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Bottas fastest for Williams on final morning in Barcelona

Last day of Formula One pre-season testing, and super-soft ‘qualifying simulation’ runs dominate the timesheets.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW37

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW37

XPB Images

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW37
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF15-T with lights on the rear diffuser
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF15-T
Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW37

Williams star Valtteri Bottas paced the morning of the final day of official Formula One testing at Barcelona in Spain.

The Finn lapped the Circuit de Catalunya in his Mercedes-powered FW37 in 1:23.063 on the super-soft tyre, to beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by 0.406s.

Bottas’s time is still three-tenths slower than Nico Rosberg managed on the soft tyre on Friday. Bottas’s best lap on the soft today was over a second slower than the swiftest Mercedes time of the week on that tyre.

Rosberg is back in action today, and was fifth quickest on 1:25.186, concentrating on running with the medium and hard tyre.

Also running the super-soft tyre, Felipe Nasr was third quickest for Sauber, ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez.

Next up were Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso), Daniel Ricciardo (who suffered an early ERS problem on his Red Bull) and Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado, who completed the serious runners.

McLaren and Jenson Button only left the garage for the first time five minutes before lunch due to a sensor problem that required an engine change.

 

Barcelona Day Four morning times

Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps
 1. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m23.063s   46
 2. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m23.469s +0.406 52
 3. Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.023s +0.960 73
 4. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m25.113s +2.050 54
 5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.186s +2.123 69
 6. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1m26.267s +3.204 49
 7. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m26.587s +3.524 10
 8. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1m28.272s +5.209 35
 9. Jenson Button McLaren-Honda no time   2

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