Grosjean once more on top of the timesheet

F1 Test, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya

Romain Grosjean went fastest once again today, although only at the final lap of the session. He mainly focused on long runs, but in the end set the record straight. Vergne went second fastest, Vettel third and Alonso fourth. The latter completed a total of 125 laps.

The session didn't get off well with thick fog covering the circuit and its surroundings. It was only at 9:28 local time that the session was started, and just minutes later the sun came through again.

However, the followed was a long series of short runs, broken off by 6 red flag situations. First Maldonado, then Schumacher, Vergne, Schumacher who went off in the gravel trap, Vergne again as his car started smoking and finally Vettel. It even caused a premature end of the morning session. This saw Vergne atop the timesheet with a 1:23.126, followed by Alonso and the inevitable Grosjean.

The afternoon session started at 14:00, but 2 minutes later it was stopped once more due to a red flag.

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg came to a standstill in the chicane, a problem that required 15 minutes of the track crew before the green flag could be waved again. It appeared later that the car was stuck in gear because the gearbox failed.

After that red flag, teams started some longer runs, with especially Alonso and Grosjean running endless stints. Just like yeserday, longer runs were seemingly on the programme for most teams.

Jean-Eric Vergne, who topped the times until 1 minute from the end, sat out most of the afternoon due to a technical issue. The team did manage to get it fixed and used the last 20 minutes to perform practice pitstops.