Barcelona in-season test: Nico Rosberg two seconds clear on day one

Mercedes’ domination in Barcelona continued as Nico Rosberg topped the opening day of the in-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

His best time of 1:24.378 was set prior to the lunch break and saw him finish the day over two seconds clear of the pack. The time was three tenths quicker than his pole time from Saturday, though, it should be pointed out that the German was carrying out tyre testing for Pirelli, limiting the usefulness of the comparing times to the Grand Prix weekend.

In total Rosberg completed 146 laps which takes his total at the circuit this season to 763 laps, which equates to around 2220 miles.

Also on tyre testing duties were Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso. Raffaelle Marciello finished the session third quickest for the Scuderia after clocking up 125 laps, Daniel Kvyat was forth for Red Bull and debutant Pierre Gasly seventh fastest in the Toro Rosso.

Despite a disappointing performance over the grand prix weekend, Sauber showed flashes of the pace they had had at the Circuit de Catalunya during pre-season testing to finish the day second quickest. The team’s start to the day was delayed by an unspecified problem, but in total Marcus Ericsson completed 98 laps.

Nick Yelloly’s F1 debut came a day earlier than expected as the Briton was drafted in to replace the ill Pascal Wehrlein at Force India. The GP2 driver made full use of his time in the car as he completed over 100 laps, finishing the day in sixth and less than a tenth behind Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado.

As was the case in pre-season, Williams ran under the radar with Massa only eighth quickest. Williams brought the Brazilian’s day to an early end with just under an hour remaining declaring that they had completed their run plan.

McLaren propped up the timesheets, with Oliver Turvey posting a best time of 1:28.542 late in the day and completing 68 laps in total. His afternoon session got off to a slow start as the car remained in the garage for around two hours, before finishing the day with a number of short runs to perform “a variety of tests”.

Day One Timesheet

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:24.374, 146 laps;

2. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:26.624, 98 laps;

3. Raffaele Marciello, Ferrari, 1:26.648, 125laps;

4. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:26.904, 101 laps;

5. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:27.338, 60 laps;

6. Nick Yelloly, Force India, 1:27.396, 109 laps;

7. Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso, 1:27.639, 131 laps;

8. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:27.911, 54 laps;

9. Oliver Turvey, McLaren, 1:28.542, 68 laps.