Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Ferrari lay down impressive signal of intent with another Barcelona lap record in the penultimate F1 pre-season test of 2018.
Vettel would have himself a very successful final day behind the wheel of his Ferrari as he clocked an incredible 188 laps in Barcelona today - the equivalent distance to almost three full Spanish Grand Prix!
As well as showing the world how much reliability has been built into the 2018 Ferrari SF-71, Vettel would also produce an impressive lap time towards the end of the day, stopping the clocks in 1:17.182 to score himself a new unofficial lap record around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the penultimate day of pre season running before the season proper begins on March 23rd.
1.178 seconds down on the Ferrari lead driver and in second overall would be a surprise performance from Kevin Magnussen in his Ferrari powered Haas VF-18. Also passing the magic 100 lap milestone, one of the full quota of 10 teams to achieve that accolade today, the American outfit should be rightly buoyed by what was a very positive and competitive day of running following what has been something of an inconstant and hard to judge winter so far at Barcelona for the youngest team on the current Grand Prix grid.
While Ferrari and Haas stole headlines at the head of the field it would be a less impressive day down at Williams, with Robert Kubica taking turns for the final time during winter testing in his new Williams mount, again poring scorn on those who claimed the once great Polish driver had lost some of his raw single lap pace from his enforced absence following life threatening injuries sustained in a rally accident back in 2011. Kubica spent plenty of time behind the wheel, clocking 73 laps and tenth quickest time, over half a second quicker than 2018 race driver Lance Stroll. Kubica faster than one of the main drivers, again... Hmm wonder if some people in Grove might be thinking hard about the role offered to the 33-year-old Pole this year...
Meanwhile down at Mercedes it would be something of a low key day for the reigning World Champions, with just eighth and ninth place finishes as reward for a busy day at the circuit thanks to the efforts of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Although surprisingly low down on the scoreboards, today would be more about long runs and evaluation than outright pace, with Hamilton amassing 84 laps to join the 97 lap total of team mate Bottas as the squad look to wrap up final details before packing the cars away for the long trip to Australia at the end of the month.
So that's it for today, with a final day of running scheduled for tomorrow ahead of the big event in Melbourne on Sunday 25th March...
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The wait is nearly over... looking forward to F1 2018 style? Do you think the Ferrari form is real, or will Mercedes walk it yet again? Let us know in the comments section below!
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