Kimi Räikkönen produced the quickest time of testing so far on the final day in Barcelona, to keep Ferrari top of the timing screens for the second day in a row.
The Ferrari driver posted a 1:18.634, which is just under 4.5 seconds faster than he managed during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix last year, although he used the softs to set that time compared to the supersoft rubber used on Friday.
Nonetheless it’s a hugely impressive time which sees him just 0.295s slower than the ultimate lap record at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which was set by Felipe Massa during testing in 2008.
There was one negative mark against Ferrari’s day after Räikkönen spun at the chicane, amid a suspected technical issue, causing a red flag, though he was quickly back out on circuit shortly after.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was second quickest and a massive eight-tenths down on Raikkonen’s time using the same compound of tyre as the Dutchman posted a 1:19.438, though his programme was delayed while a turbo issue was investigated.
Carlos Sainz Jr. utilised the softest compound – the ultrasoft – to secure third with a time of 1:19.837. The Spaniard too caused a brief red flag when his Toro Rosso ground to a halt on the start/finish line. He did however complete the joint-most laps at 132, alongside Lance Stroll.
Those were two of six red flags on the final day, with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso causing two – McLaren blaming both on electrical issues which have plagued the team since the first test. Haas’ Romain Grosjean also stopped twice.
The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth quickest respectively, both 1.2s adrift of Raikkonen’s best time.
Nico Hulkenberg was sixth fastest for Renault using the ultrasoft tyre, ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez, seventh. The Force India driver suffered a late drama when he came to a halt in the pit entry, but was swiftly pushed back to his garage with no need for a red flag.
Jolyon Palmer was eighth ahead of Williams' Lance Stroll – also completing 132 laps – and Grosjean in tenth.
Alonso managed 43 laps during his red-flag punctuated running, but managed to almost match Stoffel Vandoorne's quickest time from Thursday.
Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein completed the thirteen runners for Sauber.
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Tyre | Laps |
1 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:18.634 | 111 | ||
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:19.438 | 0.804 | 71 | |
3 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:19.837 | 1.203 | 132 | |
4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:19.845 | 1.211 | 53 | |
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:19.850 | 1.216 | 54 | |
6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:19.885 | 1.251 | 45 | |
7 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:20.116 | 1.482 | 128 | |
8 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:20.205 | 1.571 | 43 | |
9 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:20.335 | 1.701 | 132 | |
10 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:21.110 | 2.476 | 76 | |
11 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:21.389 | 2.755 | 43 | |
12 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:21.670 | 3.036 | 59 | |
13 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1:23.527 | 4.893 | 42 |