Barcelona 2020 F1 Testing Results - Day 5

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT01 during testing II on February 27, 2020 in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain. (Photo by Steven Tee / LAT Images)

Event: Winter test Barcelona
Track: Catalunya Circuit

Weather:  Overcast & wet/dry

After several chilly but sunny mornings, today was dawned cooler and overcast, with evidence of overnight rain.

A few teams - including Ferrari - said that they would feature some quick runs on the softest tyres during the last two days of testing. But that is weather dependant, and it remains to be seen how long it will take for the track to dry, and what knock on effect this will have on the scheduled programmes.

The track was relatively dry on the racing line, but the run off areas were holding a few puddles in the early morning. Esteban Ocon was the first to go around the damp track. The French driver was wiggling through the corners as the car tried to adapt to the lack of grip. There is enough spray being kicked up to confirm that the inters were the right compound for these conditions.

After one hour Max Verstappen was the first to go out on slicks. The Red Bull RB16 was fitted with large aero rakes to measure the wind tunnel results to the real world. The Dutchman lost the rear in the last chicane with the earo rakes still fitted. He was able to go on without any damage.

As Sebastian Vettel crossed the line to go to the top of the time table, it was Antonio Giovinazzi who also lost the rear, spinning across the gravel and crashed into the tyre barrier with his rear wing. He was able to drive back to the pit, with a badly damaged back wing causing a red flag to clean up the track.

Half an hour later Verstappen spun in turn 5 and also caused a red flag when he beached the RB16 in the gravel pit. At the end of the morning session Vettel did the same spin in turn 5 with the 3rd red flag as a result.

In the afternoon Lewis Hamilton stopped the Mercedes on the track with an engine problem. He only had done 14 laps. Mercedes reliability has seemed infallible, but no longer. The red flags fly, and the session grinds to a half while the marshals rush to rescue the stricken Mercedes.

Red Bull were another team who didn't have a totally straightforward day. Two spins for Verstappen in the morning lost them some time, before Albon seemed to spend a fair amount of the afternoon on the sidelines. The Thai driver racked up 61 laps in the end so they turned it round, but question marks remain after today.

Lap Times Day 5 - 2020 F1 Winter Testing

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