Bottas ends pre-season testing on top for Mercedes

Published on 28 Feb 2020 18:00

By: Fergal Walsh

Valtteri Bottas has ended the final day of pre-season testing on top of the timesheets, with a lap time of 1:16.196.

No driver failed to beat the fastest time from week one - 1:15.732 - which was set by Bottas on day three. Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were second and third behind the Finn, both less than a tenth down.

Charles Leclerc was fourth, setting the most amount of laps from any driver during the day - a massive 180.

Following the Monegasque driver was reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton whose fastest time was just over two-tenths slower than Bottas'.

Renault's new driver for 2020, Esteban Ocon, was seventh ahead of Sergio Perez in the Racing Point.

No red flags were deployed during the day, with the biggest drama coming in the morning following a spin into the gravel for Alexander Albon.

However, the Thai-British driver was able to get his car back onto the circuit by himself and return to the pits. He was 14th and last at the end of the day.

Carlos Sainz and George Russell were eighth and ninth respectively, with Daniil Kvyat rounding out the top ten in the AlphaTauri.

The F1 season is set to begin in two weeks' time at the Australian Grand Prix, where a true understanding of the grid's pecking order will become clearer.

Circuit de Catalunya - 28 February 2020

Driver

Team

Time

Difference

#
1

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

1:16.196

79
2

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:16.269

+0.073

45
3

Daniel Ricciardo

Renault

1:16.276

+0.080

65
4

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:16.360

+0.164

181
5

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:16.410

+0.214

90
6

Esteban Ocon

Renault

1:16.433

+0.237

75
7

Sergio Perez

Racing Point

1:16.634

+0.438

154
8

Carlos Sainz jr

McLaren

1:16.820

+0.624

163
9

George Russell

Williams

1:16.871

+0.675

146
10

Daniil Kvyat

Alpha Tauri

1:16.914

+0.718

160
11

Romain Grosjean

Haas F1

1:17.037

+0.841

86
12

Kimi Räikkönen

Alfa Romeo Racing

1:17.415

+1.219

115
13

Kevin Magnussen

Haas F1

1:17.495

+1.299

29
14

Alexander Albon

Red Bull Racing

1:17.803

+1.607

59

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527

Thank you for another year's excellent reporting on the winter tests, GPT. As I spent every moment of it at work, with these live reports I could at least follow it during coffee breaks and the likes.

1
Feb 28 2020 - 20:20

Photos Barcelona, February 28, 2020

Open the whole photo album

F1 News Valtteri Bottas Mercedes

Replies (5)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Thank you for another year's excellent reporting on the winter tests, GPT. As I spent every moment of it at work, with these live reports I could at least follow it during coffee breaks and the likes.
- + 1
- Feb 28 2020 - 20:20
- xoya
  
  Posts: 583
  Same here.
  I had a tab with gptoday opened in chrome and looked at the updates when I had the time. :)
  Been doing that since February 2017.
  + 0
  
  Feb 29 2020 - 09:08
Dert38

Posts: 376
I love renault's this years car design's look. Painting probably best mclaren's, hovewer all cars looks kinda good. alpha tauri and rb in back of the list... alpha tauri too wide nose, terrible back painting, rb very ugly nose tip (despite most harmonically shaped above) and terrible color scheme...
- + 1
- Feb 28 2020 - 20:43
Kean

Posts: 692
Prediction time!
1. Mercedes, they seem clearly ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari
2-3. Red Bull and Ferrari, likely close between them. I see it coming down to driver skill so; Ver, Lec, Vet, Alb
4-6. Renault, Racing Point, McLaren. I think Racing Point have the better car, but they have Stroll driving one of the cars and that could cost them fourth in the constructors. I’m thinking Per, Ric, Sai, Oco, Nor, Str.
7-9. Alfa Romeo, Alpha Tauri, Williams. Williams seem to be the biggest improvers, so perhaps: Rai, Gas, Rus, Gio, Kvy, Lat. (Perhaps Mag will beat Latifi)
10. Seems to me like Haas is bringing up the rear, and that Williams are just ahead. So perhaps; Mag, Lat, Gro.
- + 1
- Feb 28 2020 - 21:40
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Pretty close to my own, except:
  1. Merc, no doubt
  2. RBH, IMO they look more convincing than Ferrari
  3 Ferrari
  4 RP, I feel they might even challenge for podiums this year, with some luck
  5-7 McLaren, Renault and Alfa Tauri. McLaren looks good this year too, Renault's been doing decent progress but I think they'll be overshadowed this year again, and ATH will no doubt make decent progress again
  8-9 Haas and Alfa Romeo
  10 Williams. While their car's been going on a heavy diet, it is still based on an inherently flawed concept, so I don't think it will get up from the pit Williams have dug themselves into
  + 1
  
  Feb 29 2020 - 08:19

Total queries: 4
Total time: 1.2806718349457
time	sincestart	caller	annotate	bt	desc
	0.000494				instantiate query log (0Q - total module time: 0.00066400s)	""
	0.001165				boot (0Q - total module time: 0.00011897s)	""
	0.001287				translation-init (1Q - total module time: 0.00109887s)	""
0.00031614	0.002058	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Redirect.php:105(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Entities/Redirect.php:112(findByOrigin) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Redirects.php:108(getRedirectOrFalse) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:115(checkForDBRedirects) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT redirects.id, redirects.origin, redirects.referer FROM redirects WHERE redirects.origin = :origin ORDER BY id	{"origin":"\/en\/news\/f1\/254414\/bottas-ends-pre-season-testing-on-top-for-mercedes"}
	0.002389				controller::news/f1/254414/bottas-ends-pre-season-testing-on-top-for-mercedes (2Q - total module time: 0.09978008s)	""
0.00044489	0.003227	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:389(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:127(findNextArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId > :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId ASC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 07:30:00","articleId":254414,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.06208897	0.003700	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:318(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:128(findPrevArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId < :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId DESC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 07:30:00","articleId":254414,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
	0.102175		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Result (0Q - total module time: 0.00054193s)	""
	0.102720		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Photos (0Q - total module time: 0.00020194s)	""
	0.102925		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Trending (0Q - total module time: 0.00010681s)	""
	0.103035		cacheAble: no		module:News\Photos (0Q - total module time: 0.00001884s)	""
	0.103055		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Reply (1Q - total module time: 1.16770291s)	""
1.16065502	0.103714	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query/Exec/SingleSelectExecutor.php:31(executeQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query.php:325(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1212(_doExecute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1166(executeIgnoreQueryCache) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:901(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php:192(getResult) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/CommentVotesManager.php:46(getCommentVotesByVoteIp) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Modules/News/Reply.php:101(getCommentVotesByIP) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:115(internalRender) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:89(captureOutput) {"function":"F1T\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\ModuleBase","object":{"_amp":false},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:92(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/ModuleRenderer.php:35(fetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:549(renderModule) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_mainContent) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:62(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_content) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:715(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:45(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:46(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:390(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/TemplateWrapper.php:45(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php:318(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigRenderer.php:115(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:98(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:79(renderViewFile) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:261(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT c0_.CommentId AS CommentId_0, c1_.Vote AS Vote_1 FROM Comments c0_ INNER JOIN CommentVotes c1_ ON (c1_.CommentId = c0_.CommentId) WHERE c0_.ArticleId = ? AND c1_.VoteIp = ?	[254414,"216.73.216.130"]
	1.270762		cacheAble: no		module:Sidebar (0Q - total module time: 0.00039005s)	""
	1.271156				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001407s)	""
	1.271172				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpschedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	1.271175		cacheAble: yes		module:GpSchedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00012803s)	""
	1.271305				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::results (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	1.271311		cacheAble: yes		module:Results (0Q - total module time: 0.00011611s)	""
	1.271429				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::testcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	1.271432		cacheAble: yes		module:TestCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00011706s)	""
	1.271551				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	1.271556				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	1.271558				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::relatednews (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	1.271562		cacheAble: yes		module:RelatedNews (0Q - total module time: 0.00010514s)	""
	1.271669				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::whoischatting (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	1.271675				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	1.271678				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	1.271681		cacheAble: no		module:Poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00746107s)	""
	1.279145				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001097s)	""
	1.279158				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	1.279161				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000381s)	""
	1.279165		cacheAble: yes		module:GpCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00023890s)	""
	1.279408				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::driver_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000691s)	""
	1.279416		cacheAble: yes		module:Driver\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00013018s)	""
	1.279549				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::team_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	1.279556		cacheAble: yes		module:Team\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00011110s)	""
	1.279669				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::linkedKeywords (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	1.279676				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpsidebarnavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	1.279680		cacheAble: yes		module:GpSidebarNavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00046492s)	""
	1.280147		cacheAble: yes		module:Layout\Footer (0Q - total module time: 0.00010300s)	""
	1.280254		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Breaking (0Q - total module time: 0.00041294s)	""
	1.280670				done	""

Bottas ends pre-season testing on top for Mercedes

Circuit de Catalunya - 28 February 2020

calle.itw

Trending news

Replies (5)

calle.itw

xoya

Dert38

Kean

calle.itw

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Race / Startgrid

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

World Championship standings 2023

Test calendar

Related news

Bottas and Hamilton pay tribute as Williams family step away from F1

Bottas: Win at Barcelona possible with a good start

Verstappen: Third place is the maximum the team can achieve for the moment

Disappointed Bottas accuses Mercedes of 'sleeping' after losing victory

70th Anniversary GP: Verstappen denies Hamilton of victory at Silverstone

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Driver profile

Team profile