2022 F1 Barcelona test: Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 on final day

Hamilton set a pair of fastest lap times, finishing with a 1m19.138s set in the final 10 minutes on the C5 tyres, to eclipse Russell’s 1m19.233s from the morning session and claim the fastest lap time of the Barcelona pre-season test.

Russell’s effort, also set on C5 tyres, came under threat from both his Mercedes team-mate and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with the pair putting in a late surge once the track dried out sufficiently from a Pirelli wet tyre test which started the afternoon running.

Despite water tankers saturating the Barcelona circuit during the lunch break, only three wet tyre laps were completed – all by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo – before he led the switch to intermediate tyres. All drivers stuck to the green-walled compound for the opening 90 minutes of the afternoon session until the track improved sufficiently for a return to dry tyres.

That allowed Hamilton to set the fastest overall time for a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of Perez in third after he pushed Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen back to fourth place.

Four teams failed to complete any laps in the afternoon, most notably Haas, running a revised livery after dropping title sponsor Uralkali branding after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, with Nikita Mazepin only managing nine laps in the morning before a suspected leak forced the team to end the test early.

Alpine fared little better, with Fernando Alonso clocking 12 laps before a hydraulics problem triggered a fire in the back of the A522 F1 car with the Spaniard causing the first of five red flags.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

AlphaTauri also had its programme curtailed prematurely after 40 laps when Pierre Gasly went off-track at Turn 5 and damaged the AT03