Hamilton closes second winter test on top

F1 Test, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya

Lewis Hamilton has ended the first Barcelona test on top as he was fastest in the morning on a damp track. As ever, teams did not focus on performance that much in the afternoon, and with reduced running due to the chilly conditions, the time stood for the remainder of the day.

There were various red flag situations early in the day as several cars spun off due to the slippery track.

As conditions improved, so did the times, but by noon the rain came back, albeit not of high intensity. This limited useful running for the teams, and as a result nobody completed 100 laps. In fact at Williams neither driver recorded a timed lap, each time only doing a single or 2 laps before returning to the pitlane.

10 minutes from the end, Jules Bianchi also came to a halt at the end of the pitlane, causing a red fleg. As there was simply not enough time to get the session going again, this cut today's running short, ending the first 4-day test session at Barcelona.

The teams will be back on track on 28 February for the final 4 days of testing, again at Circuit de Catalunya.