Late lap puts Kvyat fastest in F1 testing

Daniil Kvyat banked the fastest lap in Barcelona as teams completed the third day of the opening Formula 1 pre-season test of the season.

The Toro Rosso driver narrowly bettered Kimi Raikkonen with a 1:17.704s lap, just over half a tenth quicker than the 2007 world champion managed.

Importantly, it came towards the end of a day that saw the Russian chalk up 137 laps of running, showing the car has both speed and reliability.

“We lacked some running on Day 1, so we definitely bounced back today,” said Kvyat.

“It was important for us to do as many laps as possible and complete the program.

“We managed to do so and we even managed to squeeze in some extra kilometres, which made it a very productive day.

“Now it’s important to go on working hard, without getting caught up with where we finished on the timesheets – even if it’s quite pleasant to end up where we did.

“We need to keep focussing on the job we’re doing with the car and make sure we’re heading in the right direction. It’s early days, but a good start is always welcome.”

Third fastest for the day was Daniel Ricciardo, who again shared duties with Nico Hulkenberg in the Renault RS19.

Ricciardo recorded 80 laps, setting a best of 1:18.164s while Hulkenberg banked 63 laps for a best of 1:18.800s, making a combined 143 laps for the day.

Having been fastest on the opening two days, Ferrari reined in its program and focussed on consistency with Vettel only fourth fastest on a busy, 134-lap, day.

It was Mercedes which was busiest, with 182 laps between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

They ended the day well down the order, faster only than George Russell who gave the Williams FW42 its track debut after the team missed the opening two days of running.

With the team still short on spares, Russell claimed the day was more of a shakedown than the first day of its test.

“Today we focused purely on install laps, shaking the car down and data gathering,” he explained.

“Our focus was not on performance runs so I can’t judge the overall potential of the car, but I’m excited that we will get a full day of running tomorrow.”

Also having problems was Haas, which stopped on track three times; once in the hands of Pietro Fittipaldi and then twice for Romain Grosjean.

The team cited an ignition coil issue for its interrupted running, which triggered red flags each time, and cost the team more than two hours of running.

Elsewhere, suggestions of a vibration issue from the Honda engine have been denied by Red Bull boss Christian Horner, the team still ended the day just fifth best.

Max Verstappen completed 109 laps for a best of 1:18.787 who spent much of the day working to a program that didn’t see him push the car until late in proceedings.

McLaren’s strong test continued with another 90 laps for Carlos Sainz, while Racing Point’s Sergio Perez only banked 67 after suffering a driveline issue late in the day.

The test concludes from this evening (AEDT).

Results: Formula 1 Pre-Season Test 1, Day 3