Formula 1 2015 - In-season testing at Barcelona

Day one

Nico Rosberg kept up the momentum from his Spanish GP victory (Copyright: Mercedes AMG)

Momentum is important in any sport, and Nico Rosberg certainly kept his momentum up during the first of two in-season tests for Formula 1 this year, racking up 146 laps on the Tuesday of the test at the Circuit de Catalunya, setting a best time of 1m24.374s, 0.307 seconds quicker than his pole position time for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.  The time though came from an unmakred tyre compound, as Mercedes, Ferrari Red Bull and Toro Rosso all tested new tyre compounds for Pirelli. 

Marcus Ericsson was in action for Sauber (Copyright: Sauber F1 Team)

Rosberg's best lap was over 2 seconds faster than of Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, with Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello next up, just 0.024s behind. The GP2 racer had tested at the end of last year in Abu Dhabi with the F14-T, and this was his first chance to drive the new SF-15T

Raffaele Marciello made his 2015 test debut for Ferrai. He last tested at Abu Dhabi last year in the F14-T

Behind Marciello were Red Bulls Daniil Kvyat and Lotus' Pastor Maldonado, with Kvyat 2.530s adrift of Rosberg, and Maldonao 0.434 adrift of the Russian. 

Daniil Kvyat hoped that Red Bull could make good use of the two day test (Copyright: Infiniti Red Bull Racing)

Maldonado had more luck during the test than he had during Sunday's Grand Prix, completing a smooth day for Lotus and managing a solid 60 laps for the team.

Sadly for Pastor Maldonado, the good luck came during testing and not the race (Copyright: Lotus F1 Team)

F1 debutante Nick Yelloly had a good day with Force India, completing 100 laps in the VJM08, and getting his run a day early due to Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein, who was supposed to be in the Force India that day, missing the session due to illness, although he was at the wheel of the Mercedes W06 the following day.

Nick Yelloly made his F1 debut with Force India

GP2 driver and Red Bull protege Pierre Gasly - another F1 debutante - wracked up 131 laps on his way to finishing seventh quickest for Toro Rosso, the 2nd highest lap total of the day, capping off a good day for the F1 newcomers. Gasly then jumped straight into the Red Bull RB11 the following day. 

Pierre Gasly was in action for both of Red Bulls teams over the two days

In contrast to Gasly, Williams's Felipe Massa only managed 54 laps and was just over 3.5s back on Rosberg's best time, with McLaren tester Oliver Turvey bringing up the rear, 4.1s down.

Felipe Massa guides his FW37 through the penultimate corners at the Circuit de Catalunya (Copyright:Williams Martini Racing)

McLaren had been testing a whole raft of new parts, as they continue to try and improve the pace of the MP4-30. Turvey had to take a two hour lunch break, such was the work required on the car from the way it ran in the morning compared to how it ran in the afternoon. 

Oliver Turvey got his hands on the MP4-30 for the first time this year (Copyright: McLaren-Honda)

That was day one. Times and lap totals are below;

Day two

Jolyon Palmer now has three days of running at the Circuit de Catalunya in 2015 (Copyright: Lotus F1 Team)

On the second day of the test, Britain's Jolyon Palmer had something to smile about, as he set the fastest lap time with a 1m26.080s for the Lotus team, although this lap time was still 1.7s slower than what Nico Rosberg had managed the previous day. Palmer has now had outings in pre-season testing, as well as in FP1 sessions in China, Bahrain and Spain, and can now add another test day that that list. No doubt he is enjoying every second he is in the Lotus E23 Hybrid. He completed a respectable 87 laps on the Wednesday.

Pascal Werhlein recovered from a fever to go second quickest on day two (Copyright: Mercedes AMG)

Illness probably wouldn't keep anyone down if you were about to drive a Formula 1 car, and that was the case of Pascal Wehrlein, who bounced back from his illness to complete a full day of testing for the Mercedes team, his best lap time of 1m26.497 was just 0.417s slower than Palmer had done, indeed Wehrlein was fastest right up until the last 18 minutes of the day, when Palmer posted his fastest lap time. Wehrlein completed 137 laps, not bad for a man that wasn't feeling very well!

Pierre Gasly was relishing driving both the Red Bull and Toro Rosso cars (Copyright: Infiniti Red Bull Racing)

Pierre Gasly was a busy boy over the two days, switching to the Red Bull on Wednesday after driving the Toro Rosso on Tuesday, and completing a further 72 laps, his best lap time six tenths of a second adrift of Jolyon Palmer. Its not every day you get to drive two different one cars over two days, it last happened of course in pre-season testing, when Wehrlein drove both the Force India VJM07 and the Mercedes W06 when Nico Rosberg had a trapped nerve in his neck and Lewis Hamilton had a fever.

Jenson Button was much happier with the MP4-30 than he had been during the race on Sunday (Copyright: McLaren-Honda)

Jenson Button was 0.847s down for McLaren and managed 100 laps to be fourth fastest, a good day for the Woking squad and there was no reappearance of the "scary" feelings Button had during the Grand Prix on Sunday. On Wednesday morning Button said the car felt a lot better, the upgrades clearly working and Jenson looking very happy in the garage. The Honda power unit also sounded much cleaner out on the track.

Alex Lynn got his F1 debut in the Williams FW37 (Copyright: Williams Martini Racing)

It was a big day for Alex Lynn, the Williams development driver and GP2 title-contender managed only 52 laps but was withing nine tenths of Palmers best time, and certainly enjoyed the chance to drive some front-running F1 machinery. 

Esteban Ocon had a good day in the Force India VJM08

With Wehrlien in the Mercedes, Force India called upon the services of Esteban Ocon, the European F3 Champion putting in a best lap of 1m27.520s, 1.440s off the pace of Palmer in 6th place.

Esteban Gutierrez made his testing debut for Ferrai

Esteban Gutierrez made his debut for Ferrari, his first run in an F1 car since last years Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after being axed by the Sauber team. The Mexican finished the day in 7th place, with a best time of 1m27.930, and chalking up 119 laps.

Carlos Sainz was in action for Toro Rosso on Wednesday

Toro Rosso's rising star Carlos Sainz finished the day almost two seconds down on Palmers best time, but finished the day with the second-highest number of laps on the board, chalking up 126 of them.

Raffaele Marciello drove both the Ferrai and the Sauber (Copyright: Sauber F1 Tean)

Raffaele Marciello, who drove for Ferrari on Tuesday, switched to Sauber on Wednesday and his day didn't have the best of starts. The Italian slid off at Turn 3 and into a tyre barrier early on in the day, damaging the front-left of the car. He did later return to the circuit but he ended up bottom of the times with a 1m28.829s. Manor Marussia did not take part in the test as they felt they would gain nothing running a car they have ran for nearly a season and a half. Times and lap totals from day two are below;

So there we are then, Formula 1's first in-season test is all done and dusted. Next stop, Monaco! Until next time folks, ciao.

Jolyon Palmer heads onto the start/finish straight at the Circuit de Catalunya to complete another lap in the Lotus E23 Hybrid (Copyright: Lotus F1 Team)