Valtteri Bottas Tops Final Day of F1 Testing

Valtteri Bottas finished pre-season testing on top ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on a hectic final day of running for all teams. 

Setting a 1m 16.196 in late afternoon on C5 tyres, Bottas underlined Mercedes’ position as the team to beat with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finishing just 0.073s behind the Silver Arrow on the C4 tyres. 

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo produced a stunning lap time of 1m 16.276 towards the end of the morning to finish third, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Bottas’ teammate – Lewis Hamilton to round out the top five who are all split by just 0.214s. 

Esteban Ocon wrapped up his testing programme for Renault in sixth ahead of Sergio Perez who set his best time of 1m 16.658 on the C3 compound. 

Elsewhere, Alex Albon was slowest of the day with a 1m 17.803 as he survived a late spin on exit of Turn 12 in the morning session on his last lap. 

George Russell worked through a tough programme and suspension issues to finish ninth in his Williams with a 1m 16.871, which was just 0.051s slower than McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. 

Haas struggled with various issues as Romain Grosjean concluded his running in 11th, before Kevin Magnussen overcame a clutch issue to finish second last with a 1m 17.495 with Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen sandwiching the pair in 12th.

Teams now head Down Under for the season opening Australian Grand Prix across weekend of 13-15 March. 

Full results from Day Six of pre-season testing;

1. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1m 16.196 (79 laps)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 1m 16.269 (44 laps)
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) – 1m 16.276 (65 laps)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1m 16.360 (181 laps)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1m 16.410 (90 laps)
6. Esteban Ocon (Renault) – 1m 16.433 (71 laps)
7. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) – 1m 16.658 (154 laps)
8. Carlos Sainz (McLaren) – 1m 16.820 (159 laps)
9. George Russell (Williams) – 1m 16.871 (146 laps)
10. Daniil Kvyat (Alpha Tauri) – 1m 16.914 (160 laps)
11. Romain Grosjean (Haas) – 1m 17.037 (86 laps)
12. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) – 1m 17.415 (115 laps)
13. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 1m 17.495 (25 laps)
14. Alex Albon (Red Bull) – 1m 17.803 (59 laps)