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F1 winter testing report: Vettel goes fastest as Mercedes fail with engine issue
Mercedes endured a disastrous eight hours in the penultimate day of F1 winter testing in Barcelona. After Valtteri Bottas had some troubles in the morning, Lewis Hamilton took over in the afternoon session and spent the first hour in the garage. When Mercedes finally sent out the six-time Formula 1 world champion, he broke down on the track with an oil pressure issue. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari topped the timesheets.
Mercedes issues
The Hamilton breakdown marks the fourth time a Mercedes engine has had serious trouble in Barcelona this season, with Williams also stopping out on track. With just one day of testing left before the teams head to Australia, Mercedes mechanics have some overnight work on their hands.
Walked past the Merc garage in the pitlane and the blinds are up - that means the engine cover is off, and thát means it's a PU issue.
— Nicolás Quarles van Ufford (@Nico_QvU) February 27, 2020
If you count Williams' engine troubles, that's 4x now a Mercedes engine has failed. Will try to follow up later#F1 #F1Testing https://t.co/rnob4aOfGR
Ferrari top the timesheets
Meanwhile, Vettel set the fastest time with a 1:16.841. The Ferrari car was fitted with the C5 tyres, the softest rubber in Pirelli's range and therefore fastest. The next best time, set by Pierre Gasly, was recorded on slower tyres but was only two-tenths behind in his AlphaTauri.
It's unconfirmed what fuel levels Ferrari were running with or what engine mode they were using.
DAY 2
— GPblog.com (@GPblog_com) February 27, 2020
Here is the official timesheet as Sebastian Vettel shows the Ferrari speed. #F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/K9f2ck6150
During the afternoon session, teams opted to test their cars with long runs. The lack of red flags has helped boost the amount of data collected. Nicholas Latifi had his best day in a Formula 1 car. His fastest time was a 1:17.313.