Ferrari on top as pre-season testing finishes

Sebastian Vettel ensured Ferrari top spot as Formula One’s second and final pre-season test of 2016 came to its conclusion at Barcelona.

The German’s morning benchmark of 1m 22.852s – set on the red-marked supersoft tyres – held over the afternoon. Ferrari therefore finished their pre-season having set the fastest overall time in each of the two tests, and in five of the eight days in total.

Vettel was also the day’s busiest runner with 142 laps – a handful more than Carlos Sainz, who remained second for Toro Rosso. The Spaniard was the only driver in the top five to set his best lap on the new ultrasoft compound.

Williams’ Felipe Massa found the biggest gains in the afternoon to jump to third, fractionally ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez – who briefly triggered a red flag period when he stopped at Turn 11.

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton also brought proceedings to a halt when his Mercedes hit issues for the first time this year in the closing stages of the morning.

The Briton wound up fifth overall, while team mate Nico Rosberg – who took control for the Silver Arrows in the afternoon – propped up the timesheets in 13th.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson all broke the 100-lap barrier, and ended the day in sixth, seventh and ninth respectively.

Renault’s Jolyon Palmer edged Ericsson for eighth, while behind Romain Grosjean put Haas 10th, marginally ahead of team mate Esteban Gutierrez – who subbed in for the final hours – and Manor’s Rio Haryanto.

The latter managed just one installation lap as the team struggled with technical gremlins in the morning, but had clocked 58 laps when the chequered flag fell to bring the pre-season to a close.

Teams now have two weeks until the Australian season opener on 18-20 March.