Pérez goes fastest on soft Pirelli tyres

F1 Test, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya

Sergio Pérez topped the times today at Barcelona thanks to a few shorter runs just after the lunch break. Sebastian Vettel was second fastest, setting his best time on the medium compound. Raikkonen was third fastest for Lotus, despite a short day of testing for him.

Before noon, Sebastian Vettel went fastest on the medium tyres with a lap of 1:22.197, a tenth faster than Pastor Maldonado's pole time for the Spanish GP of 2012. Vettel went on to perform at a high level with a 1:22.9 on hard tyres later on. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile did not run on the medium compound in the morning but came to within 5 tenths of Vettel, despite being on the harder tyre.

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Lotus F1 on the other hand endured a troubled morning at Barcelona, with Raikkonen soon discovering an issue with the gearbox. Having returned to the pits after a mere 4 laps, the team decided to change the car's gearbox, keeping the car into the garage until 2pm.

There was only a single red flag in today's session, caused by Sebastian Vettel who came to a halt at the end of the pitlane after having sat down for 45 minutes while the team was working on his RB9.