F1: Barcelona test - Rosberg fastest, Alonso returns

[Nik Hughes]

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the first day of the second practice in Barcelona on Tuesday. Kimi Raikkonen was second in the Lotus, setting a near-identical time Rosberg, with Fernando Alonso third in his first test run of 2013.

While it is still too early to read a great deal into the times in these pre-season tests, Barcelona at least gives us a better idea compared to Jerez, given the Circuit de Catalunya's place on the Formula One calender.

Given that Pastor Maldonado's pole time at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix was a 1m22.2, Nico Rosberg's 1m22.616 was an impressive first day time. Also on the pace was World Champion Sebastian Vettel, just shy Fernando Alonso, the pair three tenths back on the fastest two times of the day.

Maldonado – who has the best of memories with this track – got to grips with Williams' 2013 entry for the first time today, and was fifth on the time-sheets, putting in a decent 86 laps on the FW35's debut.

There will still be some worries for Mercedes, despite a good showing of pace. After problems in the opening days of the first Jerez test, Rosberg's session was hindered with a gearbox problem, having completed just 14 laps by the lunch break.

Alonso made up for lost time in the Ferrari. After giving the Jerez test a miss, instead focusing on physical and mental preparation, the two-time World Champion was the only driver to top a ton of laps, completing 110 laps and showing good long-distance pace in a productive day for the Italian outfit.

It was a quiet day for McLaren, with Sergio Perez completing 68 laps and finishing seventh overall, but there were no technical problems for the Woking-based outfit, who are looking to build on an opening test that saw glimpses of raw pace, but also some of the reliability issues that blighted their 2012 campaign.

1 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m22.616s
2 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) 1m22.623s +0.007
3 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1m22.952s +0.336
4 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1m22.965s +0.349
5 Pastor Maldonado (Williams) 1m23.733s +1.117
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) 1m23.884s +1.268
7 Sergio Perez (McLaren) 1m24.124s +1.508
8 Paul Di Resta (Force India) 1m24.144s +1.528
9 Estaban Gutierrez (Sauber) 1m25.124s +2.508
10 Max Chilton (Marussia) 1m26.747s +4.131
11 Charles Pic (Caterham) 1m27.534s +4.918

View the Post on the Blog

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

So ALO finally finished his hibernation and decided to get back to work?

Nice to see the Mercedes and Rosberg doing well. Lets hope they can keep the pace when the pre-season ends.

 

[the_sigman]

Very good to see Alonso doing 100+ laps. If these were FP results, I would be very disappointed about Caterham and Sauber.

 

[Gerald Chinoy]

So ALO finally finished his hibernation and decided to get back to work?

Nice to see the Mercedes and Rosberg doing well. Lets hope they can keep the pace when the pre-season ends.

Yes very good see Alonso back in action.
Boy really can't wait for the Aus GP.

 

[Armadyr]

Kimi is really showing what he is capable of.