Day three of testing may not have shown us who has ultimate pace—testing rarely does—but it did offer a pleasant surprise for Formula 1 newcomer, Haas F1, with Romain Grosjean taking his car to second on the day.
The lap total count was comprehensively owned by Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz who put in a whopping 161 laps. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr clocked up 115 while Renault’s difficult first test was somewhat boosted by Kevin Magnussen’s 111 laps despite coming to a stop that brought out the red flag earlier in the day.
Jenson Button’s day ended early with a hydraulic leak on his McLaren holding his lap count to just 51. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg took the top honrs of the day but cautioned taking too much hope by the pace as most teams are holding their cards very close to their chest on outright pace.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen had a mixed day with issues in the morning but was able to string together 78 laps and finished 3rd in the timing sheets. For Mercedes, they’ve only ran on the medium compound tires and amassed more total laps in three days than they did in all four days of testing in the first 2015 session.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m23.110s | – | 99 |
| 2 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m25.874s | 2.764s | 82 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m25.977s | 2.867s | 78 |
| 4 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1m26.014s | 2.904s | 111 |
| 5 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m26.084s | 2.974s | 74 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m26.239s | 3.129s | 161 |
| 7 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m26.392s | 3.282s | 115 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m26.421s | 3.311s | 88 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/TAG Heuer | 1m26.497s | 3.387s | 74 |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m26.712s | 3.602s | 109 |
| 11 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m26.919s | 3.809s | 51 |
| 12 | Rio Haryanto | Manor/Mercedes | 1m28.249s | 5.139s | 78 |
This is the first time in a long time I’ve payed much attention to testing. I blame Haas.
So this is good for Haas, really good. Like Steve Matchett said when Honda first started, every lap is precious to pull in data. So doing a race distance does nothing but help them in the beginning. Obviously “race distance” in testing versus a real race isn’t the same, but if you can do 80+ laps continuously with no problems on your 3rd day ever on the track, you are on the right track!
I might have to revise my estimate of where Haas is going to fall in the pack.
yeah, I wouldn’t pick them to win races but if the reliability si good, they very well may score points through attrition alone and that would be terrific! Even better to run mid-field. :)
Rio Haryanto was pretty slow and had a spin. He might be our pick for Donkey of the Race come Australia. Should have picked Alexander Rossi for that drive.
I would suggest there may be a little showboating from HASS.
However their reliability is good.
The 11th fastest overall time is hardly showboating. Here are the top 20 times over the last 3 days: Pos Driver Car Time 1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m22.810s 2 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m23.110s 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/TAG Heuer 1m23.525s 4 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m23.650s 5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m24.867s 6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m24.939s 7 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m25.237s 8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m25.409s 9 Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 1m25.524s 10 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m25.648s 11 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m25.874s 12 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 1m25.925s 13 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m25.977s 14 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m26.014s 15 Daniel Ricciardo… Read more »
Good point. Thank you for sharing.
Ahh i was looking for a list like that, thanks.
And some more context. Grosjean’s 1:25.874 was set with Soft tires. Here’s some other times using the same tire…
Ericsson in the 2015 Sauber: 1:25.237
Gutierrez, Haas: 1:25.524
Wehrlein, Manor: 1:25.925
Inasmuch as these laptimes tell us anything (and I don’t believe they do), Haas is running in the lower midfield & some people are getting all excited over the 2nd fastest time on a day when most teams were testing for reliability over race distances.
Nothing to see here folks, move along, move along
1. Hulkenberg / Force India: HOLEE…..!
2. Grosjean / Haas: Again, HOLEE…..!
3. About the only certainties are McLaren and Manor….i.e., back markers.
4. Ferrari’s still serving notice, but I’m starting to wonder if Merc’s doing some sandbagging.