The First 2015 Barcelona Test was the second official test session of the 2015 Formula One season. It took place between 19th and 22th February 2015 over four days. The circuit is the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Manor and Caterham did not attend the test.[1] Force India did not use the VJM08 for the test,[2] instead using the VJM07.[3]
Driver running order[]
- ^ 2014 car.
- * Wehrlein took over in Mercedes for the afternoon session of the opening day after Hamilton received an illness,[8] while Pérez took over for Wehrlein in Force India.[5] Hamilton took over for Rosberg in the afternoon of the second day to ensure that Rosberg's injured neck is not over-stressed.[9]
- † Williams decided to have both Massa and Bottas take part on the third day,[14] rather than just Massa.[13]
Overview[]
Report[]
Day 1[]
Lewis Hamilton was only able to do 11 laps when he suffered an illness and could not take part for the rest of the day. Pascal Wehrlein, who was driving for Force India, was called to Mercedes to take over for Hamilton,[8] while Sergio Pérez took Wehrlein's place in Force India.[5]
More drama occurred for McLaren when their car's power unit received a faulty seal on its MGU-K. Jenson Button could only complete 21 laps before the problem struck.[15]
The afternoon session was delayed for twenty minutes when Felipe Nasr caused a crash with Susie Wolff at Turn 5. Wolff was on an outlap, when Nasr, who was on a hotlap, was moving back onto the racing line in the braking zone after he stayed wide on the exit of Turn 4 so to overtake. The collision caused extensive damage to Nasr's car, including its rear wing which ripped off.[16] Afterwards, Wolff claimed that the accident, where Nasr came across with his rear right hitting her front left and leaving her car with a damaged front suspension, was "an unnecessary coming together."[17] Nasr explained: "She was driving quite slow in front of me. As I did Turn Four I caught up. I saw her moving to the right so I thought she knew I was coming. I committed myself to braking on the inside and as I was doing the braking I felt a big hit on my rear suspension so I think she never saw me coming." Wolff, however, blamed Nasr for the accident, saying: "I most certainly didn't apologise. In my mind I had nothing to apologise for. I stayed completely on my line. I didn't expect him to move across as aggressively as he did and he hit my front left with his rear. It was an unfortunate incident but one I couldn't have avoided. I went straight over to him and said: 'What the hell went on?' And he was a bit speechless, and so was I. It was one of those things that you think: 'How did that just happen?'"[5]
Pastor Maldonado set the fastest time of the day, with a time of 1:25.011, only 0.156 seconds ahead of Kimi Räikkönen.[18]
Day 2[]
On the previous day, Nico Rosberg received an inflamed nerve in his neck.[5] However, he recovered in time for the second day,[19] although Hamilton, who felt a bit better from his illness, took over for the afternoon so that the Mercedes team ensures Rosberg's neck is not over-stressed and is okay for running on the final day completely.[9]
Even without a new seal for the power unit's MGU-K component, Fernando Alonso was able to get the fifth fastest time of the day without any problems occurring on the McLaren MP4-30.[9] Soon after midday, the red flags were brought out after Carlos Sainz, Jr. went into the gravel at Turn 9. Another stoppage occurred when Marcus Ericsson's car stopped on the start-finish line only half an hour before the testing of the second day ended. Daniel Ricciardo was fastest, with a time of 1:24.574, just 0.010 seconds ahead of Räikkönen.[20]
Day 3[]
Just in time for the third day, Honda repaired McLaren's MGU-K. However, the team suffered more problems as Button's car came to a halt on the track after losing all of its power only 90 minutes after the start of the test.[21] He was forced to spend four hours away from the track before being able to do nine more laps, but with slower power. His car stopped again at the the pit exit soon before the ending of the session, but it did not stop him from doing a brief final run.[22]
Originally, Williams was going to have only Felipe Massa run on the third day,[13] but they later decided to have Massa run for the morning session with Valtteri Bottas taking over for the afternoon session. Though Bottas spent most of his time doing practices on his pit stops, Massa was slightly quicker.[14]
Wehrlein set a time of 1:27.333 between the two Williams drivers while driving for Force India as scheduled. Hamilton managed to set the third fastest time of 1:26.076 for Mercedes while still recovering from his illness, though he stated: "It was a hard day out there physically, but I'll make sure I'm better for next week and come back stronger. The biggest issue at the moment is actually getting the tyres working properly. There's temperature in them but they just don't seem to ever be in the operating window. Hopefully when we see warmer temperatures they'll be better. The car itself feels solid and we've been good on reliability. There are areas we can improve on - but we're taking it one step at a time and each step so far has been forwards, not backwards, so it's been quite positive." Ericsson came fourth after spending most of the morning in the pit garage due to problems with his gearbox.[14]
The morning session was red-flagged at the start when Sebastian Vettel slid off the track into the gravel during his outlap, after the circuit was hit by a brief shower. However, he was able to complete 105 laps for Ferrari and finish fifth, a bit quicker than Daniil Kvyat.[14] He explained: "This morning I was sleeping a bit and, coming out of the pits on cold tyres, I spun. The least I could do was help the guys clean all the gravel out of the car."[23] Maldonado was again fastest, with a time of 1:24.438 on super soft tyres. Max Verstappen finished in second place, 0.391 seconds behind Maldonado.[14]
Day 4[]
The session on the fourth and final day had six red flags, including one caused when Sainz crashed at Turn 3, and had to be taken to hospital.[24] Speaking afterwards, he explained: "It was a really good day until I crashed. Unfortunately I made a mistake at Turn 3, which is not the best place to do that, because the barriers are close at that point. I'd rather crash in the test than in Race 1, so I have learned something from it and now we turn the page, move on and think about next week's test here. There are many positives to take from this test. I was a different driver in the car and I felt much more confident here in Barcelona. Everything went really smoothly and I felt we had made a big step forward with the car from Day 2 to Day 4."[25]
Following their problems from the third day, McLaren had a new component prepared.[21] However, soon before the lunch break, the red flags came out again when the right side of Alonso's car hit the wall after exiting Turn 3. He was transported to the circuit's medical centre before being taken to hospital as well, with McLaren saying: "He was conscious and spoke with the doctors."[26] Alonso, however, could not compete for the afternoon session, as he remained in hospital overnight.[27] McLaren stated on 23 February: "Our findings indicate that the accident was caused by the unpredictably gusty winds at that part of the circuit at that time, and which had affected other drivers similarly (e.g. Carlos Sainz Jnr)."[28] However, on 26 February, Ron Dennis reported that Alonso "was unconscious for a relatively short period of time. We could hear him breathing but no other sounds."[29] Alonso later sent a video message on 27 February to say that he is "completely fine."[30][31] It was later reported that he was driving at 134 mph as shown on GPS date shown to all of the teams.[31] At first, Button was going to take over for the afternoon session, but McLaren decided to not run at all.[32]
Nico Hülkenberg's first appearance in 2015 was cut short when his car had problems with its power unit, only being able to get the eighth fastest time after completing only 36 laps.[33] Nasr was unable to do a drive in the morning session because of unspecified problems which led to staying in the garage for long periods. He managed to finish fourth in the afternoon session, although he got stranded out on the track a few minutes before the end of the day.[34]
Despite having a spin on cold tyres at the start of the day, Rosberg finished second on mediums. His participation on the final day also gave some time for Hamilton to recover from his illness. Romain Grosjean set the fastest time of the day, being 1:24.067 on super soft tyres. Williams concentrated on Bottas doing long runs after having 40 pit stops on the third day, and he finished in fifth place.[24]
Best times[]
By day[]
| Day | Driver | Team | Car | Tyres | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19 |  Pastor Maldonado
|
 Lotus-Mercedes
|
E23 Hybrid | P | 1:25.011 |
| Feb 20 |  Daniel Ricciardo
|
 Red Bull-Renault
|
RB11 | P | 1:24.574 |
| Feb 21 | Pastor Maldonado
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
E23 Hybrid | P | 1:24.348 |
| Feb 22 |  Romain Grosjean
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
E23 Hybrid | P | 1:24.067 |
By driver[]
* 2014 car.
Most laps by a driver: 
Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso-Renault), 223.
Most laps by a team: 
Mercedes, 446.
Most laps in a day: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull-Renault), 143 (day 2).
Times[]
Day One, 19 February[]
Source: [35]
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Tyres | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pastor Maldonado
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
E23 Hybrid | P | 1:25.011 | 69 | |
| 2 |  Kimi Räikkönen
|
 Ferrari
|
SF15-T | P | 1:25.167 | +0.156 | 74 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo
|
Red Bull-Renault
|
RB11 | P | 1:25.547 | +0.536 | 59 |
| 4 |  Sergio Pérez
|
 Force India-Mercedes
|
VJM07* | P | 1:26.636 | +1.625 | 34 |
| 5 |  Felipe Nasr
|
 Sauber-Ferrari
|
C34 | P | 1:27.307 | +2.296 | 79 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen
|
Toro Rosso-Renault
|
STR10 | P | 1:27.900 | +2.889 | 94 |
| 7 | Jenson Button
|
McLaren-Honda
|
MP4-30 | P | 1:28.182 | +3.171 | 21 |
| 8 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
VJM07* | P | 1:28.329 | +3.318 | 32 |
| 9 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Mercedes
|
W06 Hybrid | P | 1:28.489 | +3.478 | 48 |
| 10 | Susie Wolff
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
FW37 | P | 1:28.906 | +3.895 | 86 |
| 11 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
W06 Hybrid | P | 1:30.429 | +5.418 | 11 |
* 2014 car.
Day Two, 20 February[]
Source: [20]
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Tyres | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo
|
Red Bull-Renault
|
RB11 | P | 1:24.574 | 143 | |
| 2 | Kimi Räikkönen
|
Ferrari
|
SF15-T | P | 1:24.584 | +0.010 | 90 |
| 3 | Felipe Massa
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
FW37 | P | 1:24.672 | +0.098 | 88 |
| 4 | Sergio Pérez
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
VJM07* | P | 1:24.702 | +0.128 | 121 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
W06 Hybrid | P | 1:24.923 | +0.349 | 89 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg
|
Mercedes
|
W06 Hybrid | P | 1:25.556 | +0.982 | 66 |
| 7 |  Fernando Alonso
|
McLaren-Honda
|
MP4-30 | P | 1:25.961 | +1.387 | 59 |
| 8 | Jolyon Palmer
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
E23 Hybrid | P | 1:26.280 | +1.706 | 77 |
| 9 |  Marcus Ericsson
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
C34 | P | 1:27.334 | +2.760 | 113 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz, Jr.
|
Toro Rosso-Renault
|
STR10 | P | 1:28.945 | +4.371 | 100 |
* 2014 car.
Day Three, 21 February[]
Source: [14]
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Tyres | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pastor Maldonado
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
E23 Hybrid | P | 1:24.348 | 104 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen
|
Toro Rosso-Renault
|
STR10 | P | 1:24.739 | +0.391 | 129 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
W06 Hybrid | P | 1:26.076 | +1.728 | 101 |
| 4 | Marcus Ericsson
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
C34 | P | 1:26.340 | +1.992 | 53 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel
|
Ferrari
|
SF15-T | P | 1:26.407 | +2.059 | 105 |
| 6 |  Daniil Kvyat
|
Red Bull-Renault
|
RB11 | P | 1:26.589 | +2.241 | 112 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
FW37 | P | 1:26.912 | +2.564 | 55 |
| 8 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
VJM07* | P | 1:27.333 | +2.985 | 81 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
FW37 | P | 1:27.556 | +3.208 | 49 |
| 10 | Jenson Button
|
McLaren-Honda
|
MP4-30 | P | 1:29.151 | +4.803 | 24 |
* 2014 car.
Day Four, 22 February[]
Source: [25]
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car | Tyres | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romain Grosjean
|
Lotus-Mercedes
|
E23 Hybrid | P | 1:24.067 | 111 | |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg
|
Mercedes
|
W06 Hybrid | P | 1:24.321 | +0.254 | 131 |
| 3 | Daniil Kvyat
|
Red Bull-Renault
|
RB11 | P | 1:24.941 | +0.874 | 104 |
| 4 | Felipe Nasr
|
Sauber-Ferrari
|
C34 | P | 1:24.956 | +0.889 | 73 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
FW37 | P | 1:25.345 | +1.278 | 129 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz, Jr.
|
Toro Rosso-Renault
|
STR10 | P | 1:25.604 | +1.537 | 88 |
| 7 | Sebastian Vettel
|
Ferrari
|
SF15-T | P | 1:26.312 | +2.245 | 76 |
| 8 | Nico Hülkenberg
|
Force India-Mercedes
|
VJM07* | P | 1:26.591 | +2.524 | 36 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso
|
McLaren-Honda
|
MP4-30 | P | 1:27.956 | +3.889 | 20 |
* 2014 car.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Collantine, Keith (18 February 2015). "Driver line-up confirmed for Barcelona test". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/02/18/driver-line-up-confirmed-for-barcelona-test/. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ Benson, Andrew (6 February 2015). "Force India no vote on Marussia request not money-driven - Fernley". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31169562. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Force India to run Mercedes' Wehrlein at Barcelona test". formula1.com. 18 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16817.html. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ↑ "Ferrari finalises Barcelona test schedule". GPupdate.net. 12 February 2015. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/321927/ferrari-finalises-barcelona-test-schedule/. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Benson, Andrew (19 February 2015). "Lewis Hamilton withdraws and Susie Wolff crashes in testing". BBC Sport. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31533960. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ "Palmer to make Lotus debut at Barcelona test". formula1.com. 18 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16816.html. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ "Mercedes announces line-up for 2015 first Barcelona test". thisisf1.com. ThisisF1. 13 February 2015. http://thisisf1.com/2015/02/13/mercedes-announces-line-2015-first-barcelona-test/. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Unwell Hamilton withdraws from opening day of testing". formula1.com. 19 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16819.html. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Gill, Pete; Galloway, James (20 February 2015). "Barcelona test: Red Bull and Ferrari fastest as Mercedes deliver ominous hint". Sky Sports. http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9723811/barcelona-test-red-bull-and-ferrari-fastest-as-mercedes-deliver-ominous-hint. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- ↑ "Sauber F1 Team Twitter (6:48 AM - 11 Feb 2015 Tweet)". twitter.com. Twitter. 11 February 2015. https://twitter.com/SauberF1Team/status/565522777726517248. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ "Test Two: Driver Line-up". Red Bull Racing. Red Bull Racing Limited. 17 February 2015. http://www.infiniti-redbullracing.com/article/test-twodriver-line. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ "Toro Rosso announces line-up for 2015 first Barcelona test". thisisf1.com. ThisisF1. 13 February 2015. http://thisisf1.com/2015/02/13/toro-rosso-announces-line-2015-first-barcelona-test/. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Galloway, James; Gill, Pete (18 February 2015). "Susie Wolff, Jolyon Palmer & Pascal Wehrlein face a testing time in Barcelona". Sky Sports. http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9719192/susie-wolff-to-kick-off-williams-barcelona-test-programme. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 "Maldonado puts Lotus back on top in Barcelona". formula1.com. 21 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16825.html. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ↑ "Early day-one exit for McLaren after power unit issue". formula1.com. 19 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16820.html. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ Esler, William (19 February 2015). "Susie Wolff crashes out of Barcelona test after collision with Felipe Nasr". Sky Sports. http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/31755/9721564/susie-wolff-was-involved-in-a-crash-with-felipe-nasr-during-her-outing-for-williams. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ "Wolff blames Nasr for 'unnecessary' accident". ESPN F1. ESPN Sport UK. 19 February 2015. http://www.espn.co.uk/williams/motorsport/story/191763.html. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ Gill, Pete (19 February 2015). "Barcelona test: Lotus set pace as Ferrari impress again and McLaren's woes continue". Sky Sports. http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12430/9721766/barcelona-test-lotus-set-pace-as-ferrari-impress-again-and-mclarens-woes-continue. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ↑ "MERCEDES AMG F1 Twitter (11:18 PM - 19 Feb 2015 Tweet)". twitter.com. Twitter. https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/568670990366056448. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Ricciardo edges Raikkonen on day two in Spain". formula1.com. 20 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16822.html. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Gill, Pete; Esler, William (21 February 2015). "Barcelona test: Lotus set fastest time of the week as McLaren come unstuck again". Sky Sports. http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24231/9725495/barcelona-test-lotus-set-fastest-time-of-the-week-as-mclaren-come-unstuck-again. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ↑ "Jenson Button and McLaren suffer problems in Barcelona". BBC Sport. 21 February 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31569243. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ↑ Collantine, Keith (21 February 2015). "“I was sleeping a bit” – Vettel explains his spin". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/02/21/vettel-was-sleeping-when-he-spun-off/. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Galloway, James (22 February 2015). "Barcelona test: McLaren with it all to do as Fernando Alonso accident ends running". Sky Sports. http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9727630/barcelona-test-mclaren-with-it-all-to-do-as-fernando-alonso-accident-ends-running. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Grosjean fastest, Alonso crashes as Barcelona test concludes". formula1.com. 22 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16827.html. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ "Alonso taken to hospital after crash on day four". formula1.com. 22 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16826.html. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ "Alonso uninjured, to stay in hospital overnight". formula1.com. 22 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16828.html. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ Collantine, Keith (23 February 2015). "Alonso's crash not caused by car fault – McLaren". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/02/23/alonsos-crash-not-caused-by-car-fault-mclaren/. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ Gill, Pete (26 February 2015). "Fernando Alonso was unconscious after Barcelona test crash, confirm McLaren". Sky Sports. http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24184/9732692/fernando-alonso-was-unconscious-after-barcelona-test-crash-confirm-mclaren. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ↑ "Alonso says he is 'completely fine' following testing crash". formula1.com. 27 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16842.html. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Fernando Alonso: McLaren driver was travelling at 134mph". BBC Sport. 27 February 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31661625. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ↑ "Fernando Alonso: McLaren driver crashes in F1 testing". BBC Sport. 22 February 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31575734. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ "Barcelona F1 Test (1): F1 return short and not sweet for Hulkenberg". Crash.net (Crash Media Group). 22 February 2015. http://www.crash.net/f1/news/214923/1/f1-return-short-and-not-sweet-for-hulkenberg.html. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ Quigley, Declan (22 February 2015). "Barcelona Test Day Four: Grosjean quickest as Alonso Crashes Out". James Allen on F1 (James Allen). http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2015/02/barcelona-test-day-four-grosjean-quickest-as-alonso-crashes-out/. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "Maldonado quickest for Lotus on first day of second test". formula1.com. 19 February 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16821.html. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
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