finished eighth in the recently-revealed Sauber C35, with Romain Grosjean ninth for Haas.
The Frenchman shares driving duties on the final day with Esteban Gutierrez after a late schedule change, following the team’s lack of running earlier in the week. Felipe Massa was 10th on the medium tyre and Rio Haryanto managed just one late lap in the Manor after a mechanical problem.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Tyre | Laps |
| 1 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:22.852 | 2.012 |  |
54 |
| 2 | C. Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:23.134 | 0.282 |  |
57 |
| 3 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:23.721 | 0.869 | |
44 |
| 4 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:24.133 | 1.281 |  |
69 |
| 5 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:24.427 | 1.575 |  |
61 |
| 6 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:24.714 | 1.862 | |
54 |
| 7 | J. Palmer | Renault | 1:24.859 | 2.007 | |
29 |
| 8 | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 1:25.031 | 2.179 | |
57 |
| 9 | R. Grosjean | Haas | 1:25.255 | 2.403 | |
52 |
| 10 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:25.696 | 2.844 | |
53 |
| 11 | R. Haryanto | Manor |  |
1 |
