Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat put in a late effort to claim top spot on the third day of Formula 1’s opening pre-season test in Spain.
Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of the week during the morning session and he remained atop the timesheets for most of the afternoon at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
But Kvyat used Pirelli’s C5 tyre – the softest compound available from its reduced 2019 range – to demote Raikkonen with 15 minutes remaining.
Kvyat’s lap of 1:17.704 was just 0.058s quicker than Raikkonen’s effort, which was also recorded on the C5 tyre.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was third, while Ferrari finished off top spot for the first time this week, as Sebastian Vettel wound up in fourth position.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen classified in fifth spot, while Ricciardo’s Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg placed sixth courtesy of his time from the morning session.
Haas split track time between Romain Grosjean and tester Pietro Fittipaldi, but had a disjointed day as its VF-19 stopped on track on three occasions.
An ignition-coil related issue was deemed culpable for the first two stoppages; it has yet to communicate the cause of its third stoppage, which came with five minutes left in the session.
McLaren’s MCL34 did not appear on track during the first two hours of running, due to a suspected unscheduled gearbox change, but Carlos Sainz Jr. was able to resume its programme, finishing ninth.
Sergio Perez continued Racing Point’s low-key week as he finished 10th; Lance Stroll will return to the RP19 on Thursday.
Mercedes once again stayed away from the top of the timesheets and topped the mileage charts, with Valtteri Bottas running in the morning and Lewis Hamilton the afternoon.
The pair amassed 182 laps between them as the squad continued to rack up substantial mileage in its W10.
Williams’ FW42 finally make its track debut in the hands of rookie George Russell shortly after lunch.
Williams confirmed it was still awaiting parts in order to begin proper aerodynamic work, and Russell completed only 23 laps, finishing almost five seconds off the pace.
The final day of the opening pre-season test will begin at 09:00 on Thursday
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:17.704 | 137 | |
2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1:17.762 | 0.058 | 138 |
3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:18.164 | 0.460 | 80 |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:18.350 | 0.646 | 134 |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:18.787 | 1.083 | 109 |
6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:18.800 | 1.096 | 63 |
7 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:19.060 | 1.356 | 69 |
8 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas | 1:19.249 | 1.545 | 48 |
9 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 1:19.354 | 1.650 | 90 |
10 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 1:20.102 | 2.398 | 67 |
11 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:20.693 | 2.989 | 88 |
12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:20.818 | 3.114 | 94 |
13 | George Russell | Williams | 1:25.625 | 7.921 | 23 |