Listen to this article Hamilton set a pair of fastest laptimes, 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 teammate 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 …

Read more…….