Mercedes star George Russell was the quickest around the track in a heavily-disrupted morning session on the third and final day of pre-season testing.
The British driver, along with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, wasted no time in getting out on the track on the third day in Barcelona and ended up top for Mercedes with a time of 1m 19.233s, half a second clear of the world champion.
But events at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday morning were dominated by no fewer than five stoppages.
Fernando Alonso was the first to be forced off the track after smoke was seen billowing from the back of his car as he pulled into the gravel.
Alpine then tweeted that they had suffered a hydraulics issue and would not be running for the rest of the day.
‘After further investigations in the garage following Fernando Alonso’s on-track stoppage earlier this morning, the team can confirm the issue was a problem with the hydraulics. A minor sealing issue led to a fire in the back of the car.
‘The team has successfully completed 266 laps during the three days of the Barcelona shakedown.
Team Statement:
After further investigations in the garage following Fernando Alonso’s on-track stoppage earlier this morning, the team can confirm the issue was a problem with the hydraulics. A minor sealing issue led to a fire in the back of the car.#F1Testing
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) February 25, 2022
‘Repairs on the car will continue, and as a result we won’t be running for the remainder of the day. We look forward to be back in action at the next test in Bahrain.’
Pierre Gasly then came to a halt and caused red flags to be waved after he hit the barrier in the middle sector, meaning his AlphaTauri had to be recovered while marshals cleared the debris.
Guanyu Zhou then caused another two red flags after spinning his Alfa Romeo at turn 10, before another technical issue once again brought the session to a halt.
Sebastian Vettel then had a stoppage at the end which appeared to have been caused by an engine issue.
This afternoon’s session meanwhile will begin with the track being sprayed with water to replicate wet conditions.
It comes after an action-packed day two in which Charles Leclerc was the fastest driver to put Ferrari first Wednesday, while Lando Norris topped the timesheets on the opening day.
It is the first of two testing events, with the second taking place a week before the season-opener in Bahrain next month at the same circuit in Sakhir, which hosted last year’s pre-season testing.
All 10 teams will have had three days by the end of Friday to test their 2022 cars amid the biggest overhaul of regulations in F1 history as the sport aims for more competitive wheel-to-wheel racing and overtaking opportunities.
With nine out of 10 teams having already launched their spanking new models – Alfa Romeo will use an interim livery in Catalunya before their launch on Sunday – the talk of the town is to expect the unexpected.
Keyword: Mercedes' George Russell tops standings in morning session